- ImpactWe help parliaments to become greener and to implement the Paris agreement.We support democracy by strengthening parliamentsWe work to increase women’s representation in parliament and empower women MPs.We defend the human rights of parliamentarians and help them uphold the rights of all.We help parliaments fight terrorism, cyber warfare and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.We encourage youth participation in parliaments and empower young MPs.We support parliaments in implementing the SDGs with a particular focus on health and climate change.
- Parliaments
Nearly every country in the world has some form of parliament. Parliamentary systems fall into two categories: bicameral and unicameral. Out of 190 national parliaments in the world, 78 are bicameral (156 chambers) and 112 are unicameral, making a total of 268 chambers of parliament with some 44,000 members of parliament. IPU membership is made up of 180 national parliamentsFind a national parliament
The Swiss National Council © The Swiss Parliament
We help strengthen parliaments to make them more representative and effective.. - Knowledge
Discover the IPU's resources
Our library of essential resources for parliamentsGlobal data for and about national parliamentsLatest data and reports about women in parliamentResolutions, declarations and outcomes adopted by IPU MembersRecent innovations in the way parliaments workThe latest climate change legislation from the London School of Economics' database
Publications
The IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians is the only international mechanism with the remit of protecting and defending MPs suffering human right violations. This map lists the number of human rights cases examined by the Committee in
The 13th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament (13SWSP) was held on 6 September 2021 in Vienna (Austria) on the theme Women at the centre: From confronting the pandemic to preserving achievements in gender-responsive recovery. Over 26 of the world’s
At the start of 2020, preparations were well under way for the fifth such Conference to be held in Vienna, Austria, but the COVID-19 pandemic led to the decision to hold a virtual segment of the Conference in August 2020
The present regional study, the second in the series, focuses on parliaments in Africa and was carried out in partnership with the African Parliamentary Union (APU). It is based on confidential interviews conducted with 224 women parliamentarians and members of
Equality in law is crucial to gender equality, as women and girls look to the laws of their State to protect, fulfil and enforce their rights. Laws that discriminate and deny them equal rights with men and boys betray their
Reference
Parliamentarians have a key role to play in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including in ensuring that funding and resources are invested effectively to support sustainable development. In addition to their responsibilities for translating the SDGs into legislation and
In 2019, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) passed the following resolution calling on parliamentarians to include disaster risk reduction (DRR) in their strategies for implementing and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement. This toolkit explains the importance
The World e-Parliament Report 2020 documents the experiences, innovations and lessons learned in making sure parliaments continued to function during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report is based on data from 116 parliaments and focus groups involving 49 parliaments.
This 3-page brief is designed to help parliamentarians put in place the laws, get the funding and hold their governments to account when it comes to universal health coverage.
The 2020 Impact Report looks back at the results of IPU’s work in what was an exceptional year.
Summary of facts and figures on the participation of young people in politics based on 2020 figures. Learn about the IPU's work on youth empowerment.
This report is the fourth biennial IPU review of youth participation in national parliaments. It builds on the previous 2018 report by adding new data from the last two years, using age data from 148 parliamentary chambers, as well as other quantitative and qualitative data from 258 chambers.