News in brief

On 30 June, International Day of Parliamentarism, the IPU celebrated its 130th anniversary in a ‘Quintet’ consisting of the Presidents of the most recent and future IPU Assemblies.

On 25 June, as part of the IPU's 130th anniversary celebrations, the Chair and Executive Committee of the British Group Inter-Parliamentary Union (BGIPU) invited members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords to attend a diplomatic reception in Speaker’s House. Members of the Diplomatic Corps, key stakeholders in the UK Parliament and a visiting delegation from the Italian Parliament were also invited (Italy was one of the nine original member countries of the IPU, along with the co-founders United Kingdom and France).

The Russian Parliament has issued a commemorative stamp for the International Day of Parliamentarism and the IPU’s 130th anniversary on 30 June.

The National Assembly of Serbia is displaying the IPU’s 130th anniversary exhibition: "1889-2019: Celebration of 130 Years of the IPU". The exhibition tells the rich story of the IPU, linking its past with its present impact.

Discover 130 years of IPU history in this 130-second video. What began in 1889 as a small group of parliamentarians, dedicated to promoting peace through parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue, has since grown into the global organization of national parliaments. By

In an area vulnerable to terrorism and violent extremism, the IPU, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in partnership with the National Assembly of Niger, organized a conference for parliamentarians from the region in Niamey from 12 to 14 June 2019.

The National People’s Congress of China will donate USD 1 million to the IPU for its work on countering terrorism and violent extremism. IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong and NPC Standing Committee Secretary General Yang Zhenwu signed the agreement today at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Mr. Chungong was in Beijing for an interregional conference on building parliamentary capacity and the further implementation of SDGs.

The Hungarian Parliament was the first IPU member to celebrate the IPU’s 130th anniversary at a special event in the National Assembly in Budapest on 5 June 2019. At the event, the Hungarian Post Office released two commemoration stamps designed by artist Eszter Domé, showing the Hungarian National Assembly and the IPU’s headquarters in Geneva.

Eighteen parliaments from the Asia-Pacific region met in Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia, from 27 to 28 May 2019, to assess their country’s progress in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to data from the United Nations, the region is lagging

At a technical briefing organized by the IPU and the World Health Organization (WHO) on 23 May during the World Health Assembly, parliamentarians discussed how to move forward on providing universal health coverage (UHC). IPU Members are expected to adopt

The IPU, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cement their cooperation in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism. The signing took

The IPU welcomes its 179th member, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, bringing the IPU one step closer to universal membership. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines joined the IPU at its 140th Assembly in Doha, Qatar, represented by the Speaker of the Parliament, Mr Thomas Sanga.

Watch the video The IPU and UN Women held a joint parliamentary event at the 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63) on 13 March 2019 in New York. Participants at the event discussed ways of

As part of the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on gender equality, the National Assembly of Mali and the IPU organized a workshop on improving women’s representation in parliament from 27 to 28 February 2019 in Bamako. The

Parliamentarians from 16 countries in the Middle East and North Africa are meeting in Egypt this week at a high-level regional conference to discuss the role of parliaments in combatting terrorism and violent extremism. The high-level regional conference will focus

As part of its work to help parliaments strengthen themselves, the IPU facilitated a six-day self-assessment with the National Assembly of Zambia. The exercise, which took place in Lusaka from 20 to 25 February 2019, used two of the IPU’s

On 21 and 22 February, the IPU and the United Nations, represented by the President of the General Assembly, brought together more than 200 parliamentarians from over 60 countries, as well as ambassadors, representatives from UN organizations, and experts for

The IPU and the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) have organized recently two workshops to help the parliaments of Zimbabwe and Burundi put in place the Paris Agreement on climate change. Over 300 MPs and parliamentary staff attended the

On 24–25 January 2019, the IPU helped co-organize the Arab Regional Parliamentary Forum on the 2030 Agenda with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Islamic Development Bank Group

As part of the IPU’s technical support to parliaments, a group of experts from the IPU was in N’Djamena in December 2018 to help strengthen the parliament as well as guide MPs on crafting better legislation, particularly around the Sustainable