Advancing the parliamentary dimension of Britain's foreign relations
Menu
Advancing the parliamentary dimension of Britain's foreign relations
Home » Human Rights » Page 26

Theme: Human Rights

IPUAssembly.jpg

Election of new IPU President to take center stage of 131st Assembly

The election of a new IPU President will be one of the main highlights of a content-rich 131st Assembly in Geneva on 12-16 October. The new president will take over from Abdelwahad Radi, who ends his three-year mandate at the end of the event. Over 120 IPU Member parliaments involving more than 650 MPs have so far registered to attend the 131st Assembly. Among them, there are more than 75 Speakers and Deputy Speakers of Parliament, as well as a significant percentage of women and young MPs.

EuropeHuman RightsIPU Activities & Conferences
wpsparli3.jpg

Panel discussion on UK National Action Plan on Women, Peace & Security

On 15 October, BGIPU co-hosted with civil society organizations Womankind and Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS UK), a lunchtime panel discussion on “Implementing the UK National Action Plan on Women, Peace & Security: How parliamentarians can engage.” Drawing on the recently launched UK National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security, participants highlighted the importance of recognising the role women can play in addressing conflict and the differing impacts of violent conflict on women and girls, including the need to address sexual violence in conflict.

Global IssuesHuman RightsBGIPU Seminars & Events
Lord Speaker Baroness D'Souza chairs the meeting

Women Speakers call for urgent action on gender violence

Women Speakers of Parliament from 16 countries, including the UK’s Lord Speaker, Baroness D’Souza, have called for urgent action and commitment to ending violence against women and girls in conflict situations as they ended a two-day meeting in Geneva.  Highlighting deep concern over recent developments, Women Speakers said they were appalled by the “vicious crimes being perpetrated against women and girls” in a Declaration issued at the 9th Meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament organized by IPU.

Global IssuesHuman RightsIPU Activities & Conferences
The XX International Conference was held in Melbourne

UK Parliamentarians attend XX International AIDS Conference

Pamela Nash MP and Lord Fowler, in their capacities as Chair and Vice Chair of the APPG on HIV and AIDS, attended the XX International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia with support from BGIPU. The 2014 Conference provided an excellent opportunity to meet with activists and HIV/AIDS specialists active throughout the world, in addition to meeting with other parliamentarians from across the globe to share their experiences of tackling HIV/AIDS, including discussing the political barriers faced in many countries.

Global IssuesHuman RightsIPU Activities & Conferences
IPU Headquarters in Geneva

125th Anniversary of the Inter-Parliamentary Union

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) celebrated 125 years of global parliamentary action on resolving conflicts and building democracy on 30th June in Geneva on the anniversary of its creation in 1889.  The event discussed some of the many challenges democracy faces today. The anniversary date of 30th June also marked the end of Anders B. Johnsson’s tenure as IPU Secretary General after 16 years during which the Organization has worked in all regions to promote and build democracy.

Global IssuesHuman RightsIPU Activities & Conferences
MrSpeakerEndSVC.jpg

Parliamentarians commit to ending sexual violence in conflict

In partnership with CPA UK, BGIPU co-hosted an international parliamentary event on the fringe of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict on 12 June which was chared by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger. The event – “Implementing the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative” – focused on concrete actions that could be taken by parliamentarians, bringing together parliamentary delegates to the Summit, British MPs and civil society experts to share examples on legislation, private members’ bills, and committee work aimed at addressing sexual violence issues.

Global IssuesHuman RightsBGIPU Seminars & Events
Women Parliamentarians at CSW58

CSW 58 outcomes critical to post-2015 development agenda

“We cannot achieve a world of dignity for all until we end gender inequality in all its forms” – stated the UN Secretary General at the Opening of CSW 58, which I was privileged to be sent to by the BGIPU this March. This year CSW was of particular significance as the theme was “Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls”.   Thus there was particular focus on gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment, both in terms of taking stock of the MDGs effectiveness and looking ahead to the post 2015 agenda.

Global IssuesHuman RightsIPU Activities & Conferences
CSW Report Back

Political empowerment & support for standalone MDG on gender key CSW58 outcomes

As a delegate from the BGIPU access was easier and broader than my past experiences of representing the UK NGO’s at CSW. Discussion not only on numbers of women involved in decision making bodies but around what they actually get to do when they are elected and equally importantly what difference, if any their presence in government may make to the lives of ordinary women in the country.

Global IssuesHuman RightsIPU Activities & Conferences
Meeting the Head of the Cabinet of the Ministry of Justice and Human

BGIPU visit to Argentina – a shared perspective on human rights

Human rights was one of the issues the delegation decided to look at during the IPU visit to Argentina. We were interested in the current human rights situation there as well as stressing how successfully our two governments were working together on issues such as the banning of cluster munitions and support for the International Criminal Court.  Not least due its own recent past experiences, human rights issues are matters for very active debate in Argentine society and there are many human rights issues, such as women’s rights and the abolition of the death penalty worldwide, where there is scope for more co-operation between our governments and parliaments.

AmericasHuman RightsOutward Delegations
Baroness Stern at closing session

IPU Round-table discussion: Parliamentarians, a critical force in promoting the abolition of the death penalty

The IPU convened its first meeting to specifically address abolition of the death penalty in Geneva on 10 October 2013 marking the World Day Against the Death Penalty.  The meeting was convened in cooperation with the International Commission Against the Death Penalty (ICDP), a body founded in Spain in 2010, which brings together a number of distinguished abolitionists who have held high office in governments around the world.  

Global IssuesHuman RightsIPU Activities & Conferences
 

REGION

Africa Americas Asia-Pacific Europe Middle East Global Issues

REGION

Africa Americas Asia-Pacific Europe Middle East Global Issues

ACTIVITY

Inward Delegations Outward Delegations Executive Committee IPU Activities & Conferences BGIPU Seminars & Events APPGs

ACTIVITY

Inward Delegations Outward Delegations Executive Committee IPU Activities & Conferences BGIPU Seminars & Events APPGs

THEME

Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Human Rights Peace & Security Trade and Sustainable Development Political Empowerment

THEME

Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Human Rights Peace & Security Trade and Sustainable Development Political Empowerment

YEAR

YEAR

Our latest work