The 14th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament (14SWSP), convened by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), in close cooperation with the Oliy Majlis (Supreme Assembly) of Uzbekistan, will take place in-person, in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), from 8 to 9 September 2022. The Summit provides women in the highest decision-making positions of parliament a forum in which to […]
The IPU is deeply concerned by reports that the prison conditions of detained parliamentarians in Myanmar have worsened and that the military authorities have banned all prison visits. In the wake of the recent executions by the authorities of Mr. Phyo Zayar Thaw, a parliamentarian elected in 2015, and three other pro-democracy activists, the IPU […]
From Tuesday 28 June to Friday 1 July 2022, a BGIPU delegation visited the Republic of Korea with the aim of further enhancing bilateral relations. The delegation was led by BGIPU Chair, Harriett Baldwin MP, who was joined by Co-Chair of the Korea APPG, Zarah Sultana MP, along with Shailesh Vara MP, Chris Matheson MP and […]
Hosted by the Indonesian Parliament, the 144th IPU Assembly brought together some 110 national parliaments on the theme ‘Getting to zero: Mobilizing parliaments to act on climate change’. In one of the first major in-person events in the region since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IPU and the Indonesian Parliament were able to convene hundreds […]
On Wednesday 16th March, BGIPU hosted an in-person roundtable with Ambassadors from across Asia. The meeting was attended by a wide range of UK parliamentarians from various committees and APPGs, and was chaired by BGIPU Vice-Chair, Rt Hon John Whittingdale OBE MP. The Ambassadors of Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam and Uzbekistan all spoke to UK parliamentarians […]
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 9 February, BGIPU hosted a roundtable discussion on human rights in China against the backdrop of the Beijing Olympics, with particular focus on the Uyghur crisis. The meeting was chaired by Tim Loughton MP and heard from Dr Ewelina Ochab from the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute and Alkan Akad from Amnesty International […]
On Thursday 13th January, BGIPU hosted a briefing with Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Her Excellency Kathy Leach, and the Minister for Central Asia, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon. The meeting was chaired by Harriett Baldwin MP, Chair of BGIPU. It was attended by a wide range of MPs and Peers, including representatives of the Foreign […]
The IPU has recorded another all-time high number of parliamentarians suffering from alleged human rights violations according to its annual figures released on the eve of Human Rights Day. The data reveal that at least 673 parliamentarians from 44 countries are under threat, most of them in countries experiencing political instability. The 2021 numbers confirm a consistent increase since 2014 […]
