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The Governing Council (formerly called Inter-Parliamentary Council) is the plenary policy-making body of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. A number of committees and working groups are subordinated to it and report to the Council on their work. The President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (currently Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini of Italy) is ex-officio President of the Governing Council. The Council establishes the annual programme and budget of the Union, is responsible for the admission or suspension of members and Associate Members, and establishes the list of Assembly observers. Occasionally, the Council considers substantive issues and adopts thematic resolutions and policy statements, the most recent of which are listed below. The Governing Council is composed of three representatives from each member parliament. The Council works according to its Rules. For detailed information on the deliberations of the Council sessions held in recent years, select a session in the table below: 182nd session - Cape Town (South Africa), 13 and 18 April 2008 Complete results as PDF file (547 K) 181st session - Geneva (Switzerland), 8, 9 and 10 October 2007 Complete results as PDF file (480 K) 180th session - Nusa Dua, Bali (Indonesia), 30 April and 4 May 2007 Complete results as PDF file (511 K) 179th session - Geneva (Switzerland), 16, 17 and 18 October 2006 Complete results as PDF file (493 K) 178th session - Nairobi (Kenya), 8 and 12 May 2006 Complete results as PDF file (503 K) 177th session - Geneva (Switzerland), 18 October 2005 Complete results as PDF file (653 K) 176th session - Manila (Philippines), 3 and 8 April 2005 Complete results as PDF file (495 K) 175th session - Geneva (Switzerland), 28 September and 1 October 2004 Complete results as PDF file (540 K) 174th session - Mexico City (Mexico), 19 and 23 April 2004 Complete results as PDF file (540 K) 173rd session - Geneva (Switzerland), 1 and 3 October 2003 Complete results as PDF file (615 K) 172nd session - Santiago (Chile), 7, 9 and 12 April 2003 Complete results as PDF file (370 K) 171st session and the Special Session - Geneva (Switzerland), 25 - 27 September 2002 Complete results as PDF file (534 K) 170th session - Marrakech (Morocco), 18, 19, 21 and 23 March 2002 Complete results as PDF file (436 K) 169th session - Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), 10, 11, 13 and 14 September 2001 Complete results as PDF file (454 K) 168th session - Havana (Cuba), 2 and 7 April 2001 Complete results as PDF file (442 K) 167th session - Jakarta (Indonesia), 16 and 21 October 2000 Complete results as PDF file (457 K) 166th session - Amman (Jordan), 1 and 6 May 2000 Complete results as PDF file (410 K) 165th session - Berlin (Germany), 11 and 16 October 1999 Complete results as PDF file (680 K) 164th session - Brussels (Belgium), 11 and 16 April 1999 Complete results as PDF file (570 K) 163rd session - Moscow (Russia), 7 and 12 September 1998 Complete results as PDF file (570 K) 162nd session - Windhoek (Namibia), 6 and 11 April 1998 Complete results as PDF file (540 K) 161st session - Cairo (Egypt), 11 and 16 September 1997 Complete results as PDF file (1160 K) 160th session - Seoul (Republic of Korea), 10, 12 and 15 April 1997 159th session - Beijing (China), 16 and 21 September 1996 When available, you can also download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the Assembly and related meetings of the Inter-Parliamentary Union" in PDF format. This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge. THEMATIC RESOLUTIONS AND REPORTS Below is a selection of resolutions and reports adopted by the Governing Council in recent years : 182nd session Cape Town (South Africa) 13 and 18 April 2008 List of activities carried out by the IPU in cooperation with the United Nations system 8 October 2007 and 13 April 2008 Parliamentary Message to UNCTAD XII Memorandum of Understanding signed between the United Nations Development Programme and the IPU in November 2007 Modalities for the functioning of the Committee on UN Affairs and its Advisory Group Proposals for the IPU and parliaments to mark the International Day of Democracy Rules and practices of the Advisory Group on HIV/AIDS 181st session Geneva (Switzerland) 8, 9 and 10 October 2007 List of activities carried out by the IPU in cooperation with the United Nations system from 5 May and 8 October 2007 Declaration on the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration on Democracy 180th session Nusa Dua, Bali (Indonesia) 30 April and 4 May 2007 List of activities carried out by the IPU in cooperation with the United Nations system from 16 October 2006 to 29 April 2007 179th session Geneva (Switzerland) 16, 17 and 18 October 2006 List of activities carried out by the IPU in cooperation with the United Nations system from May to October 2006 Resource mobilization strategy for the IPU 178th session Nairobi (Kenya) 8 and 12 May 2006 List of recent and current activities carried out by the IPU in cooperation with the United Nations system The need to obtain appropriate status for members of parliament at WTO Ministerial