Inter-Parliamentary Union

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Interparliamentary Union
IPU
 

Logo of the IPU
English name Inter-Parliamentary Union
French name Union interparlementaire
Organization type international association of parliaments
status Observer status at the UN General Assembly
Seat of the organs Geneva , Switzerland
Member States 167 (2016)
Associate members

10 (2016)

Official and working languages

english , french

founding

1889

www.ipu.org

The Interparliamentary Union ( IPU , founded as "Interparliamentary Union for International Arbitration", French : Union interparlementaire , UIP for short ) is an international association of parliaments founded in 1889 with the aim of securing peace and promoting the understanding of democracy in all parts of the world World and respect for human rights. It was started by William Randal Cremer from Great Britain and Frédéric Passy from France. In 2016 the IPU had 167 member states and 10 associate members. The seat of the secretariat is in Geneva . The union is financed exclusively through the contributions of the member parliaments.

history

Meeting of the 25th Conference of the Interparliamentary Union in the German Reichstag in 1928

The Frenchman Frédéric Passy had the first idea of ​​founding a peace organization of parliamentarians in the 1870s and 1880s. He was a committed pacifist all his life and since 1881 a member of the French parliament . Passy developed the idea of ​​preventing wars and conflicts through international, state arbitration . Instead of using armed force, nations should submit to a neutral authority. In 1888, Passy and the British trade unionist William Randal Cremer met in Paris, who wanted to establish a peacekeeping British-American coalition including France. After the US Senate approved this treaty in June , Passy and Cremer made contact with various European parliaments.

A year later, on their initiative, the "Interparliamentary Union for International Arbitration" was founded in Paris as an assembly of members of the parliaments of initially European countries. Another member of the founding conference on June 29 and 30, 1889 was the Swiss lawyer Élie Ducommun .

The second conference took place in London in 1890 . At this, the Union was given a representative character for the first time: 111 MPs represented 11 European states, over 1,000 other MPs had written declarations of consent.

At the 3rd conference on November 13, 1891 in Rome , the " International Permanent Peace Office " (French: Bureau International Permanent de la Paix ) was set up with its seat in Bern , Ducommun was its first chairman until his death in 1906. The main task of the office was to coordinate the various actions of national, sometimes rival peace organizations. Ducommun was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1902 for this voluntary work as "Managing Director of Peace".

In 1892, at the follow-up conference in Bern - organized by Charles Gobat - the Union's central office was brought into being, headed by Charles Gobat.

The Union was able to achieve its first success with its substantial contribution to the convening of the First Hague Peace Conference in 1899. In the period that followed, many international arbitration agreements were concluded upon suggestion and mediation.

In 1905 the name was shortened to "Interparliamentary Union".

Interparliamentary Union in Geneva (Switzerland) 2010

From 1920 the Union Secretariat has its permanent seat in Geneva. Before that, the seat moved from Bern (1892–1911) to Brussels (1911–1914) and Oslo (1914–1920).

Since 1947 the IPU had consultative status (Category I) with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC). Since November 2002 the IPU has observer status at the General Assembly of the United Nations . In New York the IPU has a permanent liaison office at the UN.

Members

Member states of the Interparliamentary Union (2016: 167 member states). Supranational parliaments such as the European or the Pan-African Parliaments are associated members.

In 2016 the IPU had 167 member states and 10 associate members. Associate members include:

Working method

The Interparliamentary Union usually meets twice a year (Interparliamentary Conference, Assembly of the Interparliamentary Union), at which the delegations of the parliaments exchange ideas. First and foremost, political, economic and social issues of international interest are discussed in this plenary session of parliamentarians and, if necessary, relevant resolutions are drawn up. However, these resolutions have no direct impact or obligations on national parliaments.

The total number of delegates varies. A maximum of eight representatives from countries with fewer than 100 million inhabitants and a maximum of ten from countries with more than 100 million inhabitants can be appointed by the parliaments.

In addition, special conferences are held that primarily concern issues relating to disarmament and nature and the environment.

The Interparliamentary Council, which consists of two parliamentarians from each member state, is entrusted with the planning and implementation of the conferences. A president with a term of three years is elected from among its number. The current president is Abdelwahad Radi, the former President of the House of Representatives of Morocco.

The Executive Committee plays a key role in preparing the agenda and in setting up new committees. In addition to the President of the Interparliamentary Council, it has twelve other members. Its job is to support the council.

