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ADVANCING GOVERNMENT FOREIGN POLICY


A visiting French delegation seated on the left, led by Sena- tor Robert Hue, talks with South African Members at an official meeting chaired by Speaker of the National Assembly Mr Max Sisulu.


Union (ACP-EU) Forum, the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), and the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF). Parliament’s affiliation to and participation in these organizations results in commitments that need domestic application, prioritizing and a set of dedicated human and other resources. The South African Parliament has adopted an international relations policy and established the Parliamentary Group on International Relations (PGIR) to guide its interaction with the rest of the world and how it receives international visitors to Parliament. We are at this time in the midst of building capacity to enable Parliament to engage with international relations issues optimally. This includes a content-based executive


development programme to develop capacity in international relations, the establishment of specialist areas of work within the International Relations Division and capacity for monitoring the implementation of international agreements made by the executive, as well as resolutions passed at multilateral conferences. Parliament is able, through its oversight function, to intervene when it identifies issues that the executive may be neglecting. This highlights the important role that Parliament can play both in the formulation of foreign policy as well as in its execution.


South Africa has engaged directly with Parliaments from across the globe. These engagements have not been limited exclusively to multilateral parliamentary forums. To enhance bilateral engagements with other Parliaments, the Parliament of South Africa is in the process of formalizing the establishment of


parliamentary friendship groups. A friendship group can be defined as a group of Parliamentarians whose purpose is to establish exchanges with Parliamentarians from another country.


The term “parliamentary


diplomacy” has developed rapidly over recent decades. It finds its relevance in the full range of international activities undertaken by countries and Parliamentarians in order to increase and assist each other in improving the control of government and the representation of people through the increased means of democratic legitimacy of intergovernmental institutions.


Participation in the


Commonwealth Parliamentary Association


The CPA is an association of Parliamentarians in the Commonwealth who are united by


a “community of interest, respect for the rule of law and individual rights and freedoms, and by the pursuit of the positive ideals of parliamentary democracy”. It should be noted that during the height of apartheid, South Africa withdrew from the Commonwealth and the CPA and rejoined these bodies in 1994 when South Africa had attained its freedom. The strategic vision of the CPA is characterized by democratic values which encompass human rights, global peace and security, sustainable development, poverty eradication and gender equality and women’s emancipation. These core values also underpin the character of South Africa’s liberation in the international community.


Like many international


organizations, the CPA is confronted with transformational challenges which are similar to other international parliamentary fora and the institutions


The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue One - South Africa | 49


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