Quotas are critical in ensuring greater representation of women, according to the latest IPU Women in Parliament report. The numbers are clear. In 2021, countries with some form of gender quotas elected 31.9 per cent women on average to their lower/single house, while those without quotas elected 19.5 per cent women cumulatively. Among upper houses, 29.1 […]
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 […]
At the invitation of the Parliament of Indonesia, the 144th Assembly of the IPU and its related meetings will be held in Nusa Dua, Bali (Bali International Convention Centre) from Sunday, 20 to Thursday, 24 March 2022. All IPU statutory bodies, including the Governing Council, Standing Committees, Committees on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians and on Middle East […]
2022 is set to be a dynamic year for voting worldwide. Several elections could reshape the parliamentary makeup in many countries. According to Parline, the IPU’s open data platform on parliaments, in 2022 there will be 31 elections for the direct selection of parliamentarians in every region of the globe. Each result will have a lasting impact […]
End-of-year statement by President Duarte Pacheco and Secretary General Martin Chungong. 2021 bore witness to several assaults on democracy, starting with what many saw as one of its bastions – the US Congress. Then Myanmar suffered a bloody military coup which unravelled in an instant nearly a decade of democratic progress led by its elected […]
Just over ten years ago, IPU Member Parliaments adopted a landmark resolution on youth participation to encourage the rejuvenation of parliaments. Since then, parliaments from around the world have made some limited progress in its implementation. However, the level of youth representation in parliament, as measured regularly by the IPU, remains low. Half the world’s population is […]
At the 143rd IPU Assembly in Madrid, Spain, parliamentarians from around the world have rallied around an emergency resolution to support equitable access to vaccines, particularly in the developing world. Against the backdrop of the emergence of the omicron variant and renewed border closures, IPU Member Parliaments unanimously backed the IPU African Group’s proposal: Harnessing global parliamentary […]
A new study by the IPU and the African Parliamentary Union (APU) launched on 23 November 2021 shows that sexism, harassment and violence against women are ubiquitous in parliaments across Africa. This is the second in a series of IPU regional studies, following a 2018 report on European parliaments. The African study reveals: . 80 per cent of […]
Lawmakers around the world have a new resource to help them address gender inequality with the publication of the new IPU and UN Women Handbook on gender-responsive law making. The handbook is timely as countries put in place COVID-19 recovery plans and work to rebuild more equitable and inclusive societies. It serves as a guide for […]
The 143rd IPU Assembly will be held in Madrid from 26 to 30 November 2021, hosted by the Parliament of Spain. Hundreds of IPU Members from all over the world will meet in person in the world’s largest gathering of parliamentarians. The Spanish authorities and the IPU have put in place robust and comprehensive health measures to […]
