 |
Posted: Aug. 11 2006,10:36 by David from
INTERNATIONAL - Fundacion Cultura de Paz |
|
Questionnaire
1. a) If funds were available, what
youth activities related to a CoP would you like to do as an
individual?
Basically the same as the ones I am doing with my
organisation - this is the reason I am a staff here!
b) What
non-financial support do you need to do these activities?
To
promote the Culture of Peace as an individual on a daily basis does
not require any money but the number of people that are reached is
not big. Organizing activities in different places, in order to
reach new people, requires money because it requires time and means.
c) If funds were available, what youth activities related to
a CoP would your organization like to do?
Organize
international voluntary service projects and improve the quantity
and quality with the ultimate aim to fight poverty and increase
access to reflection through non formal education (people need a
chance to eat and think in order to be able to make choices for
their life).
Organize trainings for trainers on cultural
diversity for multipliers of youth organizations. Intercultural
encounters are crucial in order to overcome barriers between people
but they must respond to a number of criteria in order to be
efficient and go beyond stereotypes. It is not enough to just bring
people together. CCIVS has developed an approach which provides a
frame for the reflections that should take place during a or
workcamp or any other kind of youth exchange project based on a
dynamic and pluralistic vision of the world, which looks at any
individual and community in its complexity and highlights the
multiple facets constituting individuals, groups and
territories.
Publish material to the same
end.
Increase specific thematic encounters between young
people from countries in conflict.
Organize "Western - Arab"
encounters: due to the highest level of misunderstanding and lack of
comprehension, and stereotypes, there are needs for encounters based
on the approach mentioned above. There is also a big danger in the
sense of "clash of civilizations", due for example to "Al Qaeda
sympathy". CCIVS has started working on a module to further explain
the approach: this document is meant to introduce reflections that
are universally relevant in different socio-cultural contexts. It is
about the way to comprehend cultures, the kind of reflections one
should go through before reaching any conclusion, the kind of
atmosphere that is more likely than another to open people for true
dialogue. The idea and reflections are therefore universal, while
the context and methods are particular. Some further details on this
part of CCIVS work can be found on our website: http://www.unesco.org/ccivs/New-SiteCCSVI/CcivsOther/culturaldiversity/cultdivpresentation.htm
We
believe that the issues raised in the module are not only relevant
because they increase the intercultural capacity of the young (and
not so young) people who will be influenced by the reflections
developed - they are relevant because they are at the heart of many
incomprehension and even armed conflict on the globe in the recent
years. Ever since the fall of the twin towers simplistic rhetoric
has increased, the idea of incompatible, clearly separated
homogeneous cultures has slowly made its way into the media and the
minds. This module also wants to be an anti-dote to simplistic
thinking, insisting on the possibility and necessity for dialogue
among people no matter what background they come from or to say it
with the ever-so-relevant preamble of UNESCO's Constitution: "As war
begins in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the
defences of peace must be constructed".
Another issue: lobby
for non formal education and international voluntary service and
increase our activities. Voluntary service is seen as a tool for the
transformation of volunteers and the people they work with, having
an influence on their conscience and their way to actively construct
the societies they live in. Volunteering is a way of practising
active citizenship and taking responsibility for the globe we live
on with little means. The work project is seen as a tool to achieve
active solidarity as well as mutual and intercultural dialogue
beyond easy stereotypes.
d) What non-financial support does
your organization need for CoP activities?
Promotion in order
to benefit form bigger recognition, especially from recognition from
the UN on the importance of international voluntary service, non
formal education and our capacities (too often seen as nice occasion
for youth to have fun…)
2. a) What changes in youth policies
do you think the government/leadership in your country should make
to promote a CoP?
Review visa and security policy which
blocks access to exchange programs, increase funds for non formal
education activities, prioritise activities based on encounters of
people with different backgrounds from within a country or
internationally.
b) What CoP youth activities/initiatives do
you think the UN should do?
Please refer to the proposals
that we already mentioned.
