Many to Many
September 2005
Issue 93
I. EDITORIAL - Truth
II. WOMEN AND PEACEBUILDING
III. RIGHT FROM THE START
IV. PEOPLE BUILDING PEACE - A global action agenda for the
prevention of violent conflict
V. DESIGNING A PEACEBUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE
VI. EDUCATION FOR PEACE IN SCHOOLS
VII. REFLECTIONS ON SINO-JAPANESE RELATIONSHIP
VIII. PEACEBUILDING: Cooperation, Coordination, and Holistic Vision
IX. A CALL TO ALL SCIENTISTS AND TECHNOLOGISTS
X. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON INTERCULTURAL AND INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE
I. Truth
The computer age does not seem to have made it any easier to tell fact
from fiction.
With the continuously increasing stream of information pouring from
well-known as well as more obscure sources, offering diverse and often
contradictory research, statistics, points of view on almost anything
and everything, the "data smog" as David Shenk, author of "Data Smog –
Surviving the Information Glut", calls it, seems to get thicker by the
day. To pierce through the mesmerizing hum of words and sound bytes
vying for our attention, information distributors are resorting to more
and more drastic and dramatic ways of presenting their contributions in
the competitive world of communication – shock treatment becoming the
norm.
According to some analysts this information explosion is shortening our
attention span, playing havoc with our capability to ‘think deeply’,
and pulverising whatever we hitherto believed to be factual, right and
true. David Shenk proposes that we may be experiencing: "the
unfortunate coinciding of two consequences of technology: more citizen
power with less citizen understanding".
Even so, the very fact that we are becoming aware of possessing a
knowledge power, which will require of us deeper understanding and
right action, is good news.
In a world overloaded with information of mixed quality and complex
character, perhaps we need to find a receptacle within ourselves, a
smog-less place where we can think deeply and see truth without fear or
favour - but with heart.
One of world’s great teachers warns us that "burdened by knowledge, but
un-winged, will be those who are heartless". Knowledge can only
deliver us from ignorance if lifted up into the clear light of truth.
Truth is defined as a ‘quality or state of being true or
truthful’. Only in such a state of being can we tell fact from
fiction and recognize the design of the emerging tapestry of a new
civilization.
Within the labyrinths of a scientist’s mathematical calculations are
found the magnificent simplicity of a revolutionary equation; obscured
by the gushing of information feeding the world with knowledge on many
things, we can begin to glimpse the contours of a new community of
peoples who with greater integrity than ever before "bear witness to
truth".
Truth is one, says the same teacher, but each country and even each
decade contacts it in its own way. "New scrolls are unrolled and the
human consciousness observes in a new way the manifestations of the
Universe".
In a ‘state of being true’ we will be able to see the countless units
of new knowledge fall into place, revealing the blueprint of what is to
come. With understanding equaling power we, the citizens of the
world, will know in our hearts how to create a world of
beauty.
II. Women and Peacebuilding
The world community is using this year’s United Nations 60th
Anniversary to assess the plusses and minuses of this international
institution to date and to make suggestions as to what reforms and
reconstructions are needed for the UN to serve better the entirety of
the world’s peoples.
The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s recent Report to the General
Assembly "In Larger Freedom: Towards Security, Development and Human
Rights for All", outlines specific proposals for change – proposals he
insists must be seen as a single comprehensive strategy, because "at no
time in human history have the fates of woman, man and child been so
intertwined across the globe". We must find common ground and sustain
collective action to build a world in larger freedom.
At the September Millennium Summit+5 government leaders and heads of
state will gather and take stock on what progress has been made in
realizing the goals set out in the 2000 Millennium Declaration to
eradicate extreme poverty; achieve universal primary education; promote
gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve
maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure
environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for
development.
In this Declaration all member states also reaffirmed their commitment
to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, which they declared
had proven to be timeless and universal: "Indeed their relevance and
capacity to inspire have increased, as nations and peoples have become
increasingly interconnected and interdependent".
So there seems to be general agreement that it is a universal human
right and responsibility to ensure the dignity and worth of the human
person, the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and
small.
Perhaps one of the most significant and hopeful changes that has
happened since 1945 is the awakening of people everywhere to this
interdependence and interconnectedness, and to the realization that it
is "we, the people of the United Nations" who need to show the
determination to save "succeeding generations from the scourge of war".