Conferences 177th session Geneva (Switzerland) 18 October 2005 Cooperation with the United Nations Statement of endorsement of the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and Code of Conduct for International Elections Observers 176th session Manila (Philippines) 3 and 8 April 2005 List of recent and current activities carried out by the IPU in cooperation with the United Nations system Report: Observing the out-of-country poll for the Transitional National Assembly of Iraq 175th session Geneva (Switzerland) 28 September and 1 October 2004 Report and recommendations on priorities for cooperation with the United Nations for the coming years 173rd session Geneva (Switzerland) 1 and 3 October 2003 Report by the Secretary General on the implementation of observer status at the United Nations General Assembly Report of the Executive Committee on the 110th Assembly of the IPU 172nd session Santiago (Chile) 7, 9 and 12 April 2003 Report on the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO Preparations for a Second Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments Special Session Geneva (Switzerland) 25-27 September 2002 Resolution on Financing for Development Report (PDF file, 113K) Timetable and other practical information 170th session Marrakech (Morocco) 18, 19, 21 and 23 March 2002 General approach and operational details of the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s contribution to the work of the United Nations Draft resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on "Cooperation between the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union" Parliamentary Message to the World Food Summit: five years later Follow-up to the resolution on "Support for the United Nations International Year of Volunteers: 2001" Message of congratulations to the Parliament and the people of East Timor Modalities for the special session of the Council, to be held in Geneva in September 2002 168th session Havana (Cuba) 2 and 7 April 2001 Fiftieth Anniversary of the Adoption of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees Support to the United Nations International Year for Volunteers: 2001 Parliamentary Message to the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries Cooperation between the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations 166th session Amman (Jordan) 1 and 6 May 2000 Results of the Parliamentary Meeting on the occasion of UNCTAD X Results of the Third CSCM Statement on "Financing for Development" Guidelines for the Content and Structure of Parliamentary Web sites 164th session Brussels (Belgium) 11 and 16 April 1999 Statement on "Tourism and the imperatives of sustainable development" Partnership between men and women at the Inter-Parliamentary Union Results of the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on "Attaining the World Food Summit's objectives through a sustainable development strategy" Practical modalities of the rights and responsibilities of observers at the IPU meetings 163rd session Moscow (Russia) 12 September 1998 International humanitarian law, the International Criminal Court and anti-personnel mines. 162nd session Windhoek (Namibia) 11 April 1998 Parliamentary action for national follow-up to international agreements and treaties regarding women Parliamentary action to secure the entry into force and implementation of the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines Declaration on declining official development assistance and financial aid in general 161st session Cairo (Egypt) 16 September 1997 Universal Declaration on Democracy 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Co-operation between the Union and the FAO 160th session Seoul (Republic of Korea) 12 April 1997 Overall review of parliamentary action to implement Agenda 21 159th session Beijing (China) 21 September 1996 Priority actions for implementation by parliaments of the results of the World Summit for Social Development 158th session Istanbul (Turkey) 20 April 1996 The follow-up to Rio: Financing and transfer of technology Parliamentary support to the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) 157th session Bucharest (Romania) 14 October 1995 Co-operation with the United Nations Promoting respect for international humanitarian law 154th session Paris (France) 26 March 1994 Declaration on criteria for free and fair elections Action in support of the International Conference on Population And Development 153rd session Canberra (Australia) 13 September 1993 Parliamentary support to the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the International Labour Organisation and of the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the ILO's Declaration of Philadelphia 152nd session New Delhi (India) 17 April 1993 Support for the United Nations International Year of the Family 151st session Stockholm (Sweden) 12 September 1992 Support for the International Conference on Assistance to African Children On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, the Inter-Parliamentary Council held a Special Session at the UN Headquarters in New York and adopted a Declaration entitled "The parliamentary vision for international co-operation into the 21st century".