The International Network of Museums for Peace (originally the International Network of Peace Museums) was established following a conference in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

in 1992. At this conference, for the first time, directors and curators of peace and anti-war museums worldwide came together. The loose network which emerged aimed to promote cooperation between

peace museum A peace museum is a museum that documents historical peace initiatives. Many peace museums also provide advocacy programs for nonviolent conflict resolution. This may include conflicts at the personal, regional or international level. Peace m ...

s and to stimulate the creation of new peace museums across the world.

Background

Early years

Between 1992 and 2009, the network was very informal, sustained by occasional newsletters between international conferences. As the number of peace museums worldwide increased, however, the network needed to formalise its structures. Steps towards addressing this were taken at the

Gernika Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the mu ...

conference of 2005, including changing the name of the organisation to the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP).

2009-2018

In 2009 the INMP was established as a

foundation (nonprofit) A foundation (also a charitable foundation) is a category of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that typically provides funding and support for other charitable organizations through grants, but may also engage directly in charitable acti ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

and, with the support of the municipality, opened its

secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who is the ninth winne ...

and archive in the

Bertha von Suttner Bertha Sophie Felicitas Freifrau von Suttner (; ; 9 June 184321 June 1914) was an Austrian-Bohemian pacifist and novelist. In 1905, she became the second female Nobel laureate (after Marie Curie in 1903), the first woman to be awarded the Nobel ...

Building near the

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in 2010. Since 2014 the INMP, as an international

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

, has been granted special Consultative Status from the UN

ECOSOC 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 ...

, and gained ANBI-status in the Netherlands. The foundation consists of a General Coordinator, ten international

Executive Board A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

members and twelve international members in the Advisory Committee. In 2018, the INMP Office in the Hague was closed, and moved to the Kyoto Museum for World Peace at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan.

Museums for Peace

The definition of Museums for Peace according to the INMP is non-profit educational institutions that promote a

culture of peace The Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September 13, 1999. This occurred after ten months of negotiations in the context of preparations for the International Year for the ...

through interpreting, collecting and displaying peace related material. They inform the public about peace and nonviolence using illustrations from the lives of individuals, the work of organizations, campaigns and historical events. Included are also peace related sites, centers and institutions which are involved in peace education through exhibitions, documentation and other related activities.

Aims

Since 1992 the aims of the INMP have been #to promote cooperation between

s and #to stimulate the creation of new peace museums across the world. However, with the establishment of the INMP as a

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

, five more aims have been added. #To the secretariat, to make a mainstay in the daily operation and development of the INMP and #to recruit an extensive database of Museums for Peace. As well as #organizing international conferences #educational projects and #travelling exhibitions on the promotion and stimulation of peace.

Conferences of the network

1992:

(UK)
1995:

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(Austria)
1998:

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

(Japan)
2003:

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

(Belgium)
2005:

-Lumo (Spain)
2008:

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

(Japan)
2011:

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)
2014:

No Gun Ri The No Gun Ri massacre () occurred on July 26–29, 1950, early in the Korean War, when an undetermined number of South Korean refugees were killed in a U.S. air attack and by small- and heavy-weapons fire of the American 7th Cavalry Regiment a ...

(Korea)
2017:

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

(Northern Ireland)

Projects

Discover Peace in Europe
Three year (2013-2015) European project with six European partners, funded by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

- Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013. It is a project about peace trails in Berlin, Budapest, Manchester, Paris, The Hague, Torino and Vienna to make people aware of the importance of peace. The INMP is the organiser of Peace Trail The Hague.
Peace Philanthropy - Then and Now. In the Footsteps of Andrew Carnegie
An international travelling exhibition to celebrate the centenary of the

in The Hague (28 August 2013).
A Picture for Peace
An international travelling exhibition based on the 2012 International Day of Peace youth photo competition by the United Network of Young Peacebuilders (

UNOY Peacebuilders The United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY Peacebuilders) is a global network of young people and youth organisations active in the field of peacebuilding and conflict transformation. UNOY Peacebuilders was founded in 1989 and is working with ...

References

Other publications by the network

1995: ''Peace Museums Worldwide'' (Geneva United Nations Publications on Peace; League of Nations Archives, Geneva, in association with the Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford)
1998: ''Peace Museums Worldwide'' (Geneva United Nations Publications on Peace; League of Nations Archives, Geneva, in association with the Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford)
2008: ''Museums for Peace Worldwide'' (Kyoto Museum for World Peace, Ritsumeikan University)
1993 - 2002: ''International Network of Peace Museums Newsletter'' (Published by Give Peace a Chance Trust, Hertford, UK; Editorial Office: Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford, UK)
2010 - current: ''International Network of Museums for Peace Newsletter'' (Published by the International Network of Museums for Peace) 2017: Conference Report from Belfast: https://sites.google.com/site/inmpconference/

External links

International Network of Museums for Peace Discover Peace in Europe
{{DEFAULTSORT:International Network Of Museums For Peace Peace museums Museum organizations