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News Archive |
LAST UPDATE
August 30, 2005
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| August 23, 2005 |
Report on Peace Boat activities at the GPPAC Conference in New York |
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| The opening ceremony of the conference filled the General Assembly Hall at the United Nations |
Over 1000 people from around the world gathered 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. With many government missions and UN staff attending the conference, this was a rare forum for civil society to interact on security issues with the world’s policy makers.
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| The Northeast Asia delegation holds a preparatory meeting |
Peace Boat led a 40-person delegation in its capacity as Regional Initiator of GPPAC for the Northeast Asia region. Key issues for the delegation included the peaceful resolution of the Korean peninsula nuclear crisis; the threat of revision of Japan’s peace constitution; and the urgent need for historical reconciliation and understanding. |
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| Peace Boat’s drummers opened the Conference |
Peace Boat’s ship – TSS The Topaz – was also in New York from July 18-20, creating many opportunities for furthering the aims of the conference. A group of wadaiko (Japanese drum) players comprised of staff, Peace Boat participants and members of the Fukuoka-based drum group Tomoekai opened the Conference with a stunning display of drumming, intended to symbolise the energy and harmony of civil society in coming together for GPPAC.
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| Yoshioka Tatsuya, director of Peace Boat, speaks in the Opening Ceremony |
The focus of the conference Opening Ceremony was the presentation of the Global Action Agenda – the outcome document of the GPPAC process – to the Secretary General’s Office. The fifteen Regional Initiators each gave a brief speech highlighting the regional concerns that had informed this process. Peace Boat Director Yoshioka Tatsuya urged governments to implement the plan of action on small arms, to allow conscientious objection to military service and noted that “…Northeast Asia civil society agrees that conflict prevention and peacebuilding must be based on non-violent and non-military means, such as “Article Nine” of the Japanese constitution. “ |
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| Roberto Zamora Bolaños of the University of Costa Rica describes efforts to protect his country’s peace constitution |
A Peace Boat organised workshop on Peace Constitutions and Agreements as Mechanisms for Confidence Building highlighted the value and potential of peace constitutions and agreements initiated both by governments and civil society in building peace. The workshop critically examined 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 in a discussion over how these mechanisms contribute to regional and global confidence building, and how they can be further strengthened.
A panel on Demilitarization and Reconciliation: Regional Peace Building in the Asia-Pacific organised in partnership between Initiatives for International Dialogue (Philippines), Citizens’ Constitutional Forum (Fiji), and Peace Boat, made concrete recommendations for conflict prevention throughout the region. Speakers included anti-globalisation activist Walden Bello.
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| Participants in the Peace Education workshop |
The workshop Peace Education and Historical Reconciliation argued that mainstreaming peace education, promoting reconciliation and cultivating conflict resolution skills at the grassroots level are critical to generating a sustainable culture of peace. Presenters included Cora Weiss, President of the Hague Appeal for Peace, Allen Nelson, a Viet Nam War veteran, and Israeli and Palestinian youth from Peace Boat’s Global University. |
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| Amano Fumiko – a victim of the atomic boming of Hiroshima – gives her testimony in the Preventing Nuclear Confrontation in Northeast Asia workshop |
Hibakusha (atomic bombing victim) Amano Fumiko of Japan gave a powerful testimony in the workshop Preventing Nuclear Confrontation in Northeast Asia, adding impetus to the session’s aim to provide concrete recommendations to governments towards a peaceful and sustainable resolution of Northeast Asia’s potentially explosive armed conflict over the Korean Peninsula. Innovative ideas to implement a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Northeast Asia were raised, with special attention on the inspiring case of Mongolia and its acquisition of nuclear-weapon-free status. Participants in this workshop issued a statement encouraging the resumption of the “Six-Party Talks”.
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| Ms. Jang Jeom-Dol of “The Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan” is pictured second from the right. |
Former “Comfort Woman” Jang Jeom-Dol told her devastating story in the workshop Preventing Violence Against Women and Sexual Violence in War. Ms Jang was forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Army at the age of 16, and was tortured when she tried to escape, resulting in partial loss of her hearing. She bore and lost four children as a result of her seven years of slavery, and now lives alone in Seoul. She went public with her past in 2001, and has since taken part in demonstrations every week in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, tirelessly campaigning for an apology from Japan for her treatment. Jang says: “The nightmares haunt my head. I want to insist to the Japanese government that they should compensate for my lost days, that they took away my youth and happiness. They must pay for it and apologize to us over it.” |
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| Kotchegna dance company wow the crowds with their West African rhythms during the People Building Peace concert |
The People Building Peace Concert, held on the afternoon of July 20 and organised in partnership between Peace Boat and GPPAC celebrated the role of citizens and civil society in conflict prevention and peacebuilding around the world. The concert brought the message of the conference to the streets outside the United Nations in a joyous gathering of musicians including Jean-Paul Samputu of Rwanda, Kotchegna Dance Company of West Africa and the Caribbean-inspired Retumba. Hundreds of specators lined Dag Hammarskjold Plaza for the three-hour performance.
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| Peace Boat hosted an event onboard to celebrate the regional processes of the GPPAC |
Finally, Peace Boat played host to the conference as over four hundred delegates and UN staff attended a culture of peace event onboard to celebrate the regional processes of the GPPAC. Under a full moon and the lights of Manhattan, participants sang and danced together, while vowing to strengthen their network in ever-greater efforts for conflict prevention.
For more information:
www.global-conference.net
www.peoplebuildingpeace.org |
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