The International Peace Bureau (IPB) (french: Bureau international de la paix), founded in 1891, is one of the world's oldest international

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

federations. The organisation was awarded the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

in 1910 for acting "as a link between the peace societies of the various countries". In 1913

Henri La Fontaine Henri La Fontaine (; 22 April 1854 – 14 May 1943), was a Belgian international lawyer and president of the International Peace Bureau. He received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1913 because "he was the effective leader of the peace movement in ...

was also awarded the Prize " or his work ashead of the International Peace Bureau". , eleven other Nobel Peace Prize laureates have been members of the IPB. Its membership consists of 300 organizations in 70 countries. IPB's headquarters are located in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, Germany, with offices in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Spain, and

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, Switzerland. Prior to 2017, the headquarters were in Geneva. Its main programmes are the Global Campaign on Military Spending (GCOMS) and ''disarmament for sustainable development'', which focuses both on nuclear and conventional weapons, as well as biological weapons, landmines, and small arms. IPB holds Consultative Status with the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...

(ECOSOC) and associate status with the

United Nations Department of Global Communications The United Nations Department of Global Communications (DGC) (previously named the United Nations Department of Public Information) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations. It is tasked with raising public awareness and support o ...

. IPB was founded under the name Permanent International Peace Bureau (''Bureau International Permanent de la Paix''). From 1912 onward it used the name International Peace Bureau. Between 1946 and 1961, it was known under the name International Liaison Committee of Organizations for Peace – ILCOP (''Comité de liaison international des organisations de paix – CLIOP'').

Global Campaign on Military Spending

The Global Campaign on Military Spending (GCOMS) is a permanent, global, year-round campaign that was created in December 2014 by the IPB to tackle the worldwide issue of excessive military spending. The aim of the campaign is to pressure the world's governments to invest money in the sectors of health, education, employment and climate change rather than military. It also calls for an annual, minimum reallocation of 10% from the military budgets of all states. Finally, it advocates the reduction of arms production and international weapons trade. GDAMS Actions in Halifax, Canada

The campaign organises the Global Day of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) to bring public, media and political attention to the costs of military spending and the need to invest in new priorities. GCOMS is managed from the decentralised

, Spain, office of IPB in coordination with Centre Delàs of Peace Studies. More than 100 organisations from 35 countries have joined the campaign.

Nuclear disarmament activism

IPB has been in the forefront of nuclear disarmament activities since 1945, including: *

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation ...

(NPT) *

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nati ...

(CTBT) * World Court Project *

Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), or the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons with the ultimate goal being their total elimination. It ...

(TPNW) Currently, the IPB is campaigning to encourage the signing and ratification of the TPNW so that it may enter into force.

Seán MacBride Peace Prize

Established in 1992, the Seán MacBride Peace Prize is awarded by the International Peace Bureau to a person or organisation that "has done outstanding work for peace, disarmament and/or human rights." It is named after

Seán MacBride Seán MacBride (26 January 1904 – 15 January 1988) was an Irish Clann na Poblachta politician who served as Minister for External Affairs from 1948 to 1951, Leader of Clann na Poblachta from 1946 to 1965 and Chief of Staff of the IRA from 193 ...

, a

winner who was chairman of the IPB from 1968 to 1974 and president from 1974 to 1985.

Recipients

The following are the recipients of the Seán MacBride Peace Prize since its inception in 1992:
International Peace Bureau World Congress Berlin 2016

International Peace Bureau World Congress Berlin 2016

Leadership

At the Triennial Assembly held in Ghent on October 15 2022, a new group of IPB officials was elected.

President

The current co-presidents are:

Treasurer

The current Treasurer is:

Vice-presidents

The vice-presidents deputise for the president when necessary. The current vice-presidents are:

Board members

The board members are the following:

Council members

The Council members are the following persons:

Staff

The staff members are the following persons:

Nobel Peace Prizes

IPB's work was rewarded by the Nobel Peace Prize in 1910, which has also been awarded to some of its members: * 1901 :

Frédéric Passy Frédéric Passy (20 May 182212 June 1912) was a French economist and pacifist who was a founding member of several peace societies and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He was also an author and politician, sitting in the Chamber of Deputies fr ...

