World Veterans Federation


The World Veterans Federation is the world's largest international veteran organisation. The federation consists of 172 veterans organizations from 121 countries representing some 60 million veterans worldwide.
It is a humanitarian organisation, a charity and a peace activist movement. The WVF maintains its consultative status with the United Nations since 1951 and was conferred the title of "Peace Messenger" in 1987. The WVF was nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 8 times.

Aims

The principal aims of the WVF are to defend the spiritual and material interests of veterans and victims of war and their families by all available legal means and to maintain international peace and security by the application to the letter and in spirit of the Charter of the United Nations and by respecting the human rights and fundamental freedoms set forth in the International Bill of Human Rights.

History

The WVF began on Sunday, 9 June 1946 when six Belgian and French veterans of the First World War gathered around a table at the "Maison du Peuple" in Brussels, Belgium to discuss the possibility of setting up a world association of war veterans. Present at the gathering were two Belgians, Mr. Joseph Neves and Mr. Jules William from the Democratic Union of Veterans, Disabled and War Victims, and four Frenchmen, Mr. Albert Morel from the French Union of Veterans and War Victims Association, Mr. G. Imbaud, Mr. G. Jerram and Mr. B. Meunier from the French Workers and Peasants Federation of Veterans.
Following the discussions in Brussels, veterans' organisations in other countries were contacted. On 23 October 1948, a congress attended by representatives from seven countries, namely Belgium, Brazil, France, Italy, the Netherlands, the Union of South Africa and Yugoslavia, adopted a resolution entitled "Setting up of a Provisional Body".
The resolution opened the way for the founding member associations to convene a constitutive assembly which was held at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, from 23 to 27 November 1950. Forty-three delegates and observers were present. The delegates were from Belgium, France, Italy, Turkey, the United States and Yugoslavia, and the observers were from Denmark and Finland. The founding member associations of the Netherlands and Luxembourg were unable to send their representatives but declared their agreement with the creation of the federation. There was no participation from countries from Africa, Asia and South America, although the Union of South Africa attended the congress in 1948 prior to the constitutive assembly in 1950.
On the final day of the assembly on 27 November 1950, the constitution of "The International Federation of War Veterans Organisations" was adopted.
The first elected executive committee members of the WVF were Mr. Albert Morel of France as president, Mr. Elliot Newcomb of the United States as secretary general, Mr. Roger Parmelan of France as treasurer general and Mr. Celebonovic of Yugoslavia, Mr. Mahmut Nedim Zapcı of Turkey, Mr. Joseph Neves of Belgium and Mr. Pietro Ricci of Italy as delegates.
The name of the federation was changed to "The World Veterans Federation" at the 2nd General Assembly, which was held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia from 27 to 30 November 1951. It was the first amendment to the WVF Constitution.

Founding members

The founding member associations were from Belgium, France, Italy and National Association of War Disabled. Luxembourg, Netherlands, Turkey, United States, American Veterans of World War II, Blinded Veterans Association and Disabled American Veterans and Yugoslavia.

Changes in the WVF

There have been considerable changes in the WVF in the last 70 years. Its membership has grown from just a few associations from 8 countries to more than 170 associations from 121 countries. Its membership, which was confined to Europe and the United States in the early days, now covers all the continents of the world including a growing number of associations from developing countries.
The composition and the character of the WVF member associations have also changed. They are no longer confined to organisations made up of veterans and victims of the two world wars. Instead, the WVF membership is now made up of a mixture of various organisations representing veterans, ex-servicemen, victims of war, resistance fighters, former prisoners of war, former peace keepers and former peace builders whose individual interests, needs and priorities differ quite considerably from one another.

Organisation

Organisation and management

The WVF consists of the following permanent elements: a general assembly, an executive board, regional standing committees, a standing committee on women and a financial committee. It is managed by its executive board composed of the president, the deputy president, 6 vice presidents, the secretary general and the treasurer general. The headquarters of the WVF is in Paris, France.

Regional standing committees

The WVF has five regional standing committees:
The regional standing committees are composed of representatives from member organizations in the relevant geographical region. Each regional standing committee elects a chairperson from among its membership who is appointed ex officio vice president of the WVF.

