- ImpactWe help parliaments to become greener and to implement the Paris agreement.We support democracy by strengthening parliamentsWe work to increase women’s representation in parliament and empower women MPs.We defend the human rights of parliamentarians and help them uphold the rights of all.We help parliaments fight terrorism, cyber warfare and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.We encourage youth participation in parliaments and empower young MPs.We support parliaments in implementing the SDGs with a particular focus on health and climate change.
- Parliaments
Nearly every country in the world has some form of parliament. Parliamentary systems fall into two categories: bicameral and unicameral. Out of 190 national parliaments in the world, 78 are bicameral (156 chambers) and 112 are unicameral, making a total of 268 chambers of parliament with some 44,000 members of parliament. IPU membership is made up of 180 national parliamentsFind a national parliament
The Swiss National Council © The Swiss Parliament
We help strengthen parliaments to make them more representative and effective. - Knowledge
Discover the IPU's resources
Our library of essential resources for parliamentsGlobal data for and about national parliamentsLatest data and reports about women in parliamentResolutions, declarations and outcomes adopted by IPU MembersRecent innovations in the way parliaments workThe latest climate change legislation from the London School of Economics' database
Concerns grow over imprisoned Iraqi and other MPs across world
Wed, 21/10/2015 - 17:41
The human rights cases were outlined to the IPU assembly by committee president Ann Clwyd. ©IPU/Pierre Albouy
Read this press release at http://archive.ipu.org/press-e/pressrelease201510212.htm
Related news and stories
Case studies
11/04/2024
In August 2023, Members of the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians travelled to Iraq, pleading for the swift release of an opposition MP who had been arrested arbitrarily a decade earlier. The arrest had happened early one
Press releases
07/12/2023
A few days before Human Rights Day on 10 December, the IPU has released its annual map of the number of reported cases of human rights violations suffered by parliamentarians around the world. Although the numbers continue to rise, there
Press releases
08/12/2017
Human rights abuses against parliamentarians reached a new high in 2017, according to Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) statistics. Parliamentarians from Cambodia, Maldives, Turkey and Venezuela alone, where the political situation has been worsening in recent times, account for 35% of the cases. Cases of abuses against women MPs have also reached a record number this year, having tripled since 2014. El Salvador, Turkey and Venezuela account for this year’s huge increase.
Press releases
25/11/2014
Read this press release at http://archive.ipu.org/press-e/pressnote201411251.htm
Human rights cases
26/05/2014
Iraqi MP Mohammed Al-Dainy was sentenced to death in his absence for masterminding the suicide bombing of the Iraqi parliament in 2007, along with other charges which have since turned out to be false. Iraqi MP and human rights activist
Press releases
15/06/2009
Read this press release at http://archive.ipu.org/press-e/gen327.htm