The UK will chair the International Holocaust Remembrance
Alliance (IHRA) in
2024, 10 years after first chairing the Alliance in 2014, the
government confirmed today.
The Alliance, which is made up of 34 countries including the US
and Germany, unites governments to promote and strengthen
Holocaust education and research.
The UK already plays a leading role in the IHRA and
its chairmanship will strengthen work to combat Holocaust denial,
along with championing the IHRA
definition of antisemitism – the UK’s use of the definition has
been recognised as the gold standard across the globe.
At this week’s meeting of IHRA
delegates, representatives from the 34 countries voted to confirm
the UK would take up the role of chair in 2024.
The UK’s chairmanship will be supported by experts including
representatives from the Holocaust Educational Trust, UCL’s
Centre for Holocaust Education, the Association of Jewish
Refugees, The Wiener Library and the Holocaust Memorial Day
Trust.
Foreign Secretary said:
It will be a poignant moment for the UK to chair the
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in 2024, 80 years
after the first discovery of the Nazi death camps. We will
never forget the worst crime of modern history, and we will
never relent in the fight against antisemitism.
Communities Secretary Rt Hon MP said:
It will be a great honour for this country to chair the
IHRA and
continue to lead the way in promoting Holocaust education and
remembrance.
Our new UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre will bear
witness to the evils of the Holocaust and stand as a permanent
reminder of why we need to make a stand against antisemitism
wherever and whenever it appears.
UK Special Envoy on post-Holocaust issues, and head of the UK
IHRAdelegation,
Lord said:
As the head of the UK delegation to the International Holocaust
Remembrance Alliance, I am especially honoured that we will be
chairing IHRA in
2024.
At a time when Holocaust distortion and revisionism is on the
increase the UK intends to be at the forefront of nations that
uphold the truth of the Shoah, with a clear unblinking eye. The
UK Chair will build on cooperation between international
institutions to fight antisemitism and Holocaust denial.
The UK will begin chairmanship of the IHRA in
2024, following Croatia.
The UK was the first country to adopt the adopt the IHRA
Working Definition of Antisemitism in 2016. At least three
quarters of local councils and over 80 universities in the UK
have adopted the definition following the government’s
encouragement and own adoption.
The proposed new Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre is
planned to be built next to the Houses of Parliament in Victoria
Tower Gardens. It will be a focal point for national remembrance
of the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered in the
Holocaust and all other victims of Nazi persecution.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) was
founded in 1998 and is made up of 34 countries including Germany,
the US and the UK.
The UK IHRA
delegation is headed by , Post Holocaust Issues Envoy and made up of experts
in Holocaust remembrance and education.
The IHRA is an
intergovernmental organisation which unites governments and
experts to strengthen, advance and promote Holocaust education,
research and remembrance and to uphold the commitments to the
2000 Stockholm Declaration (the founding document of the
IHRA).
The UK plays a leading role in IHRA and is
recognised for our work on Holocaust remembrance, education and
the fight against antisemitism.
The IHRA meets
twice a year and during the UK’s chairmanship , who is the head of the UK delegation, will take on
the role of Chair.
