Assemblies twice a year
Assemblies are the IPU's most important form of activity. The spring Assembly is held in a different member country each year. The smaller autumn Assembly is generally held in Geneva, where the organisation's secretariat is based. Around 700 MPs attend the Assembly in the spring and around 500 in the autumn. A large number of civil servants and diplomats also participate in Assemblies.
The IPU's Plenary Study Committees and Governing Council meet during Assemblies, as does the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP). The Governing Council is composed of three MPs from each country.
Parliament sends six delegates to the spring Assembly and five to the autumn Assembly in Geneva. In recent years major topics on the agenda have been promoting democracy, security issues, human rights, the position of children, sustainable development and gender equality.
The IPU arranges training sessions and seminars on different subjects in member countries. It also maintains the PARLINE ja PARLIT databases as well as the Women in Politics bibliographic database. The IPU has observer status in the UN and cooperates closely with the organisation and its sub-agencies.
The IPU is funded by member states' contributions and voluntary donations. The 2013 budget is 13.6 million Swiss francs (about €11 million).
The IPU has had its headquarters in Geneva since 1921. An international secretariat with a staff of about 45 persons takes care of practical arrangements for the IPU Assembly and day-to-day business. The secretariat is headed by the Secretary General, who is elected by the Governing Council for a term of four years.