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Yes, says Mohammed B.
Attah in a paper titled: Reprogramming
Volunteers Towards Peace Building in a Democratic
Setting at the 18th International Association
of Educators for World Peace (IAEWP) World Peace
Congress and First International Martial Arts Festival
on October 29-31,at the Sunway Resort Hotel and Sunway
Pyramid Convention Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
"Let me therefore begin by
congratulating the initiators, the sponsors and
supporters of this peace forum for taking steps toward
building a culture of peace in the universe. The
involvement of stakeholders from all facets of life is
an indicator for peace action. I am particularly
impressed with the level and quality of investment as
well as the role of the government of Malaysia. This is
a unique gathering and the theme ‘PEACE AS A TOOL FOR
GLOBAL INTEGRATION’ cannot be more appropriate at this
time.
In conveying my perspectives on
the topic of today, which is to redirect the focus,
actions and thoughts of individual volunteer as the
vanguards for peace in a democracy, I will not bore you
with definitions, as we have heard from various speakers
and authorities in the last two days. Let me therefore
acknowledge the presentation by His Excellency, Rt.
Honorable Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Prime
Minister of Malaysia, Honorable Dato Seri Azalina
Othman, Minister of Tourism for Malaysia and Dr. Leo
Semashko that spoke on ‘General Harmonious Education
as an Effective Way to the Indestructible Global
Peace’. I have particularly recognized this speaker
because his expositions on the topic are in tandem with
my thoughts.
Since democracy is the most
reliable cushion for the security of people and
human rights, it therefore involves citizens’ role in
every facets of community and national development.
Democracy thrives in times of peace, tranquility and
harmony. It is the responsibility of all individuals,
organizations, government and other stakeholders to
build and keep the peace. In essence, we should all take
action towards ensuring peaceful co-existence of
everyone. As the fundamental spirit of democratic norms
states that ‘what touches all must be approved
by all’. I believe as stakeholders in peace
building, this statement clearly applies to all of us.
It is not in doubt that the
burden of peace building in a multi-ethnic and
multi-religious society like ours is over-bearing.
Therefore, we cannot afford to allow ourselves to be
swayed by sentiments nor detract from the ultimate
responsibility of healing the wounds of the society. It
is in response to this that you and I must take the lead
in Volunteering for Peace in these trying times
of our lives.
Volunteering has gone from one
step to another, and develops from a stage higher than
before. As it has now become everybody’s business, so
also is the need for peace education that serves as tool
to matching the challenges of peace. Therefore if
volunteers are to succeed in their work, they need to
inculcate peace education as Prof. Charles Mercieca,
President, IAEWP said in USA 1995 ‘Education is a tool
that has the power to hopefully lead people from
ignorance into knowledge, from obscurity to charity of
mind, then peace education, is a tool that has the power
to procure peace and eliminate conflict on a local,
national and global scale’
In contemporary history, people
are discovering more positive ways to understanding each
other, a situation that is made possible by democracy.
While democracy provides full security for freedom and
peace, education maintains what democracy provides. But
the drivers of this change are the individuals that
offer themselves in service for the benefit of others.
They are the volunteers, they are people like you and
I.
We must acknowledge that the
world is witnessing commitments by organizations and
individuals on peace building. And I hasten to say;
these works of patriots and nation builders have
impacted greatly in our lives. In an address to the
Global Peace Festival of the Universal Peace
Federation on September 21 this year, Hon. José de
Venecia, Jr. Chairman of CDI-Asia Pacific while
addressing the growth wing said and I quote “You are
here because you love your country and people, and you
are now ready to take the lead in the search for peace.
You know that peace is not a choice. It is the
imperative of your generation”. I believe this also
is a driving force for our gathering here today. Similar
peace gathering occurred earlier on September 1 in the
Middle East under the auspices of the Universal Peace
Federation, UPF titled “Young Palestinian and
Israelis Forge Path of Peace”. Another US-based
international organization working for peace since 80s,
Fellowship of Reconciliation, FOR, to which I have the
honor of identifying with, is also in the forefront of
championing peace issues across the universe. FOR is a
global network of volunteers from different facets of
lives and engage issues of global concern. One of the
most recent in their global peace efforts is the
September 24 historic meeting between the President of
Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and 150 leaders in the US
Peace and Anti-war Community.
