International Youth Peace Forum:
Educating for Peace and Sustainability
with featured speaker Dr. Jane Goodall
The September 19th videoconference followed the International Day of Peace Ceremony taking place in the morning at the United Nations. Dr. Goodall and other speakers took part in both activities.
The videoconference examined peace education, youth and sustainability
to accomplish conflict prevention. Speakers
for the September 19th videoconference included:
1 University (in Iowa) and 6 Vermont High Schools totaling over
300 students were connected to the United Nations where Dr. Jane
Goodall
joined several remarkable young people who survived violence
and genocide in Rwanda, Bosnia, Liberia and elsewhere and shared how their
experiences have motivated them to devote their lives to promoting peace
and co-existence. For example, 18-year-old
Jacqueline Murekatete
(from Rwanda) now speaks in schools and other community gatherings with
a man who survived the Holocaust in Germany. Together they share their
experiences and their mission to prevent genocides like those from ever
happening again.
During the videoconference Dr. Goodall shared her inspiring words and accomplishments as well. Students and speakers were able to fully see and interact with each other.
The videoconference was so moving to a reporter covering it at the UN for Education Update (a newspaper that reaches 200,000 parents, educators, and students) that the publication's editor has made our event the Cover Story of their 8th Anniversary issue!
Please contact us to order videotapes ($25 US per copy) of this or the July 9th videoconference with Congressman and Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich: Videoconferences@WeTheWorld.org
Also, there are still openings for University Host Sites for
our upcoming videoconferences. Please contact us if your affiliated University might be interested in participating: (Videoconferences@WeTheWorld.org)
Co-Sponsored by
Transitioners.org
Children of the Earth
Vermont Peace Academy
Good News Broadcast.com
Music Therapists For
Peace
WorldPeaceProductions.org
The Buckminster Fuller Institute
The Global Youth Action
Network
The Foundation for Ethics
and Meaning
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
Communications Coordination Committee of the United Nations
At times of crisis, practices of prevention typically get even
less
media attention than usual. An important way that such ideas and information
can be disseminated is through in-depth discussion on media channels with
wide audiences. This Student Videoconference series offers an appealing
and valuable setting for this to take place.
Each event of this series links Universities, the United Nations and featured speakers. The series is webcast and covered on a variety of media.
In September 2003 the Videoconference Series is being convened in recognition
of Interdependence Day which We, The World launched in September
2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg
South Africa.
Upcoming Videoconferences
Your affiliated University can become one of the Host Sites
for this Videoconference series. Please let us know if your University
would like to participate in the series and
what the available dates
and times are.
Hosts receive acknowledgment during the broadcast, on our website (with a link) and on promotional materials.
Videoconference Format
Videoconferences are facilitated by a Chair at each connecting site.
And there is one overall moderator. After 7-10 minute presentations by
the featured speakers students (and faculty) at each of the connected sites
will have the opportunity to ask questions and interact with the speakers.
Each Videoconference is generally 1 1/2 hours long after which Universities
may resume discussion separately if they wish.
Technical Requirements
Host sites will need to have a videoconference facility that uses an
ISDN line with connection speeds of 256 to 384 kbps (384 is standard offering
much better quality). Connecting via IP may also be an option. (Please
contact us about IP). The Videoconference room should be able to accommodate
at least 20 or more students. Please let us know if your University can
also simultaneously webcast the Videoconference.
Cost to Universities
Youth Forum
Speakers included:
Nana Osei Boakye Yiadom II (Apeadu) - Queenmother/chief of Aburi,
Ghana. and Co-Founder of the Apeadu Peace Center which provides
assistance and advocacy for refugee women and children in Africa. It offers
community teacher training and youth training, creating Youth Ambassadors
who, among other things, are working with young people in a Liberian refugee
camp in Ghana teaching them beadwork skills to bring in money and other
skills they can use. The
Apeadu Center also sponsored an environmental
cleanup that the entire community took part in.
Audrey Kitagawa - Advisor, UN Office of the Special Representative
of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
Andres Guerrero - representative of UNICEF
Lori Heninger - speaker/moderator - Quakers office of the United
Nations, studying the problem of child soldiers being used in conflict
areas.
Heather Moore - Youth Leader from Miracle Corners of the World,
which has assisted young people in establishing micro-enterprises and constructing
a community center in Arusha, Tanzania which today serves as a resource
center for both the local community and volunteers from abroad.
Blair Bodine - Singer, songwriter creating CDs for Children of
the Earth
Jonathan Sawyer - representative of Global Kids
Plus Heather Moore moderated a section of the videoconference for
student project presentations.One student representative from each connected
school site spoke about a successful peace-related project that they initiated.
Also, Nina Meyerhof (Co-Founder, Vermont
Peace Academy; President, Children of the Earth, Co-Founder,
the Apeadu Peace Center)
facilitated a presentation led by Vermont students who are interested in
planning a Vermont Youth Peace Summit to be held in January.
