Contents:

• I. Objectives
• II. Composition
• III. Sessions
• IV. Presidency
• V. Agenda
• VI. Speaking Rights - Order - Procedural Motions
• VII. Decisions
• VIII. Vote - Quorum - Majorities
• IX. Report and recommendations to the Governing Council
• X. Bureau of Women Parliamentarians
• XI. Secretariat
• XII. Adoption and Amendment of the Rules

RULE 1

The Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall meet on the occasion of both annual sessions of the Assembly and shall report on its work to the Governing Council.

RULE 2

The Forum shall have the following objectives:

(a) To promote contacts and coordination among women parliamentarians on all topics of common interest;
(b) To foster democracy by promoting parity and partnership between men and women in all fields, particularly in politics, and to encourage and support the action of the Inter-Parliamentary Union to those ends;
(c) In the same spirit, to encourage and promote the participation of women parliamentarians in the work of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and to promote their equitable representation at all levels of responsibility within the Organization;
(d) To conduct a preliminary study of certain questions considered by the Assembly or by the Governing Council and, as appropriate, to prepare recommendations on these subjects;
(e) To establish mechanisms for relaying information on the work of the Inter-Parliamentary Union to women MPs and women politicians not taking part in IPU meetings;
(f) To sensitize men to gender equality issues by encouraging their participation in the sessions of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians.

RULE 3

Women members of national Parliaments who have been designated as delegates to the statutory IPU Meetings under the provisions of Article 10 of the Statutes may take part in the sessions of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians.

RULE 4

1. Women representatives of international parliamentary assemblies admitted as Associate Members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union may also take part in the sessions of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians. Their participation shall be subject to the rules governing the participation of Associate Members in the work of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

2. Male members of Parliament may contribute to the work of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians.

RULE 5

The representatives of international organizations and other entities having the status of observers may follow the work of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians. Their participation shall be subject to the rules governing the participation of observers at meetings of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

RULE 6

1. The Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall meet on the occasion of both annual sessions of the Assembly.

2. The Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall take place on the day before the opening of the Assembly. If necessary, an additional sitting may be organized, particularly for the election of the new regional representatives to the Bureau.

3. The Convocation of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians, together with the provisional agenda, shall be sent to all Members and Associate Members of the IPU at least one month before its opening.

RULE 7

The Forum shall elect the President of the session from among the women members of the host Parliament. If the host Parliament does not comprise a woman member, the President of the Bureau shall chair the session; in her absence, the First Vice President or the Second Vice-President of the Bureau shall chair the session. The same rule will apply for IPU Assemblies held in Geneva.

RULE 8

The Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall be opened by the President of the Bureau who shall conduct, where appropriate, the election of the President of the session of the Forum. In the absence of the President of the Bureau, the Forum shall be opened by the First Vice-President or the Second Vice-President of the Bureau.

RULE 9

Should the President of the session of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians have to be absent for part of the session, she shall be replaced provisionally by the President of the Bureau or, in the latter's absence, one of the two Vice-Presidents.

RULE 10

1. The President shall direct the work of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians, suspend and close the sitting, see that the Rules are observed, call upon the speakers, put questions to the vote, make known the results of the voting and declare the sessions closed. Her decisions on these matters shall be final and shall not be open to debate.

2. The President shall decide on all matters not covered by these Rules, after having sought the advice of the Bureau, if necessary.

RULE 11

1. The Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall adopt its agenda.

2. A provisional agenda shall be drawn up by the Bureau in the light of the work and proposals of the previous Forum of Women Parliamentarians.

3. The agenda shall include one but not more than two substantive items for debate which may fall within the competence of the Assembly. The consideration of such items may give rise to the presentation of amendments or sub-amendments to the draft resolutions that are before the Assembly (cf. Rule 22). The agenda shall also include items relating to the activities and functioning of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians, as well as items of possible interest to the general policy of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, its functioning and programme; the consideration of these items may give rise to recommendations to the Governing Council

4. The provisional agenda and the Convocation of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall be communicated to all Members and Associate Members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union at least one month before the opening of the Forum. An annotated agenda shall also be communicated to them prior to the opening of the Forum, together with all necessary documents.

5. The Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall take a decision on the provisional agenda by a majority of the votes cast (cf. Rule 23).

