The IPU facilitates parliamentary diplomacy and empowers parliaments and parliamentarians to promote peace, democracy and sustainable development around the world.
We help parliaments build peaceful and inclusive societies, fight terrorism and violent extremism and curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Nearly every country in the world has some form of parliament. Parliamentary systems fall into two categories: bicameral and unicameral. Out of 188 national parliaments in the world, 81 are bicameral (162 chambers) and 107 are unicameral, making a total of 269 chambers of parliament with some 44,000 members of parliament. IPU membership is made up of 183 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.
Uzbekistan's Parliamentary Commission on monitoring the implementation of national priorities and the SDGs is mandated to mainstream the SDGs across the core functions of Parliament, with a focus on strengthening parliament’s role in monitoring and overseeing government policies and actions
After the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the National Assembly of Thailand established the parliamentary Sub-Committee on Follow-up and Review of SDGs Implementation and International Obligations which is responsible for monitoring national compliance and progress in that
In 2020 the Spanish Senate formed a joint permanent parliamentary committee for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, involving members from both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate. One of the first tasks for the SDG Committee was to
In 2016, the National Assembly of Pakistan unanimously adopted a resolution on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, explicitly recognizing the direct applicability of the SDGs to the national development framework. After adoption of the resolution, the National Assembly established
The National Assembly of Nicaragua formed a monitoring group to oversee compliance with the SDGs. The Group prepares evaluation reports and develops other knowledge products to support MPs’ work. Close work with the General Directorate of Legislative Affairs and the
In implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Mexican Senate has established a Special Commission, comprised of 18 Senators from all political parties and across different states. Senators are also members of other commissions, which allows them to promote
The House of Representatives’ Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation has established a dedicated taskforce with two main objectives: (i) to facilitate systematic parliamentary engagement in the SDGs; and (ii) to build and promote partnerships with national and international partners for the
On the invitation of the Ukrainian and Russian Parliaments, the IPU Task Force for the peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine is visiting Kyiv and Moscow during the week of 11 July. The IPU delegation is led by the
The IPU Executive Committee met this week in Montevideo, Uruguay, for its 288 th session as well as to celebrate the 133 rd anniversary of the IPU on International Day of Parliamentarism on 30 June. In parallel, the IPU, in
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the global organization of national parliaments. It was founded 133 years ago as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 178 national Member