PURPOSE: The International Day of Parliamentarism is celebrated every year on 30 June, the date in 1889 on which the International Parliamentarian Union was founded. The Day is a time to review the progress that parliaments have made in achieving some key goals to be more representative and move with the times, including carrying out self-assessments, working to include more women and young MPs, and adapting to new technologies. The Inter-Parliamentary Unio was born 134 years ago this week. Discover our history in 134 seconds.
FORUM: ‘‘Parliaments for the Planet.’’ International Day of Parliamentarism 2023. This year, with time rapidly running out to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees as stipulated in the Paris Agreement, the IPU’s main focus is climate action. That's why, we recently launched the IPU campaign Parliaments for the Planet designed to mobilize parliaments and parliamentarians to act on the climate emergency. The concept of the campaign is simple. Climate action begins at home. Parliaments and parliamentarians must lead by example before preaching to the people. The campaign is made up of two parts:
My parliament! Part 1 of the campaign encourages parliaments and those who work in them to reduce carbon footprint and become greener.
My planet! Overlapping with Part 1 of the campaign, Part 2 helps parliaments step up action through legislation, budgets and, in particular, scrutiny of government measures to implement the Paris Agreement on climate especially in the lead-up to COP28 in November.
Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #Parliaments4thePlanet, #Parliamentarians, #30june, #ParliamentarismDay.
EVENTS: on June 30th, At IPU Headquarter in Geneva Switzerland during the observance International Day of Parliamentarism 2023, we will Celebrate the 134th anniversary of the IPU and monitor the progress made towards the SDGs and the Global Goal 13. The IPU believe that climate action begins at home. Parliaments and parliamentarians must lead by example before preaching to the people. Watch the International Day of Parliamentarism and the 134th anniversary of the IPU live from the Senate Chamber in the Parliament of Portugal.
STATEMENTS: Read the statement of IPU President, Duarte Pacheco, International Day of Parliamentarism 2023; June 30th.
PODCASTS: How did the IPU grow from a handful of parliamentarians from 9 countries who met for the first time on 30 June 1889 to become the global organization of parliaments? Listen to the audio-podcasts!
CAMPAIGN MATERIALS: “Parliaments for the Planet ‘‘. It’s time for us to amplify efforts in our communications with the global parliamentary family. Use the toolkit we have developed for the campaign including posters and social media assets. Get the campaign materials!
WHY WE CELEBRATE THE DAY?
Every year, on On June 30th, we celebrate the anniversary of the IPU. The Inter-Parliamentary Union promotes democracy and helps parliaments become stronger, younger, gender-balanced and more diverse. It also defends the human rights of parliamentarians through a dedicated committee made up of MPs from around the world. The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments. It was founded more than 134 years ago as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. We invite you to organize an event or a debate in your parliament to celebrate the day, linking to climate action and the campaign.
ACTIONS
Things you can do to celebrate the day:
Tell us what your parliament is doing for the planet and which of the 10 actions for greener parliaments (and those who work in them) you have put in place.
Facilitate parliamentary diplomacy.
Identify the priority areas for parliamentary action.
Contribute to Build effective and empowered parliaments.
Promote inclusive and representative parliaments.
Support resilient and innovative parliaments
Catalyse collective parliamentary action.
Strengthen the IPU’s accountability.
Empower parliaments and parliamentarians to promote peace, democracy and sustainable development around the world.
PARTNERSHIPS
The International Day of Parliamentarism is co-organized by the United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Member States, Inter-Parliamentary Union and the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians. Today, the IPU comprises 178 national Member Parliaments and 14 regional parliamentary bodies.