September 30, 2020
Dear Twelve Plus colleagues,
As IPU Executive Committee Vice-President for the Twelve Plus Group, I am pleased to share with you a summary
of the recent IPU Executive Committee (ExCom)
meetings that were held to guide the IPU’s response to the
unprecedented challenges presented by the current pandemic. The IPU has been forced to reinvent how it does
business in recent months to help parliamentarians around the world adapt to these trying times.
Following five half-day meetings of the ExCom, I am confident that the IPU has responded admirably to the
challenges that have arisen. The IPU Secretariat deserves congratulations for the work it has done to continue to
support members; its responsiveness and adaptability have helped ensure the continued relevance of our
organization.
I am also confident that the course the ExCom has charted for the IPU over the coming months is the right one. In
particular, I look forward to the virtual session of the Governing Council scheduled for November 2020. I believe
that the ExCom has assured the continued operation and political leadership of our organization in a manner that
will allow the IPU to both weather the current crisis and emerge from it renewed.
I am proud of the work my Twelve Plus ExCom colleagues and I have done to ensure the accountability of the
organization and guide its path forward. Along with Mladen Grujic (Serbia) and myself, new ExCom members,
Cecilia Widegren (Sweden) and Laurence Fehlmann Rielle (Switzerland), have joined the committee and had an
immediate impact on deliberations. Cecilia has assumed the Twelve
Plus’s seat, and chairpersonship, of the
ExCom’s Sub-Committee
on Finance, while Laurence was the Twelve Plus representative on the working group
tasked with proposing modalities for the Governing Council’s virtual session. In both cases, they have done
remarkable work.
For my part, I have accepted to represent the Twelve Plus on a working group tasked with overseeing the
implementation of a recent independent evaluation of the IPU’s transparency procedures. Based on the expert report,
the working group will seek to modernize IPU operations in line with the highest international standards. I look
forward to any input you may have on this important initiative.
While, like everyone, I feel the loss of not being able to meet with my IPU friends and colleagues in person, I am
looking forward to seeing all of you virtually during the Twelve Plus and Governing Council sessions. I believe
these meetings, in addition to the virtual IPU events that have already taken place, are a powerful example of the
value of virtual interaction. I believe we should seize the opportunity presented by the current crisis to modernize
how we communicate at the Twelve Plus and the IPU and embrace the many forms of digital engagement available
to us.
See you all soon.
Sincerely,
Honourable David McGuinty, P.C., M.P.,
IPU Executive Committee Vice-President for the 12+ and President of the Canadian Group of the IPU
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