PyeongChang Peace Forum 2022
International Day of UN Peacekeepers
2021 Theme
The road to a lasting peace: Leveraging the power of youth for peace and security
The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, 29 May, offers a chance to pay tribute to the uniformed and civilian personnel’s invaluable contribution to the work of the Organization and to honour more than 4,000 peacekeepers who have lost their lives serving under the UN flag since 1948, including 130 last year
This year, the challenges and threats faced by our peacekeepers are even greater than ever as they, like people around the world, are having to cope not only with the COVID-19 pandemic but also the continued requirement to support and protect the people in the countries in which they are based.
The theme for this year’s Day is “The road to a lasting peace: Leveraging the power of youth for peace and security.”
Today, tens of thousands of young peacekeepers (between the ages of 18 and 29 years) are deployed around the world and play a major role in helping the missions implement their mandated activities including the protection of civilians. And UN peace operations — in line with a series of Security Council resolutions (2250, 2419 and 2535) — are increasing their collaboration with youth and youth groups to help build sustainable peace and implement their mandates on the ground.
The first UN peacekeeping mission was established on 29 May 1948, when the Security Council authorized the deployment of a small number of UN military observers to the Middle East to form the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) to monitor the Armistice Agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
Since then, more than 1 million women and men have served in 72 UN peacekeeping operations, directly impacting the lives of millions of people and saving countless lives. Today, UN Peacekeeping deploys more than 89,000 military, police and civilian personnel in ;12 operations.
To mark the Day at the UN Headquarters in New York on 27 May, the Secretary-General will lay a wreath in honour of all peacekeepers who have lost their lives while serving under the UN flag over the past seven decades. And a virtual ceremony will be held at which the Dag Hammarskjold medal will be awarded posthumously to peacekeepers who lost their lives in 2020 and in January 2021. The Military Gender Advocate of the Year award will also be presented at the virtual ceremony.
To keep apprised of this year’s events and learn more about the origins of this observance, visit un.org/en/observances/peacekeepers-day.
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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@gmail.com or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity, please email the vice chair at susanneseperson@gmail.com.
International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace
The International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace was established on 12 December, 2018 through resolution A/RES/73/127 and was first observed on April 24, 2019.
Preserving the values of multilateralism and international cooperation, which underpin the UN Charter and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is fundamental to promote and support the three pillars of the UN – peace and security, development and human rights.
The international norms and rules-based system that have steered nations through seven decades must rise to meet the mounting challenges of protectionism and isolationism. Global issues such as climate change, geopolitical tensions, humanitarian and migratory crises are cross-cutting, implicating the values and interests of nations and necessitate collective attention and action. Technological advancement has also impacted the political and socio-economic landscape and inter-state relations.
As emphasized in the resolution, the International Day is a reaffirmation of the UN Charter and its principles of resolving disputes among countries through peaceful means. It acknowledges the use of multilateral decision-making and diplomacy in achieving peaceful resolutions to conflicts among nations.
To learn more about how we commemorate this observance and read the UN Secretary-General’s comments on it, click here: un.org/en/observances/Multilateralism-for-Peace-day.
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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@gmail.com or bknotts@uua.org.
An NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security Discussion: Spending to Increase Nuclear Danger
Join the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security as we discuss how in the midst of an economic and public health crisis, the US is set to spend hundreds of billions on new nuclear weapons which could never be used, add nothing to national security, and actually increase the risk of nuclear war. Funding for these extremely dangerous weapons systems will come up soon in Congress. The NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security presents three leaders to clarify the key issues and discuss possible plans of action.
Register here!
Speakers:
Bruce Knotts has directed the Unitarian Universalist Office at the United Nations since 2008. Before that, he served as a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State with notable service during the Nairobi Embassy bombing 1998, Embassy Khartoum, Sudan, Regional Refugee Coordinator for West Africa and Deputy Chief of Mission in The Gambia. His final tour was in the Bureau of International Organization at the Department of State.
Dr. John Burroughs is Senior Analyst for the New York City-based Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy. He has represented LCNP in Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty meetings and negotiations on the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons. His articles and op-eds have appeared in publications including Fordham International Law Journal, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Arms Control Today, Newsweek, and Newsday.
Jackie Cabasso has been Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, based in Oakland, California, since 1984. In 1995 she was a “founding mother” of the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons, and she continues to serve on its Coordinating Committee. Since 2007 she has served as an Executive Advisor to Mayors for Peace. In the U.S., she is a National Co-convener of United for Peace and Justice. Jackie was the 2008 recipient of the International Peace Bureau’s Sean MacBride Peace Award.
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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Peace (Vienna), email its Chair, Helga Kerschbaum at helga.kerschbaum@aon.at
UN Office at Geneva and World Academy of Art and Science lead e-Conference on Global Leadership in the 21st Century; partners include CoNGO
UPDATE: See UNOG news release.
14 December 2020, New York City (CoNGO InfoNews) – An e-conference on Global Leadership in the 21st Century will be held on 15 and 16 December, under the joint leadership of the United Nations Office at Geneva and the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS). The Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO) is one among 24 partner organizations from the UN System, academia, civil society, foundations and the private sector.
In an advance message, CoNGO President Liberato C. Bautista said: “Global leadership today must have a focus and a locus at once local and global. It will require transborder and transnational organizing, and mobilizing for glocal consciousness and action.”
