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Peace Building Leaders Tackle World's Most Pressing Global Issues PDF Print E-mail
Written by happy   
Thursday, 07 January 2010 02:27
First Global Peace Convention Convened in the Philippines from December 10-14, 2009

Early morning, December 14, 134 dignitaries and leaders of peacebuilding efforts from 28 different nations boarded a plane to Mindanao - a region that has been the center of national attention recently.

Globally, Mindanao may be seen as a hot spot of armed conflict and considered "dangerous", but it is also the home of innovative peacebuilding models. These models have attracted leaders of global peace efforts.

Dr.Markandey Rai, Chief of Global Parliamentarians for UN Habitat headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya who was part of the delegation, smiled in awe at what he saw that day. "As Gandhi noted, we must be the change and the peace we seek to bring. One family under God can be a most timely message in advancing peace in global hot spots," he stated.



During the stay in Mindanao, the Global Peace Convention delegation conducted a fact-finding tour to a 'Peace Village.' These 'Peace Villages' are part of the Department of Education's initiative in collaboration with the Mindanao Peace Initiative (MinPI), a project of GPF. They provide a safe place for Muslim-Christian-Indigenous children to experience living together as fellow Filipinos, as they take part in peace education.

MinPI was launched at the Global Peace Festival (GPF) 2008, just months after peacemaking talks broke down and violence ensued in the region. When international agencies pulled out because of the danger, the GPF held its first local Global Peace Festival-Mindanao and marked the turn-around in the region. A multi-faceted approach to peace emerged under MinPI, which involved 17 areas including the government, academia, sports and the youth.


MinPI was highlighted at the first Global Peace Convention and was a major factor for the Philippines being selected as the host nation.

Peace Builders Assemble from Twenty-eight Nations

From December 10-13, 2009, five hundred leaders of the Global Peace Festival movement from twenty-eight nations convened to forge innovation solutions to the world's most pressing issues under its theme of "Peacebuilding 2010: Interfaith, Family, Service."

One of the GPF partners, Rev. Mark Farr, Senior Director for Faith Initiatives at the Points of Light Institute, founded by former US President George H.W. Bush, stated, "The convention brought together a ground breaking coalition of NGOs, non-profits and faith-based groups to begin the process of making peace together for a new century." Since its launching in 2007, over 30 Global Peace Festivals have been held throughout the world reaching over a million global citizens.


GPF has a platform of three pillars essential to peace building: promoting interfaith cooperation, strengthening family, and building a culture of service. The convention brought together international leaders of these GPF efforts for the first time to exchange best practices and to plan for 2010.

Along with the Convention's support for the multi-sectoral Mindanao Peace Initiative, another highlight was the launching of an international service corps to address conflicts and promote the culture of service. Service-oriented partnerships with the Global Peace Service Alliance were announced with the IBM Corporate Service Corps, United Nations Habitat, Sports for Peace, and an innovative digital library project sponsored by Service For Peace and many other organizations.

The Usher's New Look Foundation founded by Grammy award-winning artist Usher Raymond IV, announced a partnership to scale up its Powered by Service campaign from the United States to the international level. The foundation will be providing seed grants and new media support to innovative youth service projects.

The closing plenary was filled with excitement as regions announced plans for Global Peace Festival 2010. A plan to convene a regional interfaith and service-oriented GPF was announced by partners of the Southeast Asian region. Dr. Zaleha Ismail, a Muslim interfaith leader and former Minister of National Unity & Social Development for Malaysia, noted: "We are very happy immediately after the closing that representatives of three nations [Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines] set in motion plans for an October 2010 Asian Global Peace Festival examining [interfaith] solutions in hot spots such as South Thailand and Mindanao."


"We can see that the Global Peace Festivals are collectively achieving a "tipping point for peace" in these nations and is rapidly amassing a global force for good. Each of you is helping to shape that worldwide force for peace and goodness through your participation in this historic convention," stated the founder of the Global Peace Festival Foundation, Dr. Hyun Jin Moon. "Our deliberations here in the Convention, and more importantly, our collective determination and actions for peace which will surely follow, may well determine the future course of peace for our entire world community."
Last Updated on Thursday, 07 January 2010 06:06
 

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What is GPF?

The Global Peace Festival is held every 2 years bringing together activists, NGO's and other organization or institutions that share a common vision for peace, and who wish to assist the United Nations in achieving their Millennium Development Goals. This festival is a platform from which they can all share their ideas and endeavours, and create the opportunity to celebrate their achievements, develop partnerships and launch new initiatives together.

How you can join us?

Partnerships
The Global Peace festival is all about partners supporting and learning from each other. You or your organisation can either make partnerships with the working groups or just simply because you want to support or endorse the GPF project.

Sponsorships
Monetary sponsorship as well as sponsorship in kind e.g. facilitating a venue or service for projects organised by working groups.