DeMens.nu, the umbrella organisation of Humanist member associations in Flanders and Brussels, has created the world’s first University Chair for the ‘Dignified End-of-life’. The new chair is part of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy at the Free University of Brussels (VUB). It will address all the issues surrounding the end of life, without prejudice against options such as euthanasia.

After forty years, one of the largest Humanist associations in the world has adopted a new name and revamped its entire image. The Unie Vrijzinnige Verenigingen (Union of Secular Associations), which brings together all the Dutch-speaking Humanist groups in Belgium (from Brussels as well as Flanders), is now known as deMens.nu. Literally translated into English, the name means: “thePeople.now”.  The new name has been launched with a major promotional campaign to popularize the new brand image. DeMens.nu has renamed its Humanist Centres, and launched an entirely new website (also titled: deMens.nu) to reflect  its new name and image. And it's publicizing the new brand with a major media blitz and promotional campaign that includes adverts on 190 buses.

The Belgian government has honoured International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) president Sonja Eggerickx as an “exceptional woman”. To celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2011, the Belgian government celebrated 100 exceptional women, including athletes, writers, business women, and volunteers.

Introduction

The concept of ideological pluralism is first found in the Belgian constitution of 7 February 1831, one of the most progressive in Europe. In Belgium in 1827, for example, in a historic compromise between liberals and Catholics, a special legal relationship was sealed between the Belgian State and the Church. A return to the traditions of the old regime was ruled out.

The General Assembly (GA) was held in the offices of IHEU Member Organization the Centre d’Action Laique in Belgium on the first weekend of August.

The agenda and other papers for the IHEU General Assembly 2010 are available for download here. The papers for the GA will NOT be available in hard copy form in Brussels. If you want to have a hard copy of the papers at the GA, YOU MUST DOWNLOAD THE PAPERS, PRINT THEM, and bring them to the meeting.

The IHEU General Assembly 2010 will be held at the offices of Centre d'Action Laique (CAL), Campus de la Plaine – CP 236, Avenue Arnaud Fraiteur, Acces 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium on Friday 6 August 2010 (9.30 am to 5.30 pm) and Saturday 7 August 2010 (9.30 am to 12.30 pm). There will also be a preliminary session at the same venue on Thursday 5 August 2010 (2.00 pm to 5.00 pm) with presentations on campaigning in India, Humanism in Belgium and Secularism. All those registering will be sent further. information

UPDATE (13 May): Information about local hotels is now available below.

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All over the world it is considered ‘normal’ for women to give birth to children. It is also ‘normal’ to view children as the future of a family, a village, a town, a nation, the world even. It is therefore hard to understand why children had to wait until November 20 1989 for the Convention on the Rights of the Child to be accepted by the United Nations.