Program Areas

Program Areas

Advancing the common interest of humanity

Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly

The UN serves member states

Consider climate change. We have known for over 30 years that carbon emissions need to be reduced, yet we have failed to take effective action, risking environmental catastrophe. Why? Because the United Nations seeks consensus amongst almost 200 competing member states, a recipe for doing too little, too late.

A UNPA serves global citizens

A United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) would give a voice to citizen-elected representatives and would make decisions in people’s best interest. For example, living sustainably is unquestionably in the collective interest of humanity, even if it may not be in the interest of any one nation to lead the way.  

An incremental approach

Initially, UNPA members could come from national parliaments. In the long run they should all be directly elected. Starting as a largely consultative body, the rights and powers of the UNPA could be expanded over time as its democratic character increases. Eventually it would become a real world parliament.

Join the global campaign

Democracy Without Borders coordinates the campaign for a UNPA supported by numerous civil society organizations, as well as individuals from 150 countries, among them over 1,600 current and former members of parliament and numerous distinguished personalities from all walks of life. Join them here.

Civil society statement

A UN Parliamentary Assembly is one of three demands of the “We The Peoples” campaign for inclusive global governance launched in April 2021 and endorsed by over 200 organizations and networks. 

Main partners
Award

The Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly received the 2nd prize in the NGO category of The Good Lobby Awards 2019, “symbolizing the sort of democratic innovations the world urgently needs.”

News and developments in this campaign

UN needs to “open its doors to the world’s people”, civil society demands
Ahead of the UN’s Summit of the Future next week in New York, a diverse group of 160 civil society organizations from across the world calls on UN member states
DWB | 13.09.2024
Survey: majorities in G20+ countries support global democracy proposals
The “Global Report on Attitudes to Political and Economic Transformation 2024”, published in June 2024, offers a detailed analysis of public opinion across 22 countries, including 18 G20 nations. Commissioned
DWB | 24.06.2024
Sustainable Development Report calls for a UN Parliament, goals off track
This week, on June 17, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) published their annual Sustainable Development Report which evaluates and ranks the performance of UN Member States on the
DWB | 19.06.2024
A plea for transnational groups in international parliaments
On June 9th, Europe will vote. On this day, over 370 million citizens of the European Union’s 27 Member States have the opportunity to directly elect their members of the
Simon Taverna | 07.06.2024