UNDP, in collaboration with the Barcelona International Peace Resource Center organized a Regional Parliamentary Working Group meeting entitled ‘Parliaments and Crisis Prevention and Recovery in West Africa’ in Barcelona (Spain), on 30 November - 03 December, 2010.
The Working Group brought together around 30 selected participants including members of national parliaments, transitional councils and parliamentary staff from West Africa, as well as representatives from the Secretariat of the Economic Community of West African States Parliament (ECOWAS), the Parliamentary Centre, and UNDP colleagues.
The objectives of the Barcelona Working Group meeting were:
1. To share knowledge and analysis on national processes and on the UNDP self-assessment tool on parliaments and crisis prevention - which has been piloted in Togo and Guinea-Bissau - with the objective of identifying best practices and key activities for the 2011 workplan;
2. To consolidate the regional network of parliamentarians on crisis prevention and recovery and approve the 2011 workplan.
On the basis of discussion papers prepared by UNDP, the Regional Working Group also discussed and addressed issues related to ‘armed violence and parliaments’ and ‘political parties and crisis prevention’ in West Africa.

This brief report highlights the main topics dicussed.