Annual Report

The Annual Report for 2015 was presented to the IHEU General Assembly in Valletta, Malta, May 2016. This is designed as an informal, accessible document for Member Organizations, humanists, and the general public to learn more about the IHEU. The President’s Introduction to the Annual Report 2015 is below, and you can download the full report as a PDF.

President’s Introduction

Welcome to this new look Annual Report of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU).

2015 was a difficult and dangerous year to be a humanist in many parts of the world. The year started with the attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris in January, and ended with the massacre in that same city at the Bataclan theatre in November.

In Bangladesh, four secular bloggers and a publisher were hacked to death for their views and their work. In Saudi Arabia, poet Ashraf Fayadh was sentenced to death for apostasy, while Raif Badawi was given the first 50 lashes of his sentence of 1,000 lashes and 10 years’ imprisonment for “insulting Islam through electronic channels”.

IHEU has spoken out on all these issues. We have used our presence and status at the United Nations, the Council of Europe and other bodies to raise the concerns and the profile of humanists in all parts of the world.

IHEU’s Freedom of Thought Report 2015 highlighted and analysed the persecution suffered by the non-religious in every country of the world. The Report was highly praised by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, and he stressed the importance of this work continuing.

On a more positive note, humanism is growing in almost every part of the world, as people recognise and embrace our positive life stance. IHEU has supported humanist organizations to grow and to network with each other as part of a truly global movement.

This Annual Report gives details of the range of work undertaken by IHEU in 2015. There have been exciting developments, with the appointment of a new Chief Executive and a reinvigorated Executive Committee with exciting and ambitious plans for the future.

I would like to thank you for supporting IHEU. I hope that you find this Annual Report interesting, and that you share it with other people so that we can grow our networks and achieve even more in the years ahead.

— Andrew Copson

Download the IHEU Annual Report 2016 (PDF, 3.3 MB).