RULE 12

1. Any participant may ask for the insertion of supplementary items in the agenda of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians.

2. After hearing the opinion of the President of the Bureau or, in her absence, one of the two Vice-Presidents, the Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall decide on such a request by a majority of the votes cast (cf. Rule 23).

RULE 13

No participant or observer may speak without the authorization of the President of the session of the Forum.

RULE 14

1. During the consideration of subjects for debate, participants and observers shall indicate their wish to speak by completing a registration form, which shall be handed during the sitting to the Secretary of the Forum.

2. In principle, participants and observers shall speak in the order in which they request the floor. However, the President may alter this order so as to facilitate dialogue and no list of speakers shall be drawn up or circulated.

3. In order to promote a lively debate, participants shall refrain from reading out presentations prepared in advance and presenting reports on national situations. Similarly, observers shall refrain, unless expressly requested to do so, from making presentations on the general activity of the organization or institution which they represent.

4. Unless the Forum of Women Parliamentarians decides otherwise, statements shall not exceed three minutes.

RULE 15

Speakers may only be interrupted on a point of order. They may, nevertheless, with the President's authorization, yield the floor so as to allow other participants' requests for clarification.

RULE 16

1. On the proposal of the President or at the request of a participant, the Forum of Women Parliamentarians may decide to alter the speaking time for the discussion of a particular item on the agenda.

2. The Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall decide on such a request by a simple majority (cf. Rule 23).

RULE 17

1. The President shall call a speaker to order when the latter does not keep to the subject under discussion or prejudices the debate by using abusive language and may, if necessary, withdraw permission to speak. The President may have the objectionable words struck from the record.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 above, the President may, at the end of the sitting, give the floor briefly to a delegation wishing to exercise its right of reply.

RULE 18

1. The President shall deal immediately with any incident which may arise during the session and, if necessary, take all measures required to restore the normal functioning of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians.

2. The President shall rule immediately and without debate on all points of order.

RULE 19

1. Priority to speak shall be given to participants wishing to propose:

(a) Adjournment of the debate sine die;
(b) Adjournment of the debate;
(c) Closure of the list of speakers;
(d) Closure or adjournment of the session;
(e) Any other motion having a bearing on the conduct of the session.

3. The mover shall make a brief presentation of the motion without entering into the substance of the question under debate.

4. In debates on procedural motions, only the mover of the proposal and one speaker holding a contrary opinion shall be heard, after which the Forum shall decide on the basis of the majority of votes cast.

5. No proposal for an adjournment sine die shall be allowed on questions on which the Forum of Women Parliamentarians has been instructed by the Assembly or by the Governing Council to report.

RULE 20

The debates of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall be public. The Forum may, however, decide by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast that they be held in camera.

RULE 21

1. Any representative of a Member of the IPU may present a motion or draft recommendation to the Forum of Women Parliamentarians to be addressed to the Governing Council on an item appearing on the latter's agenda. Such a motion or draft recommendation may be presented orally or in writing.

2. Any representative of a Member of the IPU may present amendments to such a motion or draft recommendation. Amendments, which may be presented orally or in writing, shall relate directly to the motion or draft recommendation in question; they may only envisage an addition, a deletion or a modification to the initial draft without changing its scope or nature.

3. The President of the session of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall determine whether a motion, draft recommendation, amendment or sub-amendment presented to the Forum by a participant is in order. In case of doubt regarding admissibility, the President of the session of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians may consult the President and Vice-Presidents of the Bureau.

4. Amendments shall be discussed before the motion or draft recommendation to which they relate; they shall be voted on before the text itself. Sub-amendments shall be discussed at the same time as the amendments to which they relate; they shall be voted on before the amendments concerned.

5. If two or more amendments apply to the same words in a motion or draft recommendation, the one which is furthest removed from the text under consideration shall have priority over the others and shall be put to the vote first. If two or more amendments relating to the same words are mutually exclusive, the adoption of the first shall imply the rejection of the other amendment(s). If the first amendment is rejected, the next amendment in order of priority shall be put to the vote; the same procedure shall be applied to each of the following amendments. Sub-amendments shall be dealt with according to the same procedure.

