UK to chair international holocaust remembrance alliance

The UK will chair the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2024, 10 years after first chairing the Alliance in 2014, the government confirmed today.

The Alliance, which is made up of 34 countries including the US and Germany, unites governments to promote and strengthen Holocaust education and research.

The UK already plays a leading role in the IHRA and its chairmanship will strengthen work to combat Holocaust denial, along with championing the IHRA definition of antisemitism – the UK’s use of the definition has been recognised as the gold standard across the globe.

At this week’s meeting of IHRA delegates, representatives from the 34 countries voted to confirm the UK would take up the role of chair in 2024.

The UK’s chairmanship will be supported by experts including representatives from the Holocaust Educational Trust, UCL’s Centre for Holocaust Education, the Association of Jewish Refugees, The Wiener Library and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said:

It will be a poignant moment for the UK to chair the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in 2024, 80 years after the first discovery of the Nazi death camps. We will never forget the worst crime of modern history, and we will never relent in the fight against antisemitism.

Communities Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:

It will be a great honour for this country to chair the IHRA and continue to lead the way in promoting Holocaust education and remembrance.

Our new UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre will bear witness to the evils of the Holocaust and stand as a permanent reminder of why we need to make a stand against antisemitism wherever and whenever it appears.

UK Special Envoy on post-Holocaust issues, and head of the UK IHRA delegation, Lord Eric Pickles said:

As the head of the UK delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, I am especially honoured that we will be chairing IHRA in 2024.

At a time when Holocaust distortion and revisionism is on the increase the UK intends to be at the forefront of nations that uphold the truth of the Shoah, with a clear unblinking eye. The UK Chair will build on cooperation between international institutions to fight antisemitism and Holocaust denial.

The UK will begin chairmanship of the IHRA in 2024, following Croatia.

The UK was the first country to adopt the adopt the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism in 2016. At least three quarters of local councils and over 80 universities in the UK have adopted the definition following the government’s encouragement and own adoption.

The proposed new Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre is planned to be built next to the Houses of Parliament in Victoria Tower Gardens. It will be a focal point for national remembrance of the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered in the Holocaust and all other victims of Nazi persecution.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) was founded in 1998 and is made up of 34 countries including Germany, the US and the UK.

The UK IHRA delegation is headed by Lord Pickles, Post Holocaust Issues Envoy and made up of experts in Holocaust remembrance and education.

The IHRA is an intergovernmental organisation which unites governments and experts to strengthen, advance and promote Holocaust education, research and remembrance and to uphold the commitments to the 2000 Stockholm Declaration (the founding document of the IHRA).

The UK plays a leading role in IHRA and is recognised for our work on Holocaust remembrance, education and the fight against antisemitism.

The IHRA meets twice a year and during the UK’s chairmanship Lord Pickles, who is the head of the UK delegation, will take on the role of Chair.