News Archive LAST UPDATE  July 13, 2005
July 13, 2005 Peace Boat Brings Grassroots’ Voices to Conflict Prevention Conference at UN: July 19 – 21, 2005

United Nations — img — Civil Society

Over 1000 people from around the world will gather in New York City at the United Nations Headquarters on July 19 – 21, 2005 for the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) international conference From Reaction to Prevention: Civil Society Forging Partnerships to Prevent Violent Conflict and Build Peace. Comprising over half of the delegates are peace-builders and conflict prevention experts from 110 countries. The rest of the delegates are representatives from government missions and the UN, thus creating a rare space for NGOs to interact on security issues with the world’s policy makers. Peace Boat has been active in organizing a 40 person delegation from Northeast Asia to participate, so that regional voices will be heard, particularly regarding the peaceful resolution of the Korean peninsula nuclear crisis; revision of Japan’s peace constitution; and the urgent need for historical reconciliation and understanding.

Peace Boat is co-organizing the following workshops and panels, in cooperation with other NGOs, in an effort to create a space for interactive exchange and experiential learning.

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Workshop: Peace Constitutions and Agreements as Mechanisms for Confidence Building
July 19, 14:30-17.45 Conference Room D (UN Secretariat)
This workshop will highlight the value and potential of peace constitutions and agreements initiated both by governments and civil society, critically examining Japan’s Peace Constitution, Mongolia’s nuclear-weapon-free status, The Hague Agenda for Peace and Justice for the 21st Century and The Global Action to Prevent War. Participants will discuss how these mechanisms can contribute to regional and global confidence building, and how they can be further strengthened.

Speakers: Akihiko Kimijima (Nonviolent Peace Force and Ritsumeikan University), Roberto Zamora Bolaños (University of Costa Rica), Enkhsaikhan Jargalsaikhan (Mongolian Institute for Strategic Studies and Former Permanent Representative of Mongolia to the United Nations), Jeannie Manipon (Asian Peace Alliance), Tatsuya Yoshioka (Peace Boat)
Panel: Demilitarization and Reconciliation: Regional Peace Building in the Asia-Pacific
 July 20, 10:00-13:00 UN Church Center 2F

 Civil Society Organization (CSO) representatives from GPPAC networks in the Pacific, Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia will highlight concrete recommendations for conflict prevention in each region. A rare exchange between CSO, government and UN representatives on issues including the Korean peninsula nuclear crisis, ASEAN policy of non-intervention and non-interference, terrorism and self-determination, land and resources conflict.

Co-organizers: Initiatives for International Dialogue (Philippines), Citizens’ Constitutional Forum (Fiji), Peace Boat (Japan)
Workshop: Peace Education and Historical Reconciliation
 July 20, 14:30-17:45 UN Church Center 12F

 Mainstreaming peace education, promoting reconciliation and cultivating conflict resolution skills at the grassroots level are critical to generating a sustainable culture of peace. This workshop focuses on these three key elements of promoting a culture of peace, and highlights several concrete projects that are being initiated by civil society organizations and individuals. Allen Nelson, a Viet Nam War veteran, and Israeli and Palestinian youth from Peace Boat’s Global University will present their living experience and lessons on working for peace and reconciliation, while Cora Weiss will give a valuable “teach-in” on the Global Campaign for Peace Education.

Speakers: Cora Weiss, (President, Hague Appeal for Peace: www.haguepeace.org), Allen Nelson (US Vietnam War veteran and peace activist), Yang Mi Kang (Chairperson, Asia Peace and History Education Network), Eilat Maoz & Niveen Abu Nijmen, (Israeli & Palestinian youth activists who have joined Peace Boat’s Global University’s International Student conflict resolution program)
Workshop: Preventing Nuclear Confrontation in Northeast Asia
 July 20, 14:30-17:45 Conference Room B, UN building

 In search of a peaceful and sustainable resolution of Northeast Asia’s potentially explosive armed conflict over the Korean Peninsula, this workshop aims to provide concrete recommendations to governments of concern to avoid nuclear confrontation and encourage the resumption of the “Six-Party Talks”. Innovative ideas to implement a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Northeast Asia will be raised, with special attention on the inspiring case of Mongolia and its acquisition of nuclear-weapon-free status.

Speakers: Jung Gyung-Lan (Women Making Peace : www.peacewomen.or.kr, Republic of Korea), Amano Fumiko (Hibakusha: Survivor of atomic bombing, National Council of Churches, Japan), Niu Qiang (Chinese People's Association for Peace and Disarmament, China), Enkhsaikhan Jargalsaikhany (Mongolian Institute for Strategic Studies: www.issmon.mn, Former Permanent Representative of Mongolia to the UN), Kawasaki Akira (Peace Boat); Korean Anti-Nuke Peace Committee, Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea (invited).
Workshop: Preventing Violence Against Women and Sexual Violence in War
 July 21, 10:00-13:00 UN Church Center, 12F
This workshop focuses on the work by civil society to campaign against ‘violence against women’, with a particular focus on the prevention of sexual violence during armed conflict. Testimonies by survivors of sexual violence in war will deliver powerful messages of the serious gravity of the issue, and its long-lasting and destructive effects – personal and political, social and economic – that remain pervasive even decades after the fact. The workshop consists of two parts, Part I: The Case of “Comfort Women” and Part II: Global Campaign to Stop Violence Against Women – stories from the grassroots & interactive session.

Speakers: Ms. Jang Jeomdol (The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan: testimony of experience as sex slave (former “Comfort woman”) to Japanese military during World War II), Prof. Shim Young Hee (Women Making Peace: www.peacewomen.or.kr), Ana Urrutia-Enciso (Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women Campaign Coordinator)