Each global conference has seen greater participation by
representatives from non-governmental organizations and civil society.
As Deputy Secretary-General Louse Frechette has expressed it: "Where
once global conferences were largely the realm of governments, today it
would be unthinkable to stage such events without the unique advocacy
and mobilization of non-governmental actors…. Who are making
increasingly important contributions to global policy debates and
intergovernmental deliberations, in areas ranging from the environment
to gender mainstreaming."
The issue of gender equality is increasingly being acknowledged as
crucial to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and
essential for the building of peaceful global community. Women’s right
to gender equality was recognized in the Millennium Declaration, which
pledges to "combat all forms of violence against women and to implement
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW)".
The role of women in creating and maintaining peace throughout our
troubled world has also been recognized. As the result of a strong and
determined pressure by women, supported by the then president of the
Security Council (Namibia), the landmark resolution 1325: Women, Peace
and Security, was unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council, 31
October 2000.
Since then women throughout the world have pressed forward, step by
step, to become accepted as an equal partner in the building of a
peaceful, just and healthy world community:
In 2001 the Afghan Women’s Summit for Democracy outlined a strategy for
action regarding gender equality to be included in the discussions on
reconstruction of Afghanistan, and in 2004 the first post-conflict
Constitution was adopted which includes provisions for gender equality,
women’s education and political participation. In their country’s first
presidential election the women of Afghanistan made up 40 per cent of
voters.
Iraq’s interim constitution has adopted gender equality and a 25 per
cent quota for women representation in the National Assembly.
In the first national elections in Rwanda since the 1994 genocide, held
in September 2003, women won 48.8 per cent of the parliamentary seats,
the highest percentage in the world.
These few examples merely testify to the concerted effort by women
throughout the entire world community to have a say and to influence
decision-making on all levels. The Beijing Action Plan, the Convention
on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women and the
1325 resolution have all pushed hard for governments to accept women’s
right to participate on an equal basis in the building of a better and
fairer world.
But although the legal, political and constitutional framework may be
in place, the outcome of such gender equality will depend on the common
sense, cooperation and goodwill of all parties, women as well as men.
In a mutually respectful, supportive and compatible relationship
between the genders, the world can look forward to a better and
brighter future for all.
Contacts: UNIFEM websites
www.unifem.org – www.womenwarpeace.org
CEDAW websites
www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw - www.mdgender.net/
Women’s Environment and Development
Organisation (WEDO) website www.wedo.org/
________________
III. Right from the Start
"Right from the Start" describes itself as a vision for children and
their futures. It presents this vision through the publishing of a
series of practical, accessible and richly illustrated books, each
following a particular theme, which it believes together will achieve
the purposes of the project.
The Right from the Start’s aims to:
∑ Build a background of love and
security into the lives of children particularly
during the ultra-sensitive first three years of their lives
∑ Encourage a full recognition of the spiritual nature of every person.
∑ Answer some of the problems caused by poverty, parental loneliness
and lack of support for families.
∑ Respond to the damage caused to children by parental breakdown and
the loss of family values.
∑ Uphold children’s inborn capacity for sociability, empathy and
co-operation, and to foster and strengthen good human relationships.
∑ Break the cycle of fear, anger and abuse carried through from one
generation to the next.
∑ Bring children closer to the natural world and an understanding and
care of the environment.
∑ Counteract the corrupting elements in commercial pressures and
materialistic values.
∑ Reduce the tensions experienced by many teachers and enhance their
sense of fulfillment.
The second book in the planned series was published this year by
Network Educational Press Ltd, entitled: The Right from the Start Handbook -
PROMOTING CHILDREN’S WELL-BEING IN THE PRIMARY YEARS, edited by
Andrew Burrell and Jeni Riley.
In this handbook, teachers, therapists, and pupils offer their
experiences, ideas and activities that will help children develop
intellectually, socially, emotionally and spiritually in a safe and
secure school environment.
Topics include: educating the whole person; emotional literacy;
partnerships with parents and the wider community; developing a sense
of wonder; creating positive relationships and building self-belief and
understanding; and enhancing learning – through good nutrition,
learning through song and movement.
The appendices offers a summary of the UN Convention on the Rights of
the Child, titles of children’s books as well as teachers’ books and
curriculum materials.
