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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE September 17, 2005
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| July 17-19, 2005 |
New York City, United States – GPPAC Conference |
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| GPPAC Conference in the General Assembly Hall of the UN. |
In February of this year, members of various NGOs and civil society organizations from various Northeast Asian cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Seoul, Vladivostok, Taipei, Hong Kong and Tokyo came together in Tokyo to formulate the Northeast Asian action agenda as partners in the Northeast Asian GPPAC (Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict) committee. After much deliberation, the committee drew up an action agenda which embraces Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution as a guiding principle for issues concerning the region such as denuclearization and demilitarization. This action agenda was presented along with 14 other regional action agendas in New York City at the “From Reaction to Prevention: Civil Society Forging Partnerships to Prevent Conflict and Build Peace” GPPAC Conference at the United Nations from July 19-21. |
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| Mr. Yoshioka Tatsuya, director of Peace Boat. |
As the representative for Japan in the Northeast Asian regional committee, and the Regional Initiator, Peace Boat joined its partners in this groundbreaking conference which highlights the actions and necessity of civil society in peace-building initiatives. Fittingly, the conference’s venue in the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations headquarters, which was established 60 years ago “to protect future generations from the scourge of war”. The conference opened with a dynamic performance by Tomoekai, a taiko (Japanese drum) group, and Peace Boat participants. The moderator Florence Mpaayei from the Nairobi Peace Initiative remarked, “In my country drums are associated with war, but I realize how taiko’s energy symbolizes peace”. |
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| Tomoekai taiko performers. |
GPPAC, a world-wide civil society-led process was initiated three years ago to generate and build a new international consensus on peace-building and the prevention of violent conflict. The initiative was a response to a call by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in Recommendation 27 of the 2001 UN Report on the Prevention of Armed Conflict. In the recommendation, he urged “NGOs with an interest in conflict prevention to organize an international conference of local, national and international NGOs on their role in conflict prevention and future interaction with the UN in this field.” From that recommendation, 15 regional groups of civil society organizations began research, discuss and explore the roles of civil society in conflict prevention and peacebuilding at the local, national, regional and international levels. The final phase of these consultations were regional conferences where regional action agendas were formulated, including the Northeast Asian action agenda, which focused on areas of priority that would enhance conflict prevention for each region. |
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| Yoshioka speaks on behalf of the Northeast Asia Regional Committee. |
“We as civil society recognize that governments all over the world have a primary responsibility to protect citizens and prevent violence,” remarked moderator Ms. Mpaayei. “Nevertheless, the complexity, scale and diversity of violent conflict, its causes and consequence, suggest that no single entity can hope to ensure sustainable peace. We are motivated by the genuine belief that effective partnerships can contribute immensely to the goal of conflict prevention and peace-building.” Furthermore, in his opening speech, Paul van Tongeren of the European Centre for Conflict Prevention proclaimed GPPAC’s simple message that “People Build Peace”. Peace is possible but action is needed, thus the name of the Global Action Agenda is People Building Peace. |
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| GPPAC reception onboard Peace Boat: cultural exchange. |
Representatives of the 15 regional committees approached the stage one by one to assert their region’s main areas of conflict prevention. Peace Boat’s director Tatsuya Yoshioka represented the Northeast Asia with a powerful message of arms reduction, demilitarization, disarmament and resettlement: “Imagination is important for conflict prevention. If we can reduce arms so many societies suffering from violence can be helped. Governments must implement the program of action on small arms. They must adopt a comprehensive arms trade treaty covering conventional weapons. They must also allow conscientious objection to military service. Northeast Asia civil society agrees that conflict prevention and peacebuilding must be based on non-violent and non-military means, such as Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. The Korean peninsula is now threatened with nuclear crisis. We need the international community to support regional disarmament. We especially need the creation of a nuclear weapons free zone. In our region, we have to create peace and disarmament education to build reconciliation and common historical recognition. It is time to abolish war.” |
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| Remarks by Mr. Yoshioka at the reception onboard Peace Boat. |
As a final bow to the conference’s opening ceremony, the delegates’ spirits were enhanced by an inspired speech by Ms. Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Laureate (1997) and campaign ambassador for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. She urged GPPAC delegates to remember that “we must have very clear messages about where we are going in order to campaign effectively to reach our goals”. In light of the post-9/11 world, it is imperative for civil society organizations to not only demilitarize the planet, but also demilitarize the hearts and minds of people to think about human security and global security. “Protecting and promoting human rights is work that enhances human security. Every time we succeed in limiting the flow of weapons of war or banning weapons outright, we are enhancing human security; involving women meaningfully in all aspects of conflict prevention and peacebuilding is enhancing human security; addressing poverty through debt reduction, fair trade and better aid is enhancing human security”. With violence and conflict continuing to break the spirits and minds of people around the world, it is time to promote human security as a viable alternative to militarism and war, and it is through GPPAC where this responsibility will be dispersed to the civil society as a whole.
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