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Legislative strengthening in terms of both
institutional capacity development and individual skills-building of
legislators, their staff and the Secretariat as well as enhancing civil
society participation in legislative decision-making has to be revisited
to respond adequately to specific economic and security
challenges of the changing world order. Globalization has
created new rules as national economies get integrated into the
larger world economy in terms of production, trade and financial
transactions. International terrorism on the other hand has
heightened the importance of the legislature's exercise of its oversight
function in ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness
of intelligence gathering by relevant executive departments
and agencies while at the same time ensuring respect for the human rights
of its citizen.
Perhaps at no other time has the external environment
been as critical in legislative programming
as it is now. In its design and implementation,
legislative programs have to reflect the impact of external
factors, such as globalization and international terrorism on
internal factors that include:
·
Legislative awareness of the scope and
implications of WTO rules and international security issues
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Legislative sensitivity to gender and globalization
·
Responsiveness of the legislative agenda
·
Adequacy of legislative support services such
as policy research and analysis
·
Capacity of legislative committees
·
Effectiveness of legislative oversight
·
Adequacy of budgetary allocation
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