Area 1:     Core Parliamentary Services: plenary, committees/commissions

This includes all services that have to do with the core functions of representation, legislation and oversight carried out by the elected Members in the plenary and in committees/commissions.

These services include everything to support the activities of plenary and committees/commissions in their daily work in the most efficient manner e.g. recording and transcription of proceedings, audio and video services, voting management, debate production, document printing and production services etc.

Area 2:     Supporting Parliamentary Services: research, library, archives

These include all services in support of the core functions delivered by specialized offices or units including parliamentary research, archiving and document management, library services, etc. These units primarily serve internal clients, mainly Members, Committees and their staff. The products served depend on the specific area and may include e.g. ad-hoc research on a particular topic, regular research bulletins, access to research databases, library resources, but also the less obvious and specialized services such as document (re)production, binding etc.

Area 3:     Public Communication and Outreach: Public Communication, Citizen Participation and international Relations

Effective communication, providing access to information and greater transparency are an integral part of Parliament’s mandate ensuring that citizens/civil society as well as internal audiences - MPs and parliamentary staff -- are kept informed about the parliamentary activities. Aside from the traditional information dissemination and external media coverage, parliaments may take a more active role in providing better access and increasing participation of citizens and civil society.

Area 4:     Information and Communication Technology

Information and Communication Technologies have become a critical area in most organisations today. ICTs are “enablers”, they are instrumental in providing higher quality information and greater access to parliamentary documents and activities to MP's, administration, and citizens. The adoption of ICT has proven to be a very effective way to manage and disseminate information at many levels, and can provide the tools and services to positively impact the internal organization and work processes and the delivery of information both internally and externally.

Area 5:     Management services: administration, human resources and finance

Reliable day-to-day operations are critical to the effectiveness of any parliament. The Administration, human resources and financial services are responsible for creating the conditions for the parliament and support services to work effectively by implementing appropriate administrative, budgeting and procurement procedures.

Area 6:     International and inter-parliamentary Relations

Besides an internal orientation to its Members, Committees and staff, and orientation to citizens and civil society, parliaments are also to focus on and engage in the international sphere.

For this it is critical to maintain a sound capacity to monitor, track and follow up on the various bilateral and multilateral initiatives through cooperation agreements and non-agreement based relationships, and establish and support specialized protocols to comprehensively manage all diplomatic initiatives and to advise and support MPs as required.

Membership of leading inter-parliamentary networks and regional and/or language based parliamentary assemblies is vital in supporting this international and inter-parliamentary engagement, and serves to gain knowledge on parliamentary best practices in different areas.