Media Advisory
MPs from around the world to convene in Bahrain for 146th IPU
Assembly
Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday 23 February 2023
The
146th IPU Assembly
will be held in Manama, Bahrain from 11 to 15 March 2023, hosted by the
Parliament of Bahrain. Hundreds of parliamentarians from all over the world are expected to attend the
deliberations on the overall theme of
Promoting peaceful coexistence and inclusive societies: Fighting
intolerance.
According to
the
2022 Global Peace Index,
published by the Institute for Economics and Peace, a global
think tank, the world has reached its lowest point of peacefulness in the last 15 years. Online hate
speech continues to sow division and is increasing against minorities, trust in government and the media
is diminishing, religious freedoms are being curtailed, and religious discrimination, racism and
xenophobia are rising.
However, parliaments, as guardians of the rule of law, citizenship, human rights and justice, are part of
the solution. During the Assembly, the IPU will offer opportunities for exchanges on good practices to
promote inclusion and support peaceful coexistence as a prerequisite of resilient, cohesive and
democratic societies.
Some 110 parliaments, including delegations from countries in conflict situations, will attend.
The IPU
Task Force for the peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine
will meet high-level parliamentary
delegations from both the Russian Federation and Ukraine to continue to explore options for a peaceful
resolution of grievances, in strict observance of international law. The
IPU Committee on Middle East
Questions
and the
IPU Group of Facilitators on Cyprus
will also meet to take stock of and propose
measures to resolve the situation in those regions.
The IPU is expected to take one step closer to universality with its membership increasing to 179
Member Parliaments thanks to the readmission of Liberia. Liberia was one of the founding members of
the IPU in 1889. Its membership had lapsed in 2011.
The Assembly will see the launch of a new IPU campaign,
Parliaments for the Planet,
designed to
mobilize parliaments and parliamentarians to act on the climate emergency. The campaign will
encourage parliaments and those who work in them to reduce their carbon footprints and become
greener institutions. It will also support parliaments in their efforts to implement the Paris Agreement on
climate through legislation, budgeting and scrutiny of government action.
The Assembly is also expected to adopt resolutions on
Cyberattacks and cybercrimes: The new risks to
global security
and
Parliamentary efforts in achieving negative carbon balances of forests.
All the IPU’s
parliamentary bodies will meet, including its four thematic standing committees, the Forum of Women
Parliamentarians, the Forum of Young Parliamentarians and the Committee on the Human Rights of
Parliamentarians.
Practical details
Date:
11 to 15 March 2023
Venue:
Exhibition World Bahrain (EWB), Manama, Bahrain