The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the international organization which brings together the world's parliaments. Its mission is to foster peace and security through political dialogue, to promote democracy and respect for human rights and to contribute to the development of representative and effective legislative institutions. The IPU has its headquarters in Geneva and a liaison office at the United Nations in New York. The IPU Secretary General is Mr. Anders Johnsson of Sweden.

The inter-parliamentary movement originated in 1889 when a first conference of parliamentarians was held to promote the concept of peace and international arbitration. The movement rapidly developed into a permanent organization, the IPU, which was established in 1894 and is the world's oldest multilateral political organization.

IPU provides a political forum for members of parliament from around the globe, representing the full spectrum of political parties. Parliamentarians meet regularly during IPU conferences to promote personal contacts and cooperation and to debate international issues of current concern.

In 1996, the IPU entered into a formal cooperation agreement with the United Nations. It encourages direct participation and involvement of national parliaments and their members in United Nations activities. IPU organizes regular parliamentary hearings with senior United Nations officials at UN Headquarters, provides parliamentary input to major UN conferences and summits, works in support of several UN peacekeeping and peace-building operations and collaborates closely with the United Nations through its democracy program.

At its biannual inter-parliamentary conferences, the IPU makes known its views on international issues, notably in such fields as international security, sustainable development, health, population, human rights and humanitarian law. IPU members submit to their respective assemblies and governments the resolutions adopted and promote their implementation. In addition, the IPU regularly organizes specialized worldwide and regional meetings and symposia, which in 1998 and 1999 dealt with a wide range of topics including security and cooperation in the Mediterranean, implementation of the Convention to Combat Desertification, and development of a strategy for attaining the objectives of the U.N. World Food Summit.

The IPU is actively interested in the role of women in politics. In July 2000, less than 14 percent of parliamentarians or legislators worldwide were women, and the IPU regularly publishes surveys on the distribution of seats between men and women in national assemblies to draw attention to the problem. The IPU has adopted a Plan of Action to redress the imbalance of men and women in political life.

Human Rights of Parliamentarians
IPU's Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians looks into cases of legislators imprisoned without trial or forced into exile for political reasons, as well as assassinations, summary executions, violations of freedom of expression, and suspension of civil and political rights of parliamentarians. Since its establishment in 1976, the committee has contributed to the resolution of over 1,100 cases of individual legislators from some 92 countries, and IPU intervention has helped in the release of a large portion of them. Although a such interventions are generally confidential, the IPU makes cases public when insufficient progress is being made by the authorities of the countries concerned.

Promotion of Democracy
Through its Program for the Study and Promotion of Representative Institutions, IPU aims to improve knowledge of parliaments by collecting and disseminating information on them, by undertaking studies on parliaments and electoral systems, and by holding seminars, such as on the functioning of a parliament in a multi-party setting. The IPU promotes free and fair elections and its Declaration on Criteria for Free and Fair Elections sets forth clear international guidelines for election observers and national election administrators. IPU also runs a technical cooperation program, which mobilizes international support (funds, expert advice, technical equipment, etc) for improving the capabilities of national parliaments, especially of new and developing countries. In 1999-2000 IPU was running projects in the parliaments of Burundi, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Vietnam and Yemen. In 1998, IPU signed a cooperation agreement with the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) to boost technical cooperation and, in particular, to promote the participation of women in politics.
Membership: In mid-2000, 138 of the world's parliaments, including the U.S. Congress, were represented in the IPU. Five regional parliamentary assemblies are also members.

Budget: The IPU is financed by its members out of public funds. In 2000, its budget totalled 10.3 million Swiss francs.

Internet
www.ipu.org
Description of IPU and its programs. IPU press releases, data on women in parliaments, links to parliamentary websites around the world.

Address
Inter-Parliamentary Union
Place du Petit-Saconnex
P.O. Box 438
CH-1211 Geneva 19
Tel. 919.4150
Fax. 919.4160
e-mail: postbox@mail.ipu.org