- 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
Rice farming in Madagascar. © Africa Renewal
Sustainable development
We support parliaments in implementing the SDGs with a particular focus on health and climate change.
With only a few years left to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), mobilizing parliaments around the global development agenda is becoming increasingly urgent. Parliament’s legislative, oversight and budget responsibilities make it a key player in, for example, reducing social and economic inequalities, improving the health of the people it represents and taking action to save the planet from the climate emergency.
Through our increasingly popular regional seminars, workshops and meetings on the SDGs, we help MPs exchange with peers, acquire up-to-date information and take action to advance the development agenda at home and internationally.
Our self-assessment SDG toolkit, produced with the United Nations Development Programme and translated into a dozen languages, is also proving very successful. The toolkit helps parliamentarians identify good practices, opportunities and lessons learned on how to institutionalize and mainstream the SDGs into the legislative process.
IPU Members also have a dedicated Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade that meets at every Assembly.
Sustainable development
Photo: © Lollie-Pop (CC-BY)
Our role is to help parliaments achieve the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and helping them prepare for its implementation.
We focus on cutting childhood death rates, improving the health of women and adolescents, and boosting HIV/AIDS care—all areas targeted in for action in the Sustainable Development Goals.
Latest news and stories on sustainable development
Press releases
25/02/2024
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), 25 February 2024. Over two hundred parliamentarians from around the world have restated the importance of including a parliamentary dimension in the future of multilateral cooperation on trade, considering the essential role that trade
Press releases
20/11/2023
The IPU and Adaptation at Altitude, a programme of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, have published a new Issues Brief for parliamentarians: Responding to climate change in the mountains: Opportunities for parliamentarians to act. The Brief is designed
News in brief
14/10/2023
The Parliament of India, in cooperation with the IPU, brought together parliamentary leaders from the world’s 20 major economies at the Ninth G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit and Parliamentary Forum, the so-called P20, on 13-14 October in New Delhi, India. The
News in brief
09/07/2023
Jointly organized by the IPU and the National People's Congress (NPC) of China, the Fifth Interregional Seminar on the Achievement of the SDGs provided parliaments from developing countries with the opportunity to share experiences and good practices on how to
Press releases
08/02/2023
Hundreds of Parliamentarians, Speakers and related officials gather in the lead-up the UN 2023 Water Conference
Sustainable development
Latest publications on sustainable development
Issue briefs
This Issues brief is designed to help parliamentarians identify policies and actions to adapt to the consequences of climate change in mountain ecoysystems.
Universal health coverage (UHC) means that all people have access to the health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. UHC can be seen as the practical expression of the right to health, which was
This brochure presents the highlights from the toolkit Disaster Risk Reduction to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals published by the IPU and UNDRR in 2021. The toolkit is designed to help parliaments and parliamentarians to initiate, strengthen and oversee national
Sustainable development
Related events
Sustainable development