The Videoconference Bridge was provided by the Vermont Interactive
Learning Network. Participating linked sites for the November 5th Videoconference
included:
The United Nations
As usual, the program was fully interactive with students from any of
the linked sites being able to ask questions and connect with the speakers. Our September 19th videoconference connected 8 sites with
over 300 students and faculty participating: The United Nations
(with featured speaker Dr. Jane Goodall and youth speakers who experienced
genocides in such countries as Rwanda, Yugoslavia and Liberia), 1 University
in Iowa and 6 Vermont High Schools who participated as part of the Vermont
Peace Academy's peace education program. A reporter from Education Update
wrote the following about this videoconference:
Our Videoconference Series has the potential to reach a large number
of viewers beyond the immediate participants. The Program Director of PBS
affiliate WYBE in Pennsylvania has agreed to broadcast at least one
of the videoconferences. Visual Voices TV show (which airs in Manhattan,
is simultaneously webcast around the world, and is about to tremendously
increase its distribution) will air excerpts from the videoconferences.
And C-Span has expressed interest as well. Also, videotapes can be distributed
to students at the participating Universities as well as to other educational
institutions and community groups.
Series Panelists:
Possible Host Sites Include
I watched the webcast. I am so proud and happy that you and your people
brought that about. What an important and significant accomplishment. Thank
you.
I belong to several groups I believe will be interested in seeing a
tape of the program, and I will be checking the We the World website for
how to obtaining a couple copies. The descriptions given of tangible ways
to work for peace will offer so many people hope that a world of peace
is actually a possibility. This is greatly needed to counter the despair
and feelings of hopelessness/helplessness that many people are feeling
and expressing given the current political situation.
Again, thank you.
Critical to the progress of this is breaking through the groupthink
and the media barriers that keep this new spirit from getting out and penetrating
our public despair and depression and the resulting stupor.
Thanks so much for this.
congratulations! if there is such a thing as a "coup" for peace (with
which phrase i suspect you'd take issue), this was surely it! i know to
a small degree the months, weeks, days, hours, phone calls, phone conferences,
missed meals and missed sleep you devoted to this amazing product. so many
components - places, people, technical equipment, logistics to coordinate
and unite in one small yet large moment in time.
congratulations, too, to the multitude of people, both before and behind
the cameras and mikes, who took this action with you. i hope you and they
take pride in this remarkable, groundbreaking achievement. as i see it,
only by changing hearts and minds can behavior (possibly) be changed, and
only through communication can hearts and minds (possibly) be changed.
thank you for the effort; thank you for taking that step.
looking forward to your follow-ups,
$350 for each of the University sites (in continental U.S.) covers
the
technical/connection and related costs, including a run-through test
link-up done several
days prior to the actual videoconference. Partial or full "scholarships"
may be available
in certain cases.
American University
The University of Minnesota
The United Nations
The U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Dennis Kucinich
To view the July 9th Videoconference (90 minutes long),
please click on the link below.
NOTE: If the Videoconference is not active at this link,
please send us an email message
(VideoconferenceInfo@WeTheWorld.org)
and we'll contact you when the Videoconference archive is back online.
Archive of We, The World Videoconference July 9, 2003
NOTE: 1) Click on We, The World - Videoconference, 2) Click WMV on the left side.
* Congressman and Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich, who has introduced legislation mandating a Cabinet level Department of Peace in the U.S. government
* Felicity Hill, from the UN Development Organization for Women working for UN Resolution 1325 and for an essential role for women in conflict resolution and peacebuilding
* Mel Duncan, Executive Director of the Nonviolent Peaceforce: international trained, unarmed civilians applying proven nonviolent strategies to protect human rights, deter violence, and help local peacemakers to carry out their work
* Rick Ulfik, Founder and Director of We, The World
* Gemma Adaba (Moderator), UN Representative, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
American University in Washington, D.C., one of the participating Universities, held a special gathering for this Videoconference with about 150 participants, including international conflict resolution practitioners who were participating in the Peacebuilding & Development Summer Institute and came from such diverse countries such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, The Gambia, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Australia, Ethiopia, Japan, Albania, Denmark, and from several Latin American and Caribbean countries; also Greek and Cypriot youth and professionals from the Washington D.C. area including former and current foreign service officers, World Bank, OAS, CARE, Mercy Corps, UNHCR, and The World Affairs Council officials. In addition, Master's degree students from fields such as International Peace & Conflict Resolution and International Development also participated in the Videoconference.
Peace in Action
November 5, 2003
George Mason University (Washington DC)
Mills College (California)
Several Vermont High Schools participating in the Vermont Peace
Academy's Peace Education Program
Videoconference Series topics:
(Practices Of Prevention That Build Peace And Security helping to create a sustainable planet with peaceful co-existence among all peoples and respect for all life:)
- fund the transition from fossil fuels to renewable non-polluting energy sources worldwide
- support business responsibility regarding labor, the environment and other areas
- promote the multilateral framework of the United Nations, its institutions and its legal instruments for resolving international conflicts
- establish a Department or Ministry of Peace in every country
- promote peacebuilding through insuring basic human needs worldwide such as food, water and shelter
- support universal access to healthcare and all components of healthy living including: sanitary living conditions, chemical-free food and water, pollution-free land, sea and air
- provide significant funding for public media that are independent of special interests
- promote peace education programs at all grade levels
- prioritize nonviolent forms of communication at all levels from personal to international
- promote peacebuilding through empowering women
- promote peacebuilding through Interfaith dialogue and understanding
- support the creation of democratic practices and institutions worldwide.
