Our View of Society
8 April 2013
From 26 to 30 March, the 12th World Social Forum gathered thousands of alter-globalisation civil society organisations at University of Tunis -El Manar. The EHF was among them. What is WSF ? The World Social Forum is an annual meeting of civil society organizations, first held in Brazil (Porto Alegre, 2001), which offers a democratic space to develop an alternative future through the championing of counter-hegemonic globalization. It is “an opened space – plural, diverse, non-governmental and… read more »
30 November 2012
On 27 Nov. 2012, EHF President Pierre Galand took part to the annual meeting between the three presidents of the European Union (Commission, Council and Parliament) and leading non-confessional organisations in Europe. This year’s topic was solidarity between generations. The combined effect of longer life expectancy and economic and social crisis is putting a lot of pressure on many generations in Europe. The EHF stressed that women contribute a lot more than men to all… read more »
23 April 2012
Hans Christian Cars represented EHF at the meeting of the EU Fundamental Rights Platform for NGOs (the FRP) on 19-20 April 2012. He reports: It was as usual thoroughly well organised with two panel discussions with invited experts and some forty workshops of which thirty were conducted by NGOs and the rest by FRA staff. In the election for Advisory Panel members, six were elected from a pool of 24 candidates. Regrettably one of these was… read more »
1 October 2011
After the IHEU Congress in Oslo in August 2011 EHF Vice President Staffan Gunnarson wrote an article “Democratic Peace – a Blind Spot for International Humanism?” which was published in International Humanist News. PDF version for Google Translate
7 May 2010
EHF President David Pollock took part in an international conference on Religious Freedom in Democratic Societies in Cordoba on 3-4 May 2010. The conference was run by the EU Council’s current Spanish Presidency and the UN Alliance of Civilisations. About 200 people from across Europe took part – academics, religious figures, politicians, diplomats and people from a variety of NGOs. David Pollock reports: This was a rich occasion, impossible to summarise save to say that… read more »
9 October 2008
Intervention by Vera Pegna at OSCE HDIM 2008 OSCE and all its member states are committed to the rule of law. This means they are committed to democracy and to all that democracy comprises, first and foremost the democratic representation of the citizens. Since we are here to check the implementation of commitments (thanks, ODIHR) the European Humanist Federation wishes to draw your attention to a matter of serious concern for democrats: the erosion of… read more »
8 October 2008
Speech by DAVID POLLOCK (President of the European Humanist Federation) at the EHF side-meeting at the OSCE HDIM, October 8 2008 Good evening. Welcome. The notice of this meeting is about defamation of religion but I wish to range wider than that and deal with the place of religion in the public square. I will return to defamation at the end. The notice quoted Monsignor Anthony Frontiero, and we invited him to this meeting. Sadly… read more »
17 November 2007
This speech by Dr. Georges Liénard, EHF general secretary, was delivered at a seminar organised by at Klingberg on November 17, 2007. To propose a first and rapid answer to the question “How to shape the road to European Citizenship”, one may say, probably to general agreement, that up to now the European Union has not clearly demonstrated any profound interest in the European citizens. Of course many meetings are organised on this topics but without… read more »
25 March 2007
This Declaration was formally launched in Brussels on 27th February, ahead of the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the signing of the Treaty of Rome on March 25th. To sign the Declaration and see a complete list of signatures, click here. We, the people of Europe, hereby affirm our common values. They are based not on a single culture or tradition but are founded in all of the cultures that make up modern Europe. We… read more »
On this, the 50th anniversary of the creation of the European Union, we reaffirm the common values that have shaped and guided the foundation of modern European civilisation, and that will continue to inspire and shape our future. These values emerged from the long experience of our forebears and their sometimes bitter struggles against tyranny. They are essentially secular, that is neutral in matters of religion and belief. They underpin a society in which all… read more »