Standing committees

The content-related work is taken over by the standing committees, which meet at least twice a year. There are currently four standing committees:

  • Committee on Democracy and Human Rights
  • Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade
  • Committee on Peace and International Security
  • United Nations Affairs Committee

Council and other bodies

In addition to the Governing Council, there are, among others, the following bodies:

  • Meeting of the parliamentarians
  • Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians
  • Committee to Promote Respect for International Humanitarian Law.

There is also the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP) as an advisory body.

Previous and planned conferences (Inter-Parliamentary Conferences)

Medal for the 15th Conference of the Interparliamentary Union in Berlin in 1908
65th Interparliamentary Conference in Bonn: German postage stamp from 1978
# city country Period
1. Paris France 29./30. 6. 1889
2. London Great Britain 1890
3. Rome Italy 1891
4th Bern Switzerland 1892
5. The hague Netherlands 1894
6th Brussels Belgium 1895
7th Budapest Austria-Hungary 1896
8th. Brussels Belgium 1897
9. Kristiania Norway 1899
10. Paris France 1900
11. Vienna Austria-Hungary 1903
12. Saint Louis United States 1904
13. Brussels Belgium 1905
14th London Great Britain 1906
15th Berlin German Empire 1908
16. Brussels Belgium 1910
17th Geneva Switzerland 1912
18th The hague Netherlands 1913
- Ottawa Canada planned in 1915
19th Stockholm Sweden 1921
20th Vienna Austria 1922
21st Copenhagen Denmark 1923
22nd Bern Switzerland 1924
23. Washington and Ottawa USA and Canada 1925
24. Paris France 1927
25th Berlin German Empire 1928
26th London Great Britain 1930
27. Bucharest Romania 1931
28. Geneva Switzerland 1932
29 Madrid Spain 1933
30th Istanbul Turkey 1934
31. Brussels Belgium 1935
32. Budapest Hungary 1936
33. Paris France 1937
34. The hague Netherlands 1938
35. Oslo Norway 1939
36. Cairo Egypt 1947
37. Rome Italy 1948
38. Stockholm Sweden 1949
39. Dublin Ireland 1950
40. Istanbul Turkey 1951
41. Bern Switzerland 1952
42. Washington United States 1953
43. Vienna Austria 1954
44. Helsinki Finland 1955
45. Bangkok Thailand 1956
46. London Great Britain 1957
47. Rio de Janeiro Brazil 1958
48. Warsaw Poland 1959
49. Tokyo Japan 1960
50. Brussels Belgium 1961
51. Brasília Brazil 1962
52. Belgrade Yugoslavia 1963
53. Copenhagen Denmark 1964
54. Ottawa Canada 1965
55. Tehran Iran 1966
56. Lima Peru 1968
57. New Delhi India 1969
58. The hague Netherlands 1970
59. Paris France 1971
60. Rome Italy 1972
61. Tokyo Japan 1974
62. London Great Britain 1975
63. Madrid Spain 1976
64. Sofia Bulgaria 1977
65. Bonn Federal Republic of Germany 1978
66. Caracas Venezuela 1979
67. East Berlin German Democratic Republic 1980
68. Havana Cuba 1981
69. Rome Italy 1982
70. Seoul South Korea 1983
71. Geneva Switzerland 1984
72. Geneva Switzerland 1984
73. Lomé Togo 1985
74. Ottawa Canada 1985
75. Mexico city Mexico 1986
76. Buenos Aires Argentina 1986
77. Managua Nicaragua 1987
78. Bangkok Thailand 1987
79. Guatemala City Guatemala 1988
80. Sofia Bulgaria 1988
81. Budapest Hungary 1989
82. London Great Britain 1989
83. Nicosia Cyprus 1990
84. Punta del Este Uruguay 1990
85. Pyongyang North Korea 1991
86. Santiago de Chile Chile October 7-12, 1991
87. Yaoundé Cameroon April 6-11, 1992
88 Stockholm Sweden September 7-12, 1992
89. New Delhi India April 12-17, 1993
90. Canberra Australia September 13-18, 1993
91. Paris France March 21-26, 1994
92. Copenhagen Denmark September 12-17, 1994
93. Madrid Spain March 27 - April 1, 1995
94. Bucharest Romania October 9-14, 1995
95. Istanbul Turkey April 5-19, 1996
96. Beijing China September 16-20, 1996
97. Seoul South Korea April 10-14, 1997
98 Cairo Egypt September 11-15, 1997
99 Windhoek Namibia April 6-10, 1998
100. Moscow Russia September 7-11, 1998
101. Brussels Belgium April 11-15, 1999
102. Berlin Germany October 10-15, 1999
103. Amman Jordan April 30 - May 5, 2000
104. Jakarta Indonesia October 15-21, 2000
105. Havana Cuba April 1 - 6, 2001
106. Ouagadougou Burkina Faso 9-14 September 2001
107. Marrakech Morocco March 17-22, 2002
108. Santiago de Chile Chile April 6-11, 2003
109. Geneva Switzerland October 1 - 3, 2003
110. Mexico city Mexico April 18-23, 2004
111. Geneva Switzerland September 28 - October 1, 2004
112. Manila Philippines April 3 - 8, 2005
113. Geneva Switzerland October 17-19, 2005
114. Nairobi Kenya May 7-12, 2006
115. Geneva Switzerland October 16-18, 2006
116. Nusa Dua Indonesia April 29 - May 4, 2007
117. Geneva Switzerland October 8-10, 2007
118. Cape Town South Africa April 13-18, 2008
119. Geneva Switzerland October 13-15, 2008
120. Addis Ababa Ethiopia April 5 - 10, 2009
121. Geneva Switzerland October 18-21, 2009
122. Bangkok Thailand 27.3. - April 1, 2010
123. Geneva Switzerland October 4-6, 2010
124. Panama City Panama April 15-24, 2011
125. Bern Switzerland October 16-19, 2011
126. Kampala Uganda March 31 - April 5, 2012
127. Quebec Canada October 21-26, 2012
128. Quito Ecuador March 22-27, 2013
129. Geneva Switzerland October 7 - 9, 2013
130. Geneva Switzerland March 16-20, 2014
131. Geneva Switzerland October 12-16, 2014
132. Hanoi Vietnam 27. 3. - 1. 4. 2015
133. Geneva Switzerland 17th - 21st October 2015 (originally planned in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia)
134. Lusaka Zambia March 19-23, 2016
135. Geneva Switzerland October 23-27, 2016
136. Dhaka Bangladesh 1-5 April 2017
137. St. Petersburg Russia October 14-18, 2017
138. Geneva Switzerland 24-28 March 2018
139. Geneva Switzerland October 14-18, 2018
140 Doha Qatar April 6-10, 2019
141. Belgrade Serbia October 13-17, 2019
Vienna Austria August 2020

