UIAA – International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation
 

In 1932 representatives of 18 countries met in Chamonix (France) to form the Union Internationale des Associations d’Alpinisme [International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation] (UIAA, http://www.theuiaa.org/). They established specific tasks to promote mountaineering and climbing among young people, develop international standards, heighten awareness of safety and protect the environment. Today the UIAA is recognized as a leading international federation with experience in the Alpine mountaineering sector.
 

The UIAA promotes freedom of access to the mountains to practise mountaineering sports in a responsible manner and with minimum impact on the environment; it helps to protect mountain areas and climbing sites from damage and exploitation, encouraging the sustainable development of local communities.
 

The UIAA has a Summit Charter that sets out the principles and benefits of mountain sports and a series of proposals for promoting cooperation, peace, environmental protection and excellence in sport.

Members

The experience and funds for the UIAA come from its own member associations, all national federations for mountaineering, climbing, hiking and mountain sports. The UIAA includes 97 associations from 68 different countries representing over 2.5 million members and 10 million participants. It has an administrative office in Switzerland that is the official headquarters of the UIAA. During the UN International Year of Mountains in 2002, the UIAA successfully achieved a series of association projects, in particular with the World Conservation Union - IUCN, the UN programme for the environment and the Food and Agriculture Organization - FAO. The UIAA is an international federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee and is a member of the General Association of Sports Federations and of the International World Games Association.
 
 
 
 
UIAA member countries

Documentation

Club Arc Alpin - CAA
 
The Club Alpino Italiano – CAI – is a member of important international mountaineering associations, such as the Club Arc Alpin and UIAA, the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation. In 1995 the CAI was one of the founding members of the CAA, an association that promotes responsible mountaineering in order to safeguard the interests of the whole Alpine chain in terms of sport, nature and the Alpine ecosystem. In 1932 the CAI became a founding member of the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) sharing UIAA’s specific aims of encouraging mountaineering, especially among the young, and of developing international standards for the sustainable protection and enhancement of the environment.
 
 
The Club Arc Alpin (CAA, www.club-arc-alpin.eu) was formed on 18 November 1995 in Schaan (Liechtenstein).
 

The Alpine countries’ main mountaineering associations work together in the Club Arc Alpin to represent their common interests, particularly as regards mountaineering, safeguarding nature and the Alpine environment and Alpine culture and also stipulating agreements for the protection of the Alps (the Alpine Convention).
 

The CAA’s main aim is therefore to represent the interests of the whole Alpine area and, at the same time, to promote those of its members.
 

CAA members include:
 

• Alpenverein Südtirol (AVS);
 

• Fédération Franςaise des Clubs Alpins et de Montagne (FFCAM);
 

• Club Alpino Italiano (CAI);
 

• Deutscher Alpenverein (DAV);
 

• Liechtensteiner Alpenverein (LAV);
 

• Oesterreichischer Alpenverein (OeAV);
 

• Planinska Zveza Slovenije (PZS);
 

• Schweizer Alpenclub (SAC).
 
 
 

Commissions
 

The Club Arc Alpin’s commissions are specialist technical and advisory groups that support the Management Committee. They report to and work with the Management Committee.
 

The Commissions are made up of a range of technical specialists and experts in specific fields of interest, often connected to the association to which they belong.
 

The Commissions are not formed according to the number of members in each association but with equal rights.
 

In view of their close ties with the Management Committee, the commission chairs are regularly invited to the Members’ Assembly, as guests, in order to consolidate this relationship.
 

There are three commissions:
 

• Commission for the Protection of Nature and the Alpine environment;
 

• Commission for Mountain Huts, Trails and Climbing Sites;
 

• Commission for Alpine Sports, Training and Safety.