What We Do

Institutional Strengthening

Legislatures are the cornerstones of democratic governance. The Parliamentary Centre is committed to advancing democratic practices around the world, from supporting institutional strengthening that focuses on rules and procedure and process as well as the development of human resources.

Effective parliaments rely on strong organizational structures and on professional administrational support and management. How parliaments use these services determines how effectively they will serve as central gateways for citizens to actively participate in public life. Parliaments also play a critical role in fragile and conflict affected states, bringing together divergent interests and fostering rules-based deliberations and constructive relationships among members and the groups they represent.

Through its institutional strengthening programs, the Parliamentary Centre works to consolidate the technical capacity of democratic institutions to conduct needs assessments and project design, and to fulfill their mandate in areas such as government oversight, inclusive representation of citizens, and equal access for women and men to decision-making bodies. This can include the establishment of new support services, such as Parliamentary Budget or Citizen Engagement Offices, or of institutional linkages with Supreme audit institutions and other independent bodies, including the human rights commissions, anti-corruption commissions and electoral management bodies.

Supporting gender equality in society by increasing the knowledge and skills of parliaments to mainstream gender, is a priority for us. Adding this gender-lens to our work, the Parliamentary Centre offers assistance to parliaments in building their capacity to draft gender-sensitive legislation and budgeting. The Centre also supports gender caucuses and individual female MPs to realize their potential, build their capacity, while promoting increased female representation in all aspects of parliament.

The Parliamentary Centre cooperates with civil society organizations worldwide in the development of their capacity to reinforce democratic governance on their own. Such partnerships help parliamentary development organizations develop their needs assessment skills, strategic and operational planning skills, monitoring and evaluation skills, as well as their leadership and communication skills.

Partners

Parliamentarians

Parliamentary Staff

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)

Parliamentary Development Organizations

Related Programs

Common Support Program to the Burkina National Assembly (PROCAB)

Common Support Program to the Burkina National Assembly (PROCAB)

This project focuses on strengthening the capacity of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso to fulfill its constitutional mission through a multi-faceted and targeted approach, by focusing on the three essential functions of a parliament: legislative drafting, control of government action, and representation and outreach.

Supporting the Institution of Parliament in Egypt

Supporting the Institution of Parliament in Egypt

In collaboration with One World Foundation for Development and Civil Society in Cairo and MADA for Media Development, this project built the capacity of local CSOs to strengthen their skills in parliamentary relations. This project allowed them to better position themselves as civil society leaders, giving them the capacity to train Egyptian Members of Parliament and parliamentary staff to help improve the effectiveness of their parliament.

Support to Parliamentary Reform in Armenia

Support to Parliamentary Reform in Armenia

As part of this initiative, the Secretary General of the new Armenian Parliament and team are developing a new organisational structure, and a new effective, practical, gender-sensitive framework for the administration of parliament. The Centre is also supporting improved coordination of various international development partners who are actively engaged with the parliament.

Needs Assessment of the National Parliament of Timor Leste

Needs Assessment of the National Parliament of Timor Leste

Parliamentary Centre is working collaboratively to identify the needs and capacity building gaps of the National Parliament of Timor Leste. A series of individual meetings and focus groups with parliamentarians, parliamentary staff, government officials, CSOs and international development organizations present in the area are part of the preparation of the assessment report.