His Excellency Tshogpon Jigme Tshultim, Speaker of the National Assembly attended the 3rd World Conference of Speakers of Parliament held in Geneva, Switzerland from 19th to 21st July 2010. He was accompanied by Hon. Sonam Kinga, Dy. Chairperson of National Council and Hon. Lhatu, Member of the National Assembly.

Tshogpon Jigme Tshultim addressed the Conference in the morning of 21st July 2010. In his statement, he informed the distinguished gathering of Bhutan's peaceful transition to Parliamentary Democracy and the adoption of the first written Constitution. He also said that the Conference provided an excellent opportunity to the elected officials, serving at the highest legislative bodies to reflect, deliberate and strengthen the accountability of the Parliaments and the Governments to their people, in a world that is increasingly plagued by various kinds of crisis. He said that the multilateral cooperation and parliamentary dialogues, such as the present conference, has become increasingly important to meet numerous challenges and threats, which no nation can overcome alone.

The theme of the Conference was “Parliaments in a world of crisis: Securing global democratic accountability for the common good.” It was organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), an international organization of Parliaments. IPU was established in 1889 for world wide parliamentary dialogue and works for peace and cooperation among peoples of the world and for the firm establishment of representative democracy.

The 3rd World Conference of Speakers of Parliament was attended by 124 Speakers and 50 Dy. Speakers from the parliaments of the various countries around the world. The 1st and 2nd Conference of Speakers were held in New York, USA in 2000 and 2005 respectively.