Summary: Youth Forum Preparatory Session on Peace

UN Organizations and NGOs Sessions

This session addressed how to involve youth both on the UN and NGOs sides in the field of peace building. Participants split into two groups, one focusing on the UN, the other on ONGs. 

UN Panel

In the UN Panel, representatives from the UN Institute for Disarmament Research and the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) presented specific examples of action undertaken by their respective organizations.

Nicolas Gerard of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research pointed out that his institute offers internships, other means of incorporating youth in the Institute.

Gerard underlined that UNIDIR’s target public is the research community, including students who are working on research. It is important to have a link to the younger generations of researchers in order to:

1. have their input on what can be done, and
2. see what new ideas they might have.

He further explained that researchers also go to the local communities and create discussion groups with persons directly affected by conflicts. The aim of these often targeted group discussions (women’s groups, youth groups, elder groups, etc) is to make sure that directly concerned groups can define their challenges, needs and possible solutions to problems.

Kristin Vignard of UNIDIR then presented the organization's programs on education for disarmament and on chemical weapons survivors.

Secretary General’s study on Education for Disarmament (special group) - recommendations came out of the World Congress during the 1980s, which included a recommendation on the importance of the link on development, education, and disarmament. Once this document was agreed, the recommendation “fell by the wayside,” mostly because of current affairs that had been going on during that time.

Group of representatives from 10 nations, none of which are nuclear states. UNIDIR assists the group. Going into their fourth and final meeting this year.

1. There is very little disarmament training in the world, unlike peace training and education. This is discouraging, to find that disarmament is not part of a structured school system.
2. However, they are looking at trying to identify what materials are available, who it is targeted at (i.e. what languages this information is published in, etc).
3. NGOs and civil society groups have made the most progress on this issue in the last few years. The success of this expert group has been due largely to the NGOs and civil society groups, academia, educators, artists, and other persons who actually get out there and do the work. These persons have had a chance to share their input from “practical experience,” which has been very, very helpful.

Dimitri Chalev of the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) talked about Conflict Prevention, Peacekeeping, Peacemaking, Peace Building.

He pointed out that the concept of "Peacekeeping" is not enough to prevent conflict and that traditional peacekeeping no longer works.

The panel suggested that a peace building strategy should be designed, to make it more clear and understood before it is implemented.

Need for more in depth media coverage
Vignard of UNIDIR pointed out that people have become desensitized to the threat of war and atrocities, because of the continuous media coverage of violence and war. According to her, this has lead to a lack of concern for current events and peace building efforts. She regretted that the media is often not very interested in what is happening at the UN. Vignard announced that UNIDIR is currently preparing an annual guide for media, providing useful contact information about the UN, in hopes to facilitate media coverage of in depth issues.

Youth more involved in conflict prevention
Chalev of OHCHR incited youth to become more involved in the conflict prevention. He noted that the first few weeks after the initial conflict were the most crucial in terms of peace building and promotion of peace.

Chalev evoked the creation of criminal courts in Sierra Leone, South Africa, and even Rwanda. Ideally, these courts would deal with all the prisoners. However, due to the large number of persons incarcerated (in some cases more than 100,000), it is necessary to find alternative ways for criminal justice.

National budgets to also include costs of disarmament
Gerard pointed out that there is a project in development at UNIDIR, called “Costs of Disarmament,” which focuses on what it would mean to the budget of a nation if they had to not only include the spending on military, but also on disarmament. It particularly focuses on the India-Pakistan conflict, to see how this might affect the countries development. Vignard pointed out that several voluntary calls for a decrease in military spending have been made, but that disarmament is not often enough addressed within the UN system and with governments.

Vignard further pointed out that research studies have found that it is more expensive to build more weapons than it is to disarm and get rid of weapons already in possession. According to her when the cost of creating a weapon is researched, one must also include the cost of dissembling the weapons, as a part of the cost of the weapons. She regretted that when governments and companies come up with the cost of creating weapons, they usually only include the costs of research and design, production, and dissemination, but leave out the cost of dissembling the weapons, which is also a part of the whole process.

