The Union of International Associations (UIA) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

non-governmental A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

research institute and documentation center based in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, and operating under

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

mandate. It was founded in 1907 under the name Central Office of International Associations by

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 Peace Prize in 1913 because "he was the effective leader of the peace movement in Eur ...

, the 1913

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

laureate, and

Paul Otlet Paul Marie Ghislain Otlet (; ; 23 August 1868 – 10 December 1944) was a Belgian author, lawyer and peace activist; who was a foundational figure in documentalism, a precursory discipline to information science. Otlet created the Universal D ...

, a founding father of what is now called information science. The UIA is an independent research institute and a repository for current and historical information on the work of global

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.international organizations An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own leg ...

(both INGOs and IGOs), international meetings, and world problems. The UIA also supports and facilitates the work of international associations through training and networking opportunities. It has consultative status with

ECOSOC The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized ...

and

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

History

The two founders started work setting up the Central Office of International Organisations and then conducting a survey of international organisations with headquarters in Belgium.Laqua, Daniel Wouter Van Acker and Christophe Verbruggen. 2019. ''International Organizations and Global Civil Society: Histories of the Union of International Associations''. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Then with the help of the sociologist Cyril van Overbergh they extend this research to organisations based elsewhere. After collaborating with Alfred Fried on the production of ''Annuaire de la Vie Internationale'' they produced their own edition without him.

Top meeting places

2018

1999 to 2018

Publication

In 1923, UIA published ''Code des voeux internationaux, codification générale des voeux et résolutions des organismes internationaux'', with a preface by Henri La Fontaine.

References

External links

* * * Organizations established in 1907 International organisations based in Belgium Records management {{int-org-stub