6. Unless the President decides otherwise, the only speakers to be heard in discussing an amendment or a sub-amendment shall be its author and a speaker holding a contrary opinion.

7. The Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall take a decision on motions, draft recommendations, amendments and sub-amendments by a majority of the votes cast (cf. Rule 23).

RULE 22

1. So that the Assembly may benefit from the specific input of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians, the latter may decide by simple majority vote (cf. Rule 23) to entrust a small number of participants with summarizing the salient ideas expressed in the substantive debate and preparing amendments on that question to be submitted to the Standing Committee concerned

2. The amendments shall be based on the summary of the ideas as presented at the close of the substantive debate and endorsed by the Forum. The participants entrusted with preparing amendments shall work in consultation with the President of the session of the Forum and the President and Vice-Presidents of the Bureau.

RULE 23

1. The Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall take decisions by acclamation or, failing that, by a majority of the votes cast.

2. Each delegation may cast a maximum of two votes. No participant may cast more than one vote. Only women parliamentarians present in person shall have the right to vote. The President of the session of the Forum shall not vote.

3. A vote may only take place if at least half of the Members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union announced as being represented at the Forum of Women Parliamentarians are present in the hall at the time of the vote.

4. For each session, the quorum shall be established on the basis of the number of delegations effectively participating in the first sitting of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and shall be announced by the Secretary General or his/her representative at that time.

RULE 24

1. With the exception of elections, which shall be held in conformity with the provisions of Rule 25, decisions of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall normally be held by a show of hands. However, if the President deems it necessary or if one participant so requests, a roll-call vote may be held. The President of the session of the Forum shall in each case decide on the method of voting to be followed. Only positive and negative votes shall be taken into account. In case of a tie, the proposal under consideration shall be considered as rejected.

2. Subject to the special provisions relating to amendments (cf. Rule 21) and procedural motions (cf. Rule 19), the Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall vote on proposals in the order in which they are submitted. After each vote, the Forum may decide whether or not it will vote on the next proposal.

RULE 25

1. If necessary, the Forum of Women Parliamentarians may decide to hold a secret ballot for the election of the regional representatives of the Bureau and the President and two Vice-Presidents of the Bureau.

2. Results of votes by secret ballot shall be ascertained by two Tellers appointed by the Forum of Women Parliamentarians on the proposal of the President of the Forum or of the Bureau.

RULE 26

1. Nobody may interrupt a vote once it has commenced, except to request clarification on the manner in which the voting is being conducted.

2. Participants who wish to explain their vote briefly may be authorized to do so by the President, after the voting has taken place.

3. No explanation of vote shall be admissible on amendments and procedural motions.

RULE 27

1. An overall report on the work of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and its Bureau shall be presented to the Governing Council.

2. This report shall be presented by the President of the session of the Forum or, in her absence, by the President or one of the two Vice-Presidents of the Bureau.

RULE 28

The Forum of Women Parliamentarians may also make proposals and recommendations to the Governing Council concerning the general policy, functioning and programme of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

RULE 29

1. The Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall be assisted by a Bureau, whose Rules it shall approve.

2. The Bureau of Women Parliamentarians shall:

(a) Prepare sessions of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and facilitate its normal working in conformity with the Statutes of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and these Rules;
(b) Ensure the continuity of work and the coordination of the initiatives of women parliamentarians; and
(c) Ensure, particularly through its Bureau, coordination between the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the other bodies of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

1. The Bureau shall meet on the occasion of both annual sessions of the Assembly.

2. It shall hold a first sitting before the opening of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and a second sitting during the days to follow; if necessary, a further sitting may be organized during the Assembly.

RULE 31

1. The Bureau shall be composed of the following persons:

(a) The women members of the Executive Committee, who shall be ex officio members during their term of office on the Executive Committee;
(b) The former Presidents of the sessions of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians, who shall be ex officio members for two years from the time when they chaired the sessions of the Forum;
(c) Four representatives from each of the geopolitical groups which meet on the occasion of IPU meetings; these representatives shall be elected ad personam by the Forum of Women Parliamentarians for a four year term of office; a retiring member shall not be eligible for re-election for two years and shall be replaced by a representative belonging to another IPU Member Parliament;
(d) Should a regional representative die, resign or lose her seat in Parliament, the Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall proceed with the election of a replacement from the same geopolitical group; the person thus elected shall hold the office for the remainder of the term;
(e) (e) Members of the Bureau may not be members in two capacities: as ex officio members and as regional representatives. A member holding both positions will lose her mandate as a regional representative to the Bureau and will be replaced in that position in accordance with the provisions of Rule 31.1 (d)

3. Elected members of the Bureau shall be supported by their respective Parliaments in carrying out their function as members of the Bureau. Every effort will be made to ensure their participation in IPU Assemblies for the duration of their mandate as members of the Bureau.

