| Posted: April 12 2005,20:36 |
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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? |
Federation
for Peace and Conciliation is an international non-governmental
organization, inheriting the Soviet Peace Committee. Founded in 1949.
It was established on February 4th, 1992 by the Extraordinary
Conference of Peace Supporters. Federation has a consultative status at
the UN Economic and social Council and a participatory status with the
Council of Europe.
Assistance to building a democratic,
social, and legal state, development of civil society, promotion of
tolerance, strengthening of atmosphere of friendliness and mutual
respect in multiethnic and multireligious country are among primary
guiding lines of the Federation for Peace and Conciliation and
harmoniously correspond to policy of the United Nations.
For
many years the Federation for Peace and Conciliation contributes to
settlement of social, ethnic, religious and other conflicts, opposes
any displays of xenophobia, nationalism and chauvinism, participates in
struggle for maintenance of human rights and fundamental freedom both
in Russia and abroad, and initiates programs for human rights
education.
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OBSTACLES: What are the most important obstacles that have prevented progress?
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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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*** Activity within the limits of the Project "Maintenance of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Russia"
Every year the Federation for Peace and Conciliation together with the
Moscow School of Human Rights and other partners organizes
International Summer Schools for Human Rights as well as Winter
International Sessions "Human Rights, Democracy, Tolerance:
Contents and Methods of Education". The 14th session took place in
December 2004. The purpose of this activity is to raise a level of
knowledge in spheres of human rights, democracy, citizenship and
tolerance.
Also the Federation for Peace and Conciliation
together with the Information Centre for Human Rights organizes round
tables for different aspects of the problem of human rights.
On
the 9th of December, 2004, on the eve of Human Rights Day, together
with the Information Centre for Human Rights the round table was
organized: "Convention on the rights of children in Russia" in which
the whole complex of problems of rights of children in modern Russia
was discussed.
In year 2004 the Federation for Peace and
Conciliation together with the Scientific Research Institute at the
State Office of Public Prosecutor of the Russian Federation and the
Moscow Helsinki Group organized the round table: "Improvement of
cooperation between NGO's and bodies of Office of Public Prosecutor in
problems of protection of human rights and freedoms".
Such
problems as development of NGO's for human rights in Russia, their
cooperation with the official Government institutions, the openness to
representatives of civil society and readiness for interaction of the
Office of Public Prosecutor and other state structures were discussed.
As a result of the round table a number of up-to-date problems on
interaction between bodies of Office of Public Prosecutor and public
organizations were pointed out: education for human rights, protection
of human rights and freedoms, public information about activity of
bodies of Office of Public Prosecutor, formation of a positive image of
bodies of Office of Public Prosecutor in public.
For many
years in Federation for peace and Conciliation the public reception
works where citizens can get an advisory help on legal questions.
*** Activity within the limits of the Project "Terrorism in XXI century: sources and measures to counteraction"
Because of the series of terrorist acts in Russia in August-September
2004, the new project was started within the framework of the
Federation for Peace and Conciliation: "Terrorism in XXI century:
sources and measures of counteraction". The realization of the project
assumes carrying out of a series of expert meetings on a variety of
aspects of a problem of terrorism. In the result the conclusive
recommendation document will be made with the purpose to informing the
Russian officials, the United Nations and the Council of Europe about
the vision in the Russian expert community of problems and threats of
terrorism, as well as possible ways of counteraction to terrorism.
On the 1st of October, 2004 the first expert meeting took place:
"Terrorism and the problem of state security". Scientists,
representatives of bodies of the Russian government, the NGO's took
part in discussion.
In particular the problems which had been
raised by the President of the Russian Federation Mr. Vladimir Putin in
the official public reference on the 4th of September 2004 and in
performance at the expanded session of the Russian Government on the
13th of September 2004 were discussed at the expert meeting. These are
such problems, as maintenance of the unity of the country,
strengthening of the state governmental structures and trust to
authority, creation of effective system of internal security, struggle
against corruption and criminality, education of a civil liability,
increase of spiritual-moral health of the society.
