Vienna, 1 August 2003/P/RE/18257c-is

The International Progress Organization has decided to join the Committee for a Democratic United Nations (CDUN) which was established earlier this year in Germany. Among the founding members are the Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker (Society for Threatened Peoples) and the Terra One World Network. The President of the I.P.O., Professor Hans Koechler, is one of the members of the International Advisory Board of the Committee.

The work of the newly formed Committee is based on the principles of the World Federalist Movement. One of the central aims of the Committee is to promote the idea of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA).

In a statement made upon the announcement of the decision, the President of the organization, Prof. Koechler, explained that the membership of the I.P.O. with the Committee for a Democratic UN is in line with the organization's long-standing commitment to the international rule of law and international democracy. The I.P.O. was the sponsoring organization of the Second International Conference On A More Democratic United Nations (CAMDUN-2) in Vienna (September 1991). The recommendations of the conference included proposals for a parliamentary assembly of the United Nations and for the democratization of the Security Council.