Reform proposals

In the course of the discussion about reforming the United Nations , it was suggested that the Interparliamentary Union be integrated into the United Nations as a “parliamentary arm” . In the long term, it should then develop into a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations .

literature

  • Beat Habegger: Parliamentarism in International Politics. Council of Europe, OSCE and Interparliamentary Union, Nomos-Verlag, Baden-Baden 2005 (Nomos Universitätsschriften, Politik, Volume 132), ISBN 3-8329-1657-1 .
  • Ralph Uhlig: The Interparliamentary Union 1889-1914. Peacekeeping Efforts in the Age of Imperialism, Steiner, Stuttgart 1988 (Studies on Modern History, Volume 39), ISBN 3-515-05095-7 .

Web links

Commons : Inter-Parliamentary Union  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b United Nations Official Document A-RES-57-32 Resolution . In: UN General Assembly session 57 . November 19, 2002. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  2. ↑ a b c d e IPU members . Archived from the original on March 6, 2016.
  3. ↑ SUMMARY RECORD: MEETING OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT attending the 57th session of the UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY (New York, November 19, 2002) (NY / XXII / 2002 / SR February 28, 2003) . Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  4. ↑ Permanent Observers at the United Nations . Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  5. ↑ http://www.ipu.org/strct-e/presdnt.htm
  6. ↑ Kurier: Presidents of parliament from all over the world are coming to Vienna in 2020 . Article dated April 18, 2019, accessed April 18, 2019.
  7. ↑ INFO-BRIEF Topic: The idea of ​​a parliamentarization of the United Nations as a contribution to the debate on “Global Governance” and democracy , Scientific Services of the German Bundestag , page 23 3.4 The change of the IPU to the parliamentary arm of the UN, by Prof. Dr. Thomas v. Winter, July 4, 2005, accessed August 7, 2017