On the 25th
of November, 2004 the second expert meeting took place: "Ethnic and
religious roots of terrorism". Among discussed questions were:
aggravation of national and religious contradictions as the factor of
escalation of terrorism in the modern world; interrelation between
ethnical, religious, social, economical and political aspects of
terrorism; modern extremist religions organizations both in
international and national levels, their communication with terrorist
groupings; a state policy of Russia in the fields of counteraction to
terrorism, distribution of extremist activity, excitation of national,
racial or religious hostility; interaction of the state and religious
associations in preventive maintenance of conflicts on ethno-national
and religion grounds in Russia; the problem of tolerance of the modern
society; the condition of the international and national legislations
on counteraction to terrorism.
On the 11th of November, 2004
together with the Information Centre for Human Rights the round table
was organized: "The modern terrorism and the problem of human rights".
Participants of the round table addressed to such problems as:
socio-economic factors of distribution of terrorism; restriction and
infringement of human rights and freedoms of people, groups of people
and even states in struggle against terrorism; a widespread practice of
double standards in international level. The question of financing and
technical equipping of terrorist groups, connected in particular with a
problem of corruption has been especially sharply designated.
On the 16th of February, 2005 the third expert meeting "International
cooperation in counteraction to terrorism" took place. Problems of
cooperation and interaction of the international antiterrorist
organizations, interrelations of social and political roots of
terrorism, propagation of extremist and terrorist activity through the
Internet were discussed. Experts ascertained conditions of the
international and regional legislations, that the international
community of antiterrorist forces till now was not generated. In the
territory of former Soviet Union operate at least three antiterrorist
centers, which unfortunately practically do not cooperate and do not
exchange the operative information on a regular basis.
In
April 2005 in the Federation for Peace and Conciliation the fourth
expert meeting will takes place "Problems of improving of national and
international legislations in struggle against terrorism".
*** Activity within the limits of the Project "Development of civil society in Russia"
The
Federation for Peace and Conciliation pays special attention to the
problem of development of civil society and maintenance of dialogue
between the society and the governmental authority. During the previous
half of year within the limits of the project: "Development of civil
society in Russia" two round tables took place: "State and Civil
society in Russia: the problem of dialogue in the present conditions"
and "Civil society and the prospects of further development of
democracy in Russia". The impulse to organization of these discussions
was given by the decision of the United Nations to initiate the idea of
the global Pact of cooperation between authority, society and business,
and also the decision of the Russian Government to generate Public
Chamber with the aim to providing a dialogue between the state and the
society. In spite of there are many different points of view on this
problem nowadays, it is obvious, that the dialogue should be developed.
And it is necessary to develop mechanisms and institutions that will
promote realization of ideas in practical results of mutual relations
between the authority and the society.
The following questions
were discussed: the nature of the state and the civil society; the
historical features of the interaction between the state and the civil
society in Russia; the international experience of relations between
civil society and authority; the prospects of inter-sector interaction
in Russia; initiative, activity and responsibility of NGO's; the
formation of the Public Chamber in Russia; civil society and democracy;
participation of civil society in the decision of social problems;
civil society and political parties; the problem of migration.
Within the limits of realization of the project with the Council of
Europe a series of seminars took place: "Development of Civil society:
problems of citizenship and interethnic relations in the megapolis."
Actions were devoted to problems of improvement of professional
opportunities of civil servants and their role in the development of
harmonious interethnic relations through strengthening the attention to
the problem of interethnic relations in developing megapolises.
Participants of the seminars - scientists and experts (representatives
of Moscow prefectures) - discussed up-to-date problem of the
development of relations in multinational megapolis such as Moscow, and
possible ways of interaction between scientific, educational, public
and power structures in strengthening of interethnic trust and
counteraction to extremism and intolerance in the modern society.
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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? |
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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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Prospekt Mira 36, Moscow 129090, Russian Federation
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E-mail address of organization
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vik@ifpc.ru
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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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Human rights
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Second priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Understanding, tolerance, solidarity
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Highest priority country of action (or international)
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Russian Federation
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Second priority country of action (or international)
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