Standing Committee on Women (SCOW)

The Standing Committee on Women is composed of designated representatives for women's affairs from WVF member organizations and the chairpersons of the Working Groups on Women established within each of the Regional Standing Committees. The Committee elects a Chairperson from among its membership who is appointed ex officio Vice President of the WVF.

Members

As of 2006, the following organizations were members of the WVF.

Africa

  • Algerian National Organisation of Moujahidines
  • War Veterans Association of the People's Republic of Angola
  • Association of War Disabled Ex-Servicemen of Angola
  • National Union of War Veterans, Holders of the War Veterans' Certificate and Victims of War of Benin
  • War Veterans, Ex-Servicemen, Widows and Orphans Association
  • Fraternal Association of Solidarity and Economic Mutual Aid of Veterans and War Victims in Cameroon
  • National Office for War Veterans, Ex-Servicemen and Victims of War of Cameroon
  • Fraternal Union of War Veterans of the French Armies of Chad
  • National Veterans Union
  • National Federation of Associations of Overseas Veterans and Servicemen
  • National Office of War Veterans and War Victims of the Republic of Congo
  • National Union of Congolese War Veterans
  • Association of War Veterans of Cote d'Ivoire
  • Egyptian Veterans and War Victims Association
  • Ancient Ethiopian Patriots Association
  • Veterans Administration, Ghana
  • Association of Fighters for the Freedom of the Homeland
  • National Union of War Veterans and War Victims of the Republic of Guinea
  • Lesotho Retired Military Officers Club
  • Libyan League for Families of Martyrs, Prisoners of War and War Wounded
  • Association of War Veterans and War Victims of Madagascar
  • National Association of War Veterans and War Victims of the Republic of Mali
  • National Association of War Veterans
  • National Council for Former Resistants and Former Members of the Liberation Army
  • Office of the High Commissioner for Former Resistants and Members of the Liberation Army
  • Association of Military and Paramilitary Disabled Servicemen of Mozambique
  • Combatant's Association of National Liberation Struggle of Mozambique
  • Namibia War Veterans Trust
  • National Association of War Veterans and War Victims of Niger
  • Nigerian Legion
  • National Federation of War Veterans and War Victims of Senegal
  • Sierra Leone Ex-Servicemen's Association
  • Council of Military Veterans' Organisations of the Republic of South Africa
  • South African National Military Veterans Association
  • Sudanese Veterans Association
  • Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force Ex-Servicemen's Association
  • Tunisian Association of War Veterans and Victims of War
  • National Association "Fidelity for the Rights of Families of Veterans who Fought with France"
  • Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association

    Asia

  • Cambodia Veterans Association
  • Indian Ex-Services League
  • Veterans Legion of the Republic of Indonesia
  • Veterans and War Victims Foundation of Iran
  • Association of Disabled Veterans of the Fight against Nazism
  • Association of Disabled Veterans of World War II
  • Israel Defense Forces Veterans of War Association
  • Organization of Partisans, Underground & Ghetto Fighters in Israel
  • Zahal Disabled Veterans Organization
  • Japan Disabled Veterans Association
  • Jordanian Economic & Social Ass. For Retired Servicemen & Veterans
  • Korea Disabled Veterans Organization
  • Korean Veterans Association
  • Retirees Service Administration
  • Kuwaiti Kinsfolk Association of Martyrs, Captives and Missing
  • Ex-Services Association of Malaysia
  • Malaysian Armed Forces Veterans Council
  • Royal Malay Regiment Officers' Club
  • Nepal National Ex-Servicemen's Association
  • Association of Palestinian Revolution Ex-Warriors
  • Pakistan Armed Services Board
  • Confederation of Filipino Veterans
  • Philippines Veterans Legion
  • Veterans Federation of the Philippines
  • Singapore Armed Forces Veterans' League
  • Sri Lanka Ex-Services Association
  • Association of Veterans and Victims of War
  • Veterans Affairs Council
  • Veterans Association of Republic of China（VAROC） （R.O.C on Taiwan）
  • Association of Veterans of the National Liberation War of Timor Leste
  • War Veterans Organization of Thailand
  • Veterans Association of Vietnam
  • Organization of Veterans of the Yemen Revolution and the Defense of Unification
  • The Veterans Legion of the Republic of Indonesia