Handbooks

The Handbook for Parliamentarians No. 27 – A Guide to international refugee protection and building state asylum systems, jointly published by the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) addresses contemporary challenges and sets out applicable international legal standards and obligations for refugees and others in need of international protection in a way that is intended to be as accessible and yet as comprehensive as possible.

This self-assessment toolkit, produced by the IPU and  the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), provides parliaments with the framework to evaluate their readiness to engage on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It further helps parliamentarians identify good practices, opportunities and lessons learned on how to effectively institutionalize the SDGs and mainstream them into the legislative process.

Drawing on IPU’s extensive experience, this toolkit should help parliaments evaluate how gender sensitive they are, assess their current practices and policies, identify possible areas for reform, plan for change, and establish mechanisms to monitor progress.

The first edition of this Handbook was issued more than ten years ago. This long-awaited update includes references to new human rights instruments and mechanisms, and to new challenges, opportunities and threats.

This Handbook is the most recent outcome of many fruitful years of cooperation and partnership between the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the International Committee of the Red Cross. It is specially designed to familiarize parliamentarians with the general principles of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols and guide them in the process of implementing this body of law in their respective countries.

There are an estimated 10 million people in the world who are not recognized as a national of any country, i.e. stateless. Every year, tens of thousands of children are born stateless. Statelessness is not just about identity but also about protection and access to education, health, employment and other rights such as political participation. Parliamentarians can help end statelessness by adopting and ensuring implementation of legislation that is consistent with international law as well as promoting State accession to the two UN statelessness conventions.

Although indigenous peoples make up five per cent of the global population, they account for one third of the one billion extremely poor rural people. In addition, indigenous peoples suffer widespread violations of rights and are often excluded from decision making at all levels. This Handbook for Parliamentarians Implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples aims to help MPs to take concrete action through legislation, government oversight and resource allocation in order to improve the socio-economic conditions and political marginalization of indigenous peoples.

This handbook, a collaborative effort of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UNICEF, addresses some of the key ways in which parliamentarians can guarantee that children's voices, concerns and interests find expression in and are taken into account by parliaments.

The purpose of this Handbook is to provide in a concise manner an overview of the ICT software, systems and services that can be adopted by parliamentary libraries, a template for their implementation and a series of references to which parliamentary staff can refer while planning to transform their library into an ICT-based institution. The Handbook is a joint publication of the IPU, the UN and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) through the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament.

This Handbook, produced jointly by IPU and PNND, is intended to assist parliaments and MPs to take bold action in implementing the 2009 ground-breaking IPU Resolution on advancing nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. It supports the UN Secretary-General’s five-point proposal for a nuclear weapons-free world. The Handbook also highlights a wide range of good policies and practices designed to promote nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation while exploring what MPs can do to fashion the legislative agendas needed to advance these major goals.

 

With more people internally displaced in the world than before, this Handbook for Parliamentarians jointly produced with UNHCR will help countries and parliaments dealing with such crises to put in place effective legislation and guidance on its implementation.

 

How can MPs more effectively tackle one of the most serious developmental issues the world faces – maternal and new-born child health? IPU’s Handbook for Parliamentarians no 21 is a highly practical resource for MPs everywhere to use in their work to dramatically reduce maternal and child mortality rates.

 

The Handbook provides examples of best legislative and regulatory practices gathered from around the world. Best practicesare given for each of the twelve guidelines contained in the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights published in 1998 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). The Handbook presents concrete measures that legislators can take to protect human rights and promote public health in responding to the epidemic.

This handbook features a comprehensive and educational presentation of international refugee law and its development over the 50-year period following the adoption of the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. It gives an overview of the issues and explains what parliamentarians can do to help provide protection to refugees and displaced persons. It also proposes model instruments and reference materials to facilitate the work of legislators.
 

This handbook offers an educational approach to this complex subject and to Convention N° 182, the cornerstone of international action to combat the worst forms of child labour. It provides examples of best practices and gives an overview of what parliamentarians can do to help eradicate the various forms of abuse to which child workers are exposed. It also proposes model instruments and reference material as aids designed to facilitate the work of legislators.

This handbook offers a comprehensive set of practices and mechanisms which might shape parliament's contribution to security oversight. It has been written on the assumption that there is no single model of parliamentary oversight which works for all countries. The rules and practices that are accepted and effective in one place may be unthinkable or irrelevant in another. Moreover, all parliaments do not have the same powers. Given these different realities, some of the suggestions the handbook contains may inevitably appear excessively idealistic.