| Posted: Mar. 19 2005,08:57 |
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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? |
Iko
Poran Association is a civil organization of private right, non-profit
purposes, independent of any political party or religious link, based
on the principles of democracy, peace, citizen’s rights, human rights,
and non-discrimination against beliefs, race, color or gender. Iko
Poran conducts international volunteer programs to work in various
areas.
Iko Poran has its operations linked with many
non-profit organizations and allocates the volunteers according to
their abilities and interests and the partner organization necessities.
The volunteers have a unique experience of participating actively on
the development of the tended communities and on the construction of a
fairer world for all.
Iko Poran contributes to the Culture of Peace
promoting a wide experiences exchange, strengthening the cultural
agreement between cultures, and broadening the horizons of the
beneficiaries.
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OBSTACLES: What are the most important obstacles that have prevented progress?
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Iko
Poran was founded in December of 2002 and the biggest obstacle that we
faced was to have the necessary credibility to recruit international
volunteers. We also had to let prospect volunteers know that we were
here. To overcome the first obstacle we managed to established
partnerships with trustable and powerful development organizations,
such as UNESCO, United Nations Volunteers, International Conference
Volunteers, and International Volunteers Programs Association. To
overcome the second obstacle we did a huge communication effort and
managed to post links to our initiative in more than 120 other
websites. As a result, we were invited to make a speech on the ‘World
Summit on the Information Society”, promoted by the UN in Geneva, and
to the “Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors” of the Inter-American
Development Bank, in Lima. Now we are growing an average of 800% per
year and causing positive social impacts in the partner projects at the
same time we provide rewarding and productive experiences to our
volunteers who feel the social and environmental impact of the changes
that they provoke, while they create a rich personal opportunity for
cultural exchange.
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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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Iko
Poran, through its international volunteer programs, contributes to the
Culture of Peace strengthening the cultural agreement between cultures,
and broadening the horizons of the beneficiaries. The fact that the
volunteers came from so far away just to lend a hand has a great impact
in the projects and increases very much the self-esteem of the
beneficiaries.
We are growing an average of 800% per year and
causing positive social impacts in the partner projects at the same
time we provide rewarding and productive experiences to our volunteers
who feel the social and environmental impact of the changes that they
provoke, while creating a rich personal opportunity for cultural
exchange.
We have not done anything specifically to September
21st because we usually we have a high volume of volunteers in
September when it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere. This year of
2005 we will do a big celebration with volunteers from the most varied
countries who we will be receiving, such as Iceland, Norway, Ireland,
France, Spain, Canada, England, Korea, Serbia, Rumania, Netherlands,
Austria, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Australia, and United States, and
beneficiaries from many partner organizations, such as Afro Reggae,
Fundação OndAzul, Spectaculu, Crescer e Viver, CEDAPS, REDEH, Nós do
Cinema, Jongo da Serrinha, Nós do Papel, Dança pra Galera, Sociedade de
Amigos do Morro dos Prazers, e outras.
Anouck Gevaert, from Holand, with children from the organization "Programa Social Crescer e Viver"
Barbara Loeschning, from Austria, with students from the organization "Nos do Cinema"
Olga Martin e Leticia Hernando da Espanha com alunos do Grupo Cultural Afro Reggae
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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? |
To promote the cultural understanding and the exchange of experiences.
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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
strongly believe that partnerships are the best way to achieve better
and bigger results. Actually, we see volunteerism as a partnership
which must satisfy the volunteers involved as well as benefit the NGO
concerned: fulfilled volunteers are more committed and mutuality of
interests between the organization and the volunteer will produce value
for each partner. We believe that the cooperation relationships will
migrate from alliances traditionally philanthropic to strategic
alliances. In today’s interconnected world, third sector organizations
will not prosper or survive if they do not find partners that can help
them reach wider results to face the challenges ahead.
Alliances are
vehicles for the accomplishment of each participant’s mission, so that
the partnership becomes an integral part of any organization strategy.
All relationships involve an exchange of values between the parts.
Before asking something, you should know what you could do for the
other part.
We have established partnerships ands work together
with the United Nations Volunteers, International Volunteer Programs
Association, UNESCO, International Conference Volunteers, WSIS
volunteer family, Portal do Voluntário, RIOVOLUNTÀRIO and many
Brazilian non-profit organizations in which we allocate our
international volunteers to cause positive impacts.
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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)? |
We
plan to expand our activities to other cities of Brazil next year, such
as Salvador and Recife, and, in a near future, to other countries
within Latin America. We want to promote the cultural agreement even
more to cause bigger and better social results.
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Postal address of organization
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Av. Nilo Peçanha, 50 room 1709 - Centro - Rio de Janeiro - RJ - 20.044-900 - Brasil
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E-mail address of organization
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rj@ikoporan.org
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Website address of organization
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www.ikoporan.org
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Highest priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Culture of Peace
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Second priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Sustainable Development
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Highest priority country of action (or international)
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Brazil
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Second priority country of action (or international)
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International
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