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.
As part of the IPU series 'A conversation with...', we interview parliamentarians from all over the world to find out who they represent and what motivates them. In this edition, we discover Hon. Benjamin Kalu, Deputy Speaker of the House
Opinion piece on orphanage trafficking by Ms. Linda Reynolds, member of the Senate of Australia Today, more than 50 million of our fellow human beings have been trafficked into slavery . As legislators, determining how to effectively tackle such a
Since 2010, inspired by the example set by the Parliament of Finland, several parliaments have established Committees of the Future – dedicated committees to address future issues and explore potential solutions. The relatively short operational history of these committees, combined
As part of the IPU series 'A conversation with...', we interview parliamentarians from all over the world to find out who they represent and what motivates them. In this edition, we discover Dr. Alma Jervase Yak, a member of parliament
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is pleased to announce the Global Conference of Women Parliamentarians From Mexico to the World: Let’s mobilize for gender parity! which will be held in Mexico City from 13 to 16 March 2025. The Conference is
Parliament can strengthen its capacity to design forward-looking national strategies and foster foresight-based governance by collaborating with external experts to leverage collective intelligence. This approach allows parliament to overcome its internal resource limitations and anticipate future challenges by integrating external
In this edition of the IPU series 'A conversation with...', we discover Mohamed Ahamada Baco, a parliamentarian from Comoros and First Vice-President of the Assembly of the Union of Comoros.