WORLD FEDERALIST MOVEMENT
"Mankind's desire for peace can be realized only by the creation of a world government. With all my heart I believe that the world's present system of sovereign nations can only lead to barbarism, war and inhumanity, and that only world law can assure progress towards a civilized peaceful community."
-- Albert Einstein

The United Nations provides a forum for nearly all countries of the world to address their grievances with other countries, and to work together on global issues that affect the planet and all of its people. International laws help provide a legal framework for nations to work out their differences in a fair, just and equitable way. But the United Nations serves mostly in an advisory capacity, and often does not have the authority to enforce many international laws and treaties. The UN Security Council does have authority to enforce many breaches of international law, but its decisions are not democratic as they are made by the governments of only a small number of members of the United Nations. Because of these limitations, and the fact that the world is so interconnected, and there are so many problems and concerns that affect not just one or a few nations, but all of humanity, some have advocated for a more formalized form of democratic global governance.

The idea of "world federalists" arose after World War I and the formation of the League of Nations. World federalists argued for the creation of a democratically elected world government with the authority to make and enforce international laws. Before the outbreak of World War II, as tensions mounted in Europe, interest in the idea of a world federation grew and many groups in Europe and the United States were formed, including The Campaign for World Government in 1937, the Federal Union in the UK in 1938, and the US Federal Union in 1939. After the formation of the United Nations in 1945, the idea of a world federation gained greater support, and in August 1947, 51 organizations from 24 countries came together in Switzerland for the Conference of the World Movement for World Federal Government. By the next year's congress there were more than 150,000 members in the movement. Much of the work of the world federalist movement was directed at trying to move the United Nations closer to a world federal system. At first it was hoped that the UN Charter would be reviewed in 1955 and changes would be made to the Charter. When this didn't happen, efforts were directed at trying to advocate for amendments to the Charter to reform the UN's institutions and branches, such as creating a World Court with real authority, a more democratic Security Council and a democratically elected General Assembly or World Parliament. Today the World Federalist Movement continues to represent member and associate organizations around the world. The international secretariat is headquartered in New York City across the street from the United Nations, and a congress of representatives is convened every four years.

WFM-IGP.org