Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament

Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora, Secretary-General at International IDEA, will participate in the panel "Mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on democracy", which will be part of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, on 7 September, 14:30-16:00 CEST.

The Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, the world’s largest gathering of the highest level of parliamentary representation, will take place in Vienna, Austria on 7-8 September, building on last year's virtual segment and its overarching theme of parliamentary leadership for more effective multilateralism that delivers peace and sustainable development for the people and planet. It will feature a general debate, panel discussions regarding current challenges and, of course, a valuable opportunity for direct interaction between parliamentary leaders.

Organized jointly by the IPU and the Austrian Parliament, in cooperation with the United Nations, this in-person segment of the conference follows a virtual session held in August 2020.

The conference will be preceded by the Thirteenth Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament on 6 September and will be followed by the First Global Parliamentary Meeting on Counter-Terrorism on 9 September.

Over 110 Speakers of Parliament from around the world are expected to come to Vienna for the first physical large-scale inter-parliamentary meeting since the beginning of the COVID pandemic.

The Speakers of Parliament will focus on priorities that require urgent international parliamentary action including the global response to the pandemic and the post-COVID recovery, the climate emergency, countering misinformation, youth participation in politics and gender equality.

The opening of the conference will include remarks from Duarte Pacheco, IPU President; Wolfgang Sobotka, Speaker of the Austrian National Council; Peter Raggl, Speaker of the Austrian Federal Council; Tone Wilhelmsen Trøen, Speaker of the Norwegian Storting (reporting on the outcome of the Summit of Women Speakers) and Abdulla Shahid, the 76th President of the United Nations General Assembly.

The Speakers will also hear from youth activists including Xiye Bastida, one of the lead organizers of the youth climate justice movement.

Preparations for the Speakers' Conference are guided by a Preparatory Committee, chaired by the IPU President, composed of parliamentary leaders, representatives of the IPU Executive Committee, the Bureau of Women Parliamentarians and the Forum of Young Parliamentarians, the Secretary-General of the IPU, and the high-level representative of the UN Secretary-General. 

You can find more information about this event on the official website: https://www.ipu2021vienna.at/