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Editor's Note: On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the signing of the "Final Act of Helsinki", a milestone high-level meeting was grandly held at Finlandia Hall on July 31, 2025. The "Helsinki+50" conference is not only a tribute and remembrance of the historical legacy of the 1975 Helsinki Conference but also a powerful call for adherence to shared principles in today’s turbulent times.

The attendance and speech by Bruce Knotts, Chair of the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, highlighted the crucial role civil society plays in upholding the core values of the OSCE. The spirit of Helsinki does not only belong to history but should also illuminate the path of peace today and in the future.

  Bruce Knotts, Chair of the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, at Helsinki+50

Bruce Knotts served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia, worked for Raytheon in Saudi Arabia (1976–1980), and worked in Somalia under a World Bank contract (1982–1984), before joining the U.S. Department of State in 1984 as a diplomat. He was posted to Greece, Zambia, India, Pakistan, Kenya, Sudan, Côte d'Ivoire, and The Gambia, serving as Deputy Chief of Mission in The Gambia. In Côte d'Ivoire, Bruce was Regional Refugee Coordinator for West Africa. From 2000 to 2003, Bruce worked closely with several UN Special Representatives and observed UN peacekeeping operations in Sierra Leone.

Bruce retired from the State Department in 2007 and became Director of the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO) in 2008. At the UN, he founded a faith-based sexual orientation/gender identity human rights advocacy organization and continued to promote the rights of women and Indigenous Peoples, while advancing sustainable development from a moral perspective rooted in faith and values. Bruce is frequently invited to speak on various topics around the world. Recently, he has spoken in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, China, South Korea, Ghana, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

Bruce is Co-Chair of the NGO Committee on Human Rights at the UN, Chair of the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, a member of the NGO Working Group on the Security Council, and a board member of the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development. He also previously served as Chair of the NGO/DPI Executive Committee, representing over 1,400 NGOs affiliated with the UN Department of Public Information. Bruce is also a board member of the Parliament of the World's Religions and the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation.

In 2006, Bruce married Isaac Humphrey in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Isaac works in international special events. He is also a venue manager for New York Fashion Week, an environmentalist for events, photographer, web designer, and social media consultant.

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