| Networks
and Affiliations |
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NGO in Consultative Status with the Economic
and Social Council of the UN |
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Affiliate Member of Friends of the Earth International |
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Member of the International Peace Bureau |
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Northeast Asia Regional Secretariat – Global Partnership for
the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) |
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World Social Forum |
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Founding member of Peace Now Korea Japan |
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Member of the Non-Violent Peace Force |
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World Peace Now |
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Abolition 2000 |
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Japan Campaign to Ban Landmines |
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Hague Appeal for Peace: The Global Campaign for Peace Education |
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| Ongoing
Campaigns |
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Iraq:
End the Occupation of Iraq
The ongoing campaign is appealing the end to the 3 year long occupation
of Iraq.
Join World Peace Now to protest the extension of the deployment of the
Self Defence Forces from Japan to Iraq, and to call for an end to
Japan's cooperation in the US led occupation of Iraq.
Date: March 18, Saturday 2006
Time: gathering starts 13:30 / peace march starts 15:30
Venue: Hibiya Park Open-Air Concert Hall, Tokyo
(3 min. walk from Tokyo Metro Kasumigaseki Sta. or Hibiya Sta. or a 2 min. walk from Tokyo Metro Uchisaiwaicho Sta.)
The event and march will feature many speakers and a peace concert. For
more information, please check - www.give-peace-a-chance.jp/wpn-en
No War in Iraq – No dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces
The dispatch of Japan’s Self-Defense forces to Iraq in support of the US-led invasion and occupation of the country marks the first time since the end of the World War II that Japanese troops have been sent to an overseas combat-zone – an action that violates Japan’s constitution. Peace Boat is campaigning for the troops to be withdrawn, and for the government to support instead civilian-led humanitarian efforts to rebuild Iraq. See archive section for anti-Iraq War activities.
Medical supplies for Iraq
Peace Boat has initiated a fundraising campaign in Japan with the objective of providing medical and
related equipment to support the people of Fallujah, one of the Iraqi cities most devastated by the US-led
attacks. To date, Fallujah General Hospital has received hundreds of blankets. |
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Article Nine: Uphold and protect Japan’s Peace Constitution
Article Nine of Japan's Constitution, which renounces the sovereign right of the nation to wage
war or hold weapons, is under immediate threat of revision. Recognising the value of Article Nine
as a conflict prevention method, that its abandonment will significantly destabilize the Northeast
Asian region, and that the renunciation of war is a key to peace for the future, Peace Boat is working
to protect Article Nine through education, lobbying and campaigns. |
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Common History Textbook for Northeast Asia
Japan has so far failed to atone for its colonization and military invasions of neighbouring countries
and the human rights abuses and war crimes committed in this period. The teaching of history in
this region is therefore intensely politicized and divisive. Besides contributing to a region-wide
initiative to write a common history textbook for the region with the objective of building mutual
understanding, Peace Boat’s own Asian History Project Team is compiling booklets aimed at
Japanese youth which tackle the suffering caused by the Japanese military occupations and highlight
the viewpoints of other Northeast Asian peoples. |
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Disarmament
Peace Boat is working to promote nuclear disarmament, in particular the creation of a Nuclear-Weapon-Free
Zone in Northeast Asia. A position paper on this topic was delivered to the Under-Secretary General
for Disarmament in 2003. Peace Boat is actively following the NPT Review process and is a member
of the Geneva-based NGO Committee on Disarmament. Specialist staff engage in advocacy and outreach
work in Japan through lectures, writing and media contributions. |
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Korea – Japan relations
Normalization of relations between DPRK (North Korea) and Japan
Peace Boat is lobbying the Japanese government to make greater efforts towards the normalization
of Japan-DPRK relations.
Dialogue on history and reconciliation – peace voyages to Korean peninsula
Peace Boat has organized a total of six peace education voyages to the DPRK since 1991. Approximately
2000 participants have taken part in these voyages that promote grassroots level interaction and
understanding. Topics for dialogue have included Japan-Korea history and the problem of Japan’s
revisionist textbooks, war responsibility and reconciliation between Peace Boat participants and
Korean civilians, and the creation of a Northeast Asia Nuclear-Free Zone.
Humanitarian support to the DPRK
Through public fundraising campaigns, made possible with the support of Korean-based NGOs, Peace
Boat aims to provide humanitarian support for the people of the DPRK. |
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Peace for Palestine and Israel: End the Occupation – Peace through Dialogue
Peace Boat actively supports work towards a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
recognising that both Palestinians and Israelis deserve to live in peace, security and justice.
