About Us

The IU was established in 1926. Now a global Non-Governmental Organisation it operates independently free of any government funding. This allows us to remain totally impartial and objective. The IU seeks to engage in activities which strategically support our objectives.

The International Union maintains that, to end the great inequities in the world and the trouble they cause, people need Economic Equal Rights of access to the values of Nature and Society.

This philosophy is based on the conviction that human beings are born with equal rights to life and freedom, including equal rights to the gifts of Nature.

Natural resources are the Common Heritage of all human beings, and the values of these resources are Common Property belonging equally to all citizens.

Society provides benefits that are vital to people’s welfare. These advantages are those not created by any individual person or by a specific group of individuals. They are created by the synergy of all citizens’ working together, in partnership with government.

History

For almost a century The IU has campaigned for governments to address the root causes of poverty and war.

Implementing surface solutions cannot solve the root problems that challenge the  world. Our members campaign in their countries for changes in the laws and public policy that lock poverty and conflict into the market economy.

To achieve this we are co-ordinating a renewed global consensus to understand the true meaning of human rights.

The IU is leading an initiative to change the 1948 United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Supporters

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IU Conferences

  • Ronda, Spain, 1913
  • Oxford, England, 1923
  • Copenhagen, Denmark, 1926 – The Birth of the International Union
  • Edinburgh, Scotland, 1929
  • London, England, 1936
  • New York, USA, 1939
  • Swanwick, England, 1949 – The creation of theIU Declaration of Human Rights
  • Odense, Denmark, 1952
  • St. Andrews, Scotland, 1955
  • Hanover, Germany, 1959
  • New York, USA, 1964
  • Caswell Bay, Wales, 1968
  • Douglas, Isle of Man, 1973
  • San Francisco, USA, 1979
  • Utrecht, Holland, 1982
  • Cambridge, England, 1984
  • Vancouver, Canada, 1986
  • Philadelphia, USA, 1989
  • London, England, 1991
  • Melbourne, Australia, 1993
  • Roskilde, Denmark, 1995
  • Brighton, England, 1997
  • Edinburgh, Scotland, 2001
  • Madrid, Spain, 2004
  • London, United Kingdom, 2006
  • London, United Kingdom, April 2010