International Coalition for the Decade – Newsletter
We are glad to adress you our best whishes of peace and of non-violence for 2005 and to send you the first newsletter of the International Coalition for the Decade.
Presentation
As you know, the International Coalition for the Decade was created in June 2003. Its objective is to promote the „International Decade for the promotion of the culture of non-violence and peace for the children of the world (2001-2010)“, which was proclaimed by the UNO in November 1998. Today, its members are:
– Four national coalitions : Austria, France, Italy, Netherlands
– Eight international associations:
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Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers)
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Réseau Foi, Culture, Education (Afrique centrale),
Three observing members:
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The World Council of Churches (WCC),
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the Peace and Justice Service in Latin America (SERPAJ-AL)
Are members of its Honorary Board :
Anwarul K. Chowdury, under Secretary General and High Representative of the UNO for the Less Advanced Countries
The Dalaï Lama, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Hildegard Goss-Mayr, Niwano Peace Prize Laureate
Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
– Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
– Joseph Roblat, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
– Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Its International Committee is composed of:
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Geneviève Colas, Caritas Internationalis
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Régine Kappeler, Österreichisches Netzwek für Frieden und Gewaltfreiheit
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Jeanne-Henriette Louis, Friends World Committee for Consultation
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Jan Schaake, Platform voor een Cultuur van Vrede en Geweldloosheid
The Executive Committee’s members are:
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Geneviève Colas, secretary
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Catherine Meyland, treasurer
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Christian Renoux, president
The International Committee meets three times a year. Its last meeting was held on October, 6th and 7th 2004 and the next meeting will be on February, 14th and 15th 2005.
Secretariat
Till October, 2004, the person in charge of the secretariat is Delphine Langlade, graduated of the Political Studies Institute of Paris. She is helped by two volunteers, Mr Bernard Baley and Ms Camille de Torcy.
Website
The website of the International Coalition for the Decade is on line since December 1st 2004. The adress is: www.nvpdecade.org
You will find the historic and some reference texts about the Decade, the presentation of the International Coalition and its activities, and an explanation about? How to participate?
Logo
The logo is the logo of the International Coalition. It was also realised by Tristan Triponez. It takes up the logo of the French and Austrian Coalitions.
The projects of the International Coalition:
The International Coalition has initiated several projects. These projects are led by specialized Commissions composed of member associations representatives.
Creation of new national coalitions
A document explaining how and why creating a national coalition for the Decade has been written by the International Coalition secretariat. You can obtain it writing at secretariat@nvpdecade.org .
A CD for the youth
The Artistic Commission thinks about producing peace songs CD. So far, contacts has been made in Switzerland, Austria and Gabon. The objective is to find fifteen songs, among which some would be created and singed by children and teenagers.
An international legal document
The Legal Document Commission met at the end of December to elaborate its project. This project is to create a legal document about the education on peace and non-violence worlwide. So far, it has not been decided if the proposed text will be an additional protocole to the UN Children Rights Conventionor an independent text.
A census of the tools for the Education for peace and non-violence
The Education Commission’s mandate is to make
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a census of the International Coalition’s members actions in favour of education on peace and non-violence, in order to permit the exchange of experiences and
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the discovery of the numerous existing tools on this theme in the various countries and the various cultures.
An international Conference in 2006
The International Coalition wants to organise in Paris in June 2006 an international Conference about the culture of peace and non-violence. This would be held in the same time as the second Peace Intiatives Exhibition organised by the French Coalition for the Decad
Participations:
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Peace Initiatives Exhibition? Paris ? June 2004
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The International Coalition participated in June 2004 in the first Peace Initiatives Exhibition. This exhibition was organised in Paris by the French Coalition for the Decade, the CCFD and the Secours Catholique-Caritas France. The International Coalition held a stand and conducted a workshop about the International Decade. Patrick Edou and Christian Renoux explained the UN Decade objectives and the different actions led by the International Coalition and its members.
Israel-Palestine
Meeting in Lyon in December, 6th 2004.
On December, 6th 2004, a meeting of the Mayors for Peace in the Middle East was held in Lyon. This meeting was organised by the Mayor of Lyon, Gérard Colomb. Yossi Beilin (Israel) and Yasser Abed Rabbo (Palestine) were present. The two of them were at the origine of the Geneva Initiative. Several mayors from Israel and Palestine were also present as well as mayors from all Europe. The aim of this meeting was to examine how, with a tripartite collaboration, peace could be built. Four workshops were held: ?Development of the local public services in conflict zone?, ?Education for peace, the role of the mayors and of the local authorities?, ?Role of the towns network for the cooperation for peace?, ?Role of the unions for the peace and the social well-being?. Delphine Langlade attended at this meeting on the behalf of the International Coalition for the Decade.
