How We Work


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How We Work


The International Secretariat

The IFOR international secretariat in the Netherlands co-ordinates communication among IFOR members, links branches to capacity-building resources and helps co-ordinate international campaigns, delegations and urgent actions.

IFOR has extensive working relationships with like-minded non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society initiatives around the world. IFOR’s 100 years of expertise in active nonviolence is recognized and respected by these NGOs and many others.

 

IFOR's International Coordinating Bodies

Every four years, IFOR member organizations send delegates to an international council that helps determine the shape of IFOR’s work in the years to come. At that council two primary bodies are chosen.

 

Representative Consultative Committee

The Representative Consultative Committee gives regional and demographic balance in the years following council. The RCC takes on a variety of tasks to help guide the fellowship and assist with coordination and governance.

You can find a list of our board members here.

International Committee

The principle governing body between international Councils. The International Committee (ICom) is responsible for determining the shape of work of the Secretariat and ensuring the overall health of the IFOR community and organization.

You can find a list of our board members here.

 

Recent News from the Movement


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Recent News from the Movement


International Programs and Projects


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International Programs and Projects


Ongoing Programs and Projects


Conscientious Objection to Military service project

Introduction to the UN program

International Accompaniment

The method of protective accompaniment is known around the world as one strategy of being in solidarity with those whose lives are in harms way. Members of IFOR have played an active role in the development of the methodology over the years and IFOR continues to be among the leading organizations engaged in accompaniment.
The Swedish branch of IFOR has an extensive accompaniment program in several countries.

Learn more about SweFOR's work →


The Fellowship of Reconciliation Peace Presence is an organization dedicated to providing safety, political visibility and solidarity to communities and individuals in Colombia who are working to promote human rights, peace and justice. FORPP developed through support of various branches of IFOR, most notably the branches of the U.S., Austria and working in collaboration with SERPAJ Colombia. FORPP allows individuals of conscience from all countries to apply.

Learn more and support FORPP →


IFOR members were among the initial organizers of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) and many of our branches continue to support this work.

Learn more about EAPPI →

Past Projects and Programs

The Fellowship School

Equipping Youth with Nonviolence

The IFOR Fellowship School was a program created by the International Secretariat in 2012. The vision was to create a means to equip young people committed to social change with training in a variety of skills for nonviolent direct action. People from all over the world were invited to apply. Remarkable young people trained and contributed to the global movement. Fellows learned from expert practitioners while also serving as interns in the IFOR Secretariat.

In 2013 the Fellowship School continued and was based in the headquarters of IFOR’s U.S. Branch in New York. Due to funding challenges the program was been placed on hold. However, IFOR continues to look for opportunities to equip, encourage, and support our members and the broader movement towards a more peaceful and just world. Stay tuned.

International Accompaniment

The method of protective accompaniment is known around the world as one strategy of being in solidarity with those whose lives are in harms way. Members of IFOR have played an active role in the development of the methodology over the years and IFOR continues to be among the leading organizations engaged in accompaniment.
The Swedish branch of IFOR has an extensive accompaniment program in several countries.

Learn more about SweFOR's work →


The Fellowship of Reconciliation Peace Presence is an organization dedicated to providing safety, political visibility and solidarity to communities and individuals in Colombia who are working to promote human rights, peace and justice. FORPP developed through support of various branches of IFOR, most notably the branches of the U.S., Austria and working in collaboration with SERPAJ Colombia. FORPP allows individuals of conscience from all countries to apply.

Learn more and support FORPP →


IFOR members were among the initial organizers of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) and many of our branches continue to support this work.

Learn more about EAPPI →

Women Peacemakers Program

The Women Peacemakers Program (WPP) was originally established in 1997 as a program of IFOR, to support and empower women peace activists worldwide, and to advocate for a gender perspective in nonviolent peacebuilding. The program grew and was a tremendous success, training, and mobilizing thousands of people around the world. Today WPP is it's own organization continuing to do great work. IFOR maintains close ties with WPP and continues to engage and support the important work of empowering women and addressing the intersection of gender and violence. 

Learn more about WPP →

 

Areas of Work


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Areas of Work


Themes of IFOR's Peace Work

At various International Councils the IFOR movement has elevated certain themes as main areas of concern for continued program development. Many branches and groups carry out local projects on these issues and the International Secretariat prioritizes these as areas of support and coordination.  The Secretariat also identifies themes and areas of work are common among IFOR Members. The following areas represent areas of concern either elevated by the movement at an International Council, or represented as common themes or areas of work among branches.

 

Conscientious Objection

IFOR recognizes that the world’s armies are composed of young people. We recognize the conditions of life including unemployment and militarization that impacts young people and young adults. IFOR seeks to provide young people with the skills and opportunities to become active peacemakers. This is done through nonviolence and leadership training and through internships with IFOR branches and groups, or with the International Secretariat. For more information and contact, please message us to our dedicated email address conscientiousobjection@ifor.org

Learn More →

Climate Change

Humankind’s relationship to the resources of our world has long been a theme interspersed throughout IFORs campaigns against war, militarization and violence. The unprecedented impact of human activity on the earth’s climate has already had an impact on many communities and contributed to violent conflict. IFOR members recognize the relationship between the movements to change our relationship to the environment and IFOR’s commitment to work toward a world without war. To this end, IFOR seeks opportunities for cooperation and mutual support in changing the destructive policies that result in global warming.

