The 147th IPU Assembly will be held in Luanda, Angola, from 23 to 27 October 2023, hosted by the National Assembly of Angola. The IPU Assembly will provide a platform for parliamentarians, partner organizations and experts to share good practice and commit to the overall theme ofParliamentary action for peace, justice and strong institutions.

The theme is closely linked to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions, a key enabler of the entire development agenda. The Assembly will consider actions to strengthen trust between people and governance structures, to make public institutions more effective, accountable and representative, and to better equip parliaments to address the multiple interconnected geopolitical, economic and environmental crises facing the world.

At the Assembly, IPU Member Parliaments will elect their 31st President to replace the incumbent, Mr. Duarte Pacheco, a parliamentarian from Portugal. To date, four candidates have come forward for the position, all women MPs from Africa – a historic first.

Hundreds of parliamentarians from around the world, including delegations from countries at war or in conflict situations, are expected to come to Luanda. The IPU Task Force for the peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine is due to meet parliamentarians from both the Russian Federation and Ukraine. The IPU Committee on Middle East Questions will meet to consider the latest developments and chart a path to peace in the region. The IPU is also in close contact with the parliamentary leadership of both Armenia and Azerbaijan and has offered its good offices to help promote political dialogue between MPs from the two countries.

At the Assembly, the IPU is expected to take one step closer to universal membership with the addition of the Bahamas as its 180th Member Parliament.

The IPU will launch a number of new products and publications to support parliaments including:

• Indicators for Democratic Parliaments, a new tool linked to the Assembly’s overall theme, which will help parliaments to measure their capacity and performance;
• the latest IPU report on youth participation in parliament;
• a guide to digital transformation in parliaments;
• a new toolkit on parliaments and human rights, in partnership with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); and
• a parliamentary handbook on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol, also in partnership with OHCHR.

The winner of the 2023 Cremer-Passy Prize, the so-called MP of the year award, will also be announced in Luanda. The winning parliamentarian is expected to have a first-class track record on climate action, complementing the IPU’s climate campaign, Parliaments for the Planet, launched earlier this year.

All the IPU’s governance bodies will meet in person, including its Executive Committee, Governing Council, four thematic Standing Committees, Forum of Women Parliamentarians, Forum of Young Parliamentarians and Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians.

On 25 October 2023, the Second Global Parliamentary Summit on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism will also take place during the Assembly, with a special focus on the deteriorating security situation in the Sahel region.

The Assembly will adopt a number of resolutions, including on Orphanage trafficking: The role of parliaments in reducing harm. 

Practical details for the media:

Date: 23-27 October 2023 

Venue: The National Assembly of Angola, Avenida Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto, Praia do Bispo-Luanda.

Media attendance: All representatives of the media need to register at this link

A letter from your media outlet and a copy of your press card should be submitted to press@ipu.org in support of your online registration.

Press conference: An opening press conference is tentatively scheduled for Monday, 23 October 2023 at 17:30 (local time) Venue to be confirmed.

The Assembly will be livestreamed on ipu.org/147

The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments. It was founded more than 130 years ago as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 179 national Member Parliaments and 14 regional parliamentary bodies. It promotes democracy and helps parliaments become stronger, younger, gender-balanced and more innovative. It also defends the human rights of parliamentarians through a dedicated committee made up of MPs from around the world.

For more information about the IPU, contact Thomas Fitzsimons at e-mail: press@ipu.org