In 2003 while observing the
trend in global peace initiatives and their impacts on
our youths, the Rev.Moon Foundation in South Korea,
sponsored a project tagged ‘Play Soccer, Make Peace
(PSMP)’ in 44 nations across the world. The peace
project, which was executed by the World Association of
Non-Governmental Organizations, WANGO featured in
Africa, Asia, Europe and the Pacific. Because of the
implication of using soccer to unite youths from
different backgrounds, today PSMP is engaging young
people and grooming them as peace educators. For me,
volunteers are gradually being programmed for the good
of their community. Kaduna State in Nigeria where I come
from had witnessed series of communal clashes in the
year 2000. With PSMP youths are recruited for the cause
of Peace. We now have youth volunteers taking the
lead by organizing themselves in groups to actualize the
objectives of PSMP.
Despite these giant steps, there
are still challenges to our peaceful co-existence. And
this is why volunteers must be available and on the
increase. They must be re-educated, refocused and
re-strategized for civilized development. They (we) must
adhere to the principle of re-programming, which is,
autonomy in participation, cooperation and complementary
among others. We must build this in our minds and in the
minds of our successor generations, as we engage in our
daily activities:
The task of peace building must
be embraced by all – the family, the community leaders
and traditional rulers, educational institutions, the
media, NGOs, sub and regional organizations, and in
particular the organs of United Nations. We must
encourage more and new initiatives on peace .We must
build more volunteers among our successors generation
for history to record for us. We need to support
the works of organizations such as the organizers of
this meeting, International Association of Education for
World Peace (IAEWP), and others like Service for Peace,
Volunteers for Peace and Peace Corps among hundreds
spread across the world.
It is my humble recommendation
that everyone should volunteer to keep and maintain
peace, and reprogramming volunteers towards peace
building is inevitable, unavoidable, necessary and
urgent. Further, IAEWP will do more on peace if they
incorporate as part of their activities, steps to engage
individual on fieldwork. To this, I recommend an
extension program to be called ‘International
Association of Volunteers for World Peace,
IAVWP’
One
Day of Peace
Is this possible? Yes, it is
possible! With volunteer like you and I, we would move
mountains! An International Day of Peace is the biggest
minus in peace efforts worldwide. The United Nations
(UN) with all its powers, tentacles and resources
declared several public holidays to remember and urge
citizens around the globe of their commitments in
upholding certain ideals. But so far, what we are yet to
witness is the International Day of Peace –
ONE DAY OF PEACE – where everyone, beginning from
the UN Secretary General, President of the United States
of America, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Malaysia,
Zimbabwe plus you and I, will observe a Special
Day free from violence, rancor, hatred and
conflicts. A day for everyone to think of peace and
love, a day to forgive the sad past, a day of goodwill,
and day for world peace.
On this One Day of Peace,
there will be cease-fire where there is war, neighbors
will visit neighbors, national leaders will communicate
each other and everyone will proclaim and learn to live
by it. It will be a historic peace education that only
reprogramming will achieve as the world gradually works
towards democracy. IAEWP and other advocates can lead in
this initiative. And interestingly, October 30 at
a time when the World Peace Festival and World
Peace Congress are taking place in Malaysia, could
serve as this Special Day of Peace.
Appeal
In the course of preparing for
this event, we are reliably informed that the Prime
Minister of Malaysia, Rt. Hon. Badawi will be retiring
early next year. Malaysia under his leadership and those
before him has enjoyed inconceivable peace over
the years. And hosting these two global peace
forums at this time is a further demonstration of that
fact of peace building across the world. Because of
emerging realities about the position of Asia in global
leadership, I would like to join many in congratulating
Hon. Badawi for a successful tenure. And as he
RETIRES from active public service, he should not
be TIRED to do more for humanity. He should, in
retirement join other world leaders to push for this
much-needed global
peace.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the time
is now, and the responsibility is yours to volunteer
your time, energy and resources for the sake of our
society. You can be a positive influence for global
peace, and for the joy and goodness in the world.Thank
you.
*Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October
31, 2008.
*Attah is the Africa Regional
Coordinator, World Association of Non-Governmental
Organizations, WANGO , Managing Editor, NGO Network
Magazine and a director Newsdiary Communications Limited
publisher of Newsdiaryonline.com.At the end of the three
day event attended by over 500 speakers, grand masters
of martial arts and peace advocates from across the
globe, Attah, the lead speaker from Africa received two
special awards for excellent presentation and a session
chair.
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