Geneva, Switzerland, Friday 1 March 2024
The 148th IPU Assembly will be held in Geneva, Switzerland from 23-27 March 2024. This is the first time in almost six years that the IPU’s biannual Assembly will be held in Geneva. Hundreds of parliamentarians from around the world are expected to attend the Assembly to address the theme Parliamentary diplomacy: Building bridges for peace and understanding.
With 56 countries experiencing armed conflict in 2023 – according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute – the IPU Assembly will provide a much-needed space for parliamentary dialogue and diplomacy at the global, regional and bilateral levels, as a complement to the United Nations and other multilateral forums.
The IPU’s various parliamentary bodies focused on conflict situations will meet in person in Geneva, including:
- The IPU Task Force for the peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine, which will hear from parliamentarians from both the Russian Federation and Ukraine separately. Made up of eight prominent parliamentarians from around the world, the Task Force’s objective is to explore parliamentary contributions to efforts to end the war. It also acts as a shuttle for information exchange between the two parliaments.
- The IPU Committee on Middle East Questions, which will meet to consider what parliamentary action to take in view of the protracted conflict in Gaza, with its disastrous humanitarian consequences. The Committee is made up of 12 members of parliament with special expertise in the Middle East. Israel and Palestine are ex-officio members of the Committee.
- The IPU Group of Facilitators on Cyprus, which will meet to take stock of and consider measures to resolve the situation on the island.
- Meetings are also foreseen with high-level delegations led by the Speakers of Parliament from Armenia and Azerbaijan, following IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong’s recent visit to the region.
The Assembly is expected to adopt resolutions on Addressing the social and humanitarian impact of autonomous weapon systems and artificial intelligence and Partnerships for climate action: Promoting access to affordable green energy, and ensuring innovation, responsibility and equity.
All the other IPU 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.
At the Assembly, the IPU will also start accepting nominations for the 2024 edition of the Cremer-Passy Prize, named after 19th century parliamentarians William Randall Cremer and Frédéric Passy, who founded the IPU in 1889 as part of the peace movement.
Linked to the theme of the Assembly, the winning parliamentarian(s) should have an exceptional record when it comes to peace and security. The winner of the 2024 Prize will be announced at the second IPU Assembly of the year in October.