International Humanist Day The first World Humanist Day Congress in the Netherlands was organized on 21 June by the Humanist Alliance of the Netherlands, in cooperation with the Dutch Humanist Peace Council, and IHEU Specialist Member Organization HIVOS. Held in the elegant Ottone Hall in Utrecht, the theme World Citizens between War and Peace gave an interesting opportunity for the assembled 150 Humanists to discuss Humanist visions of cosmopolitanism, issues related to violence and peace, the social role of Humanist movements, and creation of an agenda for international Humanism. The Congress opened with a plenary discussion between Ineke van der Well, Chair of the Humanist Alliance, Rob Buitenweg, Vice President of IHEU and Babu Gogineni, Executive Director of IHEU, on the significance of a World Humanist Day. After the plenary the participants took part in a range of workshops considering the challenges for Humanists and advocating concrete proposals for improving human rights globally.

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The Humanist Archives, which is a Specialist Member Organization of IHEU and also keeper of IHEU Archives (based at the University of Humanistics in Utrecht) celebrated its 5th anniversary on 6 June 2003. The day was termed ‘Thones Day’ commmorating Piet Thones, a former Co-Chair of IHEU and the inspiration behind the Humanist Archives. The half-day celebrations on the theme Humanist Heritage included a surprise unveiling of The Encyclopaedia of Humanism, a major project that will be undertaken by the Archives.