Skip to main content

Permanent observers

We have granted permanent observer status to about 70 organizations, enabling them to attend and actively participate in our twice-yearly Assemblies. Permanent observers fall into the following groups:

  • Organizations that are part of the United Nations system
  • Regional inter-governmental organizations
  • Regional, sub-regional or geopolitical parliamentary assemblies or associations
  • International non-governmental organizations
  • International political party federations
  • Other partner organizations

Currently the following organizations hold permanent observer status with IPU:

United Nations and related organizations

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
International Labour Organization (ILO)
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH)
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
World Health Organization (WHO)
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO)
World Bank
World Trade Organization (WTO)

Parliamentary assemblies or associations

ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly
African Parliamentary Union (APU)
Amazonian Parliament
Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union
ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA)
Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA)
Association of Senates, Shoora and Equivalent Councils in Africa and the Arab World (ASSECAA)
Baltic Assembly
Collective Security Treaty Organization Parliamentary Assembly (CSTO PA)
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)
Forum of Parliaments of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (FP-ICGLR)
G5 Sahel Inter-Parliamentary Committee
Global Organization of Parliamentarians against Corruption (GOPAC)
International Parliament on Tolerance and Peace (IPTP)
International Parliamentary Network for Education (IPNEd)
Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO)
Inter-Parliamentary Union of the Member States of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IPU-IGAD)
Maghreb Consultative Council
Nordic Council
ParlAmericas
Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND)
Parliamentary Assembly of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (AP-CPLP)
Parliamentary Assembly of the Economic Cooperation Organization (PAECO)
Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM)
Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States (TURKPA)
Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM)
Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia
Parliamentary Confederation of the Americas (COPA)
Parliamentary Forum on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PF-SALW)
Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Member States (PUIC)
Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF)
UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health
World Scout Parliamentary Union (WSPU)

International non-governmental organizations

Amnesty International
Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Human Rights Watch
International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI)
Penal Reform International
World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA)

International political party federations

Centrist Democrat International (CDI)
Liberal International (LI)
Socialist International (SI)
 

Other partner organizations

African Union (AU)
Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA)
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
League of Arab States
Organization of American States 
Sovereign Order of Malta