The IPU facilitates parliamentary diplomacy and empowers parliaments and parliamentarians to promote peace, democracy and sustainable development around the world.
Nearly every country in the world has some form of parliament. Parliamentary systems fall into two categories: bicameral and unicameral. Out of 190 national parliaments in the world, 78 are bicameral (156 chambers) and 112 are unicameral, making a total of 268 chambers of parliament with some 46,000 members of parliament. IPU membership is made up of 181 national parliaments
Throughout the year, the IPU and its Members organize many events for parliamentarians to exchange good practices, acquire the latest information and identify avenues for action.
The IPU has been collecting data on parliaments since its inception in 1889, including information on women’s participation in politics since 1945. In this section, discover the IPU's knowledge bank for and about parliaments.
The 141st Assembly of the IPU will take place in Belgrade, Serbia, on 13-17 October 2019. All IPU statutory bodies, including the Governing Council, Standing Committees, Committees on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians and on Middle East Questions, as well as the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Forum of Young MPs, will meet on this occasion.
Documents in Spanish (the translation is the responsibility of the GRULAC Secretariat) / Documentos en español (La traducción es responsabilidad de la Secretaría del GRULAC)
App for the Assembly
Download the Assembly App. It is open only to official delegates. Please contact the Secretariat ([email protected]) for more details.
Deadlines
The deadlines pertaining to the preparation of resolutions for the Standing Committee on Peace and International Security and the Standing Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade are the following. Please note that all Members can contribute to the drafting of resolutions by submitting a brief written input (Article 13.1 of the Rules of the Standing Committees) before 1 November 2019.
Date
Action
13-17 October 2019
Debate on the subject item at the 141st IPU Assembly.
1 November 2019
Deadline for Member Parliaments to submit written contributions to the resolution. Members should provide a maximum of 2 pages.
9 December 2019
Deadline for the co-rapporteurs to submit the draft resolution and explanatory memorandum to the IPU Secretariat.
27 March 2020
Deadline for Member Parliaments to submit written amendments to the draft resolution.
16-19 April 2020
Committee meets to debate, amend and adopt the draft resolution. Co-rapporteurs present the draft resolution and provide advice throughout the drafting process.
20 April 2020
142nd IPU Assembly formally adopts the resolution.
Note about interpretation
The interpretation of proceedings serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic or verbatim record of the proceedings. Only the original speech is authentic.
La interpretación de las intervenciones sirve para facilitar la comunicación, pero en modo alguno constituye una grabación auténtica o literal de las mismas. Sólo las intervenciones originales son autenticas.
الترجمة الشفوية في المداولات الغرض منها تسهيل التواصل ولا تشكل أي محضر ذي حجية أو محضر حرفي للمداولات. ويتمتع الخطاب الأصلي وحده بالحجية
Thursday, 10 October 2019
- Thursday, 10 October 2019
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Beginning of Registration
Lobby, Building A, Sava Centre
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Sub-Committee on Finance (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
Friday, 11 October 2019
- Friday, 11 October 2019
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Executive Committee (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Executive Committee (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
Saturday, 12 October 2019
- Saturday, 12 October 2019
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Gender Partnership Group (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (Closed meeting)
Hall 3/1 (first floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Executive Committee (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (Closed meeting)
Hall 3/1 (first floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Executive Committee (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
Sunday, 13 October 2019
- Sunday, 13 October 2019
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Bureau of Women Parliamentarians (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Meeting of Advisers and Secretaries to delegations
Hall 2/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Forum of Women Parliamentarians
Amphitheatre (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Meeting with the Chairpersons of the Geopolitical Groups and Presidents of the Standing Committees (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Group of Facilitators for Cyprus (Closed meeting)
Hall 15/1 (first floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Break out Group of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians
Hall 3/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Forum of Women Parliamentarians
Amphitheatre (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (Closed meeting)
Hall 3/1 (first floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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High-Level Advisory Group on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Inaugural Ceremony
Monday, 14 October 2019
- Monday, 14 October 2019
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Assembly Steering Committee (Closed meeting)
Delegation Unit 10 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Board of the Forum of Young Parliamentarians (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Governing Council
Hall 1/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights Debate on the draft resolution Achieving universal health coverage by 2030: The role of parliaments in ensuring the right to health
