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South Caucasus Peace Initiative
TV Builds a 'Peace Bridge' in the South Caucasus
Written by UPF - Eurasia
Friday, February 25, 2011
Yekaterinburg, Russia - An international television space bridge was formed n February 25 between Yekaterinburg, Russia, and Tbilisi, Georgia, on the theme of “We make peace.” Seeing each other electronically, the participants discussed the deep meaning of such notions as peace, peacemaking, service, origin of conflicts, and also what could and should be done to put an end to violence on the planet.
The event marked one more step in developing of the project “Urals – Georgia: We'll Be Friends” launched by UPF-Urals in September 2009 in support of UPF's South Caucasus Peace Initiative. Since that time people from the Urals and Georgia have been exchanging correspondence, photos, crafts, and works of art.
On the UN International Day of Peace, according to preliminary arrangements, peace meetings were held in different places of the world. In a similar way, this electronic gave the participants a good opportunity for direct communication. Thanks to the modern technological progress, the distance between Yekaterinburg and Tbilisi shortened so much that the participants found themselves practically in one and the same hall.
Visual contact made communication livelier and helped to come to mutual understanding that peace means not only lack of military hostilities. It means also harmony within oneself, in the family, social group, and society. It is the desire and ability to solve problems and wrongs through dialogue not only on governmental but also on interpersonal levels. Happy and strong families living according to the laws of true love, mutual responsibility, respect, and loyalty – all these promote peace and are schools for peacemaking. Consequently, not only politicians and diplomats can be peacemakers but also each one of us.
UPF asserts importance of the peacebuilding activities of both professional government officials and ordinary people, transcending age, gender, time, and place of residence. It means that everybody could and should develop and cultivate his or her potential in this sphere. There are people who want to become presidents, and there are others who do not have such ambitions but possess faculties for prospering in other spheres.
The participants also exchanged ideas about joint projects in the near future that could promote the personal growth and world peace.
The event was attended by more than 20 guests, among them representatives of the Georgian, Tajik, and Yakut Diasporas, museum “Winged Guard”, interclub “Sodruzhestvo”, an expert in working with national bodies from the Ministry of Culture, teachers and students of school 149, Ambassadors for Peace, and citizens interested in the subject. People of different ages, professions, nationalities, and life experience found like-minded friends, support, and good examples to follow.
A big contribution to the success of the event was made by the staff of the international library of the Sverdlovsk region and the “Youth Grassroots Association for Morality” of Yekaterinburg.
We are also grateful to our colleagues from UPF-Georgia, Vitaly Maximov and esteemed Ambassadors for Peace for their unchanging enthusiasm, commitment, and efficiency in carrying out these joint projects.
For an audio recording of the international television space bridge, click here.
Note: Since 2010, UPF, UPF-Urals has been holding live Internet broadcastings. The presenters, Evgeny Skvortsov and Tatyana Turchaninova, are hosting talk shows and workshops for volunteers, involving youth in discussing issues of volunteerism and peacemaking. In February 2011, the following topics were under discussion: “What in my view is the meaning of volunteerism and how I came to it”; talk-show with volunteers of the Russian ecological movement “Trash.Henceforward.Net”, from one city in Ural: “Interfaith cooperation – my personal impact”; talk-show “Who creates peace?” during which participants worked out scenario for the television space bridge with Georgia that followed soon thereafter. Among participants of the recent discussion were young people from Yekaterinburg, Moscow, Irkutsk and Ukraine. The talk-shows are held each Monday from 4 to 5 PM, Moscow time.
Link: http://youthfederation.ru/index/0-4
For more information about UPF-Eurasia's South Caucasus Peace Initiative, click here.
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