20 December 2021
Dear Madam President,
Dear Mr. President,
We are pleased to share with you the Results of the 143rd Assembly of the Inter-
Parliamentary Union and Related Meetings, held in Madrid, Spain, from 26 to
30 November 2021.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Madrid Assembly was the first IPU Assembly held
in-person in more than two years. In spite of the ongoing constraints, we were able to
convene this event. We can all be proud of what we were able to achieve in terms of the
level of participation, the quality of the deliberations and the substance of the outcomes.
Over the course of the Assembly, some 950 delegates – including 39 Speakers of
Parliament – from close to 120 countries and a variety of partner organizations,
addressed several issues that are high on the international agenda.
The General Debate centred on the theme
Contemporary challenges to democracy:
Overcoming division and building community.
Member Parliaments adopted the Madrid
Declaration, which calls for parliamentarians to take a new approach to politics by
showing true leadership in times of crisis, working to counter polarization, disinformation
and hate speech, and behaving in a respectful and inclusive manner, with the overall aim
of reconnecting people with their democratic institutions.
In an impressive show of solidarity, parliamentarians from around the world rallied around
an emergency resolution entitled
Harnessing global parliamentary support for vaccine
equity in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The resolution recognizes that
“vaccination is part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce transmission and save lives
and is among the most important tools in the fight against the pandemic”. It also
emphasized the principle of equity, whereby “each person must be vaccinated in
accordance with their level of risk and needs”.
The Assembly adopted a resolution prepared by the Standing Committee on Democracy
and Human Rights on
Legislation worldwide to combat online child sexual exploitation
and abuse.
In the context of the ongoing pandemic, the scourge of online abuse is
becoming particularly dramatic, and all parliaments are called upon to take resolute
action in combatting this phenomenon.
The Governing Council adopted a number of decisions regarding violations of the human
rights or parliamentarians. As highlighted in the IPU statement issued recently in the
context of Human Rights Day, we are witnessing a record number of persecuted MPs
worldwide, against the backdrop of political instability and a retreat in the observance of
democratic principles and practices. Parliamentary solidarity is sorely needed to defend
the right of all MPs to do their job safely and freely.
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