Supporting Parliament, Trinidad and Tobago

UNDP is working in partnership with the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago to increase its institutional capacity and improve Executive oversight. Our global network of technical experts in Governance and specifically Parliamentary strengthening, and our confirmed status as a non-partisan agency provides a strong framework for our parliamentary programmes.

The collaboration also provides the opportunity for Trinidad and Tobago to become a regional centre for Parliamentary development and for the sharing of best practices relevant to the Caribbean region. The high level of trust we enjoy among UN Member States is crucial to our success in developing programmes to build capacity in Parliaments

UNDP has supported more than 60 parliaments around the world in their efforts to promote and monitor implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals; strengthen parliamentary management and relationships with executive and judiciary branches of government and with civil society; and build the capacity of parliamentarians and technical staff on core parliamentary functions of representation, lawmaking and oversight. We continue to support efforts to build the capacity of parliamentarians and technical staff on specific issues including climate action, and human rights and to enhance the equal participation and effective decision-making of women members of parliament.

In seeking solutions tailored to each country, UNDP works closely with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, as well as other UN agencies, think-tanks and technical assistance providers, the European Parliament, the World Bank and Parliamentarians for Global Action.

UNDP and the IPU – together with other partners – have developed a set of ‘Common Principles for Support to Parliaments’  which provide a benchmark that can be used in the design, implementation and assessment of parliamentary strengthening activities and by extension on the quality of parliaments and democracy.