The World Kindness Movement (WKM) was formed on Sept 20, 1997 at a conference in Tokyo.  It was hosted by the Small Kindness Movement of Japan. The WKM declaration is at ANNEX A.  The participating countries were:

WKM delegates met again on November 13, 1998 and signed a declaration pledging to work toward establishing World Kindness Day on November 13, 2000. 

The members of the World Kindness Movement

• Acknowledge the fundamental importance of simple human kindness as a basic condition of a satisfying and meaningful life, and 
  

• Pledge to join together through the individual networks of each member country, to build a kinder and more compassionate world.
  

The World Kindness Movement aims to inspire individuals and connect nations to create a kinder world.

Procedural Guidelines
Purpose and principles

The WKM aims to involve all countries of the world.  As such membership is open to all countries subject to the following WKM rules:

Kindness movements which do not meet the requirements set out in paragraph 6a to 6f, may apply as non-voting members with observer-status for a maximum period of two years after which they must either apply for full membership, provided they meet all requirements, or withdraw.   WKM Secretariat will outline what benefits Non-Voting members can enjoy but basically they can attend WKM meetings to learn from others but will have no voting rights.  

Currently, the WKM does not levy any fees on its members. This may change depending on what the WKM decides during its annual Conference.

Meetings of the World Kindness Movement will be held once a year in November.  The venue will be decided at the preceding WKM Conference.

The host Kindness Movement will pay for the Conference, including cost of board and lodging for overseas delegates.  However, airfares must be borne by participating members unless otherwise agreed between member and host country.

All decisions of the WKM, including amendments to the Constitution, must be made at the annual WKM Conference.  These decisions are subject to the following rules:

To take advantage of the Internet, the WKM secretariat may decide that approval for some decisions needed urgently may be sought through the Internet from all WKM members. 11a&b will apply.  

As the WKM grows, it will be necessary to set up a WKM secretariat.  Officers from the host Kindness Movement where the WKM secretariat is located will double up as WKM secretariat staff.  The WKM will provide a small fund for the secretariat to manage its operations.  The amount will be decided at the WKM Conference.

• Responding to all WKM correspondence and inquiries

• Processing applications for WKM membership

• Processing requests for use of WKM logo

• Help WKM webmaster to update and maintain the WKM eNewsletter and the WKM website  

For the first three years, the Secretariat will be hosted by the Small Kindness Movement of Japan in Tokyo.  After that the WKM Conference will decide whether they should continue or whether it should be rotated among founding members.

The overall structure of the WKM and its links with National Kindness Movements will be as follows:  

World Kindness Day shall be observed annually on 13 November. The purpose of World Kindness Day is

To provide a springboard for promoting kindness that begins with individuals and expands to connect communities around the world

The WKM website address is: www.worldkindness.org.sg.  It will be updated and maintained by the WKM webmaster with the help of the WKM Secretariat.