By John Vlasto, Chair of WFM
The World Federalist Movement (WFM) was founded in 1947 and serves as as an umbrella organization for individual world federalist organizations around the world. Its member and associated organizations (M&AOs) meet periodically at a Congress to set the direction of WFM and elect a board (called the Executive Committee) to run WFM till the next Congress.
At the last Congress in 2021, the M&AOs elected a new board with a mandate to clarify the direction of the organization and wider movement. To accomplish this as inclusively as possible, the board conducted a Theory of Change process, inviting all M&AOs to take part. After almost a year’s debate and discussion the process is now complete.
In essence we re-affirmed that our long-term goal is democratic world federation, that we pursue multiple paths towards this goal; and that this diversity is a strength, providing flexibility and resilience in an unpredictable world. More detail can be found in the following documents:
- A WFM Vision, Mission and Values statement
- A chart showing the long-term goal and the routes we are pursuing to get there
- A narrative explaining the chart
These are not written in stone, but living documents, responsive to the changing environment and membership, and subject to approval at the next Congress. We have already noted a number of areas for further refinement and exploration. Nevertheless, we now have a robust framework for our next step, a review of WFM’s strategic plan for the next 3-5 years.
(For those who were involved in the Theory of Change process, you will be aware that there is also a more complex underlying chart. This is not being shared publicly at this stage as it is a working document and not in a readily shareable form – this is one of the areas we would like to revisit.)
On behalf of WFM I would like to thank:
- Bob Flax, for so ably facilitating the Theory of Change process
- Citizens for Global Solutions, for their generosity in agreeing to their Executive Director (Bob) supporting WFM in this way
- All the volunteers from M&AOs and WFM who gave their time, energy and passion to this project
Thank you!
John Vlasto
Chair, World Federalist Movement/ Institute for Global Policy