As Kenya hosted the 114th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) last week, the question of whether the congress would help persuade parliamentarians to focus on economic and social issues, remained debatable. To the African Members of Parliament, the hope was that the gathering of over 1,500 delegates from 143 countries would address pressing issues such as political conflicts and the proliferation of small arms, poverty and HIV/Aids with the objective of galvanising international support for various countries. But most speakers at plenary sessions concentrated on giving country profiles rather than offer mechanisms on how parliamentarians can address issues closer to the heart of the voters.