(France), IPB council member * 1902 :

Élie Ducommun Élie Ducommun (19 February 1833, Geneva – 7 December 1906, Bern) was a Swiss peace activist. He was a Nobel laureate, awarded the 1902 Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared with Charles Albert Gobat. Born in Geneva, he worked as a tutor, langua ...

and Albert Gobat (Switzerland), first honorary secretaries of IPB * 1905 : Bertha von Suttner (Austria), writer and honorary vice-president of IPB * 1907 : Ernesto Moneta (Italy), IPB council member * 1908 :

Fredrik Bajer Fredrik Bajer (21 April 1837 – 22 January 1922) was a Danish writer, teacher, and pacifist politician who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1908 together with Klas Pontus Arnoldson. Life He was son of a clergyman born in Næstved in 1837. Baje ...

(Denmark), honorary president of IPB * 1910 : The International Peace Bureau * 1911 :

Alfred Fried Alfred Hermann Fried (; 11 November 1864 – 4 May 1921) was an Austrian Jewish pacifist, publicist, journalist, co-founder of the German peace movement, and winner (with Tobias Asser) of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1911. Fried was also a supporter ...

(Austria), IPB council member * 1913 :

(Belgium), president of IPB * 1927 :

Ludwig Quidde Ludwig Quidde (; 23 March 1858, Free City of Bremen – 4 March 1941) was a German politician and pacifist who is mainly remembered today for his acerbic criticism of German Emperor Wilhelm II. Quidde's long career spanned four different era ...

(Germany), IPB council member * 1959 :

Philip Noel-Baker Philip John Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker, (1 November 1889 – 8 October 1982), born Philip John Baker, was a British politician, diplomat, academic, athlete, and renowned campaigner for disarmament. He carried the British team flag and won a ...

(United Kingdom), IPB vice-president * 1962 :

Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific top ...

(United States), IPB vice-president * 1974 :

(Ireland), IPB chairman and president * 1982 :

Alva Myrdal Alva Myrdal ( , ; née Reimer; 31 January 1902 – 1 February 1986) was a Swedish sociologist, diplomat and politician. She was a prominent leader of the disarmament movement. She, along with Alfonso García Robles, received the Nobel Peace ...

(Sweden), IPB vice-president

Presidents

The IPB has a co-president system that ensures a gender-balance among leadership. Each president can currently serve up to two terms of three years. *

– 1907–1943"The Nobel Peace Prize 1901-2000". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web. 1 Mar 2017. *

Ernst Wolf Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (1975-) ...

– 1963–1974 *

– 1974–1985 *

Bruce Kent Bruce Kent (22 June 1929 – 8 June 2022) was a British Roman Catholic priest who became a political activist in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and held various leadership positions in the organisation. Early life Born on 22 June 1929 ...

– 1985–1992 *

Maj Britt Theorin Karin Maj Britt Margareta Theorin (22 December 1932 – 6 April 2021) was a Swedish social democratic politician and diplomat. She served as a member of the Parliament of Sweden from 1971 to 1995, and as a Member of the European Parliament fro ...

– 1992–2000 * Cora Weiss – 2000–2006 *

Tomas Magnusson Tomas may refer to: People * Tomás (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese, and Gaelic given name * Tomas (given name), a Swedish, Dutch, and Lithuanian given name * Tomáš, a Czech and Slovak given name * Tomas (surname), a French and Croatian surna ...

– 2006–2013 *

Ingeborg Breines Ingeborg Breines (born 14 August 1945 in Singerfjord) is a Norwegian peace educator. She is senior advisor to the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates. She served as director of the Women and a Culture of Peace Programme of UNESCO and from 2009 ...

– 2009–2016 *Reiner Braun – 2013–2019 *Lisa Clark – 2016–2022 *Philip Jennings – 2019–present *Corazon Valdez Fabros 2022-present IPB

References

Sources

*Gobat, Albert, ''Développement du Bureau international permanent de la paix''. Bern, 1910. *Herz, Ulrich, ''The International Peace Bureau: History, Aims, Activities''. Geneva, 1969. *From ''Nobel Lectures, Peace 1901-1925'', Editor Frederick W. Haberman, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1972.

External links

*
GCOMS website
* {{Authority control Organizations awarded Nobel Peace Prizes Peace organisations based in Germany Organizations established in 1891 1891 establishments in Switzerland Organisations based in Bern Swiss Nobel laureates