As with every institution and organization globally, parliaments have been disrupted by the global pandemic. Public health provisions meant to limit the spread of COVID-19 have also played havoc with traditional ways of working and communicating. Parliaments, like others, have had to rapidly adjust legislative business, operations and routines to meet the continued priorities of the public and ensure effective governance continued under the crisis. For example, members of parliament were forced to shift routine travel between their district and capital offices, adapt to the needs of and engagements with the public through virtual means, promote and gain access to government data and information and fulfill constitutional mandates, including executive oversight and citizen representation. As important, the global pandemic continues to be a major health, economic and social crisis that should serve as a wake-up call for all parliaments. Not only is there a need to be resilient in continued response to the pandemic, but also as part of contingency fiscal planning prior to future crises of this magnitude, whether it be another pandemic, natural disaster, military conflict, economic crisis or cyberattack.

The House Democracy Partnership (HDP) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) have collaborated to produce this fiscal emergency response guide to help partner parliaments reflect on their work and how it can be adapted to ensure effective policy responses and fiscal resilience in times of severe crisis or challenge. This handbook provides practical examples and a tool to reference for discussion on the various aspects of the work of parliaments and provides a series of questions and guidelines for consideration and self-reflection by parliaments and their leadership.

This report was prepared by Krisztina Csillag, David Pechefsky, Tim Baker and Kevin Deveaux through the House Democracy Partnership (HDP), with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and programming from the National Democratic Institute (NDI). The authors’ views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the House Democracy Partnership (HDP), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) or the National Democratic Institute (NDI).