Migration takes centre stage for world’s MPs at global conference

Parliamentarians from over 137 countries will seek to identify and agree upon parliamentary inputs to the UN-led reforms on the rights and protection of migrants and refugees. Meeting at the 138 th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Geneva (24-28 March), more than 740 MPs, including 65 Speakers of Parliament and 216 women parliamentarians, will ensure that the interests of the 6.5 billion people they represent are part of the global negotiations on the new migration regime. MPs will look in detail at their contribution to ensuring domestic enforcement of the two related Global Compacts expected to be adopted by the UN community later this year.

With catastrophic climate change threatening to hit many parts of the world in just over a decade, 149 national parliaments have adopted an emergency resolution calling for decisive action. Concluding the 139 th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the resolution, called Climate change – Let us not cross the line, follows the report published last week by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). According to the IPCC report, limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires urgent and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.

Over 1300 MPs and parliamentary staff from around the world will meet in Geneva for the 139 th IPU Assembly from 14-18 October. Under the umbrella theme of science, technology and innovation, the Assembly will cover multiple subjects including fake news, sexism and harassment in parliaments, human rights, disarmament, counter-terrorism, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and migration.

Nearly 750 MPs worldwide condemned the discrimination and abuse of refugees and migrants at the conclusion of the 138 th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Geneva. The Assembly Declaration emphasized the critical role of parliaments in transforming the aspirations of the two Global Compacts – one on migrants and the other on refugees - into national laws.

Parliamentarians from across the globe declared their commitment to raising the alarm and taking action when serious human rights challenges emerge, particularly in conflict situations. In a declaration on human rights abuses as precursors of conflict, adopted at the conclusion of the 135 th IPU Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, IPU Members said that parliamentarians are the guardians of human rights and the rule of law, and if violations or challenges occur they are the early responders.

MPs from 138 countries will convene next week in Geneva to determine among other issues specific ways in which parliaments can respond effectively to serious human rights violations and their underlying causes, including human rights situations likely to lead to conflict.