Chairperson, the question of unrelenting growth to purposeful development is a global responsibility, and not just that of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU, but of every government and its citizens. When a solution to this integrated challenge is negotiated, there are various factors that governments need to consider. This consideration starts with an inclusive world vision, strategy, collective thinking, participative consultation and implementation through sustainable approaches, with the right legislative frameworks and governance processes along with aid put in place to address this unique challenge.
The IPU is such a political forum that works closely with the UN and other multilateral bodies to ensure that there is a parliamentary dimension in the international co-operation, global governance, as well as in the resolution of major international issues and negotiating a collective wellness. Notwithstanding the IPU as a political network, partnership with citizens is critical to preserve and secure purposeful development.
The developmental framework of a nation state as a guiding compass is becoming more and more a toolkit for governments in the world to ensure global wellness. The world as we know it today must be preserved for generations to come. We must motivate collective thinking, planning and innovation, and how best we can negotiate new approaches.
Through finding new solutions to responsive governance, fair bilateral knowledge sharing, reasonableness and thinking proactively in an effort to achieve innovative strategies to preserve general good living or wellbeing are holistic. It has primarily to do with individual needs. Here the basic needs by Abraham Maslow become pertinent. However, when perceived from the societal perspective, one needs to include spiritual needs, individual developmental and empowerment needs.
This brings into question inter-parliamentary foresight to ensure that the legislation and implementation processes secure unrelenting growth. The IPU Assembly debate would seek to evaluate how a nation's Parliament monitors the degree of implementing this guiding strategic framework. The general question for this nation's parliament remains how effective it is to do oversight and pursue results from the implementation.
If we use a South African situation in this argument to illustrate the relevance of using the current unemployment status as reflected in the last quarter of 2012, we are confronted with the following realities: The unemployment rate declined to 24,9% of the labour force in 2012 from 25,5% in the previous quarter. This amounted to 4,5 million people without work in the fourth quarter ... [Interjections.]