- support the use of field-tested programs in nonviolent intervention such as nonviolent civilian peacekeeping forces
- support the mediation of conflict
- reduce weapons sales
- reduce and eliminate stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction worldwide
- support disarmament talks and treaties
Click here to get involved!
PARTICIPANTS, VIEWERS AND MEDIA COVERAGE
Our July 9th videoconference connected 4 sites: The United Nations,
American University (in Washington, DC), the University of Minnesota, and
the House of Representatives with featured speaker Congressman Dennis
Kucinich (who has introduced legislation mandating a Cabinet level
Department of Peace in the U.S. government). The total number of participating
students and faculty was over 150. Close to 300 others watched
the webcast of this videoconference and many more have since watched
it and continue to watch it on the internet. Also, excerpts from this Videoconference
were broadcast on the INN Report with a viewership of tens of thousands
of people via the Dish Network. Utne Magazine website ran a feature
story on this videoconference and the series entitled "All About Solutions".
Hello Rick. Thank you again so much for providing me with the
opportunity to observe the videoconference today. It was very moving and
my Publisher (Dr. Pola Rosen) and myself have decided to make the story
the feature in our November issue... Michelle Accorso
Education Update is an award-winning eight-year-old newspaper
that reaches 200,000 readers including: teachers, principals, superintendents,
members of the Board of Regents, college presidents, deans of education,
foundation heads, parents and high school and college students. Their
website receives 1.8 million hits per month. They did indeed make
our videoconference the lead story in their November issue. Click
here to see it!
Dr. Jane Goodall (Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research)
- Sept. 19, 2003 participant
Congressman Dennis Kucinich - July 9, 2003 participant
Felicity Hill (UN Development Organization for Women, working
for UN Resolution 1325 and the essential role of women in conflict resolution
and peacebuilding) - July 9, 2003 participant
Mel Duncan (Executive Director of the Nonviolent Peaceforce)
- July 9, 2003 participant
Ashok Gangadean (Co-Founder and Director, Global Dialogue Institute)
- confirmed
Jonathan Granoff (President, Global Security Institute) - confirmed
Carol Barton (Coordinator of Womens International Coalition
for Economic Justice) - confirmed
Audrey Kitagawa (Advisor, UN Office of the Special Representative
of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict) - Sept. 19, 2003
participant
Alice Slater (Lawyers Committee for Nuclear Policy) - confirmed
John Langmore (Director of International Labor Liaison Office
in New York City) - confirmed
Amy Goodman (Journalist and host of Pacifica's Democracy
Now) - confirmed
Hazel Henderson (Consultant on sustainable development, Board
Member of Worldwatch Institute; world renowned futurist; originated the
Calvert-Henderson Quality-of-Life Indicators) - confirmed
Richard Falk (Professor of International Law, Princeton University)
Raphael Piroman (Public Broadcast System TV Host, Channel Thirteen,
New York)
United Nations - confirmed
(The UN Dept. of Public Information has arranged for the UN to provide
their videoconference facilities for this program)
University of Minnesota - July 9, 2003 participant
American University (Wash. DC) - July 9, 2003 participant
George Mason University (Wash. DC)
New Mexico State University
University of California, Santa Barbara
Temple University (Pennsylvania)
University of California, Berkely
University of California, Irvine
Eastern University (Pennsylvania)
DePaul University (Chicago)
John Jay College (New York)
Georgetown University
University of Pennsylvania
City University of NY Graduate Center
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität (Bonn, Germany)
European Union Student Counsil
the July 9, 2003 Videoconference
Rick,
Beverly Stern
Dear Rick Ulfik,
It is wonderful to hear good news for a change, from the doers.
It is dawning on me that there exist an enormous really enormous spontaneous
uncentralized practical peace and justice effort worldwide based on the
economic fundamentals of social justice. It certainly is challenging the
perverse and evil dominants of the moment. Perhaps sometime soon it can
start diminishing and isolating them. I really do think something big and
good can happen. There's too much energy for it to be contained.
Yours, Tom Blandy
dear rick,
barbara j hunter
Ways for you to become involved (choose one or more!)
1. Your College, University, Community Center or Community TV station can become one of the Host Sites for our Videoconference series. Hosts receive acknowledgment during the broadcast, on our website (with a link) and on promotional materials.
We are looking to confirm more University sites for each of our upcoming videoconferences.
Please let us know if your College, University or Community TV station is interested in participating. HostSites@WeTheWorld.org.
2. You or your business/organization can become a FINANCIAL SPONSOR at one of these levels:
|
Friend: Supporter: Benefactor: Patron: Founder: Other: |
$500 $1000 $2500 $5000 $10000 $_____ |
Back to We, The World Homepage