On Friday 19 June, BGIPU hosted a virtual parliamentary discussion on COVID-19: The Increased Risks and Vulnerabilities to Refugees and Migrant Populations with The British Red Cross (BRC) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The proceedings were chaired by BGIPU Executive Committee member, Chris Law MP, with panellists from both BRC and MSF. The event was […]
BGIPU was very pleased to co-host with event partners in the BBC and the APPG for Human Rights a virtual preview panel discussion in advance of the upcoming BBC Four Storyville documentary Welcome to Chechnya: The Gay Purge inviting parliamentarians, civil society representatives and media to hear more about the documentary which highlights the grave […]
On 18 June BGIPU convened a bilateral meeting between UK and Norwegian Parliamentarians in a virtual format. The discussion was moderated by BGIPU Chair Harriett Baldwin MP and the Chair of the Norway APPG, Sir Mark Hendrick MP, and they were joined by Bob Blackman MP and Lord Mountevans. The Norwegian IPU Delegation Leader Ulf […]
This year’s IPU information seminar has gone online because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since participants cannot travel to Geneva, the IPU is holding a week of webinars for parliamentary staff in French. Every year, the IPU holds an information seminar for parliamentary staff who are Secretaries of IPU Groups or who are responsible for international […]
Op-Ed by IPU Secretary General – During the ongoing coronavirus emergency, extraordinary measures may have been necessary so that national leaders can make rapid and vital decisions that have had a restrictive effect on how we enjoy freedoms. But these measures should be short-term only. They must not become the norm. As many countries begin to […]
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and Parliamentarians for the Global Goals, convened the first of a series of webinars for Parliamentarians on COVID-19 response and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the aim of connecting parliamentarians with world-leading experts to share best practice to “Build Back Better” through enabling […]
On 8 June, BGIPU members met Swedish parliamentarians in our first ever virtual bilateral meeting. Swedish counterparts welcomed BGIPU’s initiative of conducting virtual bilateral talks to maintain exchanges at a time when inter-parliamentary dialogue between MPs remains vital but conditions for international travel remain severely disrupted. The meeting was led by BGIPU Chair, Harriett Baldwin […]
The IPU is increasingly concerned about parliamentarians in detention during the COVID-19 pandemic due to greater risks of infection in overcrowded and confined spaces. In its first virtual sitting, the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians paid particular attention to the 43 Members of Parliament (MPs) currently in detention in the world, especially […]
The Chair of the BGIPU, Harriett Baldwin MP, convened on 21 May 2020 a virtual meeting of the BGIPU Executive Committee to review operational changes made by the Secretariat in line with health and social distancing requirements, developments and deferrals to the agreed forward programme and to discuss new agreed virtual activities to be provided […]
The IPU welcomes the latest actions by the Uzbek Parliament to implement international human rights standards at the national level. Following an IPU recommendation, Uzbek parliamentarians recently participated in a video meeting involving multiple international and Uzbek organizations to review the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a multilateral treaty adopted […]
