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Join Peacemakers around the World in Building a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence! ON NOVEMBER 10, 1998, the United Nations Responded to an appeal from every living Nobel Peace Prize Laureate by proclaiming the year 2000 to be "the Year for the Culture of Peace" and the years 2001-2010 to be the "International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World." We live in a culture of violence. From the tragedy at Columbine High School in Colorado to the US bombing of Yugoslavia and Iraq to the fact that one out of every five US children lives in poverty while we spend billions upgrading our nuclear arsenal - violence surrounds us. It is time to stop the violence and start building a culture of nonviolence. A culture of nonviolence values love, compassion, and justice. It rejects violence as a means of solving problems. Instead, it embraces communication, cooperative decision-making, and nonviolent conflict resolution. It ensures freedom, security, and equitable relationships. It promotes inner peace, personal transformation, and disarmament. FOR plans to kick off the Decade for a Culture of peace and Nonviolence in the Summer of 2000 in Washington, DC. Please see the page on The People's Campaign for Nonviolence for details. The text of the UN Declaration and additional information about the declaration can be found here. More information on the Web about the Nobel Laureate Appeal and the Decade of Nonviolence can be found at NobelWeb and on IFOR's Culture of Nonviolence Page.
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What YOU can do to build a culture of peace and nonviolence:
BE CREATIVE...Think
of ideas that will awaken the imagination of your community. Here
are just a few things that YOU can do:
AS A STUDENT... Connect with other students interested
in social justice. Discuss a video. Research and do a presentation
in your class about a specific case of nonviolence in history such
as the 1980's People Power revolution in the Philippines, the Lavalas
movement in Haiti, or student protests in China's Tiananmen Square.
Request that your teachers teach conflict resolution and nonviolence
principles. Start a peace studies program on your campus.
AS A PARENT... Learn constructive ways to deal with anger
and pass this gift on to your kids. Make a family pledge to express
feelings and resolve conflict creatively. Use the Family Pledge
of Nonviolence. Urge your school to teach nonviolence and conflict
resolution at every level.
AS A TEACHER ...Teach nonviolence in your classes through
studying the Nobel Laureates' lives, a book on Gandhi, King, or
Dorothy Day, or an interactive workshop on conflict resolution.
Meet with other teachers who have the same interests and share your
resources.
AS A SCHOOL ... Organize a Month of Nonviolence to learn
about alternatives to violence, to address recent violent events
in the community, to brainstorm nonviolent solutions, and to celebrate
positive efforts that have succeeded. Schedule a series of videos
on social justice issues such as militarism, racism, hate crimes,
economic justice, youth empowerment, women's rights, and indigenous
people's rights.
AS A CONGREGATION... Start a study circle in your congregation
to explore nonviolence, racism, youth empowerment, the growing economic
disparity, or homophobia. Join a Religious Peace Fellowship. Explore
the spiritual dimensions of nonviolence in your tradition. Sponsor
interfaith gatherings so congregations of differing faiths can learn
about each other. Sponsor conflict resolution trainings for the
congregation. Be an active voice against injustices in your congregation.
AS A LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBER ... Form a coalition of local
leaders from schools, religious institutions, local businesses,
police departments, and interest groups to learn about nonviolence
through workshops, videos, forums, nonviolence trainings, speakers.
Meet with the town council to organize a town meeting to discuss
problems relating to violence in schools and neighborhoods, and
possible nonviolent solutions. Be sure to include individuals who
represent the diversity of your community in planning, implementing,
participating, and evaluating the event.
AS A PEACEMAKER ... Urge your groups to endorse the Decade
of Nonviolence. Join the Abolition 2000 campaign to promote total
nuclear disarmament. Join the Jubilee 2000 campaign and call for
the cancellation of the Third World debt. Join Moratorium 2000,
the movement to abolish the death penalty. Join efforts to lift
economic sanctions on Iraq and to stop war and genocide in the Balkans.
WHOEVER YOU ARE... Read works by Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther
King, Jr., Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez, Muriel Lester, and others.
Imagine what the world would look like without weapons.
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