Learn More →

Disarmament & Nuclear Disarmament

Since our founding, IFOR has opposed war and preparations for war. IFOR supports disarmament generally but recent crises have focused our efforts on Nuclear Disarmament in particular.

  • Our representative to the United Nations in Vienna, Pete Haemmerle, represents IFOR in matters concerning the UN Office of Disarmament Affairs, as well as the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation.
  • Our representatives to the United Nations in Geneva, Michel Monod, and Hans Ulrich Gerber, represent IFOR in matters concerning Disarmament in Geneva.

IFOR Branches and the International Secretariat participate in a number of coalition efforts to oppose Nuclear Weapons. IFOR often coordinates with and joins campaigns connected to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Abolition 2000, and Unfold Zero.

Learn More →

Interfaith Cooperation

Religion has played a central role in fomenting conflict but can also be a source of inspiration and leadership for peace. IFOR has long valued the role that faith can and has played in movements for a more peaceful and just world. IFOR understands itself as an interfaith or multi-faith community. That identity is expressed differently in different contexts and is often an aspiration as well as a fact. Many branches within IFOR began among people of the same faith tradition, just as the global movement began and spread primarily among Christians. However, the global movement has long welcomed people of all faiths and recognizes that people can be motivated to live lives committed to nonviolence by convictions not identified with religion and not often described as faith.

IFOR members seek to expand their inclusion and cooperation with a diversity of traditions. IFOR members sponsor interfaith delegations to areas of conflict and publish material on nonviolence from different religious traditions. The IFOR community condemns violence against religious minorities and seeks to expand understandings of tolerance and cooperation within faith traditions.

Learn More →

Nonviolence Education & Training

IFOR assists groups and individuals to find ways in which they can transform conflicts into positive and growth oriented interactions that involve dialogue and lead to reconciliation. This is done through various presentations and training programs, as well as through the creation of resource materials and contact with trainers and resource people.

Learn More →

Ending Gender Based Violence

Gender Justice: In 2006 IFOR adopted a Gender Policy in which IFOR recognizes that there is a continuum of violence that must be confronted, from family violence in the private sphere to armed conflict in the public sphere. Unequal power relations between women and men are one root of violence, conflict and militarization, where women are often severely abused. Gender justice means that women and men can equally contribute to and benefit from peace building, non-violent conflict resolution and reconciliation. This gender policy recognizes that gender equality is an integral part of IFOR’s fundamental values and is a core spiritual value. A transformation of the power relations between women and men is a prerequisite for a culture of peace and non-violence, and must be promoted throughout IFOR. Growing out of the commitments identified in 2006, The Women Peacemaker Program (WPP) was started as a program of IFOR that is now become an independent organization with a broad portfolio of work. WPP maintains close ties within the IFOR community.

The International Secretariat of IFOR interprets the movement’s historic commitment to Gender Justice to include work to protect and defend those facing persecution due to sexual orientation and gender identity.

IFOR’s work to end gender-based violence is represented at the United Nations in New York by Patricia Ackerman.

Learn More →

Youth Empowerment

IFOR recognizes that the world’s armies are composed of young people. We recognize the conditions of life including unemployment and militarization that impacts young people and young adults. IFOR seeks to provide young people with the skills and opportunities to become active peacemakers. This is done through nonviolence and leadership training and through internships with IFOR branches and groups, or with the International Secretariat.

Learn More →

Conscientious Objection


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Conscientious Objection


History of Conscientious Objection

The movement for conscientious objection to military service has been at the heart of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation ever since 1914. Historically, our branches around the world were often the only network of support for those objecting to military service on religious grounds. We collaborated closely with sister organizations, most notably War Resisters' International, to support those objecting on the bases of deeply held convictions that were not religious.

 

Current Developments

Globally, we have come a long way in establishing an International Human Right to conscientious objection to military service as a human right protected by international law. IFOR is not the only organization that defends this right, however, we play a critical role within a coalition of organizations upholding conscientious objectors around the world.

One critical contribution that we make to this effort is that IFOR maintains a permanent representative at the United Nations in Geneva who focuses primarily on conscientious objection to military service. We coordinate closely with War Resisters' International, the Quaker UN Office in Geneva, and the European Bureau of Conscientious Objection (EBCO) to support conscientious objectors around the world and to call attention to the abuse, imprisonment and harassment faced by those who have made the brave decision to refuse military service.

C.O. Resources

A Conscientious Objectors Guide to the International Human Rights System

http://co-guide.info/foreword

EBCO Reports

Every Year, IFOR’s representative works with EBCO to publish a report on the status of C.O.

C.O. Alerts from WRI

https://www.wri-irg.org/

Statements to the UN Human Rights Council on matters of conscientious objection

Submissions to UN Mechanisms regarding the provisions for conscientious objectors and related matters in UN member States.

C.O. Articles on IFOR's Blog

Conscientious objection alerts and articles from our blog.

For more information and contact, please message us to our dedicated email address!

conscientiousobjection@ifor.org

 
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