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UIA's history
Founding of the Union of International Associations
In 1895, Henri La Fontaine and Paul Otlet established the Institut international de bibliographie, which later became the International Federation for Information and Documentation (FID), otherwise known as the "House of Documentation". They also established the Repertoire Bibliographique Universel (RBU), an ambitious attempt at developing a master bibliography of the world's accumulated knowledge. With their informational retrieval scheme, they proposed to file, index, and provide information for retrieval on anything of note published anywhere in the world. They were able to make great progress in bringing their plan into reality. By the late 1930's, the RBU had grown to 15 million entries.
From the work of the Institute came the idea for the Union of International Associations (UIA). The UIA is the world's oldest, largest and most comprehensive source of information on global civil society, and to this day, still carries out the sophisticated and visionary concepts of its founders. In developing beyond its initial bibliographical and organizational focus, the UIA continues to seek ways to recognize, honour and represent the full spectrum of human initiatives and preoccupations manifested in an organized manner across national boundaries - both in isolation and within the complex networks of relationships between them.
Detailed history of the UIA
| 1895 | The International Institute of Bibliography, responsible for development of the widely-used Universal Decimal Classification (UDC), and parent-organization of the Union of International Associations (UIA), is founded. |
| 1905 | The World Development Congress is held in Mons. The Institut International de la Paix, in Monaco, publishes the Annuaire de la Vie Internationale from 1905 to 1907, forerunner of the Yearbook of International Organizations. |
| 1907 | Representatives of 20 associations decide to set up a central bureau. The UIA is founded on the 1st June 1907 in Brussels, Belgium, under the name Central Office of International Associations, by Henri La Fontaine and Paul Otlet, Secretary-General of the then International Institute of Bibliography, which subsequently became the International Federation for Information and Documentation (FID), and with which UIA activities were closely associated. |
| 1908 | The Central Office of International Associations is officially founded under the patronage of the Belgian government on the 29th January 1908. The UIA collaborates with the Institut International de Bibliographie and the Institut International de la Paix on the 1908 and 1909 editions of the Annuaire de la Vie Internationale. |
| 1910 | The UIA is founded, under its present name, at the 1st World Congress of International Organizations in Brussels, where 132 international bodies and 13 governments were represented. The Central Office of International Associations serves as its executive body. Henri La Fontaine, Paul Otlet and Cyrille Van Overbergh are appointed Secretaries-General. The Annuaire de la Vie Internationale is published, up until 1911 with the support of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Otlet and La Fontaine first envision a "city of knowledge", which Otlet originally named the "Palais Mondial", that would serve as a central repository for the world's information. |
| 1911 | Alfred Fried, one of UIA’s founders, receives the Nobel Peace Prize. |
| 1912 | The 1st edition of the UIA journal International Affairs is published. |
| 1913 | Henri La Fontaine receives the Nobel Peace Prize. The 2nd World Congress of International Associations is organized in Ghent and Brussels, with 169 international associations and 22 governments represented. This congress is perceived as "a new milestone along the road to international organization through the unrestricted cooperation of the associations, aided by States". Preparations for the 3rd World Congress, scheduled for San Francisco in 1915, are interrupted by the outbreak of war. The congress is subsequently cancelled. |
| 1917 | The UIA begins lobbying for a Belgian law providing special legal facilities for international associations. |
| 1919 | The UIA presents a project for a World Charter of Intellectual and Moral Interests, which leads to the creation of the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation, precursor of UNESCO. The Belgian law providing special legal facilities for international associations is adopted on the 25th October 1919. (Belgium continues to be the only country with such a law for international NGOs). Otlet and La Fontaine are granted space in the left wing of the Palais du Cinquantenaire in Brussels to house the "Palais Mondial". |
| 1920 | The UIA is registered as an international association with scientific aims under the new Belgian law on the 2nd July 1920. The League of Nations is established on the 10th January 1920, following intensive lobbying for its creation by the UIA. Henri La Fontaine serves as rapporteur of the League of Nations commission whose work results in the establishment of the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation. The 3rd World Congress of International Associations is held in Brussels. With the support of the League of Nations, the 1st Session of International University takes place. Faculty members comprise key academic figures of international organizations. |
| 1921 | The International Congress on Intellectual Activities, which led to the establishment of the present International Bureau of Education, is convened by the UIA. The 2nd Session of the International University takes place in Brussels. The League of Nations begins publishing of the Handbook of International Organisations / Répertoire des Organisations internationales (a continuation of the UIA’s Annuaire de la Vie Internationale). Publication ends in 1939. |
| 1922 | The "Palais Mondial" is briefly shut down due to lack of support from the Belgian government, but was later reopened after lobbying from Otlet and La Fontaine. The Conference for the Development of the "Palais Mondial" is held in Brussels. The 3rd Session of the International University takes place in Brussels. |
| 1923 | The UIA publishes Code des Voeux, under the auspices of the League of Nations. |
| 1924 | The 4th World Congress of International Associations is held in Geneva. Otlet renames the "Palais Mondial" to the Mundaneum. |
| 1925 | The International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation, the precursor of UNESCO, is established. |
| 1927 | The 7th (and last) World Congress of International Associations is held. The 4th Session of the International University takes place in Brussels. |
