2008 Gwangju International Peace Forum

15-18 May 2008 

Gwangju, ROK 

On the eve of the upcoming 30^th Anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising, this is the time to strengthen and consolidate the gains of the Gwangju International Peace Forum. Also next year will be the 10^th year Anniversary when the foundation started conducting its international gathering in 1999 which later on was called as Gwangju International Peace Camp in 2004.

The peace camp or the forum has been a platform for NGO and human rights activists to network. The gathering has been an opportunity for voices to be heard, for shared lessons and information and advocacy to be made known and supported. Although the foundation may have not been very strong on its follow through effort, nonetheless the initiative was strong in gathering individuals and organizations to participate and interact in these fora.

For this year a similar attempt like last year to decentralize discussion shall take place. In 2007 there were three simultaneous sessions including a general session for all. This year we have five organizations to host different sessions. It will be a simulation of a mini-social forum where different issues and topics are discussed involving multi-stakeholders of several civil society groups of Asia.

We hope that by 2010 we will be ready to host a bigger forum or even host an Asian Social Forum that will focus on human rights, democracy and peace, thus, highlighting the unique contribution and significant role of Gwangju and Korea along this theme. But, this will only be possible with the valuable input and contribution from among human rights activists, partner NGOs and networks.   

The Gwangju International Peace Forum aims to strengthen international solidarity between domestic and foreign activists working for democracy, human rights and peace. Some 150 participants usually join this forum. During the program, the participants will have the opportunity to participate in the official ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the May 18 Gwangju Uprising and pray for the victims souls to rest in peace. The participants will also be invited to attend the 2008 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Award ceremony.  

Process and Timeline

2006 – The May 18 Memorial Foundation held the preparatory meeting for the Gwangju Network for Democracy Movements in Asia with the participating organizations of the 2^nd Gwangju Forum on Asian Human Rights.

2007 – A second meeting of a group named as International Advisory Committee; the conveners discussed how to make the symposium or forum output more concrete and sustainable. The following agreement where identified:

1) Immediate solidarity for issues concerning democracy and human rights

2) Monitoring mechanism – visits to participating countries (election monitoring)

3) More dynamic media relation among media practitioners and production of audio-visual materials related to democratic uprisings in Asia

4) Develop an education program to nurture youth to become activists

Last year, the 2007 Gwangju International Peace Forum began a foundational process of establishing a regional network for action among democracy advocates, human rights defenders and social movement activists based on the collective experiences of struggle for democracy and human rights and sense of solidarity created among the participants.  Its main purpose is to promote regional cooperation for democratization based on people’s rights and empowerment vis-à-vis repeated violence and atrocities inflicted by states as experienced in different societies in Asia. It will strive to complement (inclusive), provide added-value and synergy (action-oriented and victims-responsive) to the work of existing organizations, networks or coalitions in Asia.

The 2008 Gwangju International Peace Forum will be successful with the active participation and engagement of all its participants. 

2008 Gwangju International Peace Forum

□ Overview

￮ Period : 2008 May 15~18.

￮ Venue : May 18 Memorial Culture Center

￮ Hosted : The Committee of 28th May Anniversary

￮ Co-organized : ARENA, National Human Rights Commission, Asia Institute, Citizens for Decent Housing, The May 18 Memorial Foundation

￮ Supported by : Korea Democracy Foundation, Busan Democratic Movement Memorial Association

□ Objective

￮ To spread the spirit of the May 18 democratic uprising and provide a venue for Asian democracy movements to network.

￮ Aiming to become a hub-city of democratization movement in Asia, we recognize the need to develop Gwangju International Peace Forum as a platform to engage civil society movements to dialogue on peace, human rights and democracy.

□ Past progress

□ Plan

￮ 2008. January : Culture and Solidarity Committee Meeting

￮ 2008. February : Selecting and contacting invitees

￮ 2008. March : Meeting with cosponsors, Sending invitations.

￮ 2008. April : Promote on among local and overseas organizations

￮ 2008. May : Holding of events.

Related Links: 

2008 May 18 Events

http://518folkschool.blogspot.com/2008/05/may-events.html