Activities: IPU Activities & Conferences

Álvaro Malmierca and Martin Chungong signing the agreement flanked by Beatriz Argimon and Gustavo Sánchez on the left and Duarte Pacheco on the right.

IPU and Uruguay sign agreement to open future regional office

On the eve of its 134-year anniversary and the International Day of Parliamentarism, the IPU and Uruguay have signed an agreement with the objective of opening a regional IPU office in Montevideo. The future office will be a pilot project designed to deepen the IPU’s engagement with parliaments in the Latin American and Caribbean region by encouraging […]

The IPU was born 134 years ago this week. Discover our history in 134 seconds

On 30 June 1889, visionary parliamentarians Frédéric Passy of France and William Randall Cremer of the United Kingdom brought together MPs from Belgium, Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, Liberia, the United Kingdom and the USA in the first inter-parliamentary meeting in Paris, France. The Inter-Parliamentary Conference, later to become the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was born. What […]

© STR/NurPhoto/NurPhoto via AFP

New handbook: Mobilizing parliaments to eliminate discrimination against women

Twenty years after the first edition, the IPU and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have published a new version of a handbook for parliamentarians on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol. What is the CEDAW Convention? More than four […]

Mr Tankoano, Rabbi HaCohen and Imam Barakat ©IPU

World MPs commit to stronger ties with religious leaders to promote peaceful coexistence

The first global Parliamentary Conference on Interfaith Dialogue: Working together for our common future is expected to conclude with a declaration that encourages interfaith dialogue and calls for all religions and beliefs to be treated equally. The Marrakesh Communiqué calls on parliamentarians to ensure that “all religions, beliefs and faith-based organizations are treated equally and without discrimination under the […]

Mr. Martin Chungong, IPU Secretary General and Mr. Dan Carden, member of Parliament of the United Kingdom and President of the IPU Forum of Young Parliamentarians.

Marking 2nd anniversary of its campaign, IPU holds Shout out to Youth Changemakers!

To mark the two-year anniversary of the I Say Yes to Youth in Parliament! campaign, the IPU organized an online event called Shout Out to Youth Changemakers on 24 May 2023. The gathering served as a platform for taking stock of progress in implementing transformative actions, sharing success stories, and galvanizing further action to rejuvenate parliaments. The event brought […]

Religious leaders were invited to the New Zealand Parliament after the Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019. © VNP/Daniela Maoate-Cox

New IPU report explores the place of religion and belief in parliament

For the first time, the IPU has published a report which examines how parliaments around the world engage with issues of religion and belief. The IPU Parliamentary report on religion and belief explores how religion and belief are institutionalized in parliaments; for example, through legislation, representation, parliamentary committees and mechanisms for consultation with faith-based organizations or the […]

© New Zealand Parliament

International Day of Parliamentarism celebrated 30 June every year

The International Day of Parliamentarism is celebrated every year on 30 June, the date in 1889 on which the IPU was founded. The Day was established in 2018 through a United Nations General Assembly Resolution. Instituting an international day for parliaments is particularly important at this critical time for parliamentary democracy, when people are losing trust […]

The Cuojia Glacier © Wen Sihai via AFP

IPU looks at how Kingdom of Bhutan is addressing climate change

The Kingdom of Bhutan is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. The landlocked mountainous country has a fragile ecosystem with around 2,700 glaciers which are beginning to melt, causing floods and landslides. The country suffers from prolonged and extreme droughts which increase the risk of biodiversity loss and forest fires. Climate change […]