World federalism
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| Formation | 1947 |
|---|---|
| Type | Non-governmental organization |
| Purpose | International relations, Federalism |
| Website | http://www.wfm-igp.org/ |
The World Federalist Movement (WFM) is a global citizens movement that advocates the establishment of a global federal system of strengthened and democratic global institutions subjected to the principles of subsidiarity, solidarity and democracy. Famous advocates of world federalism include Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosika Schwimmer, Garry Davis, Emery Reves and Lola Maverick Lloyd.The organization was created in 1947 by those concerned that the structure of the new United Nations was too similar to the League of Nations which had failed to prevent World War II, both being loosely structured associations of sovereign nation-states, with few autonomous powers.
The WFM International Secretariat is based in New York City, across from the headquarters of the United Nations, and has member and associate organizations around the world. The Movement has had Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 1970 and is affiliated with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) and a current board member of the Conference of NGOs (CONGO). It currently counts 30,000 to 50,000 supporters.
In the aftermath of World Wars I and II, activists around the world were forming organizations bent on creating a new world order that could prevent another global war.
The Campaign for World Government, the first world federalist organization, was founded in 1937 by two famous feminists, pacifists, and female suffragists: Rosika Schwimmer and Lola Maverick Lloyd. In 1938, the Federal Union was organized in the United Kingdom. In the U.S., Federal Union (now: Association to Unite the Democracies) was established in 1939 calling for a federation of the Atlantic democracies. The Swiss Internationale Bewegung der Weltföderalisten-Schweiz was created in Geneva in 1940. During World War II, anti-fascist resistance movements shared clandestinely circulated copies of Altiero Spinelli's plan for European federation and global federation. Spinelli later became one of the founding fathers of the European Union. In 1945, the Committee to Frame a World Constitution convened at the University of Chicago and drafted a Constitution for the World. In 1947, five small world federalist organizations came together in Asheville, North Carolina and agreed to merge as the United World Federalists.
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