The Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (hCa) is an international organization of citizens dedicated to peace and democracy. The hCa functions as a non-governmental organization working to improve fundamental rights and freedoms, pluralism, and human rights in Europe.

History and objectives

The Helsinki Citizens' Assembly was founded in October 1990 in Prague, Czechoslovakia as an international working conference. Over one thousand delegates from Western and Eastern Europe attended. Civil society groups, women's organizations, trade unions, peace organizations, and representatives from the European Union participated in the founding meeting.

The hCa works independently from political parties, government and states, and aims to:

  • introduce the basic rights and freedoms accepted in international agreements and outlined by universal standards into daily life
  • to promote peaceful processes for the resolution of problems through mutual understanding dialogue and peace
  • to improve pluralist democratic bodies and civil society initiatives
  • to ensure the supremacy of law and to defend an economic system that promotes the well-being of human life and the environment

The Helsinki Final Act (1975) provided a basis for creating conditions favorable to peace in Europe and made human rights a common value to be respected by all nations in a world which was divided into East and West camps in that period. The word "Helsinki" refers to the historic significance of this agreement. These included editorials by Mary Kaldor and Mient Jan Faber, reports from national committees, various conferences, a directory of 42 national contact persons for HCA, etc.

In the early nineties, the hCa initiative very much resembled other large international networks, like the END-Convention and IPCC (International Peace Communication and Coordination Center) and many of the activists and organizations of END and IPCC joined the hCa. The main differences between hCa and the two other networks was that hCa had a great potential of being more than just a network of peace organizations, including also activists and groups working around other issues, like North-South relations.

Chapters of the hCa organize seminars, workshops, meetings, and conferences at the local, national, and international levels. Chapters often cooperate with other NGOs, civil society, and think tanks.

Areas of operation

The hCa maintains active branches across Europe, including countries from the Balkans, the Caucasus, and from EU member states.

See also

  • Helsinki Accords
  • Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly–Vanadzor
  • Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
  • Helsinki Citizens' Assembly - Vanadzor, Armenia web-site
  • Helsinki Citizens' Assembly - Bosnia and Herzegovina web-site
  • Helsinki Citizens' Assembly - Turkey branch web-site

References