Former Maltese Speaker Anglu Farrugia has seen one of his key proposals gain international backing after the International Parliament for Tolerance and Peace unanimously adopted a recommendation calling on member parliaments to establish dedicated committees focused on peace, tolerance and conflict accountability.
The decision was taken during the IPTP's 14th Plenary Session, held on 1 June in Skopje (Farrugia was still Speaker at the time), where representatives from more than 100 countries endorsed a declaration aimed at strengthening the role of parliaments in promoting peace and addressing emerging global challenges.
A central element of Farrugia's address to the assembly was his proposal for every parliament represented within the IPTP to create a "Parliamentary Committee for Peace, Tolerance and Conflict Accountability". He argued that peace should not be treated as an occasional topic discussed only during times of crisis, but should remain a permanent item on parliamentary agendas across the world.
Farrugia also proposed that these committees be linked through a global parliamentary network operating under the auspices of the IPTP. The network would meet regularly, on a monthly basis, to monitor developments, identify threats to peace and strengthen cooperation among legislatures.
The proposal was subsequently incorporated into the declaration adopted unanimously by the plenary session. The document recommends that parliaments of IPTP member states establish committees for peace, tolerance and conflict accountability, with a mandate to systematically monitor and report on emerging threats to peace, enhance inter-parliamentary cooperation and ensure that tolerance and peace remain at the forefront of national and international legislative agendas.
The declaration comes at a time when the international community faces multiple challenges, including armed conflicts, humanitarian crises, rising geopolitical tensions, hate speech, violent extremism and the growing impact of cybercrime, disinformation and artificial intelligence on social stability.
Delegates stressed that parliaments have a responsibility not only to enact legislation promoting peace and tolerance but also to ensure that adequate resources and institutional structures are in place to support those goals. The declaration further calls for the development of a working agenda to implement the IPTP's Universal Peace Charter and operationalise the newly proposed committees.
The IPTP itself has strong links to Malta. The organisation was founded in 2017 at the Maltese Parliament under the presidency of Speaker Anglu Farrugia and has since grown into a global parliamentary forum bringing together legislators from Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America.