A/HRC/27/51 parliamentary assembly for the United Nations can be constructed in a manner that is both representative and legitimate. We welcome the decision of the UN’s Human Rights Council to mandate an Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order, and encourage the Independent Expert to keep considering the question of a UNPA and in particular to examine possible processes towards its creation. We welcome the recent and ongoing broad-based consultations among a wide range of governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders, to develop a global consensus on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. We feel encouraged that these consultations have emphasized (1) the importance of a “rights-based” approach to sustainable development; and (2) the necessity of a comprehensive, global approach, to address poverty and inequality in all countries. The UN High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda recently noted that achieving the post-2015 vision will require “reshaped and revitalized global governance partnerships” to ensure that “the United Nations, multilateral systems, and all development actors effectively support the post-2015 development agenda.” Indeed, we observe that sustaining a multi-stakeholder consensus for shared global goals is one of the key functions that a UNPA would be expected to provide. To maintain political support, to reinforce accountability and to bring global governance in the pursuit of post-2015 development goals closer to those directly affected, we encourage the creation of a UNPA when the international community adopts its Post2015 Development Agenda. A UNPA is a global parliamentary body that includes distinctive innovative features that go beyond the characteristics of existing national and regional assemblies and parliaments. Acting as an institutionalized “network of networks”, a UNPA could allow representatives of existing parliamentary networks and institutions to formally participate in its work, thus providing them with more leverage and influence. Consideration should be given to the possibility of involving local authorities and representatives of indigenous peoples and nations in the activities of a UNPA. We affirm that a UNPA can and should evolve gradually. Eventually members of a UNPA should be directly elected. From the UNPA’s inception its statutes should allow participating states to opt for direct elections of their delegates if they wish to do so. With a view to exploring innovative forms of civic participation in a UNPA, implementing models of electronic direct or “liquid” democracy that allow citizens to participate in deliberations or to influence decision-making processes could be considered. We congratulate the European Parliament on its pioneering role in promoting the establishment of a UNPA, dating back to resolution A3-0331/93 adopted in 1994, and most recently expressed in resolution P7_TA 0255 of 2011, which called on the EU Council to introduce the establishment of a UNPA into the proceedings of the UN General Assembly. We call on the European Parliament and its members as well as on all other parliaments and their members to reinforce their commitment to more democratic global governance through continued support for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. 34