Following the success of the first IPU Global Conference of Women Parliamentarians in Mexico 2025, the Serbian Parliament hosted the second conference from 2-4 June this year. The theme of the conference was “Advancing parity: Breaking the barriers of gender stereotypes and negative social norms”. The conference brought together 193 parliamentarians (155 women MPs and […]
From 1 July 2026, for the first time in its 137-year history, the Secretariat of the Inter-Parliamentary Union will be managed by a woman. Anda Filip of Romania was elected the tenth Secretary General of the IPU at the 152nd IPU Assembly in Istanbul, becoming the first woman to hold the post since the Organization […]
More than a decade of quiet persistence, behind-the-scenes diplomacy and public campaigning by the IPU finally paid off in 2025 when former Iraqi MP Ahmed Al-Alwani was acquitted and released after 12 years behind bars on death row. As an MP, Al-Alwani was supposed to be protected by parliamentary immunity. But he was arrested in […]
Chad’s first elections in more than a decade marked the end of a three-year transitional period and paved the way for a return to parliamentary democracy. It was fitting that the elections came shortly after Haroun Kabadi – former Speaker of Chad’s National Assembly, Head of the National Transitional Council and now President of the […]
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) successfully concluded its 152nd Assembly, hosted by the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye in Istanbul from 15-19 April 2026. The “parliament of parliaments” drew over 1,500 delegates, including more than 720 parliamentarians from 126 countries. Women comprised 37% of lawmakers present. Some 13% of the parliamentarians attending were under 40. The high-level […]
In a historic first, Anda Filip has been elected the ninth Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the first woman to hold the post in the IPU’s 137-year history. As a result, the IPU joins the small but growing club of international organizations led by women for the first time. Anda Filip was elected […]
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is marking a major milestone this year: the 50th anniversary of its Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, a unique international body which has spent the past five decades defending lawmakers in danger around the world. According to IPU figures, more than 1,000 parliamentarians suffered human rights abuses in 2025, a record high […]
The Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) will convene its 152nd Assembly in Istanbul, Türkiye, from 15 to 19 April 2026. Hosted by the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, the overall theme of the event is Nurturing hope, securing peace and ensuring justice for future generations. Against a backdrop of unfolding and ongoing wars, with severe humanitarian consequences, in […]
As of 1 January 2026, women hold 27.5% of national parliamentary seats worldwide, up modestly from 27.2% in 2025, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) report Women in parliament 2025. This 0.3 percentage point increase matches 2024’s rate, marking the slowest growth since 2017 for the second consecutive year. The report is based on IPU data […]
Opinion piece by Martin Chungong, IPU Secretary General The India AI Impact Summit, held this week in New Delhi, is the first global summit on artificial intelligence (AI) of this scale hosted in the Global South. This signals that the debate about AI – how it is developed, who benefits from it and who governs it – […]