RULE 32

1. Members of the Bureau who are unable to participate in a session may be replaced by other duly mandated women representatives from the same Member of the IPU, for the duration of that session only.

2. Members of the Bureau who are absent for two consecutive sessions without a valid reason may lose their seat on the Bureau by a decision of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians upon recommendation of the Bureau. In such cases, a new election will be held at the next session of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians to fill the respective vacancy.

RULE 33

1. After each renewal of half of the regional representatives, every two years, the Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall, on the proposal of the Bureau, elect the President, First Vice-President and Second Vice-President of the Bureau from among parliamentarians of different regions. Any parliamentarian who is a member of the Bureau may be elected to one of these three posts.

2. When the Forum of Women Parliamentarians takes a decision on the proposals of the Bureau, it may, if necessary, hold a secret ballot in accordance with the provisions of Rule 25.

3. In conformity with the provisions of Article 25.1 of the Statutes of the Inter Parliamentary Union, the President of the Bureau shall be an ex officio member of the Executive Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

4. The President and Vice-Presidents shall hold office for two years till the next renewal of half of the Bureau.

5. Should the President die, resign or lose her seat in Parliament, the First Vice-President shall serve as President of the Bureau for the remainder of the term.

6. Should a Vice-President die, resign or lose her seat in Parliament or become President of the Bureau, the Bureau shall nominate to the Forum of Women Parliamentarians a candidate from among the members of the Bureau to replace her. The person thus elected shall serve as Vice-President for the remainder of the term.

RULE 34

In accordance with the provisions of its own Rules, the Bureau shall appoint, at each round of statutory IPU Meetings, one of its members to report to the Forum of Women Parliamentarians on the work carried out at its two previous sittings.

RULE 35

1. The Secretary General or his/her representative shall assist the President in directing the work of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and its Bureau.

2. The Secretary General or his/her representative may be invited by the President to speak on any question under consideration.

RULE 36

1. The IPU Secretariat shall receive all documents, reports or draft resolutions and distribute them in English and French; only these documents may be distributed in the meeting room. It shall ensure simultaneous interpretation in these two languages, as well as in Arabic and Spanish.

2. The IPU Secretariat shall prepare the provisional summary record of the meetings, which shall be circulated to members within 60 days of the close of each session and submitted for the Forum's approval at the opening of the next session.

RULE 37

The Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall establish its own Rules, which shall then be presented to the Governing Council for its approval (cf. Statutes, Article 22).

RULE 38

The Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall adopt its Rules by a majority of the votes cast (cf. Rule 23).

RULE 39

1. Any Member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union may propose an amendment to the Rules of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians.

2. Such proposals must be formulated in writing and sent to the IPU Secretariat at least three months before the next session of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and of the Governing Council. The Secretariat shall communicate such proposals immediately to all Members and Associate Members of the IPU. It shall also send them any proposals for sub-amendments at least one month before the next session of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Governing Council.

3. The Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall take a decision on proposed amendments by a majority of the votes cast (cf. Rule 23).

4. Any amendment to its Rules adopted by the Forum of Women Parliamentarians shall be submitted to the Governing Council for for its approval.

5. The consideration of any proposal to amend the Rules shall be automatically included in the agenda of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Governing Council.

6. After hearing the opinion of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians expressed through a simple majority vote, the Governing Council shall decide on such proposals by a two-thirds majority vote.

Statutes

Rules of the Assembly

Rules of the Governing Council

Rules of the Executive Committee

Rules of the Standing Committees

Rules of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians

Rules of the Bureau of Women Parliamentarians

Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians

Forum of Young Parliamentarians of the IPU

Rules of the Secretariat

Financial Regulations

Rights and responsibilities of observers

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