Among the many Right from the Start book series still to be published
are: "The Power of Music for You and Your Children"; "Food for Thought:
What children eat and its effect on their intelligence, personality and
behaviour"; and "Natural Wonder: The enchantment that feeds the human
spirit".
Sarah Woodhouse and Andrew Burrell use a quote by former UN
Secretary-General U Thant to help describe the purpose and vision of
Right from the Start:
"The world will not change and
there will be no peace if there is not a new education".
This charitable company was originally developed in response to a
three-year research programme, set up by the Schools’ Council in the
1980s, in order to study the emotional and mental health and behaviour
of children in inner-city and council estate primary schools throughout
England and Wales.
Among the findings from this study were that over 70 per cent of the
five year olds coming into these primary schools already showed signs
of disturbed or violent behaviour, while children who had experienced a
loving and creative family life and had attended a secure school showed
an extraordinary ‘peaking’ of human qualities between the ages of 9 and
12: "During this period these children showed a striking capacity for
openness, helpfulness, kindness and generosity, also a high degree of
sensitivity towards others, and freedom from cruelty, prejudice and
dishonesty".
___________
The first book in this series, published by Hawthorn Press
(www.hawthonrpress.com) was "Sound Sleep: Calming and helping your baby
or child to sleep". This book has been translated to Chinese.
If you wish to support or learn more about this educational
project, so vital for future education of children everywhere, more
information can be obtained at the following
addresses:
"Promoting Children’s Well-Being in the Primary Years" and all future
books in this series will be published by Network Educational Press
Ltd., P.O. Box 635, Stafford St16 1BF, UK. E-mail:
enquiries@networkpress.co.uk Website: http://www.networkpress.co.uk
Right from the Start contact: e-mail
sarah@rightfromthestart.fsnet.co.uk website:
www.rightfromthestart.co.uk.
"Spirituality is a state of connectedness
to life. It is an experience of being,
belonging and caring.
It is sensitivity and compassion, joy
and hope.
It is the harmony between the
innermost life and the outer life,
or the life of the world and the life
universal.
It is the supreme comprehension of
life in time and place, the tuning of the inner
person with the great mysteries and
secrets that are around us.
It is the belief in the goodness of
life and possibility of each person to contribute goodness to it.
It is the belief in life as part of
the eternal stream of time, that each of
us came from somewhere and is
destined somewhere, that without such belief there could be
no prayer, no meditation, no peace
and no happiness" .
~U Thant ~
IV. PEOPLE BUILDING PEACE
A global action agenda for the prevention of violent conflict
This Action Agenda is the product of the Global Partnership for the
Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), which has been described as a
world-wide civil society-led process to generate a new international
consensus on peacebuilding and the prevention of violent conflict. With
an International Secretariat in Utrecht, The Netherlands, it represents
a vast and growing array of civil society organizations (CSOs) around
the world, who are working to prevent violence and promote peace.
The Global Agenda believes that promoting peace and security in the
21st century requires a fundamental shift in how we respond to the
challenge of violent conflict: "Our priority must be to prevent it from
occurring and thereby avoid the massive human, environmental, and
economic cost of war". Measures and strategies are proposed in this
Agenda which concludes by highlighting key reforms and tasks that can
be implemented by CSOs, the UN, regional organizations and governments
to strengthen their institutional capacities to address the issues
identified in the Global Agenda.
"The goal of prevention is a world where people and governments elect
nonviolent means to achieve greater justice, sustainable development
and human security", says the Introduction to the Global Action Agenda,
"We are not attempting to prevent all conflict. We believe in the
importance of channeling conflict through peaceful processes capable of
delivering constructive change".
Among highlights in this action agenda is:
To promote human security and address root causes of conflict:
prevention and sustainable peacebuilding necessary to achieve
Millennium Development Goals; implement demilitarization, disarmament
and resettlement; provide post-war reconstruction and generate cultures
of peace from the grassroots up by mainstreaming peace education,
cultivating conflict resolution skills and promoting reconciliation.
To make prevention the fundamental goal of collective security
arrangements: develop and implement an internationally agreed
programme of action; integrate early warning and early response
systems;
Prevention and peacebuilding requires an integrated architecture of
effective institutional capacities and partnerships: strengthen CSO
capacities for prevention and peacebuilding through local, national,
regional and global networks that improve accountability and
effectiveness through communication, coordination and mutual
assistance; enhance leadership of prevention and peacebuilding efforts
at the UN through a peacebuilding commission and peacebuilding support
office that engages effectively with civil society, mobilize resources
and enable coherent and sustained peacebuilding through
information-sharing, planning and monitoring.
