YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–An Armenian parliamentary delegation headed by Speaker of the National Assembly Armen Khachatrian will leave for New York to participate in a forum of the heads of parliamen’s of the world. The forum will be organized by the Interparliamentary Union at the millennium meeting of the UN General Assembly to be held at the UN Headquarters on August 30.
The goal of the forum will be raising the role and enhancing importance of the parliamentary diplomacy in the sphere of international politics–interstate cooperation as well as at ensuring parliamen’s participation in international negotiation processes. According to the initiators–the forum may become a serious step towards expanding the framework of cooperation between the Interparliamentary Union and the UN in putting into practice the agreement signed between these organizations in 1996. The forum is expected to adopt a declaration on international cooperation between the world’s parliamen’s.
The Interparliamentary Union–which was established in 1889–unites 138 parliamen’s and five associated regional parliamentary assemblies. One of the goals of the organization is ensuring direct participation of national parliamen’s in the activities of the UN and WTO.