Through its programme of activities, the BGIPU seeks to engage Parliamentarians in key global issues and works to expand awareness and understanding of foreign relations and the contribution to be made by the UK Parliament to consolidate parliamentary democracy worldwide.
Here you can read the reports of our activities, including our Outward Delegations, IPU conferences and events and inward visits to Westminster.
You can search for specific reports by using keywords, themes, categories or date using the fields on the right.
The 2017 Parliamentary Hearing at the United Nations on 13-14 February 2017 will focus on SDG 14 of the new Sustainable Development Goals: the conservation and sustainable use of oceans. A World of Blue: Preserving the oceans, safeguarding the planet, ensuring human well-being in the context of the 2030 Agenda will bring together parliamentarians, experts and UN officials and will make recommendations to restore the oceans to health.
On 16th and 17th January, BGIPU hosted the Speaker of the Uruguayan Lower House of Representatives, Dr Gerardo Amarilla, for a brief visit to Westminster. Speaker Amarilla was accompanied by Mr Jorge Gandini MP, who will take over the position as Speaker in 2018, as well as Mr Oscar Piquinela, Secretary of the IPU Group and Head of International Relations. The visit followed an outward BGIPU visit to Uruguay in September 2016, where Speaker Amarilla hosted the group in the Uruguayan General Assembly.
Women Speakers of Parliament from across the globe agreed to rapidly develop parliamentary objectives and action plans that put at the core the integrity of our planet and peace and prosperity. At the conclusion of the two-day Global Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament, women Speakers unanimously adopted the Abu Dhabi Declaration that defines concrete steps to tackle geopolitical, socioeconomic, environmental and technological challenges to ensure a more gender sensitive and inclusive world and a better quality of life for generations to come.
This year has seen a sharp increase in the number of parliamentarians who have suffered or who have alleged violations of their fundamental rights. In an overview of cases being examined by the IPU’s Committee on Human Rights of Parliamentarians, 459 parliamentarians from 42 countries were investigated in 2016 in comparison to 320 parliamentarians in 2015 and 311 parliamentarians in 2014. This outcome underscores the dangers MPs face across the world in exercising their mandate and their right to freedom of expression.
The Annual General Meeting of the British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union was convened on Wednesday 7 December 2016 in the IPU Room at the Palace of Westminster to adopt the 2016 Annual Report and elect the Executive Committee for 2016/17. It was presided over by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, The Rt Hon Lindsay Hoyle MP on behalf of the House of Commons Speaker who is Honorary President of the Group.
BGIPU hosted from late November a delegation from Iraq led by the Chair of the Iraqi-British Parliamentary Committee, Dr Hanan Saeed Mohsin, with seven parliamentary collegues representing all the key factions of the Iraqi Parliament. The delegation sought deeper engagement with UK counterparts with the key message being that for the first time in decades all Iraqis were united in securing the future with current efforts to liberate Mosul from the control of Daesh being a decisive and important step.
BGIPU was represented at the 2nd High level Meeting of the GPEDC in Nairobi, including the IPU/AWEPA hosted Parliamentary Forum, by Lord Chidgey, of Hamble-le-Rice. In recent years, international discussions on aid and development have shifted their focus away from the delivery of aid to the effectiveness of development cooperation as a whole, known as the development effectiveness agenda with parliamentarians playing key roles in such deliberations.
Marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, IPU is launching an innovative self-assessment toolkit which assists parliaments in reviewing their functioning and working methods, and how these contribute to gender equality. This is a follow-up to the IPU’s landmark study on sexism against women MPs as part of the IPU’s commitment to advance gender-sensitive reforms in parliaments. BGIPU has been active in promoting the IPU’s work and sees the launch as a vitally important contribution to such efforts.
A meeting jointly organised by the IPU and the Moroccan Parliament, bringing together parliamentarians from all over the world, was held on 13th November 2016 in Marrakech, one week into the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22). The aim was to involve parliamentarians in promoting awareness of the issues being discussed at COP22, so that they could better hold their Governments to account for delivering on commitments made at COP21 in Paris in December 2015.
The UK parliamentary delegation to Cabo Verde was given the opportunity to understand the political, economic (and some of the) sustainability opportunities and challenges facing the country. It was clear that there was a desire to strengthen formal links with UK but the UK should be prepared to offer much more in terms of technical assistance and capacity support, not just an ever increasing number of tourists which creates good opportunities for growth, but also some risks.
