Month: December 2021

As President and Secretary General, we reiterate our commitment to mobilizing parliaments worldwide toward a fairer, more inclusive and egalitarian future.

IPU’s end of year statement on 2021: A year when attacks on democracy intensified

End-of-year statement by President Duarte Pacheco and Secretary General Martin Chungong. 2021 bore witness to several assaults on democracy, starting with what many saw as one of its bastions – the US Congress. Then Myanmar suffered a bloody military coup which unravelled in an instant nearly a decade of democratic progress led by its elected […]

In Spring 2021, the IPU launched the I Say Yes to Youth in Parliament! campaign. It calls for action in and through parliaments to have more young women and men MPs.

IPU’s “I Say Yes to Youth in Parliament!” campaign goes global

Just over ten years ago, IPU Member Parliaments adopted a landmark resolution on youth participation to encourage the rejuvenation of parliaments. Since then, parliaments from around the world have made some limited progress in its implementation. However, the level of youth representation in parliament, as measured regularly by the IPU, remains low. Half the world’s population is […]

Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint. © EyePress via AFP

Political instability accounts for record number of persecuted MPs worldwide

The IPU has recorded another all-time high number of parliamentarians suffering from alleged human rights violations according to its annual figures released on the eve of Human Rights Day. The data reveal that at least 673 parliamentarians from 44 countries are under threat, most of them in countries experiencing political instability. The 2021 numbers confirm a consistent increase since 2014 […]

Martin Chungong is the eighth Secretary General of the IPU since its foundation in 1889. He was first elected in 2014. Of Cameroonian nationality, he is the first non-European and the first African to be IPU Secretary General.

Martin Chungong re-elected Secretary General of the IPU at 143rd IPU Assembly

At the 143rd IPU Assembly in Madrid, Spain, last week, Martin Chungong was unanimously re-elected for a third four-year term as Secretary General of the IPU. Martin Chungong is the eighth Secretary General of the IPU since its foundation in 1889. He was first elected in 2014. Of Cameroonian nationality, he is the first non-European and the first African […]