| Posted: May 10 2005,03:04 |
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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? |
Yes
- through our joint peace work with our brother organization, WOSM,
more girls and young women and boys and young men have taken part in
peace activities. Together we have almost 40 million members.
We
are running many different peace projects - some long- running and some
new - all of which are being taken up enthusiastically by different
countries. For example, a small peace project developed on the
Olympic games, involved over 13 countries.
Although each
project has different, specific evaluation methods, we do measure by
success by the number of young people involved and the number of
countries which take part.
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OBSTACLES: What are the most important obstacles that have prevented progress?
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Lack of funding.
Competition for young people's time: school work, house work, etc
Declining membership
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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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WAGGGS
is, by definition an organization that promotes peace through promoting
cultural understanding and international friendship between men and
women, and between different countries and religions. This was
one of the key aims of the Founder, Lord Robert Baden-Powell, who,
incidentally, was due to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1939 but then
war broke out, for his work in promoting peace between young people.
He felt that only when people understood each other could peace
be achieved. Today, WAGGGS offers many opportunities for young
people to develop international friendships and learn about other parts
of the world. However, we do run many specific peace projects:
1) Building World Citizenship
This
was our triennial theme from 1996 – 2002 and was divided into six key
areas, one of which was peace. 56 peace projects were run which
encouraged Girl Guides and Girl Scouts to think about the effects of
war and what can be done to prevent it. Members learnt about
different cultures and the causes of conflicts. In Japan, Girl
Scouts continued their UN-recognised work with the Pakistan Girl Guides
Association, sending thousands of peace packs to Afghan refugees in
Pakistan. The Girl Scouts of Japan is one of the largest
benefactors of the Afghan refugees. The UK Guides also ran a
similar project with refugees in the Kosovo and in Taiwan, 1,350
participants from Japan, Taiwan, Korea and the Philippines took part in
an international friendship camp.
2) Our Rights, Our Responsibilities (OROR)
This
is our triennial theme for 2002 – 2008 and looks at six key rights, one
of which is the right to live in peace. This module looks at
conflict resolution and war in depth, focusing on what the individual
can do to prevent conflict and his/her rights, for example, the
Convention of the Rights of the Child.
Part of OROR is the
Olympia Badge. This Badge was created by The Greek Girl Guides
Association and promotes the ideals of the Games – fairness, cultural
understanding and peace through a series of sporting activities.
This was an extremely popular badge and was taken up by over 13
countries.
3) Building Peace among Children
Soroptimists
provided the funding for young leaders in Africa to be trained as Peace
Ambassadors and to run peace projects in their own countries at the
BPAC seminar in Rwanda in April 2003. The seminar was hosted by
the Guides in Rwanda and the first lady of Rwanda. One of the
young leaders is working with girls in a refugee camp in Zambia. This
project demonstrates the effects and impact of conflict and war on
children to members of the public using poems, sketches, dances and
songs. Other projects are now up and running in South Africa, Kenya,
Rwanda, Zambia, Burundi, Tanzania, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe, and
Uganda. One of the key aims is to empower women as peace makers
and to enable them to take the initiative in preventing conflict and
also, domestic conflict where they themselves could be victims.
Girl Guides in South Africa and Burundi are focusing especially
on domestic violence against women, using their own cultural practises
to highlight the issue to boys and men.
WAGGGS and Soroptimists
also hosted a joint workshop at the 48th Commission on the Status of
Women in New York in March 2004. Two young women from Africa addressed
over 200 delegates about their peace building projects.
“I was
really humbled to be among the very few youths especially from the
Africa Region… I learnt a lot and I return home full of enthusiasm to
share what I have learnt with my Association. I plan to mobilize young
leaders and people who would be interested in helping to raise the
standards of living especially in the slums, and in the process spread
peace culture.” Claudia, from Kenya
4) Joint peace project with WOSM
The
World Organization of the Scout Movement and WAGGGS are working
together with a joint team to promote peace and also to collect all the
peace projects done over the years.
5) WAGGGS’ 144 Member
Organizations run many different peace projects which empower girls and
young women to become peace makers and also help to create cultural
understanding and friendship. WAGGGS and WOSM are currently
working with young men and women in Iraq to train them in the Guiding
and Scouting method, thereby spreading the message of peace and
goodwill.
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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? |
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PARTNERSHIPS: What partnerships and
networks does your organization participate in, thus strengthening the
global movement for a culture of peace? |
We work with Soroptimists International, ZONTA, WOSM, UNAIDS, FAO and
other UN agencies
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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)? |
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Postal address of organization
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World Bureau, 12c Lyndhurst Road, London, NW3 5PQ
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E-mail address of organization
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Website address of organization
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www.wagggsworld.org
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Highest priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Equality of women
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Second priority action domain of a culture of peace
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international peace and security
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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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