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The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) (French: L'Union Interparlementaire (UIP)) is an international organization established in 1889 by William Randal Cremer (United Kingdom) and Frédéric Passy (France). It was the first permanent forum for political multilateral negotiations. Initially, the organization was for individual parliamentarians, but has since transformed into an international organization of the parliaments of sovereign states. The national parliaments of 157 countries are members of the IPU, and nine regional parliamentary assemblies are associate members.[1] The IPU has permanent observer status at the United Nations.
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Leading personalities of the IPU have received eight Nobel Peace Prizes:
The organisation's initial objective was the arbitration of conflicts. The IPU played an important part in setting up the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. Over time, its mission has evolved towards the promotion of democracy and inter-parliamentary dialogue. The IPU has worked for establishment of institutions at the inter-governmental level, including the United Nations, an organization with which it cooperates and with which it has permanent observer status.
Numerous bodies have expressed interest in the possibility of transforming the IPU into a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, among them the Committee for a Democratic UN, the German Bundestag and the Socialist International. The Liberal International also considers this as an option.
The headquarters of the union have been moved several times since its inception. Locations:
It is the duty of the Members of the Union to submit the resolutions of the Union within their respective Parliament, in the most appropriate form; to communicate them to the Government; to stimulate their implementation and to inform the Secretariat of the Union, as often and fully as possible, particularly in its annual reports, as to the steps taken and the results obtained.
The participating parliamentary assemblies other than national parliaments are the following:[2]
The organs of the Inter-Parliamentary Union are:
The Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments shall be a consultative body of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Any proposal to amend the Statutes shall be submitted in writing to the Secretariat of the Union at least three months before the meeting of the Assembly. The Secretariat will immediately communicate all such proposals to the Members of the Union. The consideration of such proposed amendments shall be automatically placed on the agenda of the Assembly.
Any sub-amendments shall be submitted in writing to the Secretariat of the Union at least six weeks before the meeting of the Assembly. The Secretariat will immediately communicate all such sub-amendments to the Members of the Union.
After hearing the opinion of the Governing Council, expressed through a simple majority vote, the Assembly shall decide on such proposals by a two-thirds majority vote.
The IPU marked the 50th anniversary of the United Nations by holding a special session in the General Assembly Hall before the start of the session,[6] where they planned for closer cooperation with the United Nations. The General Assembly Resolution passed during that session requested the Secretary-General to put this into action.[7] An agreement was signed between the IPU and the Secretary-General on 24 July 1996 and subsequently ratified by a General Assembly Resolution, where the United Nations recognizes IPU as the world organization of parliaments.[8][9] Pursuant to this resolution, the Secretary-General submitted a report [10] which was noted with appreciation by the General Assembly, who requested further strengthening of cooperation and another report.[11] This report detailed the measures that had been taken, including opening a liaison office in New York, and cooperation on issues such land-mines and the promotion of representative democracy.[12] Following an entire morning of debate[13] the General Assembly passed a resolution which simply stated that it "looks forward to continued close cooperation".[14]
The following year (1999) the Secretary-General reported on an increased number of areas of cooperation,[15] the issue was debated for an entire afternoon[16] (interrupted by a minute of silence held for tribute to Vazgen Sargsyan, the Prime Minister of Armenia who had just at that time been killed by gunmen),[17] and passed a resolution requesting the IPU be allowed to address the Millennium General Assembly directly.[18]
Following another report,[19] and another half-day debate,[20] the General Assembly welcomed the IPU declaration entitled "The Parliamentary vision for international cooperation at the dawn of the third millennium" and called for the Secretary-General to explore new and further ways in which the relationship could be strengthened.[21]
On 19 November 2002 the IPU was granted observer status to the General Assembly.[22]
In the Resolution 59/19, Cooperation between the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the UN General Assembly takes note of the recommendations in regard to engaging parliamentarians more systematically in the work of the United Nations.[23]
The final declaration of the Second World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, hosted at United Nations headquarters, took place in September 2005, was entitled Bridging the democracy gap in international relations: A stronger role for parliament.[24]
In the Resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly, 61/6, Cooperation between the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in 27 November 2006, it calls for the further development of the annual parliamentary hearing at the United Nations and other specialized parliamentary meetings in the context of major United Nations meetings as joint United Nations-Inter-Parliamentary Union events.[25]
Every year during the fall session of the General Assembly the IPU organises a Parliamentary Hearing.[26] A resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and the IPU allowed for circulation of official IPU documents in the General Assembly.
UN and the IPU cooperate closely in various fields, in particular peace and security, economic and social development, international law, human rights, and democracy and gender issues, but IPU has not obtained the status of UN General Assembly subsidiary organ.
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