Activity Reports

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.

 

CSW Report Back

Political empowerment & support for standalone MDG on gender key CSW58 outcomes

As a delegate from the BGIPU access was easier and broader than my past experiences of representing the UK NGO’s at CSW. Discussion not only on numbers of women involved in decision making bodies but around what they actually get to do when they are elected and equally importantly what difference, if any their presence in government may make to the lives of ordinary women in the country.

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Trade agreements, economy and security are the focus of BGIPU Delegation to Armenia

The Delegation to Armenia had the opportunity to meet with prominent figures in the Armenian government and parliament during the programme. Discussions were dominated by the Armenian decision to seek membership of the Eurasian Customs Union and what the ramifications of this might be for the relationship with the EU, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the approaching centenary commemorations of the Armenian Genocide.

European Parliament in Brussels

31st Session of the IPU Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO

The Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO met on 11 and 12 February 2014 on the premises of the European Parliament in Brussels. The session was co-chaired by Mr. V. Moreira, representing the European Parliament, and Mr. K. Örnfjäder (Sweden), who had been recently appointed by the IPU President as coordinator of the IPU delegation to the Steering Committee and, in this capacity, co-Chair of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO.  The UK Parliament was represented by John Spellar MP.

Participants came from a wide range of parliaments with experts from across the globe.

International Parliamentary Seminar on the Arms Trade Treaty

SEMINAR OVERVIEW BGIPU welcomed to London more than 60 parliamentarians and arms control experts from across the globe from 3-5 November 2014, for an International Parliamentary Seminar on the Arms Trade Treaty. The key objective of the meeting was to highlight the role of parliamentarians at a time when the ATT’s Entry into Force is […]

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Visit of IPU Committee Secretaries to the UK Parliament

The BGIPU was very pleased to host a study visit by three of the Secretaries of the IPU’s Standing Committees from the IPU Headquarters in Geneva to the Palace of Westminister from 23-24 January 2014. The key objective of the study visit was to learn about the role and functioning of parliamentary committees in the UK including to better understand the role played by our Clerks in supporting the work of UK parliamentary committee. The purpose was to gain insights into operatin so the UK parliament which may be useful in strengthening the role and functioning of IPU’s Standing Committees and it followed a similar visit to the Belgian Parliament.

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The WTO Delivers: Parliamentary Conference on the WTO

Jonathan Djanogly MP attended the joint European Parliament/IPU Parliamentary Conference on the WTO in Bali, Indonesia on 2 and 5 December 2013 convened in connection with the Ninth WTO Ministerial Conference.  As the UK’s representative among some 270 MPs participating, he joined counterparts in urging governments to place development at the heart of the multilateral trading system, taking into full account the special needs and interests of developing counties, particularly the least developed.  The meeting helped ensure parliamentary views were registered as WTO members successfully negotiated a new multilateral trade deal which is anticipated to add around $100 billion a year to global trade, potentially creating an additional 21 million jobs.

BGIPU Chairman Robert Walter MP greets the President of the National Assembly of Haiti

Parliamentary delegation from Haiti highlights challenges to democracy

A delegation from Haiti undertook an inter-parliamentary visit to the UK Parliament from 18-20 November 2013 led by the President of the National Assembly, Hon Senator Simon Dieuseul Desras.  The visit provided an important opportunity to better inform UK parliamentarians of the deep-seated governance, social and economic challenges facing Haiti and to explore areas the UK might assist the country in its efforts to consolidate its security, prosperity and democratic governance.

Meeting the Head of the Cabinet of the Ministry of Justice and Human

BGIPU visit to Argentina – a shared perspective on human rights

Human rights was one of the issues the delegation decided to look at during the IPU visit to Argentina. We were interested in the current human rights situation there as well as stressing how successfully our two governments were working together on issues such as the banning of cluster munitions and support for the International Criminal Court.  Not least due its own recent past experiences, human rights issues are matters for very active debate in Argentine society and there are many human rights issues, such as women’s rights and the abolition of the death penalty worldwide, where there is scope for more co-operation between our governments and parliaments.