Arusha —President Samia Suluhu Hassan and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres have called on parliamentarians to strengthen good governance, accountability and international cooperation as the 153rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) opened on Monday in Arusha, a city in northern Tanzania.
The leaders delivered their messages virtually during the inauguration of the five-day assembly, which is bringing together parliamentarians from around the world from October 5 to 9, 2026.
The assembly is hosting IPU statutory bodies, including the Governing Council, Standing Committees, the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians and the Committee on Middle East Questions. The Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Forum of Young Parliamentarians are also meeting during the assembly.
President Samia said the work of parliaments increasingly extends beyond national borders as countries confront shared challenges and aspirations.
She said while governments make commitments to one another, parliaments have a responsibility to scrutinise those commitments, assess their consequences and maintain cooperation across political and national divides.
“The work of the parliaments increasingly transcends national frontiers in the face of shared concerns and aspirations,” President Samia said.
She described the IPU as a longstanding platform for parliamentary cooperation and said the assembly’s theme of good governance, inclusivity, trust and opportunity for all was particularly relevant amid geopolitical tensions and setbacks in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Guterres also highlighted the importance of the theme, pointing to armed conflicts, widening inequalities, climate-related challenges and the opportunities and risks presented by emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.
He said addressing these challenges would require effective governance and institutions capable of responding to the needs of citizens.
“As a former parliamentarian myself, I know the critical role you play in making institutions more inclusive, in making governments more accountable and above all in rebuilding the trust on which all societies depend,” Guterres said.
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Outgoing IPU President Dr Tulia Ackson, who previously served as Speaker of Tanzania’s Parliament, used her final address as president to reflect on the challenges facing the international community.
Ackson said conflicts, climate change, pressure on international law and rapid technological developments could not be addressed by individual countries acting alone.
She called for greater dialogue and multilateral cooperation, warning that growing inequality and individualism were weakening communities and eroding trust between citizens and institutions.
She said good governance must focus on closing the gap between people inside institutions and those excluded from decision-making, while ensuring that women, young people, persons with disabilities and other marginalised groups are included.
“As parliamentarians, we stand between citizens and the state. We can bring the voices of our constituencies into the decisions that shape national priorities through legislation, budgets, and oversight,” Ackson said.
She added that when citizens believe institutions serve some groups better than others, public trust begins to deteriorate.
“The belief that my success matters more than our well-being is one of the greatest ills of our time,” she said.
The Governing Council is also expected to elect a new IPU president during the Arusha assembly, marking the conclusion of Ackson’s three-year tenure.
