On Tuesday July 5, 2010, Biannca Pace, Chair of the Australian Ministry for Peace, invited an esteemed panel of four diverse speakers to discuss various aspects of the global Ministry of Peace concept at the biannual International Peace Research Association (IPRA) conference at Sidney University. 

A full report of this event, is available in PDF form. Please click here view or download.

Diplomats from the world's nations gathered at the United Nations throughout the month of May for the 5-year Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review, widely considered to be a critical point for the nuclear disarmament movement. The 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review International Planning Committee (comprised of NGO's from the US, Europe, Asia and the Riverside Church of NY) organized a two-day long international conference (April 30-May1) about Nuclear Abolition, Peace and Disarmament on the eve of the NPT Review Conference. NGOs from six continents sent representatives and activists to NY to influence its outcome. It was held at the famous Riverside Church, fittingly where Doctor Martin Luther King made his historic "Beyond Vietnam" speech. This gathering provided a forum to share analyses and coordinate activities with the NPT Conference. It consisted of three plenaries and numerous workshops from assorted tracks (abolition, wider peace, economic justice/human needs and environment/health). Many distinguished speakers were featured, most notable was an impassioned UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon affirming his commitment to disarmament!

The Global Alliance for Ministries and Departments of Peace (GA) is a worldwide movement of grassroots activists and government officials calling for structures in government and civil society in all nations to support cultures of peace around the world. Specific focus is on cabinet-level ministries and departments of peace in government and on national academies of peace in education. Three countries currently have such cabinet-level ministries: the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction in Nepal; the Ministry of Peace, National Unity, and Reconciliation in the Solomon Islands; and the Ministry of Justice and Peace in Costa Rica. Costa Rica’s Ministry is the latest to be established, with the legislation passing the National Assembly unanimously in August 2009 and President Oscar Arias signing it into law the following month, just prior to the opening of the Fourth Global Alliance Summit.

One of the most amazing things about the Oslo peace process is that since the creation of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, the ministers of education of Israel and the PA have never met. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will meet with President Mahmoud Abbas. Defense Minister Ehud Barak will continue to meet with PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad. Other Israeli and PA ministers will continue to meet, but the ministers of education - no meetings will take place between them.

Former education minister Yuli Tamir was more than willing to meet her PA counterpart, Dr. Lamis Alami. But Alami replied that she is serving in a technocrat government whose job is to make sure that the educational system is working, not to get into matters of a controversial nature, such as curriculum content. Even peace-minded Fayad was approached to assist in arranging a meeting, but no progress took place.

Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, to address UK launch of Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention and Human Security, 12.30 Thursday 26 March 2009, Terrace Pavilion, House of Commons, Westminster.

Westminster, London – On Thursday 26 March, The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, will speak at the UK launch of the EastWest Institute’s Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention and Human Security. The Parliamentarians Network will call on the G-20 to mobilize their full resources to prevent violent conflicts, not just react to them once they erupt.

 

To contribute to sustainable economic recovery and a genuinely new era of international economic partnership, the members of the Parliamentarians Network will issue a declaration at the network’s UK launch to urge G-20 member states to properly resource conflict prevention efforts, to increase transparency in the use of these resources, and to help facilitate coordinated international responses to potential conflicts.

 

From Johan Galtung, 50 Years: 100 Peace and Conflict Perspectives.

 

Diagnosis: The proposal presented June 1964 (20 forslag, pp. 46-47) sees the pressure on the administration in the direction of peace as has increased enormously after the Second World War, but that is not reflected in additional appropriations for the foreign office as opposed to the ministries dealing with domestic affairs. Nor is the work for peace coordinated. There is no setting where all these initiatives can meet each other for mutual enrichment.

There is a need for some place in the central administration where the peace movement can engage the administration and function positively, not only criticizing. Today so much goodwill and initiative are wasted, and the peace movement easily becomes irresponsible. Major economic organizations interact with major ministries but the peace movement and the foreign office do not interact in a formalized way. An organizational development has been called for--as done by judge Bonnevie (a Department of peace, a consultative cabinet member), professors Aubert and Bratholm, and in the UN General Assembly as a resolution proposal by the ambassador from Honduras, Francisco Milla Bermudez, December 1961.

New Zealand has been chosen as the start for a global walk for peace and non-violence which will include all seven continents including Antarctica. The walk which will start in October on the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, hopes to inspire people of all walks of life to promote the abolition of nuclear weapons, end war, and reject violence in their homes, communities, nations and around the world.

"New Zealand is one of the first countries to see the light of the new day," said Montserrat Prieto, a coordinator of the Global March for Peace and Nonviolence . "And maybe this light has helped inspire New Zealand to lead the world on many issues including granting women the vote, banning nuclear weapons, making peace studies part of the school curriculum, mediating peace in Bougainville and the Solomon Islands, and establishing the position of Minister for Disarmament – so far the only one in the world."

As many will know, this year commemorates the 60th anniversary of the The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To celebrate this milestone, and to remind ourselves of the importance of the declaration, we offer the full text of the document.

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories."

 

We're still thinking deeply about what it takes to build a culture of non-violence. Here are our thoughts on it this month.

When people’s needs and concerns go unheard for long periods, they may believe that violence is their only option.

When people resort to violence they are not taking into account the needs of others in the conflict.

The more complex, deep-rooted, lengthy or violent the conflict the more essential a mapping process is, if it is ever to move out of its impasse.

Mapping is equally valuable for our everyday conflicts. It's best when you do it with the other person or group. No, it’s not simple, but the process does work! It can turn opponents into problem-solving partners.