Amphitheatre (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Standing Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade Segment on preparations for the Parliamentary Meeting at the United Nations Climate Change Conference(COP 25) in Chile in December 2019; Debate on Mainstreaming digitalization and the circular economy to achieve the SDGs, particularly responsible consumption and production
Hall 3/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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ASGP Meeting
Hall 2/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Assembly: Start of the General Debate Theme: Strengthening international law: Parliamentary roles and mechanisms, and the contribution of regional cooperation
Hall 1/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Committee to Promote Respect for International Humanitarian Law (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
01:00 PM
Group photo – All Heads of delegation
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Assembly: General Debate
Hall 1/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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ASGP Meeting
Hall 2/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (Closed meeting)
Hall 3/1 (first floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights Drafting in plenary of the draft resolution on Achieving universal health coverage by 2030: The role of parliaments in ensuring the right to health
Amphitheatre (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Forum of Young Parliamentarians of the IPU
Hall 3/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Assembly Decision on the emergency item
Hall 1/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
Tuesday, 15 October 2019
- Tuesday, 15 October 2019
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Bureau of the Standing Committee on United Nations Affairs (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Bureau of the Standing Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade
Hall 15/1 (first floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Assembly: Debate on the emergency item
Hall 1/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights Completion of drafting in plenary of the draft resolution Achieving universal health coverage by 2030: The role of parliaments in ensuring the right to health
Amphitheatre (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (Closed meeting)
Hall 3/1 (first floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Assembly: Continuation of the General Debate
Hall 1/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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ASGP Meeting
Hall 2/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Bureau of the Standing Committee on Peace and International Security (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Advisory Group on Health (English only) (Closed meeting)
Hall 15/1 (first floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Workshop on Leaving no one behind in political representation: Gender and youth quotas
Hall 3/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Assembly: Special segment to mark the 130th Anniversary of the IPU
Hall 1/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Committee on Middle East Questions (Closed meeting)
Hall 3/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Speakers’ Dialogue Roundtable and break-out sessions (Closed meeting)
Halls 3/1 and 15/1 (first floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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ASGP Meeting
Hall 2/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Standing Committee on Peace and International Security Panel discussion on the implementation of the 2014 resolution entitled Towards a nuclear-weapon-free world: The contribution of parliaments; Discussion on the theme of Criminalization of money laundering
Amphitheatre (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Assembly: Continuation of the General Debate
Hall 1/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Possible drafting committee on the emergency item (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Workshop on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: 30 years on, achievements and challenges
Hall 3/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
Wednesday, 16 October 2019
- Wednesday, 16 October 2019
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Gender Partnership Group (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Parity debate on the theme #Not In My Parliament: National and regional strategies
Amphitheatre (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Bureau of the Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights (Closed meeting)
Hall 3/1 (first floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Assembly: Continuation of the General Debate
Hall 1/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Workshop on SDG 8: Achieving full and productive employment and decent work for all: The economic challenge of our time
Hall 15/1 (first floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Executive Committee (Closed meeting)
Art Caffe (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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ASGP Meeting
Hall 2/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Standing Committee on Peace and International Security Expert hearing Parliamentary strategies to strengthen peace and security against threats and conflicts resulting from climate-related disasters and their consequences
Amphitheatre (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Open session of the Committee to Promote Respect for International Humanitarian Law Placing humanity first: The Geneva Conventions – Protecting people in armed conflict for 70 years
Hall 3/1 (first floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Side event on the theme Reaching the hard-to-reach: How to make UHC a reality for all?