In his opening remarks at the Security Council debate on "The Role of
Civil Society in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding" (June 2004) the UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, stressed that "if peacebuilding missions
are to be effective, they should, as part of a clear political
strategy, work with and strengthen those civil society forces that are
helping ordinary people to voice their concerns, and to act on them in
peaceful ways" The aim, he continued, "must be to create a synergy with
those civil society groups that are bridge-builders, truth-finders,
watchdogs, human rights defenders, and agents for social protection and
economic revitalization".
Global Partnership for the Prevention
of Armed Conflict, c/o ECCP, P.O. Box 14069, 3508 SC Utrecht,
The Netherlands. E-mail
info@conflict-prevention.net website www.gppac.net
___________________________________________________________________________________
V. Designing a Peacebuilding Infrastructure
A Development Dossier published April 2005 and produced by the UN
Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS), entitled: DESIGNING A
PEACEBUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE: Taking a Systems Approach to the
Prevention of Deadly Conflict, by Toby P. Dress, J.D. can be obtained
from:
UN-NGLS , Palais des Nations, CH-1211
Geneva 10, Switzerland (ngls@unctad.org) , or UN-NGLS, Room DC1-1106,
United Nations, New York, NY 10017, USA (ngls@un.org) Website:
www.un-ngls.org
*******************
VI. Education for Peace in Schools
As their contribution to the International Decade for a Culture of
Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World, the Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki (A.U.Th.) and UNESCO Chair, Dimitra
Papadopoulou, have together published a book entitled: "Towards a
Culture of Peace – Education for Peace in School".
This book, edited by Dimitra Papadopoulou, contains contributions from
48 authors from all levels of education and covering many subjects,
such as theology, mathematics, biology, psychology and medicine. Also
included in this 530 pages volume are the Seville Statement on Violence
and the Manifesto 2000.
The book provides the framework within which representatives of
international organizations such as the UN, UNESCO and UNICEF can meet
with educators on all educational levels, from kindergarten to
university, on issues regarding culture of peace and human rights. It
also provides a place where all kinds of educators: chemists,
physicists, biologists, scholars, foreign language teachers, fine arts
teachers, theologians and others, can meet and, together with their
students, cultivate the values of a culture of peace under the aegis of
the UNESCO Chair of A.U.Th.
Therefore the main aim of this publication is to present to educators
as well as the general public the values, attitudes and behaviours that
constitute the culture of human rights and peace. It provides knowledge
regarding resolutions and other relevant texts pertaining to a culture
of peace, and hopes to inspire even more educators and people in
general to help making a culture of peace into a way of life.
Among the topics and issues discussed in this book are: The role of
UNESCO in the Education towards a Culture of Human Rights and Peace;
Education in Human Rights and the School curriculum; School without
Frontiers; A Collection of stories, myths and fairytales from the
countries of origin of our foreign students; Child Abuse and Neglect;
We and the others: a journey in the land of diversity etc.
"Towards a Culture of Peace –
Education for Peace in School" is available form the UNESCO Chair
at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, P.O. Box 48, 541 24
Thessaloniki, Greece. Email: dipeace@psy.auth.gr
__________________________________
VI. Reflections on Sino-Japanese Relationship
By Eric Wong
The recent political relationships between China and Japan has reached
rock bottom and has been described at its lowest since 1975.
Massive anti-Japanese demonstrations took place all over China earlier
this year as a result of a series of provocative political decisions
made by the Japanese government. While some people took to the streets
to protest peacefully others turned the demonstration into racial
attacks which then led to street riots. Windows and signboards were
smashed; some Japanese restaurants and cars were attacked and
vandalized, and Japanese Embassies in China were targeted by
protesters. Japan has responded by expressing its frustrations over the
demonstrations, demanding an apology and compensation from China. At
the same time in Japan, Chinese Embassies and Language schools for the
Chinese were being threatened and red paint sprayed over the exterior
of the buildings, as some of the Japanese showed their discontent over
what happened in China.
