A new year lies ahead – a time for renewal. But having wished everyone the best for the coming year, how often do we then go on just as we did before?

Sonja Eggerickx, President of IHEU, attended and spoke at the World Conference on Dialogue among Religions and Civilizations "The Contribution of religion and culture to peace, mutual respect and cohabitation" held on October 26-28,2007 at Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia.

Some time ago I read an article about women in the Congo being raped, beaten, murdered – and about some who survived to helped other victims. They were working together to save lives without making distinctions between different ethnic groups. I read a heart-warming story of the two leaders, one a Hema, the other a Lendu.

I had hoped to be able to involve our Member Organisations more with the daily work of IHEU but I am afraid we didn’t succeed. It is important to remember that we had some difficulties last year. On November 11 we sent a message to our Member Organisations to tell them that the post of Operations Director had been made redundant.

Dear Friends,

I had hoped during 2006 to be able to involve our Member Organisations more in the daily work of IHEU. I am afraid we didn’t succeed.

IHEU supports projects in the Indian sub-continent and in Africa. The plans which IHEU has already announced are bound to give a great boost to the humanist movement in those parts of the world where Humanism is desperately needed. However, this does not mean that all is well in Europe and in the Americas. Indeed there is a lot of work ahead.

Sonja Eggerickx, President of IHEU, spoke at a seminar held in London on 8 March 2007 to mark International Women's Day. The text of her speech is available here, or you can view a video.

Heed the Cry for Peace

The Middle East is once again the scene of bombings, and the theatre for the death of many civilians, including babies. The entire region is devastated by violence, and both sides are affected. Of course, this is a very complicated war, and we all know which side is right or wrong, depending on the side one has chosen! What is more: both sides have reasons to think they are right! Such certainty is common whenever there is a conflict, or even when there is serious disagreement over an issue. The real problem is that in this festering slow war in the region, both sides are convinced that they can solve the problem only by using bombs. The bombs are getting stronger by the day, the violence is getting more mindless, and the leaders are taking more hard line positions than ever.

Education

I used to be a teacher. And I know that the ideal situation is when pupils attend school to learn. This may seem an obvious reason, but in practice it is different. This is true at least in the Western world, but I guess that kids are kids, youngsters are youngsters, anywhere in the world!

Of course, a lot of them do work and learn and succeed. Some of them are encouraged by their parents to succeed so that they can earn their own living. Others may have had no choice in the matter of the education they received. But in the pursuit of livelihood, it seems that in general the most important reason for obtaining an education is taking a back seat!

Text of Sonja Eggerickx’s acceptance speech at the IHEU General Assembly after her election as President of IHEU

I want to read two quotes of Jaap Van Praag, from his speech in Amsterdam 1952:

If we are convinced of the necessity to shape humanism and ethical culture as a positive and constructive philosophy of life, we cannot do without an international institution that answers this conviction