In 2008, the Rwanda Chamber of Deputies was the first elected national parliament where women were the majority. The proportion of MPs who are women is at 61.25% today, way above the current global average of 26.4%. Rwanda has been at the top of the IPU’s monthly ranking of women in national parliament for years. How […]
At the invitation of the Parliament of the Republic of Rwanda, the 145th Assembly of the IPU and its related meetings will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, from Tuesday, 11 to Saturday, 15 October 2022. More than 1200 delegates, including some 60 Speakers and Deputy Speakers of Parliaments, are expected to attend in person. The overall theme […]
The National Assembly of Cabo Verde hosted a meeting of the IPU’s Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries last week in Praia on the theme Climate change in the face of the challenges of sustainable development. The Portuguese-speaking parliaments shared the specific challenges they face in each country and their respective good parliamentary practices on climate change. The […]
It was a first trip to Gabon for the whole of the delegation which included Lyn Brown MP (Labour’s Shadow Minister for Africa), Kate Osamor MP, Gagan Mohindra MP and myself. The trip was supported by Lucy Nash from the BGIPU, the Gabonese Ambassador to London and our non-resident Ambassador, Christian Dennys, who is based […]
Since 2012, Mali has been experiencing a period of instability and conflict, due to the occupation of the north of the country by armed groups, numerous terrorist attacks and inter-community violence. In addition, in August 2020, following the overthrow of those in power, a transition government and a National Transitional Council (CNT) serving as a […]
On 30 March, BGIPU hosted an African Ambassador Roundtable which was chaired by the Chair of BGIPU, Harriett Baldwin MP. Members received briefings from HE Sanni Aoudou, Ambassador of Gabon; HE Teferi Melesse Desta, Ambassador of Ethiopia; and Mr Tojonirina Ramarolahy, Chargé d’Affaire to Madagascar. The well attended meeting was an important opportunity for UK […]
The global proportion of women parliamentarians has increased by 0.6 percentage points to reach 26.1 per cent according to the IPU’s latest Women in Parliament in 2021 report. This is in line with progress seen in the past two years. The increase can be largely attributed to the critical role played by well-designed quotas. In the 48 countries that […]
The IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians reports human rights violations against 685 parliamentarians in 47 countries, almost one in four countries in the world. Many of the cases are new. This is another all-time high record for the IPU and is likely to be just the tip of a growing iceberg. Most […]
On 3 February, BGIPU hosted a virtual briefing with the British Ambassador to Tunisia, HMA Helen Winterton. Damien Moore MP, member of the BGIPU Executive Committee and Chair of the Tunisia APPG, hosted the briefing. Tunisia was initially hailed as a democratic success after the Arab Spring in 2011. However, years of political wrangling revealed […]
The IPU expresses grave concern over reports of a military coup in Burkina Faso with the arrests of President Kabore, the Speaker of Parliament and other government officials as well as news of the dissolution of the National Assembly. The IPU calls for a swift return to constitutional order with respect for the rule of law and democratically elected institutions. Gunfire and violence on […]
