| Posted: April 30 2005,16:57 |
If you wrote this report, you will find a button here that you may click
in order to make changes in the report. 
|
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? |
a)
The Norwegian government has at last acknowledged peace building as an
integral aspect of development aid, and included a whole chapter on
peacebuilding in its latest white paper on development. In addition it
has created 2 posts to inspect the conflict sensitivity of NORAD funded
projects – although insufficient, this is a start. the government has
also produced a white paper on “Foreign Policy Contributions to Peace
Building” – again, there is much to be done but it is a start
b)
A law has been passed ensuring that all soldiers doing service in peace
keeping troops receive active training on human rights, peacebuilding
and conflict management. How much, and content has yet to be discussed.
We are finding military officers to be good dialogue partners in this
debate.
|
OBSTACLES: What are the most important obstacles that have prevented progress?
|
A
right wing government that supports Bush whenever they can get away
with it, have cut the funding for organizations working with
information for peace, and have increased the speed of privatization of
health, transport, education and other basic services.
|
ACTIONS: What actions have been
undertaken by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence during the first half of the Decade?
|
a)
We have produced a database (www.fredsundervisning.no) of
exercises/games etc. that can be used in peace education workshops,
arranged according to topic and age, with an introduction on
pedagogical methods, development of workshops and the concept of peace
education. The web site is translated to English and is coming in
Arabic.
b) We were the secretariat for the Norwegian Stop the War in Iraq demonstration on Feb. 15th 2003.
c)
We continuously produce position papers and lobby Parliament for
improvements in Norwegian policies that influence a Culture of Peace –
in all matters from the school curriculum to weapons trade.
d)
Together with two other organizations we have applied for funding to do
a survey of Norway’s peacebuilding competence (particularly in
mediation and violence reduction).
e) We strongly support, and
run the web site of, the European Network of Civil Peace Services. This
network consists of as many Eastern European organizations for human
rights and peacebuilding as it does Western European, and exists to
promote civilian input in conflict as an alternative to military input.
It is also developing as a solidarity organization to aid each other
when meeting harassment or worse as a result of work with human rights
or peacebuilding.
|
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? |
To
follow through the expert group’s recommendations for an Assistant
Secretary General for Crisis Management with a work force of 16
employees.
|
PARTNERSHIPS: What partnerships and
networks does your organization participate in, thus strengthening the
global movement for a culture of peace? |
a) International Peace Bureau
b) European Network of Civil Peace Services, described in pt. 3e
c)
European Peacebuilding Liaison Office – the peace organizations contact
point, spokes organ og information disseminator to the structures of
the European Union. NFR is represented on several EPLO workgroups.
d) World Social Forum, Norway.
|
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)? |
Depending
on financing, to continue to build out a range of peace organizations
that meet the needs of all tastes and political leanings, but with the
core theme of non-violent conflict transformation.
|
Postal address of organization
|
Norwegian Peace Alliance
Postboks 8940 Youngstorget
0028 Oslo
|
E-mail address of organization
|
office@nowar.no
|
Website address of organization
|
www.nowar.no
|
Highest priority action domain of a culture of peace
|
International peace and security
|
Second priority action domain of a culture of peace
|
Education
for a culture of peace/ Sustainable development/ Understanding,
tolerance, solidarity (we have equally active work groups covering all
of these)
|
Highest priority country of action (or international)
|
Work groups cover all aspects.
- Regional work groups on Sudan and Sri Lanka.
- Otherwise work groups concentrate on policy development nationally, internationally or on a European level.
|
Second priority country of action (or international)
|
|
| Back to top |
|