Somes news of the members:
French Coalition for the Decade
On September, 21st 2002, the French Coalition launched a campaign ? Education for peace and non-violence ?. This campaign presents three concrete requests to the French government:
– The official introduction of a formation for peace and non-violence on all levels of the French educative system
– The integration of this education in the initial and in-service training of the teachers
– The access for all the people working in an education place to a training about conflicts gestion.
Its 53 associations as well as its local coalitions are involved in this campaign. At the end of October 2004, 5 000 persons have already signed the campaign, inter alia means, throught the website of the French Coalition (www.decennie.org). Twice, a Coalition delegation was received at the Ministry of the Education.
In order to make these pedagogic objectives possible, the French Coalition works with experts and personalities involved in this subject. An Education Commission and a working group on school programs were created.
In the framework of this campaign, several initiatives were taken :
– The participation at the ?National debate on the future of the School? that was held from September 2003 to March 2004 in the whole France on a governemental initiative.
– The forums « Non-Violence at School » from the nursery school to the university. Held on October, 15th 2003 and on October, 13th 2004, these forums were the occasion to gather experiences on the education for peace and non-violence.
The French Coalition laso organized, in common with the Secours Catholique-Caritas France and the CCFD, the first Peace Initiatives Exhibition, held in June 2004 under the patronage of the UNESCO. 10 000 persons visited it, during three days. 114 French and international organisations were represented on the 84 stands and more than 300 volunteers participated in the exhibition preparation and progress.
The French Coalition decided to organise a second Peace Initiatives Exhibition in Paris in June 2006.
Pontifical Council Justice and Peace
The first World Congress of Ecclesial Organizations working for Justice and Peace was organised by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. By Mgr Munono, from the Pontifical Council Justice and Peace.
The Congress was held in Ergife Palace Hotel in Rome, 27-30 October 2004. More than 300 delegates were present among which 60 cardinals, archbishops and bishops from all over the world (92 countries, 15 regional episcopal conferences, 22 organisations). The group of the participants was composed of Pontifical Council members and consultants. They had met before at the Council Plenary Assembly (25-27 October). The group was also composed of delegates of the episcopal ?Justice and Peace? commissions and other ecclesiastic organisations working on the same realm. Also present were delegates from the World Council of Churches and a representative of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
Within the central theme of the Congress ?Announcing the Gospel of Justice and Peace?, different manifestations were held: plenary sessions, working groups, a picture of the Church involvement in the social field on the five continents, and a period for discussion. There were various speakers, among whom Mr José Antonio Ocampo, UN Under Secretary General for Social and Economic Affairs, who spoke on ?Globalisation, Development and Democracy“. Following him, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Secretary of State of the Holy See, spoke about ?The Church’s Commitment to Justice and Peace?. On October 29, the participants of the Congress were received by the Pope. The Pope underlined the importance of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, published on October 25, 2004. The Pope also invited Christians to know this doctrine, to diffuse it and to put it in practise.
In his Conclusions, Cardinal Renato R. Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, qualified the Congress as an unforgettable ecclesiastic experience, an occasion to live the nature of the Church in its solidarity with the world as it is today. He also announced some future initiatives that the Pontifical Council wishes to realise, such as the publication of a report on ?Poverty in a time of globalisation?, another on ?The action of the Church in the social realm ? Directory of social pastoral?, and a third document on ?Pastoral lexical of human rights?. The Council is scheduled to hold seminars and congresses about ?Women and social development?, ?Micro-financial and social development?, ? Peace and liturgy?, ? Human rights and prisoners?. There will also be a seminar on Vatican II Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et spes , which 40th anniversary will be celebrated by the Church in 2005. It is in this conciliar text, affirmed the cardinal, that is the ?genetic code? of the Church’s involvement in justice and peace.
