| Posted: May 07 2010,10:01 |
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Postal address of organization/institution
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155 White Plains Road
Tarrytown, New York 10591
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E-mail address of organization/institution
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unoffice@upf.org
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Website address of organization/institution
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www.upf.org
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Telephone of organization/institution
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1-914-631-1331
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PRIORITIES: All of the organization's domains of culture of peace activity |
EDUCATION FOR PEACE
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
WOMEN'S EQUALITY
UNDERSTANDING, TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY
INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY
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TOP PRIORITY: The organization's most important culture of peace activity |
EDUCATION FOR PEACE
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PARTNERSHIPS AND NETWORKS: What
partnerships and networks does your organization participate in, thus
strengthening the global movement for a culture of peace? |
The
Universal Peace Federation (UPF) has Special Consultative Status with
the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and works with the
CONGO Committees on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns, Family,
Human Rights, and is represented as the Chair of the CONGO Committee on
HIV/AIDS. UPF has branches in 192 countries around the world, and
10,000 organizations and individuals receive its newsletters worldwide.
UPF partners with governments, with bodies such as parliaments,
commissions, and agencies, to conduct Leadership, Good Governance and
Peace Conferences. Currently, UPF is partnering with the African
Union to celebrate Africa Day. UPF reaches out to top level leaders in
academe, media, education, government and NGO’s, such as the World
Association of NGO’s, Women’s Federation for World Peace, and
International Relief Friendship Foundation. UPF’s flagship
project is the establishment of an Ambassador for Peace network of
elder statesmen and senior diplomats.
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ACTIONS: What activities have
been undertaken by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence during the ten years of the Decade? If you already made a
report in 2005, your information from 2005 will be included in the 2010
report.
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Universal
Peace Federation (UPF), formerly IIFWP, was founded in 1999 as a global
network of individuals, and organizations dedicated to building a world
of peace in which everyone can live in freedom, harmony, cooperation
and prosperity. Peace is an essential quality that should
characterize all relationships, in the family, in society, nation and
the world.
UPF is committed to attaining the following objectives:
• Support and cooperation with the United Nations in promoting
universally shared values;
• Partnerships among governments, religions and civil society
fostering development grounded in universal values;
• A culture of peace through education, sports, arts, media and
service;
• A framework for inter-religious cooperation
• Conflict prevention and resolution through education in areas
of mutual respect, dialogue, good governance, character
development, and universal values;
• Sustainable development through long-term grassroots
capacity-building initiatives;
• Promote and contribute to the achievement of the UN MDG’s.
The following are several programs of action carried out from 1999 to 2009, based on the objectives of the organization :
1)Since 1999, UPF has conducted more than 120 Leadership,
Peace and Good Governance conferences that foster
cooperation, development and peace throughout the world.
Conferences are organized for parliamentarians, government
officials, religious leaders, as well as leaders in the media,
academe, and civil society. The following is the breakdown of
participation:
Conferences on Family Values as a Basis for Peace – 2587
participants
Conferences on Building a Culture of Peace – 2742 participants
Conferences on Leadership and Peace – 10,750 participants
Conferences on Interreligious Dialogue – 2,531 participants
Conferences on Good Governance – 5,403 participants
Total: 24,013 participants
2
From 2004 to 2008, more than 4800 participants from 6 regions of the
world, including Africa and Oceania, participated in the Middle East
Peace Initiative. The Middle East Peace Initiative was designed to
bring increased understanding, tolerance, and cooperation among Jews,
Christians, and Muslims in the Holy Land. The journey included
trips to the West Bank to meet with Palestinians, service projects,
reconciliation seminars, as well as inter-religious dialogues among the
diverse religious leaders in Israel and Palestine. Additionally, 500
youth took part in youth service and leadership projects, while other
peace efforts, such as art, cultural programs attracted 342
participants. More than 800 youth participated in Inter-religious
Sports for Peace competitions in Israel and Jordan during the past two
years.
3 The UPF Character Education Initiative has
developed programs in the Philippines, Nepal, St. Lucia, Trinidad and
Tobago, Micronesia, USA, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and other Asian and
South American countries. Text books entitled “Discovering the
Real Me” were distributed to elementary and secondary schools, with
substantial results. In the Philippines, the Department of
Education adopted the manuals as material for their moral education
courses in 3 provinces, reaching more than 200,000 students.
UPF’s approach to moral education uses a universal approach based
on classic stories, and cultivation of core virtues.
