Humanist Party
Encyclopedia
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the first congress of the Humanist International
Humanist International
The Humanist International is a consortium of Humanist political parties, founded in Florence, Italy, on January 4, 1989, by the approval of foundational documents and statutes by over 40 Humanist Parties from around the world...
was held.
In this event, the foundational documents were adopted, including the Declaration of Principles, The Thesis, Foundations for political action and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
.
In December 1990, in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Laura Rodríguez
Laura Rodríguez
Laura Fiora Rodríguez Riccomini was a Chilean political activist from the Humanist Party. In 1989 she became the world's first Humanist to win a seat in parliament, after claiming victory as part of the Concertación coalition....
became the first elected representative of any Humanist Party in the world after winning a seat as part of the Concertación
Coalition of Parties for Democracy
The Concert of Parties for Democracy , more often known as the Concertación, is a coalition of center-left political parties in Chile, founded in 1988...
coalition, after Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
handed over power.
In October 1993, the second congress of the Humanist International was held in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, whereupon the Document of the Humanist Movement was also incorporated as a foundational document. This document had previously been circulating as chapter six of the book Letters to my friends.
In 1999, regional coordination bodies of Humanist Parties were formed in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The regional bodies of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
are expected to be formed in 2006.
In addition to the Humanist Party, the Community for Human Development later recommended also the formation of a party based on a new humanist approach to ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
. The subsequent formation of a party called "The Greens" caused much confusion in Europe where The Greens and The Green Party were fighting elections against one another. This led to a great deal of bad feeling from the Green Party. Eventually, the environmental policies of The Greens were incorporated within the Humanist Party, which resulted in their merger.
The official documents of the Humanist Party can be found in the Book of the Humanist International.
The Humanist Party exists in many countries as a member of the Humanist International
Humanist International
The Humanist International is a consortium of Humanist political parties, founded in Florence, Italy, on January 4, 1989, by the approval of foundational documents and statutes by over 40 Humanist Parties from around the world...
.
- Humanist Party (Argentina)Humanist Party (Argentina)The Humanist Party is a progressive political party in Argentina and is a member of the Humanist International. Its "five basic points" are :# The human being as a value and central focus# Nonviolence as method of action...
- Humanist Party (Brazil)Humanist Party (Brazil)The Humanist Party is a political party in Brazil and is a member of the Humanist International....
- Humanist Party (Chile)Humanist Party (Chile)The Humanist Party is a progressive left-wing political party in Chile, founded in 1984.In December 1990, Laura Rodríguez became the first elected representative of any Humanist Party in the world after winning a seat as part of the Concertación coalition, after Augusto Pinochet handed over...
- Humanist Party (Denmark)Humanist Party (Denmark)The Humanist Party is a political party in Denmark and is a member of the Humanist International.The party stood in the regional and municipal elections in Denmark November 15, 2005...
- Humanist Party (France)Humanist Party (France)The Humanist Party is a political party in France, and is a member of the Humanist International, and the European Humanist Regional....
- Humanist Party (Hungary)Humanist Party (Hungary)The Humanist Party is a political party in Hungary, and it is a member of the Humanist International.At the last legislative elections, on April 7 and 21, 2002, the party won no seats....
- Humanist Party (India)
- Humanist Party (Italy)Humanist Party (Italy)The Humanist Party is a minor political party in Italy. Its long-time leader was Giorgio Schultze, who is currently spokesman of the Humanist Movement in Europe. Founded in 1985, the party is a member of the Humanist International...
- Humanist Party of OntarioHumanist Party of OntarioThe Humanist Party of Ontario is an unregistered political party in Ontario, Canada. The party has fielded candidates in the 1994 Toronto municipal election, the 1997 Toronto municipal election, the 1999 provincial election, and the 2003 Toronto municipal election...
- Humanist Party (Portugal)Humanist Party (Portugal)The Humanist Party is a minor center-left political party in Portugal. It has no representatives in the Assembly of the Republic, the Portuguese legislature.The party is member of the Humanist International....
- Humanist Party (Spain)Humanist Party (Spain)The Humanist Party is a Spanish political party founded in 1984 and is a member of the Humanist International.-External links:* *...
- Humanist Party of SwitzerlandHumanist Party of SwitzerlandThe Humanist Party of Switzerland is a political party in Switzerland, which pursues the political ideas of New Humanism...
United Kingdom
The Humanist Party is a minor political party in the politics of the United KingdomPolitics of the United Kingdom
The politics of the United Kingdom takes place within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is the head of state and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government...
. It was launched in 1984. In August 1985 the first issue of The Humanist was published and in 1987 the first Humanist Party candidate contested a parliamentary by-election. Since then the party has contested elections at all levels, including the Scottish and European Parliamentary elections and the Greater London Authority elections, receiving few votes.