A United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) is a proposed addition to the United Nations System that would allow for greater participation and voice for members of parliament. The idea was raised at the founding of the League of Nations in the 1920s and again following the end of World War II in 1945, but remained dormant throughout the Cold War. The Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (CEUNPA) was formed in 2007 by Democracy Without Borders (formerly Committee for a Democratic U.N.) to coordinate pro-UNPA efforts, which as of June 2017 has received the support of over 1,600 members of parliament from over 100 countries worldwide. The Commission on Global Security, Justice and Governance, chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Nigerian Foreign Minister Ibrahim Gambari, has called for the creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Network "to raise greater awareness and participation by strengthening the voices of legislators in global institutions." The commission proposes that this Network "would be similar in initial composition to the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organization".
Supporters have set forth possible UNPA implementations, including promulgation of a new treaty; creation of a UNPA as a subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly; and evolution of a UNPA from the Inter-Parliamentary Union or another non-governmental organization. Several proposals for apportionment of votes have been raised to address disparities in population and economic power of UN members. CEUNPA advocates initially giving the UNPA advisory powers and gradually increasing its authority over the UN system. In 2018, CEUNPA's co-founders Jo Leinen and Andreas Bummel published a 420-page book on the history, current relevance and future implementation of the idea titled "A World Parliament: Governance and Democracy in the 21st Century".
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