The International University Exchange Fund (IUEF) was set up at the headquarters of the International Student Conference (ISC) in Leiden, Netherlands, with the aim to assisting refugees. It was later moved to Geneva and adopted a new constitution, setting up a board of Nordic non-governmental organisations, including especially student and youth organisations. Lars-Gunnar Eriksson of Sweden was appointed Director of the IUEF, expanding the organisation and providing scholarships for Southern African students and other activities.
The IUEF also supported programmes inside South Africa, such as SACHED, a distance education programme. Another programme was the "prison education programme" to provide funds for correspondence courses for political prisoners, which was operated in cooperation with the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS).
In 1977 Mr. Eriksson employed and later appointed Craig Williamson, Vice-President of NUSAS, as Deputy Director of the IUEF. However, Williamson at the time was also a Captain in the South African Security Police. The infiltration of the IUEF by Craig Williamson, together with unfolding political events in the late 1970s, led to the dissolution of the organisation in 1981.