| 1930 | In the 1930s much of the UIA's documentary activities are effectively taken over by the League of Nations. The League paid formal tribute to the UIA's work of documentation and information, of coordination of effort, of general education, as a "vast enterprise of international intellectual organization, characterized by the breadth of its conception and design". By the end of this period a total of 145 publications had been produced. |
| 1940 | German authorities occupy the UIA secretariat until 1944; archives are destroyed. |
| 1943 | Henri La Fontaine dies. |
| 1944 | Paul Otlet dies. |
| 1948 | Following the war and the dispersion of its archives, the UIA resumes activity as an institute with new statutes and separate from the Mundaneum (which continues to lead a separate existence). Georges Speeckaert is appointed as Secretary-General. Offices are established in the Egmont Palace. Major emphasis is placed on UIA's role as a clearing house for information on international organizations and their preoccupations, especially in order to facilitate their activity. Editors of Annuaire des Organisations Internationales, Geneva, with the collaboration of the UIA, publish the 1st edition of the Yearbook of International Organizations. |
| 1949 | The UIA journal is published again, under the title Monthly Bulletin of the Union of International Associations. Representatives of the UIA, the United Nations, and the Interim Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations meet and decide not to attempt to rebuild the UIA as a federation of international associations, but to retain its title and its programme as a centre for documentation, study, service, and the promotion of closer relations between international associations. The 2nd edition of the Yearbook of International Organizations is published. |
| 1950 | Resolution 334 B (XI) of the UN Economic and Social Council is adopted which establishes cooperation between the United Nations and the UIA for the preparation of the Yearbook of International Organizations. The 3rd edition of the Yearbook of International Organizations is published. The UIA journal is renamed NGO Bulletin. |
| 1951 | The UIA adopts new statutes, with new terms of membership: individual members, corresponding organizations, and associate members. The 4th edition of the Yearbook of International Organizations is published. |
| 1952 | The UIA is granted consultative status with UNESCO. Georges Patrick Speeckaert is elected Secretary-General. |
| 1953 | Consultative status granted to the UIA by ECOSOC under Resolution 334 B (XI) is confirmed at ECOSOC's 16th Session. |
| 1954 | The 5th edition of the Yearbook of International Organizations is published. The UIA journal is renamed International Associations. |
| 1955 | UIA statutes are modified. |
| 1957 | The 6th edition of the Yearbook of International Organizations is published, also in French, under the title Annuaire des Organisations Internationales. Publishing of the Yearbook in French continues until 1980, when it was published under the title Annuaire des organisations internationales: encylopédie de l'action transnationale: description des organisations. The UIA continues to produce the Yearbook in English to this day. |
| 1965 | The Select Bibliography on International Organizations 1855-1964 is published.UIA statutes are modified. |
| 1970 | Robert Fenaux is elected Secretary-General of UIA. |
| 1972 | Organization documentation is transferred to a main frame computer service, with in-house cassette input terminals. |
| 1976 | The 1st edition of Yearbook of World Problems and Human Potential is published, with the financial support of Mankind 2000. |
| 1978 | The UIA participates from 1978 to 1982 in a United Nations University project on Goals, Processes and Indicators of Development. |
| 1979 | The UIA makes experimental use of computer conferencing (EIES). |
| 1980 | The World Forum of Transnational Associations is organized in Brussels. |
| 1981 | The 19th edition of the Yearbook of International Organizations is published, in collaboration with the International Chamber of Commerce. |
| 1982 | Collaboration between UIA and K G Saur Verlag (Munich) begins. Offices are moved from the Egmont Palace to the Maison des Associations Internationales. |
| 1983 | The 1st edition of the Yearbook Volume 2 – Geographical volume, and the 1st edition of the Yearbook Volume 3 – Subject volume are published. |
| 1984 | Guides to International Organization, in 4 volumes, are published up until 1985. |
| 1985 | UIA's computer are files transferred to an in-house local area network (Novell). Organization documentation of the UIA is transfered during 1985 to 1986 to a text database system (Revelation). |
| 1986 | The 2nd edition of the Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential is published. The Yearbook wins the Printing World Award for the most innovative application of computers to typesetting. UIA statutes are modified. |
| 1987 | Jacques Raeymaeckers is elected Secretary-General of UIA. |
| 1988 | The International Association Statutes Series is published. |
| 1991 | The 3rd edition of the Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential is published. Computer indexing of UIA reference books is transferred to an in-house system. |
| 1994 | The International Biographical Dictionary of Religion is published. The 4th edition of the Encyclopedia is published in 2 volumes: Encyclopedia of World Problems - Vol 1: World Problems and Encyclopedia of World Problems - Vol 2: Human Potential. |
| 1995 | The 1st CD-ROM edition of the Yearbook, and of the Encyclopedia, are published. The official web site of the Union of International Associations (UIA) is established. |
| 1996 | The online Encyclopedia databases are launched. The 1st edition of the Yearbook Volume 4 – Bibliographic volume, and the World Guide to Religious and Spiritual Organizations, are published. |
| 1997 | The World Guide to Logotypes, Emblems and Trademarks of International Organizations is published. |
| 2000 | The online Yearbook database is launched. |
| 2001 | The 1st edition of the Yearbook Volume 5 – Statistics volume is published. André Onkelinkx is elected Secretary-General of the UIA. |
| 2004 | The online Calendar database is launched. |
| 2005 | Jacques de Mévius is appointed Secretary-General of the UIA. UIA statutes are modified. |
| 2006 | The last edition of the journal Transnational Associations is published. |
| 2007 | The 1st edition of Yearbook Volume 6 - Who’s Who in International Organizations is published. Start of major re-development of UIA's web site into CMS Drupal. The UIA begins Centenary celebrations (1907-1910). |
| 2008 | UNESCO upgrades UIA's consultative status to "Formal Associate Relations" on the 4th April 2008. The UIA is one of only 20 organizations worldwide to be granted such status. |
| 2011 | Collaboration begins between UIA and Brill, the new publisher of the Yearbook of International Organizations. |
| 2012 | UIA's partnership with UNESCO is reclassified to 'Associate Status', pursuant to the new Directives concerning UNESCO’s partnership with NGOs. |
