World Veterans Federation
| Motto | "None can speak more eloquently for peace than those who have fought in war" |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | The International Federation of War Veterans Organisation |
| Formation | 1950 |
| Headquarters | 6 Rue du Docteur Finlay, 75015 |
| Location | |
|
Region served
|
Worldwide |
|
Membership
|
172 veteran organizations from 121 countries representing some 45 veterans worldwide |
|
President
|
Dan- Viggo Bergtun |
|
Vice President
|
Gen. Stanisław F. Wožniak |
|
Main organ
|
Executive Board |
| Website | http://www.wvf-fmac.org/ |
The World Veterans Federation (WVF) is the world's largest international veteran organisation. The federation consists of 172 veterans organizations from 121 countries representing some 45 million veterans worldwide.
It is a humanitarian organisation, a charity and a peace activist movement. The WVF maintains its consultative status with the United Nations since 1951 and was conferred the title of “Peace Messenger” in 1987.
The principal aims of the WVF are to defend the spiritual and material interests of veterans and victims of war and their families by all available legal means and to maintain international peace and security by the application to the letter and in spirit of the Charter of the United Nations and by respecting the human rights and fundamental freedoms set forth in the International Bill of Human Rights.
The WVF began on Sunday, 9 June 1946 when six Belgian and French veterans of the First World War gathered around a table at the “Maison du Peuple” in Brussels, Belgium to discuss the possibility of setting up a world association of war veterans. Present at the gathering were two Belgians, Mr. Joseph Neves and Mr. Jules William from the Democratic Union of Veterans, Disabled and War Victims, and four Frenchmen, Mr. Albert Morel from the French Union of Veterans and War Victims Association (UFAC), Mr. G. Imbaud, Mr. G. Jerram and Mr. B. Meunier from the French Workers and Peasants Federation of Veterans.
Following the discussions in Brussels, veterans' organisations in other countries were contacted. On 23 October 1948, a congress attended by representatives from seven countries, namely Belgium, Brazil, France, Italy, the Netherlands, the Union of South Africa and Yugoslavia, adopted a resolution entitled “Setting up of a Provisional Body”.
The resolution opened the way for the founding member associations to convene a Constitutive Assembly which was held at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France from 23 to 27 November 1950. 43 delegates and observers were present. The delegates were from Belgium (6), France (14), Italy (4), Turkey (2), USA (9) and Yugoslavia (4) and the observers were from Denmark (1) and Finland (3). The founding member associations of the Netherlands and Luxembourg were unable to send their representatives but declared their agreement with the creation of the Federation. There was no participation from countries from Africa, Asia and South America, although the Union of South Africa attended the Congress in 1948 prior to the Constitutive Assembly in 1950.
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Wikipedia