[4][5] Headquartered in Munich, Germany,[6] the IDU consists of 84 full and associate members from 65 countries.

The IDU allows "centre-right" conservative political parties around the world to establish contacts and discuss different views on public policy and related matters.

Their stated goal is the promotion of "democracy and [of] centre-right policies around the globe".

[8] The IDU has some overlap of member parties with the Centrist Democrat International (CDI), but the CDI is more centrist, Christian democrat and communitarian than the IDU.

Created at the instigation of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and U.S. Vice President George H. W. Bush, the organisation was founded at a joint meeting of the EDU and APDU in London, United Kingdom.