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IKV
As inter-church council, the IKV foundation is closely associated with these churches; it has a support base of 10,000 donors. IKV is a member of various international networks including the Helsinki Citizens Assembly (HCA), of which it is a founding member.
IKV was set up in 1966 at the instigation of the then Dutch Reformed Church and Pax Christi. The new organisation's purpose was to support political solutions for crises and armed conflicts. In the 1970s, IKV played an important role in raising awareness of peace issues in Dutch society, specifically in the churches.
Ten years later, IKV headed the Committee against Cruse Missiles. This mammoth coalition of peace organisations (including Pax Christi), political parties and the Dutch Trade Union Federation (FNV) were able to mobilise large segments of society against nuclear arms. In addition, IKV developed a network of contacts with dissident movements in Central and Eastern Europe that argued for bottom-up political détente in Europe.
In the 1990s, IKV worked to bring about Euro-Arabic dialogue during the first Gulf War when tensions rose between Europe and the Arab world. Many civil society organisations from both regions took part.
After the outbreak of war in former Yugoslavia, IKV became deeply involved in building ties of solidarity with communities in the Balkans, not the least of which were the survivors from Srebrenica. IKV also developed peace programmes in the Caucasus and became involved in peace initiatives in Kashmir and on the Moluccas.
Since the merger of the three Uniting Protestant Churches in The Netherlands into the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, IKV represents six participating member churches: the Roman Catholic Church, the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, the Remonstrant Brotherhood, the Dutch Mennonite Society, the Old-Catholic Church and the Herrnhutter Church (Evangelische Broedergemeente).
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