The Happy Human symbol was chosen in a competition organized by IHEU member organization the British Humanist Association in 1965. It was designed by Dennis Barrington. Since then, it (or one of many variations) has been widely adopted by Humanist organizations, including IHEU.

In 1996, the IHEU General Assembly adopted the following resolution. Any organisation wishing to become a member of IHEU is now obliged to signify its acceptance of this statement:

"Humanism is a democratic and ethical life stance, which affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives. It stands for the building of a more humane society through an ethic based on human and other natural values in the spirit of reason and free inquiry through human capabilities. It is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality."

In 1952, at the first World Humanist Congress, the founding fathers of IHEU agreed a statement of the fundamental principles of modern Humanism. They called it "The Amsterdam Declaration". That declaration was a child of its time: set in the world of great power politics and the Cold War.

As a life stance rooted in rational thinking, modern Humanism provides a way of understanding our universe in naturalistic rather than in supernatural terms. It offers men and women, both as individuals and as members of society, a secular ethics grounded in human values.

When we have job vacancies, they are advertised here.

IHEU has no paid job vacancies at present.

"International Humanist and Ethical Union 1952-2002 - Past, present and future" was published in 2002 to celebrate IHEU's 50th anniversary. What did IHEU achieve in its first 50 years? How is the experiment of federating over 100 organizations from 40 countries progressing? How is Humanism relevant to the modern world? What are the Humanist perspectives for the future? What does Humanism have to offer in the modern globalizing world?

IHEU is happy to be able to republish this important book as a free online illustrated ebook. The full, searchable text of the book is now also available, chapter by chapter. A full alphabetical index and bibliography, which were not included in the printed book, are now also available online. Extraits disponible en Francais ici et ici.

To download and read this PDF ebook, please click on the link under Attachment below...

We are often asked where IHEU has member organizations. We usually direct enquirers to the directory of IHEU members, but for a change, here is a graphical version of the answer.