INTER PARLIAMENTARY UNION

INTER PARLIAMENTARY UNION

Subject : International Organisations

Context : The Indian economy under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ‘amazing’, said Duarte Pacheco, President of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

Concept :

• IPU is global inter-parliamentary institution.
• It was established in 1889 and was the first permanent forum for political multilateral negotiations.
• It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• Its initial objective was arbitration of conflicts.
• It played important role in setting up Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
• Over time, its mission has evolved towards promotion of democracy and inter-parliamentary dialogue.
• It has worked for establishment of institutions at inter-governmental level, including UN.
• Initially, IPU was for individual parliamentarians, but has since transformed into international organization of parliaments of sovereign states.
• As of 2020, the national parliaments of 179 countries are members of the IPU, while 13 regional parliamentary assemblies are associate members.
• The IPU has permanent observer status at UNGA.