Siðmennt - the Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association (IEHA) was founded in February 1990, after running a successful
civil confirmation program in the year before. The organization was named
Siðmennt, which is derived from the Icelandic words "sið-" meaning "ethical" or "tradition" and "-mennt" for "education". IEHA has ever since offered civil confirmation, mainly to 14 year old youth, and has grown steadily over the years. As of 2020, around 13% of 14 year old's in Iceland, choose civil confirmation over the more traditional Christian confirmations offered by the
Church of Iceland. In 2008, the organization started offering other secular ceremonies for the milestones in life; such as namegiving ceremonies, wedding ceremonies and funerals. This was largely due to lobbyism on IEHA's behalf. On May 3 in the same year, IEHA became the first non-religious lifestance organization to gain full legal status by the Icelandic government, and was thus entitled to state funding, as well as other rights, equal to religious organizations in Iceland. Since acquiring legal status as a lifestance organization, IEHA has experienced rapid growth, from around 300 members in 2013, Additionally, IEHA has experienced more growth in members, than any other secular or religious lifestance organization in Iceland in the resent years. Until 2015, IEHA operated largely at a voluntary base, with no formal headquarters nor full time staff. This changed in the aforementioned year, when it opened its first office in
Reykjavík with full time employees. == Main areas of focus ==