Some 500 parliamentarians and parliamentary staff from over 80 countries participated in the first of a series of webinars co-organized by the IPU, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) on . The webinar, Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic: Parliamentary action to reduce risks, strengthen emergency preparedness […]
On International Day of Multilateralism on 24 April, information collected by the IPU shows that parliaments all over the world are working together in their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through its campaign Parliaments in a time of pandemic, the IPU is helping to facilitate inter-parliamentary coordination and solidarity by collating and sharing examples of […]
Today – on 16 April 2020 – we were supposed to meet in Geneva at the opening of the regular 142nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. As you know, the Assembly has been postponed, as have practically all major multilateral meetings planned for this time. The human race faces a new global threat, the biggest […]
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have taken sweeping steps – even declared states of emergency – to stop the spread of the virus and protect their populations. Most of these steps have important consequences for human rights. How can basic human rights standards guide country efforts to respond to the health […]
Women are on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the OECD, 70 per cent of health workers are women. Women make up the majority of carers in the home and workers in grocery stores or pharmacies. The economic downturn will disproportionately affect women more than men. Women workers are also more likely than […]
Joint Statement The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments and empowers parliamentarians to promote peace, democracy and sustainable development. Working together within this institution, we strongly support the UN Secretary-General’s appeal for an immediate global ceasefire in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Coronavirus is a common enemy of all people in the […]
Opinion Piece by Helga Fogstad, Executive Director, Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), and Martin Chungong, Board Member, PMNCH, and Secretary General of the IPU. On this World Health Day, occurring in the midst of the greatest pandemic the world has seen since the 1918 influenza, we are reminded of the centrality of […]
The IPU continues to be concerned about the fate of opposition MPs in detention in Venezuela particularly in Iight of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the World Health Organization, people in prison and other confined places of detention, are more vulnerable to the coronavirus disease outbreak than the general population. The IPU renews its calls […]
Release by the House of Commons Influential House of Commons Select Committees – such as the Treasury Committee – are now hosting ‘virtual’ meetings to enable MPs to hold the Government to account during the coronavirus crisis. Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said the temporary measure will mean there is no need for MPs to attend […]
Release by the House of Commons on 1 April 2020 Parliament should be able to operate ‘virtually’ if the UK ‘is still in the grip of the coronavirus crisis’ at the time the House is due to return on 21 April, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has insisted. MPs should still be able to take part […]
