In News: Duarte Pacheco, President of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Geneva, was present in Rajya Sabha on Monday to observe the proceedings of the House.
About Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
Genesis of the IPU
- The organization was established in 1889 as the Inter-Parliamentary Congress. Its founders were statesmen Frédéric Passy of France and William Randal Cremer of the United Kingdom.
- The Inter-Parliamentary Union was created in 1889, in an era when there were no established means for governments or parliaments to work together internationally.
- The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) formed in 1889, is one of the oldest and largest international Parliamentary body consisting of more than 179 Members.
- The IPU was instrumental in setting up the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 1899, and its calls for an international institution linking governments helped lay the foundations for the creation of the League of Nations in 1919 and the United Nations in 1945.
Historic first meeting: The historic meeting was organized at the Grand Hotel in Paris on 31 October 1888.
International attendance: This time the meeting was attended by 55 French and 28 British MPs, as well as 5 Italians and 1 representative each from the parliaments of Belgium, Denmark, Hungary, Liberia, Spain and the United States.
Objective: The Inter-Parliamentary Union is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members.
Members: As of 2020, the national parliaments of 179 countries are members of the IPU, while 13 regional parliamentary assemblies are associate members.
IPU and India
- The IPU espouses the cause of promoting democracy across the world and take up issues of international importance, such as, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Climate Change, Gender Equality, etc.India, since its independence, has always been an active Member of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
- In the past, G.S. Dhilon, the then Speaker of Lok Sabha and Dr Najma Heptulla, the then Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha had served as the Presidents of IPU.
- India has been contributing to the deliberations and outcomes of IPU by being on various Standing Committees, Forums and Advisory Groups of IPU.
