International Peace Bureau (IPB), an international peace federation, is one of the oldest and most extensive peace organizations in the world. It brings together many different groups of people working for peace–pacifists, youth groups, women’s organizations, and political and professional bodies. The aim of the IPB is to serve the cause of peace by encouraging international cooperation and the prevention, or nonviolent resolution, of disputes and conflicts. It supports attempts to promote peace and disarmament made by the United Nations (UN), by national governments, and by individuals. The IPB organizes international peace projects, provides information and help to peace campaigns, publishes books and other documents relating to international peace issues, and organizes conferences and seminars. The IPB was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace in 1910.
Organization.
The IPB is made up of hundreds of member organizations from dozens of countries. The IPB Assembly, which all members are entitled to attend, meets at least once every three years. The Assembly elects a council, which meets annually and consists of the elected officers and regional representatives. A steering committee guides the work of the IPB office at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The head of the IPB is its president. The secretary-general, appointed by the steering committee,,serves as the IPB’s chief executive.
History.
The IPB was founded in 1891 as a permanent office for coordinating the work of the peace societies that had grown up mainly in Europe and North America. The office was needed to bring together the efforts of national peace groups everywhere and organize the annual Universal Peace Congresses. The newly established international office was named Bureau international permanent de la paix (Permanent International Peace Bureau). The word “permanent” was later dropped from the title. It was located in Bern, Switzerland.
One of the founders, Fredrik Bajer of Denmark, was elected the first president of the IPB (see Bajer, Fredrik ). Other leaders who were involved with the organization at an early date included Élie Ducommun and Charles Albert Gobat, both of Switzerland, who were the first two people to hold the post of secretary-general of the IPB, and the Austrian campaigner Bertha von Suttner (see Ducommun, Élie ; Gobat, Charles Albert ; Suttner, Baroness Bertha von ). All these founding members of the IPB later became individual winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.
From the beginning, the IPB focused its efforts on disarmament and resolving conflicts. It also sought to help in the development of international law. The encouragement and urging of von Suttner and others led to the international peace congresses known as the Hague Conferences in 1899 and 1907. The IPB was also actively involved in prompting the idea of a League of Nations, the forerunner of today’s United Nations. In 1924, the IPB moved its head office to Geneva to be near the headquarters of the League of Nations.
The Swiss government took temporary control of the assets of the IPB during World War II (1939-1945), but, in 1946, some of the bureau’s member organizations sought to revive it. They set up a new organization called the International Liaison Committee of Organizations for Peace (ILCOP). In 1961, this umbrella organization acquired the assets of the old IPB. Three years later, ILCOP readopted the name International Peace Bureau for the actual peace-promoting organization and formed the ILCOP Foundation to administer the bureau’s funds.
Since the 1960’s, the IPB has focused on the abolition of nuclear weapons, the ending of the arms trade, the right to be a conscientious objector, the effects of military build-ups on the environment, and women and peace. The IPB campaigned against such conflicts as the Vietnam War (1957-1975) and the Persian Gulf War of 1991 ).
