Joris of IHEYO writes: The conference takes place in Washington, DC, USA from Wednesday 4th until Sunday 8th June, alongside the IHEU Congress. Registration for the latter conference is required to take part in ours, as we will be attending some of the IHEU sessions when we're not busy discussing the future of Youth Humanism.

The International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organisation (IHEYO) is the umbrella organisation of many Humanist youth organisations in different countries. It accepts the definition of Humanism according to the IHEU Amsterdam Declaration of 2002. This means that sceptical, secular, rationalistic and freethinking groups are all considered to be Humanist groups. Currently it has strong working groups for Africa and Asia, and is planning to establish similar groups for Europe and America soon.

The IHEYO South Asian working group is a joint Humanist effort to foster Humanist values and ideas. It will do original research, launch awareness programs and organize regional seminars/workshops. It will analyze problems and work out schemes to counter them. The network will also publish a bulletin based on local issues.

IHEU member organization IHEYO is supporting a new South Asian Working Group to parallel is successful Africa Working Group initiative.

IHEU member organization IHEYO has announced ambitious plans for 2007:

• To establish more national and regional groups of young volunteers that give feedback to the activities of IHEYO and carry out tasks, such as an Asian Working Group;
• To have a European campaign to promote tolerance with educational activities in seven European countries;
• To organise international training in Uganda and Kenya towards the end of 2007. The training will take place over three weeks with participants from the US, Europe and East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda);

Betty Nassaka is one of the founders of the women's Humanist organization in Uganda. This personal story tells how she developed her critical and independent mind in a country where women are not treated equally due to many religious and traditional practices.

I grew up in a family that worships both God and gods. My stepfather, who was a traditional healer, would go to church with my mother on Sundays (my father was killed during the liberation war). My parents were so rude to me that whenever I would ask any of them a question, I was answered with a question.

Investigate your life by the light of the midnight sun! IHEYO member organization Norwegian Humanist Association (HEF) wants to gather young humanists from the whole of Europe to get to know each other, get know themselves better, learn more about humanism and have a great week. It is hoped that there will be one contingent leader and 5-10 participants from each country.

Location:
In the Baltic Sea Region. (Northern Poland, Southern Finland, North-Eastern Germany, Eastern Denmark, South- or Middle-Sweden).

Participants:
30 to 80 young people between the age of 15 and 26 (Camp-leaders of the age up to 45) from Humanist Associations from The Baltic Republics, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland.

5th IHEYO Conference in Vijayawada, India

Truly International

You could hear the sound of a madel drum, coming from the roof of the house. A mixture of Nepalese voices, laughter and noise wafted in from the late night celebrations. The ambience was magic and this was all happening at the Atheist Centre in Vijayawada where 43 young people from 11 different countries (four continents) came together to fill the night with international music, native dresses, traditional food and mirth.

The International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organisation (IHEYO) had an interesting 2005. IHEYO organised an invigorating conference on ‘Interculturalism, Active Citizenship and Humanism’, represented Humanist youth concerns at several international events, campaigned against the funding of the European Union for the World Catholic Youth Days, doubled its membership of organisations and formally joined IHEU! Gea Meijers writes about a full year!