At the 149th IPU Assembly in Geneva, the IPU welcomed back the Parliament of Jamaica as its 181st Member Parliament, bringing the Organization one step closer to universal membership. Jamaica had previously been a member of the IPU from 1983 to 1996. President of the Senate, Mr. Thomas Tavares-Finson, said: “We are convinced that renewing our […]
From 27 – 31 May 2024, a BGIPU delegation of UK Members of Parliament visited Colombia to strengthen bilateral Parliamentary links. The delegation included Tim Loughton MP, Baroness Blower, Patrick Grady MP and Baroness Northover, and was supported by Holly Sloan from the BGIPU Secretariat. The visit started days after the General Election was called, […]
Latin America has a wealth of vital natural resources, but it also struggles with deforestation, rapid biodiversity loss, pollution and climate change. In an era of escalating environmental challenges, this puts it on the front line of the battle for our planet’s future. The conflict between public and private interest is a major part of […]
This was my first visit to Costa Rica and Panama, as part of a delegation alongside seasoned experts in the region, Baroness Hooper and Lord Mountevans. The visit was immensely informative and was arranged impeccably by the hosts and our Embassies in both countries, with the advantage too that for most of the time in […]
No visit to Panama would be complete without a look at the Canal Locks in action. We met with the President of the Canal Authority, Aristedes Royo Sanchez, who is a former President of Panama and father of the current Ambassador to London, Natalia Royo, and Victor Vial, the VP for Finance. The Canal is […]
Unusually and unexpectedly our delegation consisted of three Peers, Baroness Northover, Lord Mountevans and myself, supported by Holly Sloan from the BGIPU Secretariat. The original delegation had been carefully selected to reflect balance and ongoing interest in the Region. This was scuppered by the House of Commons Whips who, it appears, no longer accept the […]
A few days before Human Rights Day on 10 December, the IPU has released its annual map of the number of reported cases of human rights violations suffered by parliamentarians around the world. Although the numbers continue to rise, there have been positive developments in some countries, partly due to actions by the Committee on the Human Rights […]
The IPU has taken one step closer to universal membership with the addition of its newest Member, the Parliament of the Bahamas, at the 147th IPU Assembly in Luanda, Angola. Minister and parliamentarian, Ms. Pia Glover-Rolle, said: “We share many of the same goals and objectives [as the IPU], not least of which is a […]
The Second World Summit of the Committees of the Future took place from 25-27 September 2023 in Montevideo, Uruguay, with the theme of Bringing the future into the present: The democracy of the future, artificial intelligence and parliaments. The Summit brought together more than 200 parliamentarians from some 70 countries to focus on strategies to integrate a future-oriented […]
From 11 – 13 September, BGIPU was delighted to host a delegation from the House of Representatives of Uruguay. Arranged in close collaboration with the British Embassy in Montevideo, the visit was led by the President of the House of Representatives Sebastián Andújar, and included Second Vice-President of the House of Representatives Silvana Pérez Bonavita, […]
