| Posted: April 30 2005,12:44 |
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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? |
Athletes
United for Peace (AUP) has experienced some successes in promoting
peace, education and friendship through sports and media arts programs
for inner-city young people in the San Francisco Bay Area region.
AUP has worked with partnering organizations and local government
agencies to help create a culture of peace and nonviolence in the
inner-city communities of Berkeley, Oakland and Richmond.
Indicators that serve as the basis for this conclusion include:
local community organizing efforts to create action plans to curb gun
violence and media presentations by youth that advocate community
involvement projects and events that promote peace. On the
national level, organization members across the country have be active
in disseminating anti-war information through media publications and
the internet. These efforts via alternative media have helped to
raise public awareness about some of the long term problems and
repercussions the United States current war/occupation will have in the
Middle East (Iraq).
Young people in the United States are
becoming more-and-more outspoken about their opposition to the
government’s foreign policy in regards to what many feel is an
unjustifiable covert military operation for natural resources (oil) in
Iraq. Current polls throughout the United States indicate that a high
number of young people also oppose the reinstitution of a military
draft to strengthen enlistment for hundreds of thousands of new
soldiers for future outbreaks of war targeted for countries on the
administration’s Axis of Evil list.
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OBSTACLES: What are the most important obstacles that have prevented progress?
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On
the local level, some of the main obstacles preventing a culture of
peace and nonviolence has been the lethal combination of illegal drugs,
mass media and a failing public school system. Young people, and
in particular youth (5-12) are constantly bombarded with daily images
of violence on television, in the movies, at sports events, and in
their popular video games. Another key obstacle has been the
failure of the public education system to institute media literacy and
peace education curriculums and/or programs in the schools. Daily
intakes of violence by youth through the media, as innocent as it may
seem, create hard-to-break violent behavioral tendencies that often
times are acted out at home, school and in the community.
On the
global level, the biggest obstacles since the inception of the decade
for a culture of peace (2001) has been the escalation of worldwide
terrorism. An argument can be made that the root cause of these
vicious acts of terror stem from religious fundamentalism on both sides
of the fence (Christianity and Islam).
The United States is
spending billions of dollars on the war effort (Iraq), while funding
for education and social services is being drastically reduced, and in
many cases completely eliminated. Political and religious
ideology in the United States current administration has created a
growing class separation between the races that is approaching pre
Civil Rights proportions. The current war to usher in Western
democracy in the Middle East is creating a problematic situation
throughout the world that could take several decades to resolve.
Lack
of support for financial resources for the development and
implementation of educational programs have made the first half of this
decade an extremely difficult challenge.
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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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After
joing the team of organizations worldwide to support the International
Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for Children of the
World as a United Nations NGO, in February 2000, AUP received a
proclamation from the City of Berkeley supporting our efforts and
pledging help to in promoting the culture of peace movement throughout
their municipality. Our organization has also promoted the
initiative through the first half of the decade to viewing audiences at
sports events and through alternative media (cable television
programming).
The biggest impact we have made in our efforts to
promote the culture of peace and nonvilence has come through our
ability to disseminate information via broadcast media and sports
athletes who transcends racial and international barriers. In a
2004 interview with Mal Whitfield, the pioneer of Sports Diplomacy for
the US State Department in Africa, he stated "This current
administration has caused so much dammage over the past few years that
sports diplopacy will be one of the keys to building up our relations
with a lot countries around the world."
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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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E-mail address of organization
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dharris@athletesunitedforpeace.org
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Website address of organization
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www.athletesunitedforpeace.org
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Highest priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Second priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Highest priority country of action (or international)
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United States
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Second priority country of action (or international)
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International
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