Hall 15/1 (first floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Standing Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade Debate on follow-up to the resolution adopted in March 2014: Towards risk-resilient development: Taking into consideration demographic trends and natural constraints
Amphitheatre (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Committee on Middle East Questions (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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ASGP Meeting
Hall 2/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (Closed meeting)
Hall 3/1 (first floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Assembly Adoption of the resolution on the emergency item; Special segment: Future Policy Award 2019 on Youth Empowerment; Conclusion of the General Debate
Hall 1/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Standing Committee on United Nations Affairs Panel discussion: Respect for international law in keeping with the UN Charter and other relevant resolutions; Panel discussion: Survey on the relationship between parliaments and the United Nations
Hall 3/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights Adoption of the draft resolution on Achieving universal health coverage by 2030: The role of parliaments in ensuring the right to health
Amphitheatre (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
Thursday, 17 October 2019
- Thursday, 17 October 2019
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Bureau of Women Parliamentarians (Closed meeting)
Art Café (ground floor), Building B, Sava Centre
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Governing Council Decisions on the human rights of MPs, and Reports of specialized meetings
Hall 1/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
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Preliminary consultation on the 2021 Global Parliamentary Report: Parliament in a changing world Jointly organized by the IPU and the ASGP
Hall 3/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
14:30 -
Governing Council
Hall 1/0 (ground floor), Building A, Sava Centre
At the end of the Governing Council
Assembly Adoption of resolutions; Reports of the Standing Committees; Outcome document of the General Debate; and Closing sitting
Ms. Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva / Mme Tatiana Valovaya, Directrice Générale de l'Office des Nations Unies à Genève
Mr. Melvin Bouva, President, Board of the IPU Forum of Young Parliamentarians / M. Melvin Bouva, Président, Conseil du Forum des jeunes parlementaires de l'UIP
Mr. Gilles Carbonnier, Vice President, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) / M. Gilles Carbonnier, Vice-Président, Comité international de la Croix-Rouge (CICR)
Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, Chairperson in Office, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) / M. Miroslav Lajčák, Président en exercice, Organisation pour la sécurité et la coopération en Europe (OSCE)
First speakers from delegations (Non-Presiding Officers) and invited organizations /Premiers orateurs des délégations (hormis les Présidents de parlement) et des organisations invitées
Under the terms of Assembly Rule 11.1, any Member of the Union may request the inclusion of an emergency item in the Assembly agenda. Such a request must be accompanied by a brief explanatory memorandum and a draft resolution which clearly define the scope of the subject covered by the request. The Secretariat shall communicate the request and any such documents immediately to all Members.
(a) A request for the inclusion of an emergency item must relate to a major event of international concern on which it appears necessary for the IPU to express its opinion. Such a request must receive a two-thirds majority of the votes cast in order to be accepted;
(b) The Assembly may place only one emergency item on its agenda. Should several requests obtain the requisite majority, the one having received the largest number of positive votes shall be accepted;
(c) The authors of two or more requests for the inclusion of an emergency item may combine their proposals to present a joint one, provided that each of the original proposals relates to the same subject;
(d) The subject of a proposal that has been withdrawn by its authors or rejected by the Assembly cannot be included in the draft resolution submitted on the emergency item, unless it is clearly referred to in the request and title of the subject adopted by the Assembly.
Reporting by Members on follow-up to IPU decisions
In October 2017 (St. Petersburg), the Governing Council endorsed the Executive Committee’s recommendation to pursue a new approach to the annual reporting exercise by IPU Members whereby a number of parliaments from each geopolitical group would be selected on a rotational basis to share their experiences.
The following Guidelines for the periodic reporting exercise provide the reference framework for the new reporting exercise, as a transitional measure. If successful, the new modality would subsequently be reflected in the IPU Statutes and Rules.
GUIDELINES
1. All IPU Members shall submit periodic reports, on average once every four years. The IPU Secretariat shall facilitate the exercise by preparing a questionnaire.
2. The periodic reports shall focus on parliamentary follow-up to:
Resolutions of the Standing Committees;
Resolutions relating to the emergency item;
Outcome documents of the General Debate;
Decisions of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians;
Plans of Action (such as the 2012 IPU Plan of Action for Gender-sensitive Parliaments);
Initiatives of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and of the Forum of Young MPs of the IPU;
Outcome documents of specialized meetings (such as regional and national seminars);
Decisions and recommendations of other IPU bodies.
3. In addition to their statutory reporting obligation on a rotational basis, IPU Members can submit, at any time, voluntary reports on parliamentary follow-up action.
4. The Executive Committee and geopolitical group Chairpersons shall monitor the submission of reports under the rotational system and ensure that IPU Members meet their reporting obligations.
5. IPU Members are invited to submit periodic reports according to the order established in this list. When a Member cannot submit a report within the expected timeline, due to conditions beyond its control, it shall inform the Secretary General accordingly. Such a Member shall submit its report the following year.
The Secretary General will issue a report to the Governing Council based on input from Members. The IPU membership will be informed of the outcome of the reporting exercise during a dedicated session. The preceding report on action taken by Members to follow up on IPU decisions and resolutions is available here.
To know when your parliament is expected to take part in the reporting exercise, please see this list.
To access the 2019 questionnaire on follow-up to IPU decisions and resolutions please click here.
Remember that all IPU Members can submit voluntary reports at any time!