Advancing the parliamentary dimension of Britain's foreign relations
Menu
Advancing the parliamentary dimension of Britain's foreign relations
Home » Archives for 2014

Year: 2014

The UK delegation at the 130th IPU Assembly

BGIPU’s Year in Review: 2014

In the 2014 calendar year, BGIPU hosted five inward delegations to the Palace of Westminster from the national Parliaments of Uruguay, Portugal, Sudan, Armenia, and Romania.  We also coordinated eight outward delegation visits to Armenia, Poland, Georgia, Nepal, UAE, Norway, Guatemala and Honduras as well as capacity building visits to Haiti and Guinea-Bissau.  BGIPU members also participated in IPU Assemblies and other inter-parliamentary fora to engage with counterparts from across the world on priority international issues.

EuropeInter-Parliamentary CooperationExecutive Committee
AGM.jpg

BGIPU Annual General Meeting adopts 2014 Annual Report

The Annual General Meeting of the British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, presided over by the Speaker of the House of Commons, The Rt Hon John Bercow MP, Honorary President of the Group, was held on Wednesday 3 December 2014 where BGIPU members adopted the 2014 Annual Report, including hearing financial statements from the Treasurer, made amendments to BGIPU Rules and elected the Executive Committee for 2014/15.

EuropeInter-Parliamentary CooperationExecutive Committee
Roundtable

Sharing perspectives with Romania on EU cooperation issues

BGIPU hosted a parliamentary delegation from Romania from 24-28 November 2014 led by Mr Dumitru Oprea, Chairman of the Democratic Liberal Party in the Senate. The key focus of the visit was on bilateral relations, EU cooperation and migration issues, providing valuable opportunities to explore the contribution being made by the Romanian community in the UK against the backdrop of the current UK debate regarding free movement provisions within the EU.

EuropeInter-Parliamentary CooperationInward Delegations
UNHearing1.jpg

Parliamentary Hearing at the UN debates post-2015 SDGs

This year’s Parliamentary Hearing at the UN, jointly convened by the IPU and the UN from 19-20 November, was entitled, “Ensuring a people-centred approach to the new SDGs: A shared responsibility”. Key issues which drove the discussion included: how economic and social inequality, as well as discrimination, risked undermining people-centred development; the need to strengthen transparency and accountability to the people in both the public and private sectors; the responsibility of governments vis-à-vis the market; and how countries could deal more effectively with their human rights responsibilities and obligations.

Global IssuesInter-Parliamentary CooperationIPU Activities & Conferences
Meeting with Congress Representative in Honduras

UK Delegation gains new insights into Guatemala & Honduras

A little bit of BGIPU history was made when a Parliamentary delegation from our Parliament visited Guatemala and Honduras in the second week of November. We had not sent a delegation to Guatemala since 2008 and Honduras had never had a visit from the BGIPU. The visit highlighted the key difficulties Guatemala and Honduras are facing in the light of the current security situation and social inequalities, in addition to seeing potential opportunities for British investment and economic engagement.

AmericasInter-Parliamentary CooperationOutward Delegations
Prison in Honduras

Why Human Rights in Guatemala and Honduras Matter

It’s difficult to comprehend the size of the human rights issues that face people in Guatemala and Honduras, as well as related countries. It’s often difficult to see how state funded and run human rights groups can effectively put pressure on national governments and one is left with the view that strengthened civil society and effective democracy will be much more effective.

AmericasHuman RightsOutward Delegations
IPUAssembly.jpg

Election of new IPU President to take center stage of 131st Assembly

The election of a new IPU President will be one of the main highlights of a content-rich 131st Assembly in Geneva on 12-16 October. The new president will take over from Abdelwahad Radi, who ends his three-year mandate at the end of the event. Over 120 IPU Member parliaments involving more than 650 MPs have so far registered to attend the 131st Assembly. Among them, there are more than 75 Speakers and Deputy Speakers of Parliament, as well as a significant percentage of women and young MPs.

EuropeHuman RightsIPU Activities & Conferences
UK Delegation thank Outgoing President Radi

131st IPU Assembly highlights gender equality & global threats

The 131st IPU Assembly met in Geneva from 12 to 16 October 2014 with over 1,500 participants including 725 parliamentarians from 144 parliaments, with 113 Speakers or Deputy Speakers and 234 women MPs, and welcomed back Madagascar and Guinea bringing total IPU membership to 166 of the world’s parliaments.  In an Assembly which saw S H Chowdhury elected as the new IPU President, key issues addressed including gender equity and violence against women, the current Ebola crisis and the threat of terrorism and extremism.

EuropeInter-Parliamentary CooperationIPU Activities & Conferences
wpsparli3.jpg

Panel discussion on UK National Action Plan on Women, Peace & Security

On 15 October, BGIPU co-hosted with civil society organizations Womankind and Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS UK), a lunchtime panel discussion on “Implementing the UK National Action Plan on Women, Peace & Security: How parliamentarians can engage.” Drawing on the recently launched UK National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security, participants highlighted the importance of recognising the role women can play in addressing conflict and the differing impacts of violent conflict on women and girls, including the need to address sexual violence in conflict.

Global IssuesHuman RightsBGIPU Seminars & Events
Delegation at Oslo Uni.JPG

Relations with the EU: The Norway example

No conversation about the UK and its relationship with the European Union is complete without someone talking about Norway at some stage or another. We don’t want to be like Norway, say some whilst others suggest that Norway is an example of what the future for a United Kingdom outside the EU could look like. Norway is an economically successful country and not part of the EU. But not all is quite as straightforward as it seems as we found out on our visit to Oslo in September this year.

EuropeInter-Parliamentary CooperationOutward Delegations
 

REGION

Africa Americas Asia-Pacific Europe Middle East Global Issues

REGION

Africa Americas Asia-Pacific Europe Middle East Global Issues

ACTIVITY

Inward Delegations Outward Delegations Executive Committee IPU Activities & Conferences BGIPU Seminars & Events APPGs

ACTIVITY

Inward Delegations Outward Delegations Executive Committee IPU Activities & Conferences BGIPU Seminars & Events APPGs

THEME

Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Human Rights Peace & Security Trade and Sustainable Development Political Empowerment

THEME

Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Human Rights Peace & Security Trade and Sustainable Development Political Empowerment

YEAR

YEAR

Our latest work