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World Report on the Culture of Peace
an article by David Adams
How can we know if the culture of peace is advancing? The United Nations has given us an opportunity to find out.
This year is the midpoint of the United Nations International Decade
for the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World
(2001-2010). The General Assembly has set aside a special debate in its
session next fall and has invited the civil society (non-governmental
organizations, associations, clubs, schools, universities, city
commissions, etc, etc) to provide reports on progress (or lack of
progress) that is being made toward a culture of peace and nonviolence
everywhere in the world.
I am working with the Fundación Cultura de Paz of Madrid to
coordinate preparation of the final report, and every civil society
organization is invited to make a contribution. You may submit
information for your civil society organization by registering and
entering the data directly on the website for the report at http://decade-culture-of-peace.org.
As of the end of February, the mobilization is off to a good start with
50 postings and another 250 organizations registered and preparing
their reports. The goal is to have at least a thousand reports by the
deadline of April 30. Special mobilizations are getting underway for
Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, South Asia, Canada and
Australasia.
If Northfield, Minnesota, is any indication, the US will also
contribute its share to the report. Five different but complementary
Northfield initiatives have been put on line (see the USA section):
United Nations Association-Minnesota; Nobel Peace Prize Forum; Student
Pledge Against Gun Violence; Northfield People for Peace and Goodwill;
and St. John's Lutheran Church of Northfield.
The Northfield experience shows the nature of progress in the culture
of peace, as initiatives can grow from humble beginnings into great
movements. Mary Lewis Grow of Northfield, who initiated the Student
Pledge Against Gun Violence in 1994, says, "Of course, I wish for the
time in which there is no call or need whatsoever for the Student
Pledge Against Gun Violence. If our violence prevention and peace
fostering efforts were to take deep enough root, wouldn't it be lovely
if all such initiatives, someday, were to seem but quaint
anachronisms?" The Pledge has now been signed by over 10 million young
people.
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
How can we know if the culture of peace is advancing?
As a reader, you are invited to join in the discussion of
this article based on any of the above question(s): just click on the
question, read the previous comments and add a new reply. You may also
enter a new discussion topic on this article - see bottom of this page.
Thematic forum(s) in which this article is being discussed:
GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE
LATEST READER COMMENT:
In
regard to your question, the answer is: YES, the Culture of Peace is
advancing. I manage to overlook the indifference and absolute silence
demonstrated by the commercial mass media regarding the Culture of
Peace, because what I focus my attention on, here in my microcosm, is:
*
the great number of Professors (more than 100) from all the Schools of
the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and other Greek Universities
(University of Thessaly, University of Thrace, etc.), who constantly
teach and support the Courses of the UNESCO Chair for the Culture of
Peace, since 1993, on a purely voluntary basis, without recompense of
any kind
* the students from all the Schools of the A.U.Th., who
eagerly choose and attend this demanding Course every academic semester
and who claim that this Course Programme is the most valuable learning
experience they have had during their studies
* the innumerable
teachers of primary and secondary education, from all specialties
throughout Greece, who constitute the Greek National Network of
Schoolteachers for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence of the UNESCO
Chair/A.U.Th. These teachers are our invaluable partners in the
promotion of the Culture of Peace in the school classrooms. It is with
great imagination, originality and commitment to the Culture of Peace
that they organize many commendable activities with their students in
the classroom. Every time that I am honored to receive Reports of their
work, apart from my satisfaction and admiration, I feel certain that
the Culture of Peace is in the rights hands.
And these are only
some of my sources of strength and optimism. So, what do we really need
the mass media for? Let them go on with their significant work.. . ...more.
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