An aspect of the work that we
consider as important is the respect and care which is shown to
youth in South countries. The current situation often leads people
in South countries (thus youth who are the main part of the
population) to feel oppressed, betrayed and exploited. This leads to
the development of organisations such as Al Qaeda, tragic situations
as boat people or discouragement. The positive side is that new
generations want to free themselves and not follow the examples of
the fathers, while the negative one is the implementation of a long
term dangerous situation, the starting point of a time bomb. As long
as concrete and long term work can not be carried out with respect
and honesty, the situation will not change and will remain a
potential danger.
The UN could also support and/or create
networks and platforms where official bodies meet with youth
organisations, as this is already the case with the Advisory Council
of the Council of Europe where youth organisations are truly
associated in the decision making process on issues related to youth
and its development (http://www.coe.int/youth)
In a word,
organizations need to be more respected and taken seriously and they
need structures, bodies where they can express in a more structured
way.
OPTIONAL QUESTIONS
3. Do you have any suggestions
or recommendations for improving youth participation in CoP
activities on any levels (UN, government, civil society)?
The
UN should be working with international youth organisations that are
already recognised and not with the first individual walking through
the door and proposing a project that does not necessarily reflect
the needs of the population at stake.
Generally speaking,
youth participation can be improved through transparency, access to
information, youth-friendly language… and money.
4. What
could be done to improve/ensure transparency and flow of information
in promoting the CoP?
Again, the first big step would be to
work with organisations / bodies that are already recognised and
will carried out the work with no personal ideas and
intentions.
5. To ensure the best possible benefit of a UN
Voluntary Fund for youth and CoP, how should it be
managed/administered?
There should be a body co-managed with
international youth organisations, a structure based on the model of
the Joint Programmatic Commission on Youth in UNESCO or the Advisory
Council of the Council of Europe (above-mentioned). There must be
clear deadlines and clear criteria for organisations to introduce
projects and proposals.
6. How can youth not yet involved in
CoP activities be reached and motivated?
A fund is a good
idea, not only because of its material aspect but because of the co
management aspect (with youth orgs being part of it). At the same
time it is important to keep in mind that youth usually are and
remain more involved when they are members of organisations at
local, regional or national level.
It is also important to
disseminate information such as the Manifesto for a Culture of Peace
more systematically (a text with a number of reflections every one
should go through)
7. a) Which other organizations do you
know of, that work for a CoP?
All organisations that are
members of CCIVS.
b) Would you be willing to contact them or
may we contact them with the questionnaire? Please
specify.
We answered for them, this is somehow one of our
tasks/responsibilities. We can disseminate the questionnaires to the
international organisations or the regional networks that are
members of CCIVS but to contact all members would not make much
sense for such a questionnaire.
8. My response to this
questionnaire is my personal opinion ? organisation's opinion
X
Name of organization: Coordinating Committee for
International Voluntary Service
Address:
UNESCO House,
1 rue Miollis, 75015 Paris, France
Contact Person:
Simona Costanzo Sow
E-mail:
ccivs@unesco.org
Telephone and
fax: tel: + 33 1 45 68 49 36 / fax: + 33 1 42 73
05 21
Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary
Service
Comité de Coordination du Service Volontaire
International
CCIVS - UNESCO House - 1, rue Miollis - 75732 Paris
Cedex 15 France
Tel: (33) 1 45.68.49.36 - Fax: (33) 1 42.73.05.21
- E-mail: ccivs@unesco.org
****************************************
Sujet
: RE: Your input is needed for a UN Youth Fund for Cult
Date :
8/11/06 11:53:35 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: ccivs@unesco.org (CCIVS)
To:
mail@decade-culture-of-peace.org
Fichier
: questionnaire1.doc (51200 octets)
Durée du téléchargement
(52000 bits/s) : < 1 minute
Dear David
Adams,
Thanks for your understanding and sorry for the delay
again. The questionnaire is attached and we hope this will be of any
use.
Please feel free to contact us for further details or
more information or in case some issues do not seem clear to
you.
We will be happy to contribute to the development of the
project and are looking forward to being informed.
Looking
forward to hearing from you,
Yours,
Regis.
_
To
David Adams, Officer
Fundacion Cultura de Paz
mail@decade-culture-of-peace.org
Dear
Davis Adams,
Please find below the questionnaire as filled by
CCIVS. We are sorry for the delay with which we send the document
and hope it can still be useful.
Yours,
Regis Colin.
|
