CISV is a global organization dedicated to educating and inspiring for peace through building inter-cultural friendship, cooperation and understanding. Founded in 1950, CISV today has 70 Member Associations around the world with over 200 Chapters or local groups. In over 60 years we have given countless children and young people the experience of their lives and the opportunity to build lasting friendships through our international educational programmes. Our National Associations (full-member Associations) and Promotional Associations (Associations in the process of gaining full membership) run our educational programmes and co operate internationally through their membership of CISV International. Find CISV near you.

CISV has a vision of a more just and peaceful world. We believe that through the choices we make, through debate and action, we can all take responsibility for making this possible. In other words, that we all have roles as active global citizens.

Our Purpose

CISV educates and inspires action for a more just and peaceful world

This statement is supported by our four educational principles, which unite and inspire us as members of CISV.

Our Principles

• We appreciate the similarities between people and value their difference
• We support social justice and equality of opportunity for all
• We encourage the resolution of conflict through peaceful means
• We support the creation of sustainable solutions to problems relating to our impact upon each other and the natural environment

It is because we hold these beliefs and have a desire to learn more about them and act upon them, that we are part of this organization.

Peace education is a way of learning about issues that are seen to be the cause of social injustice, conflict and war. In line with our principles, we have four areas of peace education content:

• Diversity
• Conflict and Resolution
• Human Rights
• Sustainable Development

The purpose behind our peace education is to provide us all with the attitudes, skills and knowledge we need to be agents of change, both locally and globally – to become active global citizens.