The Speaker of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies writes the appearance of COVID-19 has marked a global watershed, not only in health and economic terms, but also for the unprecedented challenges posed to the functioning of democratic institutions. During the pandemic months, questions about how to balance the extraordinary powers that governments require to tackle […]
The IPU has found most parliaments are continuing to function despite the global coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). The IPU has released a video highlighting the many diverse ways in which the world’s parliaments are responding to COVID-19, including through passing emergency legislation to protect their populations, particularly the most vulnerable in society. Many are working to […]
Some 500 parliamentarians and parliamentary staff from over 80 countries participated in the first of a series of webinars co-organized by the IPU, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) on . The webinar, Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic: Parliamentary action to reduce risks, strengthen emergency preparedness […]
On International Day of Multilateralism on 24 April, information collected by the IPU shows that parliaments all over the world are working together in their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through its campaign Parliaments in a time of pandemic, the IPU is helping to facilitate inter-parliamentary coordination and solidarity by collating and sharing examples of […]
Today – on 16 April 2020 – we were supposed to meet in Geneva at the opening of the regular 142nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. As you know, the Assembly has been postponed, as have practically all major multilateral meetings planned for this time. The human race faces a new global threat, the biggest […]
Women are on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the OECD, 70 per cent of health workers are women. Women make up the majority of carers in the home and workers in grocery stores or pharmacies. The economic downturn will disproportionately affect women more than men. Women workers are also more likely than […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic shuts or slows down vast swathes of global activity, how are parliaments facilitating the implementation of the emergency health measures recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO)? What impact is physical distancing and confinement having on the way parliaments function? How can parliaments debate, pass legislation and scrutinize the actions of […]
Watch the two short IPU videos on SDG 5 “Gender Equality”. The first looks at how you can take concrete actions to ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership, particularly in parliaments. The second short video for parliamentarians on UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 also celebrates Women’s History Month. This year […]
From 2nd to 6th March, a BGIPU delegation visited Liberia with the aim of enhancing interparliamentary relations and reciprocating an inward visit to London by the Liberian Group of the IPU in 2018. The delegation comprised of Lord Hannay of Chiswick and Adam Holloway. The hospitality we received from the Liberian Group of the IPU […]
In a recent survey of IPU Member Parliaments by the IPU Secretariat, 31 per cent of respondents confirmed that new legislation had been put in place as a direct result of IPU assemblies, programmes, initiatives and resolutions. Of the sample, 75 per cent also said that they had taken concrete actions following IPU meetings. All […]