At this two-day conference, the results of a year-long project to develop catalytic strategies to address the challenges of global leadership facing the world will be presented. Online events will include sessions on peace and human security, economy and employment, health and food security, environment, finance, education, civil society, the media, youth networks, social movements, and integration of research and implementation.
Speakers include UN Office at Geneva Director General Tatiana Valovaya, Columbia University Center for Sustainable Development Director Jeffrey Sachs, actress and activist Jane Fonda, WAAS President and CEO Garry Jacobs, and numerous political, civil society and thought leaders from around the world.
The President of CoNGO, Liberato C. Bautista, will address the conference at 11:00AM (Geneva) | 05:00AM (New York) at the panel on “Mobilizing Civil Society: Building Global Social Consciousness”.
For further information and registration, please see http://bit.ly/3oGUtOO, the agenda and schedule at https://bit.ly/3gNcuYF and speaker bios here. Videos will be available online after the event, at the World Academy of Art and Science.
Nuclear Weapon Free World: Global civil society commemoration of the UN Day for Nuclear Abolition
September 26, 2020, will be the 7th International Day for Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
Join people around the world in celebrating the vision of a nuclear weapons free world, raising awareness and calling on their leaders to advance nuclear disarmament.
Organised by #WeThePeoples2020, an initiative of over 100 participating organizations, to promote and engage in the 75th anniversary of the United Nations and key UN days and events.
The Nuclear Weapon Free World event takes place in two parts:
Part 1: Timed to suit people in Asia and the Pacific
Part 2: Timed to suit people in the Americas, Europe and Africa
Registration:
- Click here to register for Part 1: Asia/Pacific event
- Click here to register for Part 2: Americas/Europe/Africa event
Each part will have three sessions:
Session 1: 10-12 presentations on nuclear disarmament issues
Session 2: Practical workshops on key approaches to nuclear disarmament, including using the arts, how to move the nuclear weapons budgets/investments to better things, how to engage and empower women and youth, how to engage your legislators (mayors, parliamentarians)…
Session 3: A panel discussion followed by Q&A on how to achieve nuclear disarmament, how to move the nuclear-armed states to relinquish nuclear deterrence, the role of non-nuclear states, how to build on the connections between nuclear disarmament and other key UN issues.
PROGRAM:
Moderators:
- Part 1: Vanda Proskova (Czech Republic), Deputy Chair of the PragueVision Institute for Sustainable Security, PNND Program Director for Women, Peace and Security;
- Part 2: Kehkashan Basu (UAE/Canada), Youth Ambassador for the World Future Council, former United Nations Environment Programme Global Coordinator for Children & Youth, and winner of the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize.
Opening comments:
- Part 1: Yuriy Kryvonos (United Nations), Director of the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific;
- Part 2: Izumi Nakamitsu (United Nations), UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.
Presentations, messages and panels with:
Maria Fernanda Espinosa (Ecuador), President of the 73rd UN General Assembly (2018-2019), former Ecuador Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence and a poet; Mani Shankar Aiyar (India), Chair of the Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan Group for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free and Nonviolent World Order and former member of the Indian Parliament; Yasmeen Silva (USA), Partnerships Manager for Beyond the Bomb; Solomon Yeo (Solomon Islands), Co-founder of World Youth for Climate Justice; Prof Azza Karam (Netherlands), Secretary-General of Religions for Peace; Gareth Evans (Australia), Chair of the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network or Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament and Co-convenor of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament; Dr Hedy Fry MP (Canada), Special Representative on Gender Issues for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); Rev Emma Jordan-Simpson (USA), Executive Director of Fellowship of Reconciliation USA; Karipbek Kuyukov (Kazakhstan), Artist, second generation victim of nuclear tests and Honorary Ambassador of the ATOM Project; Jeremy Corbyn (UK), Vice-President of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and former Leader of the UK Labour Party; Kathleen Burkinshaw (USA), Daughter of a Hiroshima nuclear bomb survivor and Author of The Last Cherry Blossom; Mikyung LEE (Republic of Korea), President of the Korea International Cooperation Agency; John Hallam (Australia), People for Nuclear Disarmament and the Human Survival Project; Jackie Cabasso (USA), Director of Western States Legal Foundation and North America Coordinator for Mayors for Peace, Fabian Hamilton MP (UK), Shadow Minister for Peace and Disarmament; Douglas Roche (Canada), Former Senator, Member of Parliament and Canadian Disarmament Ambassador; Marzhan Nurzhan (Kazakhstan), Convenor of the Abolition 2000 Youth Network, PNND Coordinator for CIS (former Soviet) Countries; Bill Kidd (Scotland), Convener of the Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Nuclear Disarmament; Ela Gandhi (South Africa), Founder of the Gandhi Development Trust; Kelly Slater (USA), 11 times world surfing champion; Cynthia Lazaroff (USA), Founder, NuclearWakeUpCall.Earth, Antony Owen (UK), Poet and Patron of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Sooyoung Hwang (South Korea), Disarmament Program Manager, Peoples Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, General Bernard Norlain (France), Vice-President, Initiatives pour le Désarmement Nucléaire. Former Air Defense Commander and Air Combat Commander of the French Air Force; and more to come.
Event outline and program: Click here for the event flyer and program outline with session times. Click here for the full program. Click here for guidance on taking specific action.
For further information contact vanda@pnnd.org or info@unfoldzero.org.
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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com.
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