Fwd: GPPAC Newsletter September

[Tamaki Hosoe]

Subject:	GPPAC Newsletter September
Date:	Fri, 13 Sep 2013 13:46:35 +0000
From:	GPPAC <in...@gppac.net>

Welcome to the GPPAC Newsletter September Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.   Dear friends, The Middle East continues to dominate the agenda of those working on conflict prevention. The violence in Egypt has once again underlined that there is no easy political transition from an authoritarian regime to democratic governance. The violence in Syria shows the continued massive challenges for the international community to respond effectively and provide at least some form of protection to civilians, let alone a way forward to a political solution of the conflict. Both situations manifest the devastation of violence in human lives, and should encourage us to do more to stop it.  The world needs a workable concept of security which starts from the perspective of ordinary people. It is an important reason why GPPAC in collaboration with IKV Pax Christi is initiating a new campaign to put ‘Human Security First’. We will give a voice to peoples’ perspectives on Human Security, engage with the United Nations, Governments and other actors to promote human security, for example in the reform of military and police. We will also advocate for the inclusion of a Human Security goal in the post-2015 development framework.  More information will be available soon which we will share with you.  You can read about other work and activities in this issue of our bi-monthly GPPAC newsletter. I hope you will appreciate reading Peter van Tuijl Executive Director   For more information about GPPAC, please click here.  GPPAC Delegation to the DPRK GPPAC Executive Director Peter van Tuijl and Northeast Asia Regional Liaison Officer Meri Joyce paid an official visit to North Korea at the end of July. As a follow- up to the visit of a GPPAC delegation in October 2012, GPPAC was invited by the Korean National Peace Committee to attend the events marking the 60th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice. During the visit, further agreements were established on several joint activities for 2014. For the full report, please click here.  Help us realize this peace project in the Middle East by voting! We have entered a funding competition from ASN Bank for a collection of stories of peace initiatives taking place amid the turmoil of the Arab Spring. We hope you will help by taking a moment to vote on the competition page. You can read the about the background of the project in English, but the voting mechanism is in Dutch: Vote by clicking the orange ‘Stem op dit project’ button on the right, filling in your name and e-mail address, clicking the green button, and finally by clicking the confirmation link that will be sent to your e-mail. Thank you! GPPAC meeting in South Africa GPPAC members from across Southern Africa met in Pretoria on 1 and 2 August to discuss the peace and security situation in the region, and how GPPAC can contribute to addressing issues there in the coming two years. As became clear from the members' country reports, there are several issues which affect stability and human security across the region: democratic deficit, electoral tensions and violence, disarmament and reintegration of former combatants. Read more. Peace Gallery Challenge Exhibition To celebrate the centennial anniversary  of the Peace Palace in the Hague, The Netherlands, GPPAC with the support of the Municipality of The Hague organised an online contest for artists from around the world to share their work, telling a story of peace. The five winning artworks are currently displayed in the exhibition "100 years Peace Palace" in The Hague City Hall. The exhibition was officially opened on 3 September. You can see the winners and their artwork of peace here.  GPPAC meeting in Northeast Asia From 2-7 August GPPAC Northeast Asia members came together in Taipei for their annual meeting to update and plan conflict prevention and peacebuilding activities for the next year. Their  meetings started with an international dialogue conference in regards to the territorial disputes in the region, 'seeking peace from oceanic perspectives." Tensions in the region are increasing, and the meeting focused on how civil society can practically contribute to peaceful resolution of the situation. Read more. From the Peace Portal The Breaking the Nuclear Chain community has recently been relaunched. Currently our member, Peace Boat is sharing stories of the Hibakusha (surviving victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) who are participating in the Global Voyage for a Nuclear-Free World: Peace Boat Hibakusha Project.  Some of the latest stories include their visits to countries such as India, Turkey and Italy, sharing their experiences, and also remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki 68 years later. Read the stories here. GPPAC in the media 'Why citizens shrug at Regional Organizations,' by Darynell Rodriguez Torres, GPPAC Programme Manager Policy and Advocacy. 'NGOs plan peace declaration for cooperative sea exploration, interview with Chien Hsi-Chieh, chief executive Tawian Peace Foundation and GPPAC member North East Asia. 'Trigger-happy: Families refuse to give up guns at home,' interview with Fadi Abi Allam, Director of Permanent Peace Movement and Regional Representative GPPAC MENA.   follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend  Copyright © 2013 Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you are in GPPAC Contacts list. If you want to be removed or if you think you have been added by error, please use the UNSUBSCRIBE link at the bottom of this email to remove your contact from our database. Thank you. Our mailing address is: Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict Laan Van Meerdervoort 70 Den Haag, Zuid Holland 2517 AN Netherlands Add us to your address book

Letter from Einstein to Freud
To Sigmund Freud
A private letter written around 1931 or the beginning of 1932.

