Inter-Parliamentary Union Secretary General visits Colombia and Costa Rica
IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong visited Colombia and Costa Rica in March 2025 as part of broader efforts to better understand and engage with Latin American Member Parliaments, and to encourage their active participation in the work of the IPU.
Colombia
In Colombia, Mr. Chungong met key parliamentary figures, including Mr. Efraín Cepeda (President of the Senate and Congress), Mr. Jaime Raúl Salamanca (Speaker of the House of Representatives), Mr. José Luis Pérez (Chair of the Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee) and Mr. Diego González (Secretary General of the Senate), along with political party leaders, other members of the Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee, and members of the Colombian IPU Group.
In his address to the Senate, Mr. Chungong acknowledged the valuable contributions and experiences of the Congress of Colombia. He encouraged the Congress to actively re-engage in IPU work, becoming part of a rich community of global interparliamentary cooperation and diplomacy. He also emphasized that parliament was a marketplace of ideas and highlighted its critical role in fostering dialogue and in peaceful dispute resolution – a foundational value of the IPU. He stressed the need for parliament to perform its mandate without any hindrance or interference.
The Congress of Colombia first became an IPU Member Parliament in 1931 and has historically been active in IPU initiatives. Notably, it was the first parliament to conduct the IPU’s gender sensitivity self-assessment twice, in 2019 and 2024. These assessments have led to significant advancements in gender equality, including increased women’s representation in parliament and the implementation of gender-sensitive policies.
Costa Rica
In Costa Rica, the Secretary General acknowledged the country’s past contributions, congratulated the Legislative Assembly on its 200th anniversary, and expressed the IPU’s desire to work more closely with its members.
While in the country, he met Mr. Rodrigo Arias Sánchez (President of the Legislative Assembly), Mr. Luis Fernando Mendoza (Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee), Ms. Monserrat Ruiz (Chair of the Human Rights Committee), Ms. Lydia Peralta (Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs) and Ms. Karla Granados (Executive Director of the Legislative Assembly), as well as several other Costa Rican political leaders.
He emphasized that the IPU offers tailored support to parliaments based on their needs, aiming to strengthen parliamentary institutions. He also urged legislators to share their country’s successes on the global stage through the IPU, highlighting their experience of 60 years of peaceful governance and leadership in climate action and biodiversity preservation.
The Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica, an IPU Member Parliament since 1971, hosted the 2023 IPU regional seminar on climate change.
Both visits underscored the IPU’s commitment to strengthening relationships with Member Parliaments in order to stay tuned to their needs and better help them address the challenges they face, particularly in terms of gender equality, human rights, development, and parliamentary engagement in international affairs.
©IPU Secretary General with Speakers from Colombia and Costa Rica
