Down under. It is a world I learned about during history lessons a long time ago. There was nothing positive that we were taught. England sent her worst criminals to that forgotten part of the world, and also women to keep the soldiers who guarded the prisoners, company. This was the image we got. It was not only offensive to the people there, it was wrong and it didn’t leave any room for nuances or historical context. We know better now, of course, and as we have member organisations there, we wanted to introduce them in this issue.

Reading the accounts given in this issue, it was striking how many similarities I found with what Humanist organisations in my part of the world lived and live through. The same prejudices against Humanism are only part of the story. And the same means to contradict them! Of course, every member organisation has its own accents, depending on historical context, geographical features, traditions… Countries where a lot of people emigrated for very different reasons and who needed to find a way to live together as harmoniously as possible, have a different evolution path from so-called old countries where traditions often lean on one religious ideology. What they have in common is that they do accept religion(s) as a normal part of life and even there Humanism has to prove that a society doesn’t need supernatural beings to be good and functional.

Several of our M.O.’s do have educational programmes on Humanism, it is good to learn from each other, to use the experience built by other groups and adopt them for our own purposes. At the same time it is clear that Humanism is strong and that it is necessary to show societies all over the world that we not only do exist but that we can make the difference in applying human rights in everyday life. That goes for the Aborigines who were ignored by the colonisers and even now remain disadvantaged. Humanists groups are involved in helping to redress this situation. Abortion, euthanasia, rights for gay people... and of course the fight for access to proper scientific knowledge, remain important topics for Humanists all over the world.

We must remember that there are many Humanists who aren’t members of Humanist organisations. We may deplore it but at the same time we know that they are there, willing to help if needed. As you can read on our website, the British Humanist Association was very successful in its campaign on buses: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life”. It was a huge success. And several organisations have copied it.

On 12th February 2009, the world shall celebrate the two hundredth birth anniversary of Charles Darwin. This year is also the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of the publication of his book Origin of Species. Of course IHEU wants to pay a lot of attention to it, including in our magazine. Many of our member organisations all over the world will celebrate this year. We would request you to forward us your reports on these events.

We don’t have the same means as religious groups who are able to edit luxurious books on so-called intelligent design and distribute them for free all over the world. Who benefits from keeping people ignorant? We have to promote scientific explanation. There is a place for myths in societies as there is a place for fairy tales as well but only as long as they are presented as such and not as facts.

Sonja Eggerickx is President, IHEU