Theme: Trade and Sustainable Development

The 148th Assembly in March 2024, Geneva. ©IPU

149th IPU Assembly to focus on Artificial Intelligence, science and technology

Hundreds of parliamentarians from around the world will gather in Geneva for the 149th IPU Assembly, taking place from 13-17 October 2024. Under the overarching theme: Harnessing science, technology, and innovation for a more peaceful and sustainable future, legislators will consider parliamentary action to maximize the benefits, but also mitigate the risks, of new technologies, with a particular focus […]

UN Photo/Loey Felipe

IPU welcomes enhanced role for parliaments in UN Pact for the Future

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) welcomes the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the Pact for the Future, a landmark initiative to reboot multilateralism and address 21st-century challenges. The IPU particularly welcomes Action 55 of the Pact, which recognizes the importance of “United Nations engagement with national parliaments in United Nations intergovernmental bodies and processes, in accordance with […]

IPU making preparations for the 149th IPU Assembly in Geneva in mid-October

The 149th Assembly of the IPU will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, on 13-17 October 2024. All IPU statutory bodies, including the Governing Council, Standing Committees, Committees on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians and on Middle East Questions, as well as the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Forum of Young MPs, will meet on […]

Stanley Mutale, a student at Kafue College of Nursing, poses for a portrait at the Shikoswe Health Centre in Kafue, Zambia © Michael Candelori / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP

IPU responds to the health needs of vulnerable and marginalized populations

In a collaborative effort, the IPU and the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) have conducted a study aimed at enhancing the capacities of national parliaments to address the health needs of vulnerable and marginalized women, children and adolescents. This study underscores the importance of evidence-based approaches and the necessity for continuous monitoring […]

©IPU

Artificial intelligence: Draft IPU resolution and “use cases” for AI in parliaments published

When ChatGPT was launched in 2022, the world crossed a new frontier in technological advancement. With the development and deployment of large language models, a new chapter opened in the development of artificial intelligence (AI). This presented an opportunity for parliaments to explore ways to close the gap between technological advancements and the pace of […]

The Parliamentary Forum at 2024's HLPF ©IPU

IPU Forum at UN highlights parliamentary role in tackling global goals

This week, the IPU convened dozens of parliamentarians from around the world for its annual meeting at the High-Level Political Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the United Nations Office in New York. New countries attending included, for the first time, representatives of the China’s National People’s Congress, underscoring the growing relevance of this event […]

Participants attend a workshop in Mogadishu, Somalia, aimed at enhancing youth political participation ©AMISOM / Ilyas Ahmed 2016

IPU knows sustainable conflict prevention requires input from tomorrow’s leaders

United Nations Security Council resolution 2250 (2015) on youth, peace, and security unanimously adopted in December 2015, recognized the essential role young people play in promoting and maintaining peace and security. The resolution urged Member States to increase inclusive representation of youth in decision-making at all levels, and in institutions and mechanisms to prevent and […]

The 148th IPU Assembly in Geneva ©IPU

IPU global poll finds that world’s MPs are cautiously optimistic despite global challenges

On the eve of International Day of Parliamentarism and the IPU’s 135th anniversary on 30 June 2024, the IPU is presenting the findings of its first global perceptions poll of the parliamentary community. The IPU polled members of parliament and related stakeholders from around the world to gauge their levels of optimism, their perceptions of the greatest […]

Opening session of the 23rd IPU Parliamentary Conference in October 1925 in the US Congress. Copyright Harris & Ewing.

Marking its 135th anniversary the IPU recalls its proud history and global contribution

The late nineteenth century was an uncertain and turbulent period. For many world powers, war was the only way to settle any differences. But two parliamentarians – one British, one French – realized that it did not have to be this way. Visionaries at the time, William Randal Cremer and Frédéric Passy believed that a more peaceful and […]