As a Chinese myself, married to a Japanese woman, I wonder what effect
this political turmoil will have on the peoples of both countries. Is
this a struggle between two countries in the political sphere, or is
this a basic struggle within the human race?
I’m living my life in these two cultures on a daily basis, and that is
giving me and my wife the challenges and the learning opportunities to
understand and overcome our cultural differences, through dialogue and
love.
The recent political arm wrestling started earlier on this year in
April. The Japanese government had given the green light for a
controversial history textbook to be used by some schools in Japan. The
latest edition of this Japanese history textbook was seen as the
revival of the past imperialism and has been described as a cover up of
past Japanese war crimes by the Chinese and the Korean government. This
sent alarm bells ringing through the rest of the East Asian Countries
once suffering from the Japanese invasion at the World War Two.
The history textbook received tremendous criticism from China,
regarding the eliminations and rewording of the Japanese occupation of
China, which resulted in massacres where tens of thousands of civilians
were raped and killed by the then Japanese Army, namely the Nanjing
massacre. This particular issue has always been the debating ground
between the two countries over the past years.
It is obvious that the Japanese Government does not want the future
generations to identify their country with such barbaric acts. Over the
years, the educational board asked some right wing scholars to rewrite
the history, as it would educate the young ones to be proud of their
country. Another catalyst that has set off the mass
demonstrations is the Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s
repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo in recent years, where he
pays respects to those who fought in the World War Two, including some
Class A war criminals. Despite repeated protests by the Chinese
Government, the Prime Minister of Japan along with some of his
ministers carry on with the annual visit to the Shrine, claiming that
other countries should not intervene with the Japanese traditions.
Furthermore, Junichiro Koizumi defends his visits as an act of personal
belief and respect which has nothing to do with politics.
While China continues putting pressure on Japan over the history
textbook dispute, Japan is criticizing China for its incompetence in
protecting the safety of Japanese nationals in China. Two Japanese
students in Shanghai were attacked while dining in a restaurant,
demonstrating the strong anti-Japanese sentiment among the Chinese
people. The Japanese Government is also demanding compensation for
damages done during the demonstrations to their embassies and
restaurants
Despite efforts were being made to mend the fences, China not only
refuses to apologize for the damages that has been done during the
demonstrations but is asking Japan to reflect on the things that it has
done, which have hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.
Very little progress is being made at the negotiation table. Japan
wants to exercise its growing political muscle and be firm against
China, and China can not tolerate that Japan is denying their war
crimes.
As history tells us, Japan was founded by China many years ago.
Therefore the two countries have a lot of similarities. Although the
relationship between China and Japan has not always been smooth the
fact cannot be ignored that today, 60 years after World War II, China
and Japan have in some areas a closer relationship than before. There
is a growing number of Japanese investing their business in China, and
Chinese people are becoming much more interested and growing fond of
the Japanese culture. Many Chinese people are living and studying in
Japan and the number of marriages between the two nationalities is also
increasing.
So it seems that on the political sphere the two countries are drifting
apart, but in the area of business and on a more personal level Chinese
and Japanese are building stronger ties. It would be a pity to see such
relationship and friendship being destroyed by politics. Only if both
countries could agree on what happened in the past, and mutual trust
and respect could be developed, then a more harmonious relationship
could grow between the two countries.
The responsibility should not however be shouldered only by the two
governments: all of us should be responsible for improving and
maintaining the Sino Japanese relationships. We may not all have the
political power to influence the governments but all of us have the
power to analyze what we see and hear. Before making any judgment, we
can take time to think and to seek better understanding of the many
aspects of any given situation. What is happening between China and
Japan at the moment has mostly to do with politics, and does not
represent every Chinese and Japanese’s opinion.
There is nothing that we can do to change past history but there is so
much that we could do to help build and maintain a harmonious
relationship between the two countries. And this requires all of our
efforts in accepting and understanding each other’s culture without
prejudice. We should treat the war in the past as a good lesson for all
of us to learn from, because it reminds us of the horror and trauma
caused to the people before us. Let the two neighbors of the Asia
Pacific be inspired to create a peaceful environment in the region, and
set a good example for the rest of the world.
