Mrs Tulia Ackson (from the United Republic of Tanzania) is the thirty-first President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and is currently serving as Speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania since 2022.

Her Excellency was elected by the Governing Council, which is the main decision-making body of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and is made up of representatives from all over the world, and she was elected with 57% of the votes.

For the first time ever in the existence of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, solely female MPs from Africa have contended for the position of President of the Union. The three African candidates were Mrs. Adji Diarra Mergane Kanouté) from Senegal, (Mrs. Catherine Gotani Hara) from Malawi and (Mrs. Marwa Abdibashir Hagi) from Somalia.

Ms Tulia Ackson is the third woman to hold the presidency of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, succeeding Mrs Najma Heptulla from India (1999-2002) and Mrs Gabriela Cuevas from Mexico (2017-2020). She is also the first African woman to hold this position.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union, the largest international parliamentary organization, comprises 179 member parliaments and 70 observer parliamentary unions and organizations.

It was established in 1889 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and the PUIC holds a permanent observer membership in it.

29 October 2023