2008 ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

2008 Ordinary General Meeting

At its 2008 annual meeting in the city of San Salvador (El Salvador), the General Assembly of the IONA (International Organization New Acropolis) wishes to highlight that:

Last year – 2007 – it completed fifty years of uninterrupted activities in the service of philosophical thought, culture, international understanding, tolerance and protection of the environment.

It therefore resolves:

  1. To reaffirm its intention to continue to work for the development of philosophy as a way of life, with the aim of attaining a higher degree of social conscience and self-knowledge. Also to continue to act in the field of culture, since, as we have already pointed out on many occasions, the cultural expressions of humanity provide a foundation for better human relationships and a better understanding and rapprochement between nations. And to continue to promote volunteering as an expression of unselfishness and solidarity between the different parts of society, which will help to strengthen the bonds of harmonious coexistence and respect within a framework of mutual co-operation and support.
  2. To continue to develop its International Programs, which combine activities related to the arts, music and human sciences, character building and the development of will-power, as is reflected in the Yearbook which is distributed at every General Meeting containing all the activities undertaken by the IONA in over fifty countries world-wide.
  3. To strengthen the Volunteering activities it has been carrying out, whether on its own or in collaboration with the GEA Active Ecology Group. These activities have been taking place in different parts of the world, not only in relation to the protection of nature and the ecological balance, but also in aid programs and rescue operations in natural disasters, such as the earthquake which took place in Peru, or in the creation of the Hestia 2007 Program for collaboration and coordination of standards in search and rescue operations for missing persons.
  4. In the framework of World Philosophy Day, which on the initiative of the UNESCO is celebrated all over the world, the IONA has set up a wide-ranging program of commemorative activities relating philosophy to the arts, history and the promotion of philosophical values and ideas, in addition to its other wide-ranging activities which are also featured in the Yearbook published by the institution.
  5. To highlight the IONA’s support for the commemoration of the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948-2008) promoted by the United Nations, and the European Union initiative which has declared 2008 as the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue.
  6. It is important to note that the IONA has taken part in a number of major international events at the invitation of the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of American States (OAS). In particular, the IONA forms part of the advisory committee of the Inter-American Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices of the OAS, together with other international organizations that are working in Latin America in the field of “citizenship education”. In recent years, the IONA has been invited to take part on several occasions in the World Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations organized by the UN Department of Public Information.