BEIJING, Sept. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo is to attend the Second World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York on Wednesday.

    The conference is convened as a follow-up to the first gathering of presiding officers that was organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in August-September 2000 on the occasion of the United Nations Millennium Assembly. The following is a brief introduction to the IPU.

    The IPU, the international organization of the parliaments of sovereign states, was the first permanent forum for political multilateral negotiations.

    It was initiated by two parliamentarians and men of peace, William Randal Cremer from the United Kingdom and Frederic Passy from France and convened its first general assembly on June 29, 1889, with 96 parliamentarians from nine countries on three continents participating.

    As the focal point for worldwide parliamentary dialogue since 1889, the group works for peace and cooperation among peoples and for the firm establishment of representative institutions.

    The union, which shares the objectives of the United Nations, supports its efforts and works in close cooperation with it.

    It also cooperates with the regional inter-parliamentary organizations, as well as with international, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations which are motivated by the sameideals.

    In 1996, it reached a cooperation agreement with the UN, under which the two international organizations have carried out closer exchanges and cooperation.

    For many years, the IPU has done a lot to promote peace and sustainable development, safeguard human rights, and the rights of women and children, and enhance the development of representative institutions.

    In recent years, the IPU has organized forums over many important issues of international concern and has become a key venue for exchanges of parliaments of its member states.

    The organs of the IPU are the Assembly, the Governing Council, the Executive Committee and the Secretariat.

    The Assembly, which is composed of parliamentarians designated as delegates by the Members of the Union, is convened twice a year.

    The Assembly is assisted in its work by Standing Committees, whose number and terms of reference are determined by the Governing Council.

    The Governing Council determines and guides the activities of the IPU and controls their implementation in conformity with the objectives defined in the organization's Statutes.

    The IPU's Executive Committee is composed of its president, 15 members belonging to different Parliaments and the President of the Coordinating Committee of the Meeting of Women Parliamentarians.

    Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the IPU currently has 141 members and seven associate members -- Andean Parliament, Central American Parliament, Community Parliament of the Economic Community of WestAfrican States, East African Legislative Assembly, European Parliament, Latin American Parliament and Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Enditem