Ambassador Cameron Munter and National Assembly Speaker Dr. Fahmida Mirza, in Islamabad, to celebrate the opening of the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Service (PIPS).

PIPS has been recognized as the global centre of excellence based on ensuring five qualitative standards of "impartial, balanced, credible, reliable and timely research services," to individual members and parliamentary institutions in last five years.

The UK POST professors recognized that "PIPS has provided a record 1,500 research-based articles and technical assistance to the individual Members of Parliament, committees and cross-party caucuses" within the first decade of its establishment."

These represented level of confidence for best standard as (1 = high, 3 = low) viz a viz the institutions' ability to provide high-quality academic research evidence that went beyond the provision of internally produced and/or unfiltered information and analysis.

The Parliament in Pakistan had remained deprived of the power of Knowledge that comes from timely, accurate and credible information and objective bipartisan analysis on the most sensitive of national matters till the establishment of PIPS.

We acknowledge that USAID PLSP founding Chief of Party Eleanor Valentine and two of her successors – Christopher Shields and Carmen Lane –actively assisted the parliament in general and the LDSC in particular to make PIPS a reality.

Considering the importance of the institute and the role of the Board of Governors, they tried to pick up the best of the lot keeping in view their background and experience for taking up this onerous responsibility.

The Board of Governors, chaired by Chairman Senate or Speaker National Assembly by three-year rotation, has the overall control of the Institute and it guides its functioning.

The Board, which thoroughly drafted, debated and approved comprehensive sets of Financial and Recruitment Rules that has laid a sound foundation to build a centre of excellence based on professionalism and merit, which reflects integrity and accountability in its functioning.