Members of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), at its meeting in Toronto from 6-10 October 2013, elected Hungary to chair the Alliance in 2015.

IHRA was established in Stockholm through the initiative of former Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson. In conjunction with the Stockholm meeting on the Holocaust and “Tell Ye Your Children” of the Living History Project, Persson proposed to the British Prime Minister as well as US President Bill Clinton that their countries join an effort to foster international cooperation on disseminating information about the Holocaust.

Originally, the IHRA was intended as a short-lived group of governments supporting educational and other efforts relating to the Shoah. It has now grown to be an intergovernmental body with 31 member countries, four observer countries, and six permanent observer organizations focused on placing political and social leaders’ support behind the need for Holocaust education, remembrance, and research both nationally and internationally.

Hungary joined the Alliance in October 2002 and acted as its chair already in 2006. Being elected to lead the Alliance confirms the results and commitment of the Hungarian government to Holocaust education and underlines the wide process that started with the Wallenberg centenary year in 2012 and continues with marking of the Holocaust Memorial Year in 2014.

United Kingdom will chair IHRA in 2014. Preparing for the role of chairman, Sir Andrew Burns, Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust issues of the United Kingdom visited the Holocaust Memorial Center in Budapest on September 10. For more details about his visit click here.