Secretary General

The Secretary General, as the Chief Executive of the Organisation, manages the IPU and is accountable to the Governing Council. Working with the President, the Secretary General plays a critical role in defining and implementing the IPU’s strategic direction under the supervision of the Executive Committee.

The Secretary General heads the Secretariat and ensures that the decisions of the IPU Membership are implemented and that the necessary resources are mobilised. The Secretary General facilitates the political work of the Organisation, including the members and the Governing Bodies. The Secretary General also ensures the representation of the IPU at major conferences and strengthens cooperation with other international organizations.

IPU Secretaries General are not serving MPs. They are committed to promoting and building democracy from a background which may be in public administration, international law and cooperation, or other relevant fields.

The Secretary General is initially elected for a term of four years, which can be renewed. He or she is elected by secret ballot by the Governing Council from a shortlist of applicants recommended by the Executive Committee.

There have been ten Secretaries General since the IPU was founded in 1889. Two of them—Norway’s Christian Lange and Sweden’s Albert Gobat—are among the nine IPU figures who have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

The current Secretary General is Anda Filip.

Anda Filip, IPU Secretary General © IPU

Anda Filip biography

Anda Filip is the first woman and the first Eastern European to serve as Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in its 13 decades of history. She was elected by a large majority of IPU Member Parliaments at the 153rd Assembly in Istanbul in April 2026 and took office on 1 July 2026 for an initial mandate of four years.

Anda Filip has been with the IPU since 2003, playing a central role in facilitating parliamentary dialogue and diplomacy, deepening the Organization’s engagement with its 183 Member Parliaments, and fostering wider partnerships.

She first served as the IPU Permanent Observer to the United Nations in New York, where she helped advance the parliamentary dimension of the UN’s work by building bridges between global commitments and national parliamentary action. Her work supported the development of practical tools and the introduction of specialized parliamentary meetings linked to major UN processes, helping ensure that the international agenda was reflected in the day-to-day work of parliaments.

In 2011, Anda Filip became Director for Member Parliaments and External Relations at the IPU’s headquarters in Geneva. In that role, she was responsible for strengthening relations with IPU Member Parliaments, advancing universal membership, organizing the IPU’s statutory Assemblies and World Conferences of Speakers of Parliament, and overseeing outreach and cooperation with other international organizations and partners.

In 2022, she became Secretary of the IPU Task Force on the peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine, a role which drew on her experience in international dialogue and parliamentary diplomacy.

Before joining the IPU, Anda Filip was a diplomat with Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She served as spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, Minister Counsellor at the Embassy of Romania in Washington, DC, and Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Romania to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva.

She is also a Councillor at the World Future Council, a non-profit foundation that advocates for the rights of future generations by promoting future-just policy solutions.

Anda Filip holds a bachelor’s degree in philology from the University of Bucharest and a master’s degree in international relations from the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration.

Latest speeches by the Secretary General