News in brief

Vital to our survival and providing livelihoods for millions of people, the Ocean is severely threatened by climate change, pollution and unsustainable practices. The United Nations held a five-day conference on the Ocean from 5-9 June to begin to address these issues and, at the end of the Conference, Member States adopted a Call to Action to protect the ocean. In February, the IPU and the United Nations held an Annual Parliamentary Hearing that focused on the ocean. The hearing provided a parliamentary component to the preparatory process for the conference; several of its recommendations were included in the Call to Action.

IPU President Saber Chowdhury is the proud recipient of this year’s World No Tobacco Day award. The award, given by the World Health Organization (WHO), recognizes Mr. Chowdhury's contribution to tobacco control at the local, national, regional and international levels.

As part of our work on health and development, the IPU participated in the World Health Assembly (WHA). On 24 May, IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong addressed the WHA plenary debate for the second consecutive year. on 29 May, the IPU—with Austria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), and the WHO—organized a parliamentary side event at the WHA.

Every year, we hold an information seminar for senior parliamentary staff who serve as Secretaries of IPU Groups within Member Parliaments or are otherwise actively engaged in inter-parliamentary work.

Parliaments should take stronger action on climate change through their legislative and oversight roles. This was one of the conclusions of a high-level regional seminar, which was jointly organized by the IPU and the National Assembly of Viet Nam in Ho Chi Minh City from 11 to 13 May. The seminar aimed at helping parliaments in the Asia-Pacific region achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Countries across the globe have adopted more than 1,200 laws to limit climate change—an impressive rise from only 60 laws two decades ago. Low-income countries have been particularly active on the issue. Courts are complementing the actions of legislators through rulings on the implementation of existing climate laws, and two-thirds of their rulings have either strengthened or maintained climate change regulation. These are some of the key findings from a study entitled Global trends in climate change legislation and litigation, launched on 9 May during the Conference on Climate Change in Bonn. The study reviewed climate-related laws and executive actions in some 164 countries.

A parliamentary side event, "Bridging the Gap between Evidence and Policy: The Role of Parliamentarians in Advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" will be organized at the 70th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva on 29 May. Organized by the IPU and WHO under the sponsorship of Austria, Bangladesh and Cameroon, the side event aims to facilitate dialogue between MPs and the health community, and allow MPs to contribute to the global health agenda.

Mr. Duong Chi Dzung, Ambassador of the Social Republic of Viet Nam, paid a courtesy call on IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong today. They discussed the upcoming conference for parliaments of the Asia-Pacific region on the implementation of the Sustainable

The Feminist Group of the Finnish Parliament held a meeting in Helsinki on gender equality in parliaments. At the meeting, Ms. Zeina Hilal from the IPU gave a presentation on the Plan of Action for Gender-Sensitive Parliaments and Evaluating the Gender Sensitivity of Parliaments: A Self-Assessment Toolkit. The Plan of Action was adopted by IPU Members at the 127th Assembly in Quebec, and 2017 marks five years since its adoption.

Ambassador Farukh Amil, the new Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva, called on IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong on 2 May.

Improving the quality and quantity of development cooperation is critical to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) was set up in 2011 to coordinate global action on development cooperation. The IPU

The new Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament, Mr. Viktoras Pranckietis, paid a courtesy call on the IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong at IPU Headquarters in Geneva on 25 April.

During the 136th IPU Assembly in Dhaka, 40 parliamentarians carried out a field visit to two facilities catering to the needs of adolescents and disadvantaged children. The facilities—the Adolescent Development and Participation (ADP) club and the Early Childhood Development (ECD)

Martin Chungong has been given a new four-year lease as Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The decision was taken at the 136th Assembly of the IPU, which took place in Dhaka, Bangladesh, last week.

A regional meeting to look at the role of young parliamentarians in advancing inclusive and peaceful societies and preventing violent extremism in Asia-Pacific will take place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 25 and 26 April. The Regional Meeting of Young Parliamentarians of the Asia-Pacific is being jointly organized by the IPU, the Parliament of Sri Lanka and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The IPU held several events during the first week of the 61 st session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which took place in New York from 13 to 24 March. IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong and

We also held six side events on 14 and 16 March during the 61 st session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), held in New York. Each event had around 60 participants, including MPs, government officials and

The IPU and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on 23 March to increase efforts to engage parliamentarians in the fight against those three diseases. The MOU highlights knowledge exchange, advocacy, awareness raising and human rights as areas for future cooperation.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) strongly condemns the attack on the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 22 March. We deplore the senselessness of the violence and the extensive number of casualties. We also convey our condolences to the families of those who lost their lives.

IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong visited Djibouti on 5 March to discuss cooperation between the IPU and the National Assembly to develop the capacities of the country’s Parliament. Earlier this year, the IPU had undertaken a mission to Djibouti to assess the Parliament’s needs. During his meetings with the authorities, Mr. Chungong discussed the recommendations of the mission and stressed the IPU’s readiness to help with implementation of its recommendations.