4)
Religious Youth Service, a program of UPF that brings together youth
volunteers in a unique approach to service learning, held service
projects in diverse communities in developing countries. Youth
are given opportunities to learn and experience another person’s
culture and religious tradition. RYS has hosted over 120 projects
in over 50 nations over the last ten years. It has an alumni base
of over 6000 graduates from these projects.
5) UPF is
making concerted effort to promote the efforts of the United Nations in
building a culture of peace by promoting the celebration of the UN
International Days. In 2008 and 2009, UPF chapters around the
world organized over 200 celebrations in over 60 countries throughout
the world, engaging a variety of partners and supporters. In
2009, its chapters joined with international partners to celebrate the
International Day of Families in 40 nations. During 2008 and
2009, UPF hosted a meeting at the UN featuring diplomats and women who
play roles in peacemaking. Individual chapters have celebrated other
commemorative days, including the International Day of Holocaust
Remembrance, International Day of Tolerance, and International Day of
the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
6) During the past decade, UPF Publications include the following:
Books:
Visions of Peace for Africa
Development, Social Justice and Civil Society: An Introduction to the Political Economy of NGO’s
New World Encyclopedia (10,000 articles)
Islamic Perspectives on Peace
Forging a Path to Peace At a Time of Global Crisis
The NGO Revolution
Renewing the United Nations and Building a Culture of Peace
The Millennium Declaration of the United Nations
Culture of Responsibility and the Role of the NGO’s
Discovering the Real Me (12 student textbooks and 12 teachers’ manual)
UPF Quarterly Magazine: “UPF Today”
UPF Monthly Newsletters
UPF International Day of Families Celebration, UN Hq, May 18, 2009
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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 second half of the
Decade? |
The
initial negative influences at the start of the new century due to the
war on terrorism and security issues posed great challenges towards the
building of a culture of peace throughout the globe. High expectations
were replaced with an atmosphere of fear and distrust among people at
all levels of society. However, progressively, due to consistent
programs of peace-building, it has been very encouraging to see
successful breakthroughs. There are several success cases which
demonstrated that UPF’s involvement had influence in creating a turning
point to avert violence in a province or a national platform,
specifically, in Kenya in the aftermath of the violent elections; in
Sri Lanka, during religious conflicts; in Nepal with the clashes of
Maoists and conservative elements in the government; in Mindanao,
Philippines, with inter-religious strife. UPF’s work in promoting
inter-religious dialogue has gained wide acceptance during recent
years, and is becoming an accepted policy for multi-track diplomacy in
several nations, as well as in the United Nations.
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OBSTACLES: Has your organization faced any obstacles to implementing the culture of peace and nonviolence? If so, what were they?
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Obstacles
to the creating of a culture of peace is violent aggression caused by
national policies, which cause set-backs to the grassroots work.
An example is our work in the Middle East which brought together
religious leaders from the Abrahamic faiths, and succeeded in building
increased trust among Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders.
However, the recent violence in Israel created renewed tensions.
In addition, as the work in peace education and service projects
expand, and as positive responses increase, there is need for adequate
funding to support those initiatives. Lack of funding for expansion is
one obstacle. There is also a need for social responsibility of
media in reporting conflicts.
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PLANS: What new engagements are
planned by your organization in the short, medium and long term to
promote a culture of peace and nonviolence? |
The
Universal Peace Federation is working to establish National Peace
Councils in each nation, and 12 Regional Peace Councils, composed of
governmental, religious, academic and NGO leaders who are committed to
building a culture of peace. The Councils act as “think tanks”
to the government, giving valuable advice on critical issues,
which can solve the problems in the country. UPF continues to promote
the concept of an interfaith body within the United Nations system, to
provide an infrastructure for greater harmony and understanding to be
established, as the means to lasting peace in the world.
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GLOBAL MOVEMENT: How do you think the culture of peace and nonviolence could be strengthened and supported at the world level??
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A
mass movement on the grass roots level is the basis for all people to
begin to recognize the need for a culture of peace, to avoid the future
destruction of our world, and the future suffering of the people. The
creation of partnerships among the organizations which adhere to the
goals of peace-building is an important component in building the
critical mass. Once the culture of peace is popularized,
governments will begin to take serious note of this issue, and will
make official policies and guidelines to actualize the culture of peace
in their nations.
In addition, the emphasis for countries to
establish Ministries of Peace, and to implement “cease-fires” is an
excellent campaign. We should gather signatures or proclamations
from the leaders of the various sectors in society.
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