Life Onboard LAST UPDATE  July 13, 2009
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May 23, 2009 International Correspondent Andreas Zumach – Insights Into The Contemporary Global Political Stage
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Andreas searching for participants to volunteer during one of his lectures.
Andreas Zumach is a polymathic, highly experienced international journalist with a strong sense of moral justice and good sense of German humour. Since 1988, Andreas has been the United Nations (UN) and international affairs correspondent for the independently owned and run Berlin-based daily newspaper Die Tageszeitung (Daily Newspaper). His work covers all UN system-related issues as well as other international organizations, although his main areas of concentration are human rights, the politics of Weapons of Mass Destruction, arms distribution and control, and economic policies. He has also focused on the conflict regions of the Middle East and Iraq since 1988 and the former Yugoslavia throughout the 1990s. The Geneva-based reporter is a respected member of the journalistic world and a recipient of the Göttinger Peace Prize for his reporting and editorials about the wars in the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Andreas believes that journalists have to be sceptical and should ask lots of questions. He also believes that a journalist should never simplify things and also always look for the truth in all situations.
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As Peace Boat is mostly Japanese speaking, a team of volunteer interpreters or Communication Coordinators (CCs) help to facilitate the language barrier. Pictured with Andreas are his CC team members, Zulfiya Shafiyeva and Mitsui Yoshi.
Die Tageszeitung is the only independent daily paper left in Germany, and possibly within Europe. It is co-owned by the approximate 250 employees that work there and its economic independence means that it has no externally vested interests that influence the contents of its pages. Die Tageszeitung was established by a collective from the various social movements and resultant NGOs that emerged throughout the 1970s and were neglected by the established media. As a result, especially for the first twenty years, Die Tageszeitung was mainly concerned with bringing the issues that social movements represented into German political discourse. It was through this movement that Andreas entered the journalistic world, and he has since been striving to find the truth behind these political matters.

Just one small example of this was after the Iraqi war broke out, when Andreas managed to obtain from secret sources and leak to the international press one of only three unedited copy of Iraq’s 12,000-page arms declaration to the United Nations, which included portions detailing how Iraq acquired its weapon capability from Germany, the US and others, causing huge international uproar.
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Andreas joined Peace Boat’s 66th Global Voyage in Aqaba, Jordan, where he participated in Peace Ball, a Peace Boat initiative that aims to promote friendship and cultural exchange through sports. The Peace Boat team played against both Palestinian and Iraqi refugee teams in Jordan.
Andreas came onboard Peace Boat from Aqaba, Jordan, until Catania, Italy, giving a variety of lectures about the current state of global politics and covering a wide range of topics and issues – making special reference to the position of Japan in the global political context. Andreas came onboard Peace Boat hoping to educate participants about European issues that would otherwise be very far removed from Japanese life as well as offer new insights on more commonly known global issues such as energy resources, climate change and food distribution. With respect to these problems, Andreas discussed possible solutions on a global scale, as well as how we as individuals can contribute towards making a better world. Andreas always endeavours to create a safe and comfortable environment for his lectures where people may feel at ease to ask questions or engage in dialogue about issues they may not be familiar with so that they may better understand the topic at hand.

Andreas' lectures are consistently well-attended by participants, and full of useful information. Any one lecture on any given topic is likely to contain a myriad of data, including a detailed history lesson, a synopsis of current affairs, a catastrophic hypothesis and a well-devised solution.
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Andreas lecturing during an English language session for international staff members.
This is Andreas’ 11th time to participate on a Peace Boat Global Voyage, which he claims to enjoys very much. For Andreas, Peace Boat is a unique instrument in the world due to its method of offering people, regardless of their background or age, the opportunity to learn about the world through direct experience. Andreas enjoys explaining concepts that are otherwise foreign to Japanese people to help them to realise the role they play in the global context. He also enjoys the opportunity granted him by Peace Boat to meet people he would not have otherwise met.

Aside from journalism, Andreas is active in the German political scene and will be busy in the ensuing months participating in public debates for the encroaching German National Election. He feels that at this present time ‘everything has been said...we know what the major global challenges are and…its not about analysing anymore, its about what happens and what we do…what we know and how we implement what we know.’
Andreas believes political pressure is required to initiate this change and is contemplating a political career for himself in the future so that he might have more influence on the issues he is concerned about than in his current capacity as a journalist.