Marking the 2017 International Day of Democracy (IDD) on 15 September, the IPU is celebrating two important milestones: the 10th anniversary of the IDD and the 20th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Democracy. The IPU has placed this year’s IDD under the banner of “In defence of democracy”. Read more.
 
IPU facilitates cooperation between parliaments on ICT projects
Over the last few months, the IPU has helped the Parliaments of Sri Lanka, Vanuatu and Zambia to set up digital repositories for their respective parliamentary libraries. The projects encourage parliamentary staff to transfer their newly acquired knowledge to other parliaments. The Assistant Librarian of the Sri Lankan Parliament has helped to enhance the digital library of the Zambian National Assembly, and the Chief Librarian of the Zambian Parliament presented a paper on digital repositories to parliamentary librarians from 42 countries. Read more.
 
IPU condemns military lockdown of Maldives Parliament
The IPU condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the military’s interference in the business of the Maldives Parliament. The IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong and the IPU President Saber Chowdhury have called for calm and for the Parliament to be allowed to carry out its functions without intimidation. Read more.
 
Young MPs speak out on their political empowerment
Data from the IPU shows the worrisome lack of representation of young people in parliaments. To commemorate International Youth Day 2017 (12 August), the IPU asked young MPs worldwide to share their views on how to increase youth engagement in politics. We are sharing these views through a social media campaign on Twitter and Facebook. Read more.
 
IPU showcases its work on parliaments to scholars and MPs
The IPU presented a “sneak preview” of the forthcoming Global Parliamentary Report (GPR) on parliamentary oversight to a group of scholars and parliamentarians at a two-day workshop in Wroxton College, United Kingdom. The GPR will be co-published by the IPU and the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) and presented at the 137th IPU Assembly in October 2017. The IPU also presented its work on strengthening parliaments. Read more.
 
Malian MPs discuss their role in SDGs and gender equality
Malian MPs from across all political parties gathered at an IPU seminar in Bamako, Mali, to discuss their role in advancing gender equality and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The seminar, which was co-organized with the Parliament of Mali, took place on 25 and 26 July. It aimed to sensitize Malian MPs to their role in promoting the SDGs and gender equality and to help them to identify strategies to better integrate these two issues into public policies and laws. Read more.
 
MPs contribute to the UN process on Global Compact on migration
Migration is one of the biggest challenges in recent years, transcending questions of sustainable development, human rights, peace and security. In September 2016, the UN General Assembly hosted a High-Level Summit during which Member States committed to negotiating a “Global Compact on Safe, Regular and Orderly Migration”. The IPU is closely following this process, which will conclude with a major conference in September 2018. As part of the negotiating process, the IPU facilitated the participation of a group of 17 MPs from 11 parliaments in two meetings at UN Headquarters from 24 to 26 July that allowed them to contribute to the process. Read more.
 
IPU urges Venezuelan authorities to reconsider 30 July vote in bid to avoid further violence and bloodshed
Both the IPU President and Secretary General have expressed serious concern about the continuing violence and bloodshed in Venezuela. The situation escalated further as Venezuelan President Maduro decided to go ahead with the vote on 30 July to elect a Constituent Assembly to redraft the country’s Constitution. The IPU condemns any attempts to undermine the National Assembly in Venezuela. Read more.
 
IPU supports Zambian Parliament to set up digital library
The IPU has been assisting the National Assembly of Zambia develop a digital library to improve information management and sharing with MPs and the public. As part of this ongoing work, the IPU undertook a technical support mission to Lusaka. During the mission, workshops were held for parliamentary staff to resolve technical issues and enhance the library’s digital interface. The workshops also bolstered the process for submitting documents to the library. Read more.
 
Upcoming events

    Second interregional seminar on parliamentary capacity-building and the further implementation of the SDGs
    5 - 7 September, Beijing, China
    The Seminar will discuss how parliaments can effectively engage in law-making to facilitate the implementation of the SDGs, and share successful experience in their own countries. Special emphasis will be placed on south-south development cooperation for the SDG achievement, SDG-related legislation as well as climate change and environment-related technologies. It is co-organized with China’s National People’s Congress.
    Parliamentary session within the framework of the annual WTO Public Forum
    26 September, Geneva, Switzerland
    As part of the programme of the WTO Public Forum 2017, the IPU and the European Parliament will organize a Parliamentary Session entitled Making trade fair: The contribution of parliaments.
    137th Assembly and related meetings
    14 - 18 October, St. Petersburg, Russia

New publication
Parliaments and the Sustainable Development Goals – A self-assessment toolkit (Serbian version)
This self-assessment toolkit, produced with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), provides parliaments with the framework to evaluate their readiness to engage with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It further helps parliamentarians identify good practices, opportunities and lessons learned on how to effectively institutionalize the SDGs and mainstream them into the legislative process.