| Posted: Feb. 13 2005,16:14 |
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PROGRESS: Has your organization seen
progress toward a culture of peace and nonviolence in your domain of
action and in your constituency during the first half of the Decade? |
In
July 2000, people under the age of 18 established an international
organization dedicated to achieving a permanent Culture of Peace
brought about with the assistance of Child Participation. They named
their organization the Young General Assembly to illustrate their
dedication to the United Nations goals of building a peaceful world.
The organization is managed by an Executive Committee of people under
the age of 18, a Finance Committee of people over the age of 18 and a
Special Issue Committee made up of people both under and over 18. There
are 91 Member Organizations in 57 countries involving over 2 1/2
million young people worldwide.
In 2001 the Young General Assembly
side event at United Nations headquarters in New York, the participants
produced a fifty-question survey that NGOs can take to assess how
effectively they are using Child Participation to build a Culture of
Peace. This survey was widely distributed, but no NGO ever returned the
results to the Young General Assembly Secretariat.
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OBSTACLES: What are the most important obstacles that have prevented progress?
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The
hardest obstacle to overcome is the attitude that people under 18 are
not capable of making decisions or initiating responsible action
towards building a Culture of Peace. This attitude has made it
extremely difficult for children and adolescents to get the attention
of government and United Nations officials so the young people can form
effective partnerships. After the Young General Assembly was awarded
ECOSOC and UNICEF special consultative status this became a little
easier if an adult made the initial contact and then the children were
brought into picture.
The attitude that children and adolescents are
irresponsible has definitely hampered funding. Grant giving foundations
do not want to donate to an organization run by children, even though
people over the age of 18 manage the organization's financial and legal
matters. What they cannot seem to understand is that the children are
more careful with money than adults.
People do not seem to
understand what Child Participation is. The Young General Assembly has
worked hard to educate people about Child Participation and to have
people understand that without Child Participation, there will be no
permanent Culture of Peace.
What is most disturbing is that official
representatives, chosen by their peers, under the age of 18 from an
organization that has DPI NGO status and ECOSOC and UNICEF special
consultative status cannot get an annual pass to carry out the
organization's work at United Nations headquarters.
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ACTIONS: What actions have been
undertaken by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence during the first half of the Decade?
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The
Young General Assembly has established Hear the Children Day of Peace
to be observed worldwide on September 21st, the International Day of
Peace. On this day adults and children are to meet, discuss community
needs and plan how they can work together to establish a local Culture
of Peace.
During the years 2001-2005, at annual Young General
Assembly sessions in Swaziland, Romania, Nigeria and online, the young
people designed and distributed 160 project plans so other young
people, at low cost, could bring their local communities into a quality
of life that could become a permanent culture of peace. The project
plans were in the areas of health (including HIV/AIDS and stopping
hunger), education, environment, child rights and stopping every form
of child abuse.
Young General Assembly representatives presented
side events at the PrepComs for the United Nations General Assembly
Special Session on Children, at the Special Session itself, at
workshops at Annual DPI/NGO Conferences and at the World Summit for
Sustainable Development in Johannesburg to educate people on the value
and possibilities of Child Participation in building a Culture of Peace
and achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
In 2002, the EARTH Contest was held online and produced 30 environmental project plans for young people to do.
From
November 2003-August 2004, the Young General Assembly conducted the
Olympic Truce Letter Campaign. Young people urged their government
officials to revive and observe the Olympic Truce.
At present the
Young General Assembly is looking for funds to publish the 105 project
plans written at the 2004 Annual Young General Assembly Session in
Nigeria. These plans were designed to help young people help achieve
the 21 targets of A World Fit for Children, to fully implement the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Millennium Development
Goals- all of which the Young General Assembly views as being means to
establish a permanent Culture of Peace.
2004
Young General Assembly participants in Abuja, Nigeria where the young
people wrote 105 project plans to build a permanent culture of peace.
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ADVICE: What advice would you like to
give to the Secretary-General and the General Assembly to promote a
culture of peace and nonviolence during the second half of the Decade? |
The
Young General Assembly strongly recommends that the Secretary General
immediately take steps to ensure that people between the ages of 15 and
17 representing organizations that have ECOSOC special consultative
status are allowed to obtain annual passes to United Nations
headquarters so they can carry on the organization's business.
The
Young General Assembly strongly urges the General Assembly to establish
an Advisory Committee to the General Assembly on Children's Affairs
that is made up of people under the age of 18. Each United Nations
member state mission should be responsible for having one male and one
female come twice a year to New York to participate in the Advisory
Committee meetings at which the delegates would discuss issues they
would like to see taken up by the General Assembly and render written
statements to the General Assembly committees and President about
matters at hand involving children. Children know their issues best and
can help the General Assembly come up with low-cost, effective
solutions.
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PARTNERSHIPS: What partnerships and
networks does your organization participate in, thus strengthening the
global movement for a culture of peace? |
The
Young General Assembly is a network of 91 Member Organizations. It has
worked with UNICEF, the United Nations Department of Public
Information, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, United Nations Environmental Programme and Save the Children.
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PLANS: What new engagements are
planned by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence in the second half of the Decade (2005-2010)? |
Peaceways-Young
General Assembly intends to continue to work hard to get Child
Participation recognized as a vital element in the building of a
permanent Culture of Peace by having international meetings, sending
out bulletins, initiating workshops to educate and inspire action and
having under 18 representatives attend United Nations meetings. The
organization hopes to widen its distribution of the project plans
already written and those that are yet to be written. It also hopes to
qualify for affiliation with UNESCO.
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Postal address of organization
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Peaceways-Young General Assembly Secretariat
1950 Sunset Drive
Reedsburg, Wisconsin 53959, USA
Tel/Fax: +1.608.524.4608
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E-mail address of organization
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peaceways@igc.org
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Website address of organization
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Highest priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Democratic Particpation: Child Participation
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Second priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Education for a culture of peace
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Highest priority country of action (or international)
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International
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Second priority country of action (or international)
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