There are more godless groups in the world than ever before. The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), the world union of Humanist, atheist, rationalist, freethought and ethical culture groups, now has 117 member organizations from 38 countries. At the World Humanist Congress in Olso, five new member organizations joined the IHEU, taking it to the highest membership figure in its six decade history.

On July 26, 2011, nearly 30 people took part in the first ever Humanist meeting in the West African nation of Benin.

The International Humanist and Ethical Union is pleased to announce it is now accepting applications for the IHEU-HIVOS Humanist Network and Development programme for 2011. A total of 75,000  Euros is available for grants, with Euro 10,000 per year as the maximum annual funding for any single project. The deadline for applications is September 1, 2011 (but there is an August 1 pre-qualification deadline for groups that are not IHEU member organizations). Detailed information on the programme and the grant application procedures, plus application forms, can be found below.

In response to a campaign by Humanists, the government of Malawi has promised to review the cases of more than 80 people imprisoned for witchcraft.

Luxembourg, officially one of the most Roman Catholic countries in Europe, now has its own active Humanist association. The Allianz vun Humanisten, Atheisten an Agnostiker Lëtzebuerg (AHA) (alliance of humanists, atheists and agnostics Luxembourg), officially presented itself to the press on October 27^th.

Ordinarily, not much is heard about Malawi—a country that was ruled for so many years by the late dictator, Kamuzu Banda. Apart from the recent case of a gay couple convicted and later pardoned by President Mutharika who is also the current Chair of the African Union, Malawi is hardly in the news. But that does not mean that all is well with this country. No, all is not well with ‘Nyasaland’.

Applications for funding in the IHEU-HIVOS Humanist Network and Development programme for 2010 CLOSED on 1 September 2010. We cannot consider applications received after 1 September. There will be a new funding round in 2011; please watch this web site and sign up for our email newsletters to see the announcement.

IHEU has given its first grant from a new fund for developing membership organisations. International Representative for East Africa, Deo Ssekitooleko, brought together Humanist leaders in Kenya for a meeting to try to resolve some of the conflict between Humanist groups there.

IHEU is convening a forum on “Humanism and Human Rights in Liberia”. The meeting will be held on Friday, March 26, 2010, at the YMCA Conference Hall, in Monrovia, Liberia. Leo Igwe, IHEU’s representative in West Africa, will speak on “Humanism for a New Liberia”.

You are invited to an IHEU sponsored conference in Kenya, on March 27 and 28.