VIII. Peacebuilding: Cooperation, Coordination,
and Holistic Vision
By Rene Wadlow
"From the outset of my mandate", said in 1993 the then
Secretary-General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, "I have
been convinced that the structure of the Organisation must mirror, as
closely as possible, the tasks it is assigned to undertake. An
institution must reflect the objectives it pursues… The UN therefore
faces the difficult task of relating our aims to our means, of updating
and reforming institutions, set up at different times and with
different imperatives." Boutros-Ghali proposed measures to promote
coordination and decentralization within the UN system, greater
cooperation with non-governmental organizations and regional bodies,
and creating more effective UN financing and budget-making mechanisms.
He went on to stress the vast challenges of famine, drought, AIDS,
civil wars, uprooted and displaced populations and deepening human
misery in many parts of the world. These situations make dramatic
demands on the UN system and require a better field presence and
operational capabilities. The UN system is called upon to respond to
very diversified requirements, often involving the provision of crucial
and direct aid to peoples in deep distress and involving sensitive new
fields of social, economic and political transformation.
Over a decade later, Kofi Annan made many of the same observations as
he set out his own proposals for structural reforms in his report "In
Larger Freedom". The text is found on the UN website:
www.un.org/largerfreedom. In September 2005, government leaders
and NGO representatives will meet in New York to discuss progress since
2000 on the Millennium Declaration and its goals to halve poverty
worldwide by 2015. They will also discuss structural reforms for the UN
system.
The proposals to enlarge the UN Security Council have attracted most
attention, but there are other significant measures proposed. One
proposal potentially important is the creation of a "Peacebuilding
Support Office" within the UN Secretariat, linked to an
intergovernmental Peacebuilding Commission. Hopefully this will be more
than a name change for the same functional relief coordination and the
World Food Programme. There is a need for a body which can inspire
national governments, NGOs, and academic communities for the long and
often painful long-germ restructuring of societies leading to justice
and stability. Afghanistan is a good example of the difficulties, as
well as Kosovo in the former Yugoslavia where the UN has more direct
responsibility.
We all have limited attention spans for crisis situations in which we
are not directly involved or do not have strong emotional links. We are
constantly asked to pay attention to a new crisis, to new tensions, to
new difficulties. Political leaders have even shorter attention spans
unless there are strong domestic reasons for remaining involved.
Therefore there is a need both within the UN system and within national
governments for a group of persons with a long-term holistic vision,
who are able to see trends and interlinks between situations. Such a
body needs to be able to organize long-term cooperation drawing upon
the knowledge and resources of universities, religious groups, NGOs and
governmental services at all levels.
Just as ecological concerns require actions by a multitude of actors
who do not always see the relationship between their actions, so
peacebuilding has material, intellectual and spiritual dimensions.
Finding the way these fit together in ways understandable to policy
makers is not easy. However, this is the challenge before us. The
process will take time and vision. We will have to see what seeds are
planted in September and reflect on how we can be most useful to this
effort.
Rene Wadlow is editor of the on-line
journal of world politics: www.transnational-perspectives.org
_____________
IX. A Call to All Scientists and Technologists
A press release was issued on 6th August 2005, Hiroshima Day, by the
Scientists for Global Responsibility and the Architects and Engineers
for Social Responsibility with the following text:
To coincide with the 60th anniversary of the dropping of the first
atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR)*
and Architects and Engineers for Social Responsibility (AESR)* call on
scientists and technologists to cease working on projects which
contribute to the creation, development, improvement or manufacture of
further nuclear weapons. We also call on the scientific and technical
community to demand the complete elimination of nuclear weapons and, as
a first step towards this, demand that the nuclear powers honour their
obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
This all comes at an especially important time. The UK is currently
expanding its laboratories at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at
Aldermaston, with a government decision on whether to commission a
replacement for its existing Trident nuclear weapons due soon.
India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea deploy nuclear weapons outside
the NPT. India and the USA are preparing to exchange civil nuclear
technology for the first time, despite India’s continued refusal to
sign the NPT. Iran is preparing to re-start its uranium enrichment
plant. All these activities undermine the commitments made by countries
under the NPT, and are likely to increase the threat that the continued
deployment of nuclear weapons poses. Indeed, the insistence by the
existing nuclear weapons nations such as the UK that they need to
retain their nuclear weapons undermines our ability to convince other
countries that they should not have such weapons.
Given the horrific nature of these weapons of mass destruction – the
Hiroshima bomb alone killed at least 145,000 people, and most nuclear
weapons deployed today are many times more destructive – it is
extraordinary that efforts still continue to further develop these
weapons.
