In October 2017 (St. Petersburg), the Governing Council endorsed the Executive Committee’s recommendation to pursue a new approach to the annual reporting exercise by IPU Members whereby a number of parliaments from each geopolitical group would be selected on a rotational basis to share their experiences.
The following Guidelines for the periodic reporting exercise provide the reference framework for the new reporting exercise, as a transitional measure. If successful, the new modality would subsequently be reflected in the IPU Statutes and Rules.
GUIDELINES
1. All IPU Members shall submit periodic reports, on average once every four years. The IPU Secretariat shall facilitate the exercise by preparing a questionnaire.
2. The periodic reports shall focus on parliamentary follow-up to:
- - Resolutions of the Standing Committees;
- - Resolutions relating to the emergency item;
- - Outcome documents of the General Debate;
- - Decisions of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians;
- - Plans of Action (such as the 2012 IPU Plan of Action for Gender-sensitive Parliaments);
- - Initiatives of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and of the Forum of Young MPs of the IPU;
- - Outcome documents of specialized meetings (such as regional and national seminars);
- - Decisions and recommendations of other IPU bodies.
3. In addition to their statutory reporting obligation on a rotational basis, IPU Members can submit, at any time, voluntary reports on parliamentary follow-up action.
4. The Executive Committee and geopolitical group Chairpersons shall monitor the submission of reports under the rotational system and ensure that IPU Members meet their reporting obligations.
5. IPU Members are invited to submit periodic reports according to the order established by Annex 1 to the Guidelines. When a Member cannot submit a report within the expected timeline, due to conditions beyond its control, it shall inform the Secretary General accordingly. Such a Member shall submit its report the following year.
The Secretary General will issue a report to the Governing Council at the 139th IPU Assembly (Geneva, October 2018) based on input from Members. The IPU membership will be informed of the outcome of the reporting exercise during a dedicated session. The preceding report on action taken by Members to follow up on IPU decisions and resolutions is available here.
To know when your parliament is expected to take part in the reporting exercise, please see this list.
To access the 2018 questionnaire on follow-up to IPU decisions and resolutions please click here.
Remember that all IPU Members can submit voluntary reports at any time!