News in brief

Communities impacted by climate change are often already struggling with poverty. Floods, storms, unreliable rainfall, and hotter and drier conditions further affect access to human rights and basic needs such as water, food, livelihoods and land. Sometimes, the consequences of

As Liz Truss becomes the UK’s next PM, here’s how women parliamentarians can gain ground in politics. Succeeding in politics is tough – succeeding as a woman is even harder. Millions of women around the world face discrimination, sexism and

The IPU has made bold commitments and taken steps towards ensuring women and girls’ voices are heard in decision-making, and that young women are politically empowered. The IPU collaborates with strong partners such as the Generation Equality Forum (GEF), a

Dozens of parliamentarians from the Asia-Pacific region have called on the big carbon polluters to shoulder more responsibility for climate change and to meet their obligations under the Paris Agreement. The parliamentarians met in Islamabad, Pakistan, on 13-14 September, for

Democratization is under pressure across the globe. Here are five major threats to democracy, and how to mitigate them. Democracy is as precarious as it is precious. Some 25 years after the IPU issued its Universal Declaration on Democracy, its

As the IPU 14th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament approaches, here’s everything you need to know about the state of play for today’s female leaders. It’s no secret that women have had to put up a tenacious fight to

Parliamentarians from the National Assembly of Djibouti have been showcasing their work to promote and protect human rights through a new communications campaign launched by the President of the National Assembly and targeted at the country’s citizens. The campaign is

The House of Parliaments welcomed a high-level delegation from Mongolia on 15 August. Led by the Secretary General of the Mongolian Parliament, Ms. Luvsandorj Ulziisaikhan, the delegation included parliamentary and government officials, as well as representatives from the Swiss Cooperation

On this International Youth Day, the IPU congratulates all the young MPs making a mark in their respective parliaments. They are the future of democracy but with less than 3% of MPs under 30, young people remain severely under-represented. Increasing

Research shows that female political leadership directs countries to adopt more robust climate change policies. Even though women globally are just 26.3 per cent of all parliamentarians, they are able to make a disproportionate impact. The IPU is committed to

The National Assembly of Cabo Verde hosted a meeting of the IPU’s Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries last week in Praia on the theme Climate change in the face of the challenges of sustainable development. The Portuguese-speaking parliaments shared the specific

The IPU Executive Committee met this week in Montevideo, Uruguay, for its 288th session as well as to celebrate the 133rd anniversary of the IPU on International Day of Parliamentarism on 30 June. In parallel, the IPU, in partnership with

A new resolution on the interaction between the United Nations, parliaments and the IPU was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 21 June 2022. The resolution reaffirms the commitment of the UN and the IPU to deepen the

Some 300 parliamentarians and parliamentary staff, including 16 Speakers and Deputy Speakers, from over 50 countries convened in Türkiye on 20-21 June for a global parliamentary conference on migration, organized jointly by the IPU and the Grand National Assembly of

A newly-formed IPU Task Force made up of parliamentarians from around the world met virtually on 25 April to explore possible parliamentary solutions to contribute to an end to the war in Ukraine. This diplomatic effort at the global parliamentary level aims to complement on-going peace efforts at the governmental and UN level.

On 15 and 16 June, some 200 young parliamentarians from 60 countries convened in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt for the Eight IPU Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians. The conference was jointly organized by the IPU and the Parliament of Egypt. This year’s

All 151 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 of the 76 Senate seats were up for reelection in the recent Australian parliament elections. The Labor Party, led by Anthony Albanese, beat the incumbent Liberal/National coalition government. According to

As the international organization of parliaments, the IPU is committed to strengthening the relationship between the elected and the electors. The Global Parliamentary Report 2022, published jointly by the IPU and UNDP, focuses on improving that relationship through better engagement

Although the concept of “science diplomacy” is barely a decade old, it is becoming a well-established marriage of the two fields in which the soft power of science is harnessed to encourage countries to work together, and diplomacy supports scientific

The Global Parliamentary Report 2022, published jointly by the IPU and United Nations Development Programme, takes a detailed look at why public engagement matters and how parliaments across the world are engaging with their communities. The findings reveal major trends