Indeed, it is incredible that at least 20,000 nuclear weapons are still
deployed across the world today, enough to destroy global civilization
many times over (through a combination of explosive power,
radioactivity and disruption to environmental systems). Furthermore,
some of these weapons are deployed on high alert – ready to launch at a
few minutes notice – and hence open to the possibility of accidental
launch.
The latest conference of the NPT in May broke up without agreement,
demonstrating that the politicians cannot or will not act. Hence, SGR
and AESR believe that scientists and technologists should show the way.
Dr Stuart Parkinson, Executive Director of SGR, said: "We should
be trying to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction – especially
nuclear weapons as they are by far the most devastating of these. Yet
many governments, including that in the UK, are not only unwilling to
take steps towards disarmament, they are looking to developing new
nuclear weapons. If the politicians will not act for peace, then the
scientists and technologists should."
* SGR is a UK organization of
approximately 600 scientists and technologists promoting ethical
science and technology, based on the principles of openness,
accountability, peace, social justice, and environmental
sustainability. http://www.sgr.org.uk/
* AESR is a UK organization of
approximately 250 engineers and architects which works closely with SGR
and has similar concerns. http://www.sgr.org.uk/AESR/AESR_Overview.htm
___________
This Call is underscored in a message from Joseph Rotblat, Nobel Peace
Laureate and Fellow of Royal Science to the Inheritors of the Manhatten
Project on the 60th anniversary of the Trinity Atomic Test in New
Mexico, 16th July 1945 which ends:
"Let me, in conclusion, remind you
that the basic human value is life itself,
the most important human rights is the right to live. It is the duty of
scientists to see to it that,
through their work, life will not be put into peril, but will be
made safe and its quality enhanced".
http://www.atomicmirror.org/
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X. International Congress on Intercultural and Inter-religious
Dialogue
Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao (Basque Country) Spain, 11-13 December 2005
This Congress, with the theme "New Challenges in a World Longing for
Peace" and organized by Barandiaran Kristau Alkarte, Pax Romana
together with UNESCO Etxea, aims to "affirm and promote dialogue as the
road to a peaceful and just global coexistence in which diversity is
enriching".
Core issues will be discussed, such as: interdependency among
religions and cultures; causes for violent conflicts and opportunities
for reconciliation among different groups; and the way forward to
living with justice and peace in a global and intercultural world.
The following are excerpts from the intellectual foundations of the
Congress:
"It is only in dialogue that
communities can truly meet and understand one another. Choosing the
route of dialogue however, involves facing a number of difficulties and
challenges. First of all, throughout history there have been clashes
between groups of people bearing different ‘truths’ or worldviews. This
difficulty is ingrained in the centuries-long history of every group
and its own self-understanding and therefore, can be eliminated neither
quickly nor through pure will power."
"For some, dialogue among cultures or civilizations must take place on
a strictly cultural level so as to avoid the dangerous
symbolic-affective worlds of the different religions, worlds with vast
sentimental and historical burdens. For others, dialogue among
religions is of prime importance precisely because of the effect that
religions have had on the core values and motivations of every
civilization".
"A new and wide range of ‘identity’ factors have become the nuclei of
new blocks struggling for self-affirmation, for international
recognition, and for an adequate level of power in the concert of
nations".
"Underlying this issue is the question of how we are to understand this
concept of ‘identity’. It is by no means clear whether or not any human
group can have a totally separate identity of its own. History teaches
that civilizations and religions have intermingled constantly
throughout the centuries, and that the identity of any given culture or
civilization should, therefore, be construed as an ongoing and complex
process during which several ‘identities’ never cease to interact."
"A relatively new phenomenon may help in overcoming this danger. The
vast migratory movements across countries and continents should be
treated as an essential part of any modern-day dialogue. Many countries
face the reality of culturally and religiously pluralist societies, a
reality which they must learn to manage. Such societies provide the
possibility of new perspectives on the meeting of civilizations. They
produce vastly promising cultural and religious interactions at the
heart of countries that, until recently, had rather more homogenous
cultures."
"The fact that different groups clash on the basis of difference
usually masks an important truth, i.e., that they share in many
spiritual resources and values, which may ultimately be essentially
similar".
For more details:
http://www.icii-bilbao.org/en-contenido.htm
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