On Wednesday 18 May, BGIPU held an Ambassador roundtable chaired by BGIPU Executive Committee member Wayne David MP, for members of both the House of Commons and Lords. Present at the meeting were Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, and Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Poland, Anna Clunes (virtually). They updated the members on the […]
From 9th-12th May, a BGIPU delegation visited Greece looking to further strengthen bilateral relations and gain a better understanding of the Greek political system. The delegation was led by Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP, who was joined by Chris Bryant MP, Derek Twigg MP and Angus MacNeil MP. Both the Hellenic Parliament and the British […]
A newly-formed IPU Task Force made up of parliamentarians from around the world met virtually on 25 April to explore possible parliamentary solutions to contribute to an end to Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine. This diplomatic effort at the global parliamentary level aims to complement on-going peace efforts at the governmental and UN level. The […]
On Tuesday 26 April, BGIPU held an Ambassador roundtable chaired by BGIPU Chair Harriett Baldwin MP, to members of both the House of Commons and Lords. Present at the meeting were the Ambassador of Norway, His Excellency Wegger Chr. Strømmen, the Ambassador of Estonia, His Excellency Mr Vilja Lubi, and the German Chargé d ’Affair, […]
When I took on the chairmanship of the APPG for Armenia a couple of years ago I was promised that it was a relatively inactive group, and the workload would be minimal. Within months, neighbouring Azerbaijan had invaded the disputed Armenian territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and military incursions are ongoing; claims and counter-claims about human rights […]
The 144th IPU Assembly, meeting in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, has condemned “the ongoing Russian use of force against Ukraine as a violation of the Charter of the United Nations, including the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity.” This is according to a resolution on an emergency item placed on the agenda of the Assembly for the […]
BGIPU co-hosted with the World Food Programme (WFP) a virtual briefing on the situation in Ukraine on 22nd March 2022. The discussion focussed on key operational challenges faced by the WFP, the global implications of food insecurity and the humanitarian crisis. The meeting was chaired by Baroness Barker and Baroness Anelay. The WFP UK Director, […]
BGIPU co-hosted with the BBC World Service a virtual briefing on the current situation in Ukraine on 14 March 2022. The discussion focussed on the challenges faced by journalists reporting from the region, the fight against disinformation, and the measures the BBC is taking to ensure impartial news and updates are reaching all audiences, including […]
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 […]
