Malaysian Senate urged to take opportunity to improve basic freedoms - The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) has called on the Malaysian Senate to take the opportunity to improve political freedoms in the country when a bill already adopted by the lower house of parliament to amend a controversial Sedition Act comes before it. The Sedition Act is aimed in part at regulating speech which could incite unrest or religious tension. IPU has welcomed the removal of a provision that makes it illegal for anyone to criticise the government or the judiciary. However, other amendments in the new bill include harsher jail sentences for those found guilty on sedition charges and strengthen government powers to crack down on freedom of speech online.

“IPU urges the Malaysian Senate to not lose this critical moment to force a rethink on the issue as the country strives for democratic progress and respect for human rights,” said IPU President Saber Chowdhury. “Freedoms of expression, speech and assembly are fundamental democratic rights and need to be protected and enforced by parliament.”

IPU’s Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, which is working on cases of alleged violations of the rights of nine opposition MPs in the country, will carry out a mission there next month. The cases include seven MPs who are either facing sedition charges or are being investigated on the same issue, such as Anwar Ibrahim’s daughter Nurul Izzah. She was briefly arrested in March for criticising her father’s sentencing during a speech in parliament. The IPU mission will also follow up on investigations being carried out on three of the MPs for attending a “Kita lawan” (We fight) rally in Kuala Lumpur on 7th March calling for Anwar Ibrahim’s release.
IPU Secretary General mission to two Koreas to strengthen cooperation and promote dialogue – IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong will hold talks with parliamentary and government leaders in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea during a mission to the two countries between 27 April and 6 May. The mission is part of IPU efforts to promote parliamentary cooperation and dialogue between the two Koreas aimed at fostering a political climate conducive to eventual reunification. Secretary General Chungong will begin with a four-day visit in Pyongyang before travelling to Seoul on 1st May.

Call to action on harnessing MPs’ power for gender equality – IPU Members have endorsed a call by women parliamentarians urging the world’s MPs to harness their political power to create a gender-equal world. This will be critical as the global focus increasingly shifts to a new sustainable development agenda which will not succeed without the contribution gender equality makes to peace, well-being and human development. The initiative, “My power for women’s power”, commits MPs to passing laws which enshrine equality in their societies and to providing the necessary financing and oversight for the laws to become a reality. MPs also pledged to boost women’s roles in politics and wider society and to empower women and girls in all spheres of life. IPU believes MPs hold enormous potential to achieve a world free from gender discrimination and that it is critically important for male and female MPs to work together to achieve this. The call to action was initially made during IPU’s 132nd Assembly in Hanoi in April by the Meeting of Women MPs, which celebrated 30 years of its pioneering work in boosting the role of female parliamentarians. IPU data shows that the percentage of women MPs in the world has nearly doubled in 20 years, from 11.3 per cent to 22.1 per cent, but progress has remained slow and much work remains to be done.

UN follow-up for Hanoi development declaration - Wasting no time after the 132nd Assembly, IPU has introduced the Hanoi Declaration on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to UN Member States during a negotiation session on financing for development (FFD). During the session from 13-16 April, the first draft outcome document was discussed ahead of the international conference on FFD taking place in Addis Ababa in July. Financing will be critical to the implementation of the entire post-2015 development agenda and SDGs. In a letter to all UN ambassadors, IPU pledged that “parliamentarians will work to build national ownership of the SDGs by pro-actively engaging their constituents and by working to tailor the global goals to their countries’ specific circumstances”. During the FFD negotiations, IPU underscored the key role of parliaments in the monitoring and following-up of all commitments, and said it was regrettable that parliaments were not included in the first draft document. IPU called for a distinct paragraph in the text pointing up the legislative and oversight functions of parliaments, which are key to overseeing sources of finance and turning commitments into enforceable measures. Because of the non-binding nature of the Addis Ababa agreement, the future of its commitments will depend entirely on how they are translated into national laws and regulations. IPU will continue to follow this process closely to ensure the role of parliaments is reflected in all relevant UN agreements.

World’s young MPs to gather in Tokyo – An IPU conference in Tokyo next month that will bring together young MPs from around the world will focus on finding solutions to critical global issues that heavily impact on youth. About 130 young men and women MPs from Japan and elsewhere are so far expected to attend the IPU Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians in Tokyo  at the Japanese parliament, the National Diet, on 27 and 28 May. The Conference, an annual event and the only one of its kind, was first held in Geneva in 2014. Jointly organized by IPU and the National Diet, the IPU Global Conference offers a political youth-led platform to define policies and action to successfully tackle challenges faced by young people.  Issues under focus will include: the impact of the socio -economic crisis on youth; young people’s vision of a prosperous world and how it can be achieved and the role of youth in eliminating conflict. Specifically, the Conference will examine how young MPs in particular can empower young people in addressing socio-economic challenges, including unemployment and how young MPs can counter youth engagement in violence and conflict. Particular attention will be paid to the issue of violence against youth, including young women and girls. There will also be an interactive discussion on young people’s perception of violence and the possibility of growing up in a non-violent culture. The Global Conference is part of IPU’s efforts to increase youth political participation and input into political decision-making backed by its Forum of Young Parliamentarians.

Young MPs can still register to attend. Take part in the discussions through Twitter using the hashtag #youngMPs

Endorsing and implementing Common Principles for Support to Parliament – Nearly 80 national parliaments, parliamentary assemblies and partner organizations have now endorsed the ground-breaking Common Principles for Support to Parliament aimed at improving the quality of parliamentary development support. A formal endorsement ceremony at IPU’s 132nd Assembly in Hanoi last month witnessed a surge in endorsements. With an ever increasing level of support for the Common Principles, the challenge now is to ensure they are effectively put into practice. Put together by a group of parliaments and parliamentary development entities, and the result of more than four decades of experience on parliamentary development, the Common Principles offer clear guidelines for those receiving or providing such support. Coordinated by IPU, they aim to improve the quality of support available to parliaments and to encourage the parliamentary community to work together more effectively when planning, designing and providing support. Parliaments and organizations wishing to add their endorsement can notify the IPU Secretariat.
 
Peru action to boost maternal and child health – IPU and partners will be working to raise awareness and understanding of maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) among Peruvian parliamentarians in the first IPU event of its kind in Latin America. Meeting on 6th May at an event organized by Peru’s Congress of the Republic, IPU and the World Health Organization (WHO), the MPs will discuss critical MNCH issues, such as an increase in maternal mortality rates in the country. IPU and experts from WHO's Regional Office for the Americas will share with MPs the progress already made, the most successful legislation and policies, the remaining challenges as well as recommendations to improve the health outcomes of the most marginalized. The event is intended to support the Peruvian Congress in strengthening its work on legislation, oversight, representation and budget appropriation on MNCH. Peru is one of two priority countries in Latin America that need to accelerate progress on implementing a 2014-2015 action plan, according to a WHO assessment. The meeting in Lima will build on key research on improving the health of the country’s women and children. The Peruvian Congress is also hosting the First Congress of the Americas Parliaments’ Health Committees from 3-6 June. The event aims to establish a network enabling parliaments to share best practices on health legislation and policies.