IFOR
Women Peacemakers Program
In 1997, IFOR launched the Woman Peacemakers Program. The aim was to underline the link between the women empowerment and the peace building.The principal objective of this program is to sustain and reinforce the women?s initiatives for peace. The aim is to help the miliant women in reinforcing their comptences and to establish relationships with others militants and groups. The intention of the program is to spread the experiences of war resistance from women and to look for alternatives to the war
In September 2004, a one week training was held by the IFOR group ?Young forum for Peace and Justice?, at the intention of the women peacemakers. The theme was the utilisation of the media for the peace.
From October 3rd to October 8th, an international conference on the theme of « asking the good questions : formation to non-violence and gender » was held in Chiang Mai in Thaïlande. 35 trainers from 20 countries were present.
A Prize for a IFOR member
In December 2004, Noah Salameh, a member of IFOR from Palestine, received the ?Dante Aleghieri Peace and Human Rights Award? from Castelnuovo Magra, La Spezia Province, Italy. Noah Salameh was awarded for all his work for non-violence and notably the creation of the Center for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation in Bethlehem, Palestine.
FOR Sweden ? Martin Luther King day.
The third Monday in January is King-day and it the USA it is a national holiday. Since 2003, on the initiative if the Swedish Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Swedish Baptist church, the Martin Luther King-day is celebrated in Sweden. In connection to the clebrations of the Martin Luther King-day 2004 Joe Frans, member of the Swedish parliament, inaufgurated a Martin Luther King Prize. The first one was handed out on the 17th of January 2005 in the Swedish Parliament. IFOR Sweden wants to encourage all the civi society to organize events on the Martin Luther King- day in order to make a better world.
Comitato italiano per il Decennio
16th October meeting, by Francesco Varotto, from the Comitato italiano per il Decennio.
On October 16th 2004, the Italian Coalition for the Decade organised in Turin a conference « If you want peace, teach peace », a meeting-conference to increase the exchange of experiences and comments regarding the U.N. International Decade.
The following speakers gave their contribution to the debate:
A member of the ?Coordinamento Piemontese Comuni per la Pace? (Association of the Municipalities for the Peace of the Piemonte Region)
Sergio Bergami, MIR Padova-Italian Committee for the Decade;
Mercedes Mas, Pace e Dintorni (Milan);
Eugenio Scardaccione, GEP (Bari);
Elena Camino, Gruppo di ricerca e didattica delle scienze (University of Turin);
Giovanni Salio, Centro Studi Sereno Regis (Turin)
In the morning around sixty people coming from many Italian regions attended the meeting. Some representatives of the Caritas Diocesana di Genova (Diocesan Caritas in Genova) were present too. A large part of those present were teachers.
The speeches delivered in the morning tried to introduce people to the activities of the various Italian realities involved in the peace education. Some documentation realised by the Italian Committee for the Decade, a poster and a leaflet, has been handed out to the participants.
In the afternoon three working groups have been created:
1) projects in the schools and in other education environments: models and experiences
2) Decade campaign: national and international activities
3) production of materials (web site, CD-Rom, publications, educational literature)
At the end of the activity of the three working groups, a plenary session took place to discuss the results of the commissions. The most important commitment the assembly decided to undertake was to organise a wide-range conference which could be useful to verify the Italian status on the matter of the peace and nonviolence education at the half of the decade.
Réseau Foi, Culture et Education
The Faith, Culture and Education Network (Centrafrica) will hold its annual congress from Wednesday 26th to Friday 28th January 2005, in the Centre Jean XXIII. This congress will be held in the spirit of this sentence from the holy Bible : ?Do not let the evil win, but be victorious by the good? (Jn, 12,21).
The time table will be as follows :
Wednesday 26th January:
15h00 : Opening of the Congress
15h30 : General introduction
16h30 : Presentation of the message of the Pope John Paul II, for the world day of Peace.
17h00 : Working groups
Thursday 27th January : « Building today the peace in Centrafrica for a better tomorrow »
15h00 : The school and the non-violence
15h30 : The education for tolerance, an emergency
16h30 : working groups
Friday 28th January: « For a different world »
15h00 : The international community and its vision
15h30 : The Church and its action
17h00 : General Conclusion to the Congress
17h30 : closure of the debates
Delphine Langlade
January 2005
Delphine Langlade
International Coalition for the Decade
Coordination Internationale pour la Décennie
148 rue du Faubourg Saint Denis
F- 75010 Paris
Tel: +33 (1) 40 36 06 60
Fax: +33 (1) 40 51 70 02
E-mail: secretariat@nvpdecade.org
Website: http://
Posted in Friedensbewegung
