International Fellowship of Reconciliation

The International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) is an international nongovernmental peace organization rooted in Christian pacifism and committed to nonviolence, reconciliation, human rights and disarmament. Its origins lie in a wartime pledge made in 1914 by English Quaker Henry Hodgkin and German Lutheran pastor Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze, who met at a Christian pacifist gathering in Konstanz during the opening months of the First World War. Their commitment to remain reconciled despite the conflict helped inspire national Fellowships of Reconciliation in Britain, the United States, Germany and elsewhere. An international structure emerged after the war. In 1919, pacifists meeting at Kees Boeke's home in Bilthoven, the Netherlands, formed what was initially known as a Christian international. The organization adopted the name International Fellowship of Reconciliation in 1923 and became an umbrella network for national branches and affiliated groups. Its early work combined Christian social ethics with practical peace activism, including public education, support for conscientious objectors, aid to people affected by war, international conferences and voluntary reconstruction work. Pierre Cérésole, one of its early secretaries, helped develop Service Civil, an international volunteer service that brought people from former enemy countries together in work camps. During the interwar years, IFOR sent traveling secretaries and reconciliation ambassadors across Europe and beyond. The movement advocated disarmament, challenged the idea of morally acceptable or “just” war, encouraged churches to oppose militarism and supported international cooperation. Its 1932 Youth Crusade mobilized tens of thousands of participants toward the Geneva World Disarmament Conference. In the late 1930s, IFOR representatives sought dialogue with political leaders in Europe, the United States and Asia. During the Second World War, members faced persecution for pacifism, assisted conscientious objectors and refugees, opposed internment and supported interchurch efforts to reduce the effects of war. IFOR-connected activists André and Magda Trocmé and residents of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon helped shelter thousands of Jewish refugees in France. After 1945, IFOR's international network expanded in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Training in active nonviolence by Jean Goss and Hildegard Goss-Mayr influenced movements associated with democratic change and popular resistance, including work connected with SERPAJ in Latin America and the Philippines' 1986 People Power movement. Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, a founder of SERPAJ, later received the Nobel Peace Prize. Other Nobel laureates identified as IFOR members include Jane Addams, Emily Greene Balch, Albert Luthuli, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mairead Corrigan-Maguire. In its contemporary work, IFOR operates as a federation of branches, groups and affiliates. The organization reports 71 member organizations in 48 countries. Its International Secretariat in Utrecht supports communication, capacity building, international campaigns, delegations and urgent actions. Programs address peace and nonviolence education, youth empowerment, interfaith cooperation, conscientious objection, disarmament, gender justice and women's participation in peacebuilding. The Women Peacemakers Program provides gender-sensitive nonviolence training and advocacy. IFOR also maintains representation at United Nations locations and holds consultative or observer relationships with UN bodies, including ECOSOC and UNESCO. It remains an advocacy and training network rather than a conventional commercial brand, with its work delivered through education, organizing, publications, international representation and member-led campaigns.

IFOR developed from Christian pacifist cooperation during the First World War. In August 1914, Henry Hodgkin and Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze met at a Christian conference in Konstanz and pledged to preserve their fellowship despite the war between their countries. Hodgkin subsequently helped establish the British Fellowship of Reconciliation at Cambridge in 1915, while an American Fellowship was founded later that year. National groups worked to influence public opinion, assist war victims and prisoners, and support people who refused military service. In Britain, hundreds of conscientious objectors and their supporters were imprisoned, while pacifists in several countries were accused of disloyalty and sometimes attacked. Following the war, Hodgkin and Kees Boeke convened an international pacifist meeting at Bilthoven in the Netherlands in 1919. Participants from several countries created a Christian international intended to unite Christian social ideals with opposition to militarism, social injustice and revolutionary violence. The organization later moved its headquarters to England and adopted the name International Fellowship of Reconciliation in 1923. It functioned as an umbrella body linking national Fellowships of Reconciliation. Pierre Cérésole served as an early secretary and developed Service Civil, using international volunteer work camps to assist communities damaged by war and to bring former enemies into practical cooperation. Through the interwar period, traveling secretaries such as John Nevin Sayre, André Trocmé, Muriel Lester, Henri Rose and Percy Bartlett carried IFOR's message across Europe and helped build branches and conferences. The movement promoted disarmament, international friendship and a theological rejection of war. Its 1932 Youth Crusade brought large numbers of young people toward Geneva in support of the World Disarmament Conference. As international tensions increased, IFOR created Embassies of Reconciliation and sent representatives to meet political and religious leaders. Muriel Lester helped extend the movement's international relationships and met Mahatma Gandhi in Britain and India. The Second World War severely restricted communication and travel. Pacifists associated with IFOR were persecuted in a number of countries, but members continued helping conscientious objectors, refugees and people threatened by state violence. In France, André and Magda Trocmé worked with the inhabitants of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon to protect Jewish refugees. In the United States, IFOR members opposed the internment of Japanese Americans and sought interchurch approaches to the war. After 1945, the movement's network grew across Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Jean Goss and Hildegard Goss-Mayr became important teachers of active nonviolence, influencing organizations and campaigns in several regions. Their work contributed to the development of SERPAJ in Latin America and to nonviolent organizing in the Philippines. The movement also supported campaigns against nuclear weapons, land mines and military expenditure, as well as assistance for conscientious objectors. IFOR broadened its agenda beyond traditional pacifist advocacy. It developed peace and nonviolence education, youth programs, interfaith delegations, United Nations advocacy and a gender-justice framework. In 2006 it adopted a gender policy identifying the relationship between gender inequality, violence, conflict and militarization. The Women Peacemakers Program was later institutionalized as a continuing program. Today, the Utrecht secretariat coordinates a federation reported as comprising 71 branches, groups and affiliates in 48 countries. IFOR's international representatives engage UN institutions on human rights, development and disarmament, while member organizations conduct locally grounded training and campaigns.

