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CHRP

IPU marks 50 years of defending parliamentarians’ rights

Geneva, Switzerland, 14 April 2026 The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is marking a major milestone this year: the 50th anniversary of its Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians , a unique international body which has spent the past five decades
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Voices and videos
Youth representation in parliament

Youth in parliament: Watch the latest IPU explainer

According to the latest report from the IPU, only 2.8% of Members of Parliament worldwide are aged 30 or under, unchanged since 2023. Even more concerning, over a third of parliamentary chambers worldwide have no MPs under 30. When half
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Press releases
Youth participation 2025

Youth representation in parliament flatlines for first time in 12 years

Geneva, Switzerland, 9 April 2026 For the first time in over a decade, global youth representation in parliaments has shown no progress, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s (IPU) biennial report, Youth participation in national parliaments. The findings come amid growing
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This 2025 report is the sixth IPU review of youth participation in national parliaments. It maps the presence of young members of parliament (MPs) worldwide, providing the most recent data on the proportion of MPs aged 30 and under, and MPs aged 40 and under, at the time of the most recent election or renewal.

The report also provides insights on good practices to increase youth participation in parliament. Age data in this report comes from 210 parliamentary chambers in 155 countries and is current as of 31 July 2025.

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A4
News in brief
Ali France, MP, Australia

Ensuring diverse voices in parliaments: Lessons from 2025

The year 2025 saw mixed progress on women’s overall representation in parliament, but a key development was the visibility and election of several women from historically disadvantaged groups, including women with disabilities, young women and women from indigenous communities, as
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IT Governance Hub

ICT governance hub

The IT Governance Hub will host a webinar on digital accessibility at the European Parliament on 11 June 2026. Experts from the European Parliament’s Solution Design and Quality Assurance Unit will present the session, drawing on the experiences of the institution’s Directorate-General for Information Technologies and Cybersecurity (DG ITEC). It will explore how the European Parliament approaches digital accessibility across its public-facing websites, mobile applications, intranets and electronic documents. Presentations will cover the core principles of accessibility; the legislative landscape, including the Web Accessibility Directive and the European Accessibility Act; and the European Parliament’s internal governance structures, such as the Digital Accessibility Competence Centre and its Digital Accessibility Officers Network. The session will conclude with a live demonstration of the Citizens' App, illustrating how accessibility policy translates into a practical and inclusive user experience.

ICT governance hub

Parliamentary Data Science Hub

Parliamentary Data Science thematic hub

The Parliamentary Data Science Hub has two significant events on the horizon. On 23 March 2026, it is hosting a members-only webinar on AI policymaking in parliaments, bringing together representatives of the Parliament of Austria, the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, the House of Commons of Canada and Chamber of Deputies of Italy to exchange experiences and current practices. Looking ahead, the hub will hold its annual in-person meeting on 13–15 May 2026 in Rome, hosted by the Chamber of Deputies of Italy. The meeting will take stock of the current state of AI adoption across IPU Member Parliaments and explore next steps for exchanges and collaboration. A key output of the event will be a booklet of parliamentary AI case studies, to which participating parliaments will be encouraged to contribute.

Parliamentary Data Science thematic hub

Pacific Regional Hub

Pacific hub

The Pacific Regional Hub kicked off its 2026 hub webinar series with a session on cyber risks and parliamentary security. The webinar featured a presentation from the House of Representatives of New Zealand, which has developed a comprehensive cyber risk assessment tool for Pacific parliaments, enabling them to accurately measure their current level of cyber readiness. The tool also presents a tailored 12-month road map for improving resilience, spanning a range of interventions from short-term, low-cost measures to more complex technical upgrades, and offering parliaments a practical and graduated pathway to strengthening their cybersecurity.

Pacific hub

Southern Africa Regional Hub

Southern African hub

The Southern Africa Regional Hub convened its first hub meeting of the year on 25 February 2026, bringing together parliamentary staff from across the region to set a collective direction for the year ahead. Members agreed on a focused set of priorities for the year ahead, including webinars on voice-to-text and AI-supported parliamentary reporting, cybersecurity policies and user awareness, digital accessibility and inclusion technologies, and practical applications of AI in parliament. 

The hub co-ordinators invited parliaments to provide updates on their current digital transformation initiatives as a way of sharing knowledge and building opportunities for focused collaboration.

Southern African hub
Thematic

Parliamentary Data Science Hub

Parliamentary Data Science thematic hub

The Parliamentary Data Science Hub has two significant events on the horizon. On 23 March 2026, it is hosting a members-only webinar on AI policymaking in parliaments, bringing together representatives of the Parliament of Austria, the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, the House of Commons of Canada and Chamber of Deputies of Italy to exchange experiences and current practices. Looking ahead, the hub will hold its annual in-person meeting on 13–15 May 2026 in Rome, hosted by the Chamber of Deputies of Italy. The meeting will take stock of the current state of AI adoption across IPU Member Parliaments and explore next steps for exchanges and collaboration. A key output of the event will be a booklet of parliamentary AI case studies, to which participating parliaments will be encouraged to contribute.

Parliamentary Data Science thematic hub

IT Governance Hub

ICT governance hub

The IT Governance Hub will host a webinar on digital accessibility at the European Parliament on 11 June 2026. Experts from the European Parliament’s Solution Design and Quality Assurance Unit will present the session, drawing on the experiences of the institution’s Directorate-General for Information Technologies and Cybersecurity (DG ITEC). It will explore how the European Parliament approaches digital accessibility across its public-facing websites, mobile applications, intranets and electronic documents. Presentations will cover the core principles of accessibility; the legislative landscape, including the Web Accessibility Directive and the European Accessibility Act; and the European Parliament’s internal governance structures, such as the Digital Accessibility Competence Centre and its Digital Accessibility Officers Network. The session will conclude with a live demonstration of the Citizens' App, illustrating how accessibility policy translates into a practical and inclusive user experience.

ICT governance hub
Regional

Southern Africa Regional Hub

Southern African hub

The Southern Africa Regional Hub convened its first hub meeting of the year on 25 February 2026, bringing together parliamentary staff from across the region to set a collective direction for the year ahead. Members agreed on a focused set of priorities for the year ahead, including webinars on voice-to-text and AI-supported parliamentary reporting, cybersecurity policies and user awareness, digital accessibility and inclusion technologies, and practical applications of AI in parliament. 

The hub co-ordinators invited parliaments to provide updates on their current digital transformation initiatives as a way of sharing knowledge and building opportunities for focused collaboration.

Southern African hub

Pacific Regional Hub

Pacific hub

The Pacific Regional Hub kicked off its 2026 hub webinar series with a session on cyber risks and parliamentary security. The webinar featured a presentation from the House of Representatives of New Zealand, which has developed a comprehensive cyber risk assessment tool for Pacific parliaments, enabling them to accurately measure their current level of cyber readiness. The tool also presents a tailored 12-month road map for improving resilience, spanning a range of interventions from short-term, low-cost measures to more complex technical upgrades, and offering parliaments a practical and graduated pathway to strengthening their cybersecurity.

Pacific hub

In this issue, we explore how the Senate of Spain applied the IPU’s Maturity Framework for AI in Parliaments and discovered that strong technical progress could mask significant gaps in governance and democratic impact. We also examine how the Federal Assembly of Switzerland is embedding trust at the heart of its AI design, going beyond efficiency to uphold democratic values in its Parliamentary Library.

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