This Primer was jointly commissioned under the GPPS and HURIST Programmes. It explores how UNDP can enhance the contribution that legislators, parliaments and parliamentary processes make towards the protection, promotion and realization of human rights. The Primer suggests elements for assessing the human rights capacities of parliaments and examines how several ongoing approaches to parliamentary development can be used to enhance parliament’s contribution to human rights. The Primer concludes with some programming considerations pertinent to human rights-based parliamentary development programming.