Media Action International trains media on how to print things that might not otherwise be printed in state-run media. It’s important that we welcome the participation of the media, and we must see them as a target for our purposes.

Hague Appeal for Peace Conference
Olivia Martin of the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference brought about nearly 10,000 peace activists representing civil society from around the world. There were 2,000 youth representing NGOs and youth organizations from around the world who had a very good impact and influence. The following are useful web sites related to the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference:

• www.napf.org
• www.iansa.org
• www.globalaction.org
• www.icbl.org
• gendercampaign@international-alert.org
• www.haguepeace.org

Interesting concluding thoughts
“It’s only by changing the way people think that we can progress towards peace.”
--Nobel Peace Prize recipient

“Don’t despair, don’t be discouraged, and above all, don’t give up.”
--Kofi Annan

“We cannot hug our children with Nuclear Arms”
--poster at the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference.

NGO Panel

Sehrish Shaban:

• International Campaign to Ban Landmines - initiated in 1997
• Every 22 minutes, a landmine kills a person. Landmines are meant to injure a person, not to kill them.
• Landmines are present in mostly “third world” countries, and those who are injured by a landmine must pay for their own medical treatment, if they can.
• The youth have played a large role in the ICBL - fundraise to pay for de-mining and to pay for medical health, petition their governments, work to raise awareness, train them to show others how to do things such as how to detect a mine field, etc.
• 20% of the landmine victims are children (!!!)

Madiha Sultan:

• Small arms - arms operated by one person or a small team. Smaller types of weapons.
• When conflicts end the small weapons stand in the way of development. It is cheaper to sell the arms to arms dealers, which can get into the hands of children.
• The US is one of the major producers of small arms.
• What can we do? Petition our government and representatives; raise awareness through community outreach, etc.

Augustin Tabo:

• Peace - not necessary the absence of war, but it has to do with stability. We cannot produce it, we must build it.
• Chad - the states of Africa has been unstable. They are in a political, social, and economical crises. Rwanda, Central Africa, and other countries are involved in conflict. Children have oftentimes been used in war and conflict fighting.
• Youth Without Borders was formed in 1996. During the forum, they tried to find ways to construct peace in Africa. This is how the forum was born. Before 1999, when the campaign was launched, there were a few problems, but it was gradually realized that they were able to reach out for peace. 13 countries were reunited.
• Conflict in Chad, Cameroon, Mali, and other countries were discussed. A report was created on all of these different problems. Last year, at a conference at The Hague, they were able to present their concerns.
• They also educate in schools. They found that their parents had taught them war, so they decided that they had to go back and teach their parents that war was not necessary. It is necessary, in a community, for the age groups to complement each other, and to teach one another.
• Many young people are not able to have a say, to express themselves, is through arms use. Xenophobia is always present. In 1989, 100 of young people went to Cameroon to speak to the people about regional integration. We must break the barriers that divide peoples mentalities.
• People do not choose to be born where they are born, but we must accept our circumstances, and those circumstances of others. When I meet someone who is different, I must accept him or her.
• Today in Chad, there are about 300 people that work in Chad (from the group). We try to take people and children back to their countries that have been sent to other areas to work, so that they may finally see their families again.
• When the youth make a step towards peace-that is already a victory.

Stefama Simione:

• Peace Action Training in Romania

Basel Abu:

• Peace must begin within myself. When we think about peace, we must also think about what the conflict is, and what the positives are in the conflict. The conflict makes us need peace, so we must examine the conflict, to think about it, to go deep within the issue.
• New Zealand is one country that has integrated peace education into its system at this time.
• Conflict is natural, but what the world, everyone, needs to realize, is that there are other ways of expressing conflict other than using violence.

Conclusions

• Disarmament is about human rights, it is about development, it is about the environment. It is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue.
• Disarmament, I believe, is a part of peace education.
• Peace building does not begin from peace and harmony. It must begin from disarming, in order to reach the point of peace.

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