• 2012

  Declaration of Prali

  [1]International Fellowship of Reconciliationen.wikipedia.org

  European IFOR members issued the Declaration of Prali during the Global Day of Action on Military Spending.

• 2006

  Gender policy adopted

  [1]International Fellowship of Reconciliationen.wikipedia.org

  IFOR adopted a policy treating gender equality and the transformation of unequal power relations as integral to peacebuilding and nonviolence.

• 2001

  Peace and nonviolence decade engagement

  [1]International Fellowship of Reconciliationen.wikipedia.org

  IFOR members became active in initiatives connected with the UN Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World.

• 1980

  Adolfo Pérez Esquivel receives Nobel Peace Prize

  [1]International Fellowship of Reconciliationen.wikipedia.org

  SERPAJ founder and IFOR member Adolfo Pérez Esquivel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for human-rights and nonviolent work in Latin America.

• 1932

  Youth Crusade for disarmament

  [1]International Fellowship of Reconciliationen.wikipedia.org

  IFOR led a Europe-wide youth mobilization supporting the Geneva World Disarmament Conference and a petition for general disarmament.

• 1923

  Name changed to International Fellowship of Reconciliation

  [1]International Fellowship of Reconciliationen.wikipedia.org

  The international movement adopted its present name and became an umbrella organization for national branches.

• 1919

  International organization formed at Bilthoven

  [1]International Fellowship of Reconciliationen.wikipedia.org

  Pacifists from multiple countries met at Bilthoven in the Netherlands and created an international Christian peace body.

• 1915

  British and American fellowships established

  [1]International Fellowship of Reconciliationen.wikipedia.org

  National Fellowships of Reconciliation were organized in Britain and the United States as pacifist responses to the war.

• 1914

  Wartime reconciliation pledge

  [1]International Fellowship of Reconciliationen.wikipedia.org

  Henry Hodgkin and Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze made a commitment to remain reconciled despite the First World War, providing the immediate inspiration for the Fellowship movement.

A transnational, faith-rooted peace network that combines reconciliation, active nonviolence, education, grassroots organizing and international advocacy.

• Peace education and training

  Nonviolence Education Program

  Training, presentations and educational resources designed to help schools and community groups prevent violence, understand conflict and use dialogue-based, nonviolent methods. The program connects peace education with children's rights and seeks to support sustained integration of nonviolence into formal education.

• Gender justice and peacebuilding

  Women Peacemakers Program

  A program focused on gender-sensitive nonviolence, women's participation in peace negotiations and the relationship between gender inequality, militarization and violence. It operationalizes IFOR's gender-justice commitments through training, advocacy and support for women peacebuilders.

• Youth leadership

  Youth Working Group

  A youth-oriented platform offering nonviolence and leadership training, campaigning opportunities and internships with IFOR branches, affiliated groups or the International Secretariat. Its purpose is to help young people become active participants in peace work.

• United Nations advocacy

  International representation and advocacy

  IFOR representatives engage UN institutions in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Paris, presenting nonviolent perspectives on human rights, development and disarmament. The organization reports consultative or observer relationships with UN bodies including ECOSOC and UNESCO.

• 2012Global Day of Action on Military Spending

  Europe

  European IFOR members issued the Declaration of Prali to raise awareness of military expenditure and the social consequences of militarization.

  Outcome. The declaration provided a shared statement for member organizations participating in anti-militarist advocacy.

  Source
• 2001Culture of Peace and Nonviolence

  International

  IFOR members participated in initiatives associated with the United Nations Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World, including peace education and national coalition building.

  Outcome. The work reinforced IFOR's education and coalition-building role in the international peace movement.

  Source
• 1932Youth Crusade for Disarmament

  Europe

  A Europe-wide mobilization brought young Protestants and Catholics toward Geneva in support of the World Disarmament Conference and presented a petition calling for general disarmament.

  Outcome. The campaign amplified public pressure for disarmament and brought a large cross-border religious constituency into the debate.

  Source

• 2006

  Adopted a gender policyStrategy

  Background

  IFOR identified gender inequality and unequal power relations as contributors to violence, conflict and militarization.

  Action taken

  The organization adopted a policy making gender justice and women's equal participation core elements of its peace work.

  Aftermath

  The Women Peacemakers Program continued this work through training and advocacy and was institutionalized by the end of 2012.

  Source

• 1923

  Adopted the International Fellowship of Reconciliation nameStrategy

  Background

  The postwar Christian international needed a durable structure for linking national Fellowships of Reconciliation.

  Action taken

  The movement adopted the IFOR name and operated as an international umbrella organization.

  Aftermath

  The new structure supported the growth of branches, traveling-secretary work and international campaigns.

  Source

1. 1International Fellowship of Reconciliationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2International Fellowship of Reconciliation official websiteifor.org