However, peace cannot be achieved without an end to the Occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip. Activities include an onboard scholarship programme for Israeli and Palestinian students,
study visits to Palestine and Israel and advocacy work in Japan. |
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Food security and environmental recovery for the Arroyo de Piedra Community (Cartagena-Colombia).
Since Peace Boat’s first visit to Colombia in 2002, we have been cooperating with the local environmental group Kontiki and the network of afro-descendant communities, Jorge Artel, in the development of an integrated coastal area plan for the village of Arroyo de Piedra. >>read more |
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Colombian Women Consensus for Peace: supporting the role
of women in the conflict prevention and resolution.
After meeting for the first time on Peace Boat in 2001, a group of Colombian women coming from different
political backgrounds and experiences of the Colombian conflict, created the “Women’s
Consensus for Peace”. The group has been mandated to organise the Colombian Chapter of the
Court of Women to be held in 2004.
Read testimonies from the latest gathering of women onboard, including activists from El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala. |
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!NO AL ALCA!
The Free Trade Area of the Americas (ALCA in Spanish) plans to impose on the Latin American continent
a set of rules that will facilitate access to its natural resources. This will expose the continent
to indiscriminate degradation, leading to the destruction of its wealth in biodiversity, minerals,
oil and water, and endangering the survival of local cultures. |
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Organic Agricultural Project
Growing rice, wheat and other crops in Japan using organic practices for consumption onboard Peace
Boat, this project aims to raise awareness of sustainable agriculture and provide a hands-on education
in organic farming for volunteers. |
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Mangrove project
Assisting in local mangrove planting projects in Eritrea and Colombia
to support the global environment and sustainable economic development
programs for local communities. |
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| Archives |
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Olympic Truce Campaign
Ekecheiria (Olympic Truce) is the ancient Greek tradition of calling a cease-fire from all hostilities
for the duration of the original Olympic Games. Under the slogan “From Fires of War to Flames
of Peace,” Peace Boat campaigned for the renewal of an Olympic Truce for the Athens Games,
carrying a flame lit from the memorials at Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Greece onboard the ship. |
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No War in Iraq
As a member of Japan-based coalitiion World Peace Now and part of the Global
Anti-War Assembly developed
through the World Social Forum network, Peace Boat campaigned at a national and international level
against the US-led invasion of Iraq. |
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Patagonia, Human Heritage campaign, No to ALUMYSA
For many years, Codeff - Friends of the Earth Chile - has been fighting against the Canadian firm,
Alumysa, and its plan to build a aluminium industrial complex in one of the most pristine areas
of the world. During last visit to Puerto Montt and Valparaiso, Peace Boat joined the “Patagonia,
Human Heritage” campaign. |
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Kyoto Protocol Support Campaign
At the end of 1997, 160 nations met in Kyoto to agree to limit their greenhouse gas emissions. In
spite of the dramatic effects of climate change - one of them being the increase of the ocean level
in the South Pacific – Japan did not ratify the protocol until 2002. Peace Boat carried out
a series of activities towards its ratification. |
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“No Sustainability without Peace, No Peace
without Sustainability” Peace Boat in the World Summit for Sustainable Development, WSSD
In 2002, 10 years after the Earth Summit in Rio, Johannesburg was host of the WSSD, the UN conference
intended to check the progress of the Agenda 21 decided in Rio. Peace Boat’s delegation sought
to stress the importance of peace as a pre-condition for sustainability. |
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Judicial Cooperation Project – Eritrea
Working towards the development of the new legal system in Eritrea, Africa’s newest country,
the law faculty of Asmara University and Peace Boat began co-operation towards increasing the resources
in the legal library of the university. Knowledge exchanges between young Eritrean and Japanese lawyers
were also initiated. |
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World Campaign against French nuclear testing in the Pacific
France resumed nuclear testing in the Pacific in 1995 and continued until early 1996. Demanding an
immediate end to the tests, Peace Boat held protests outside French Embassies in many of the ports
of call on our voyages. A photo exhibition of Hibakusha (survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki
bombings) and other victims of radiation was held throughout the world. |
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Extradite Fujimori to Peru!
Peruvian former-President Alberto Fujimori has been living in Japan since fleeing Peru in 2000, despite demands by the Peruvian government that he be extradited to face charges including crimes against humanity and murder. Arguing that the Japanese government’s actions in sheltering Fujimori raise serious doubts about its commitment to human rights and accountability, Peace Boat has been calling for his extradition. |
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