Dear Professor Freud:

 ... (skipped)
  The political leaders or governments owe their position partly to force and partly to popular election. They can not be regarded as representative of the best elements, morally or intellectually, in their respective nations. (Einstein must mean "political leaders" by national leaders.) The intellectual elite have no direct influence on the history of nations in these days; their lack of cohesion prevents them taking a direct part in the solution of contemporary problems. Don't you think that a change might be brought about in this respect by a free association of people whose previous achievements and actions constitute a guarantee of their ability and purity of aim? This association of an intellectual nature, whose members would need to keep in touch with each other by a constant interchange of opinions, might, by defining its attitude by the Press  -- responsibility always resting with the signatories on any given occasion -- acquire a considerable and salutary moral inf
luence over the settlement of political questions. (...skipped) But should not an effort in this direction be risked in spite of this? I look upon such an attempt as nothing less than an IMPERATIVE DUTY.

  If an intellectual association of standing, such as I have described, could be formed, it would also have to make a consistent effort to mobilize the religious organizations for the fight against war. It would give countenance to many whose good intentions are paralyzed totally by a melancholy resignation. Finally, I believe that an association formed of persons such as I have described, each highly esteemed in his own line, would be well suited to give valuable moral support to those elements in the League of Nations which are really working toward the great objective for which that institution exists.

  I had rather put these proposals to you than to anyone else in the world, because you, least of all men, are the dupe of your desires and because your critical judgment is supported by a most grave sense of responsibility.

Ideas and Opinions by Albert Einstein, p. 104. 1954. ISBN 0-517-55601-4


forwarded by
Tamaki Hosoe, Physiotherapist, Wasa, servant of harmony (^o_) Japan

P.S.
Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC)
軍事紛争解決のためのグローバル パートナーシップ (GPPAC) は、前国連事務総長 Kofi Annan 氏の肝いりで結成された世界の市民運動の緩やかな連帯である。東アジアの責任 NGO はピースボートである。英文ニュースすら年一度９月にしか届いていないし、日本では核軍縮運動、9条世界会議運動すらすでに忘れ去られた印象しかない。第五福竜丸(焼津市)の久保山愛吉さんの死を賭けたメッセージ never again によって水爆実験も中止、日本は広島、長崎はむろんとして、核廃絶運動の先頭に立ってきた。

被爆者、犠牲者の痛みをきちんと分かち合う事ができるのか? 福島以後、移り気な日本人の市民運動に問われていはしないだろうか?

[Tamaki Hosoe]

Friends,

attached GPPAC (軍事紛争解決のためのグローバル パートナーシップ) visit to DPRK (朝鮮民主主義人民共和国) from the newsletter:
http://www.gppac.net/documents/130221585/0/GPPAC_DPRK_2013TripReport+Final+%282%29.pdf


GPPAC Delegation and KNPC Representatives in Pyongyang

GPPAC Delegation to the DPRK July 2013
The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) is a world-wide civil society network that works to promote conflict prevention and peacebuilding. It was established in 2003 upon a call by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his 2001 report ‘Prevention of Armed Conflict’ to move from reaction to prevention. GPPAC is structured through fifteen regional networks covering the globe, which are formed by civil society organisations, NGOs and research institutions expert in peacebuilding and conflict prevention.

GPPAC Delegation and KNPC Representatives in Pyongyang
GPPAC has been conducting a series of preparatory activities to promote civil society dialogue for the creation of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, and for peace and stability in the region. This has been a longstanding priority for the GPPAC Northeast Asia regional network, and various activities have included engagements with governments, policymakers and other stakeholders in member countries of the Six party Talks, as well as the participation of Pyongyang based partner organisation the Korean National Peace Committee (KNPC) in GPPAC Northeast Asia's annual meetings in 2011 and 2012. The KNPC was founded in 1949 with the objectives of easing tension and military confrontation on the Korean Peninsula, achieving peaceful reunification and promoting co-operation with other peace and disarmament organisations. ...

read whole story