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Peace Education
Conferences Builds Networks for Peace in the Former Soviet Union
Written by UPF-Eurasia
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The International Leadership Conference held on April 3-6, 2008, in Seoul, Korea, to discuss ‘the New Paradigm of Leadership and Good Governance in the Pacific Era’, brought together 334 representatives from 92 countries and nations. The Eurasian delegation consisted of 58 participants.
As the majority of the participants attended an International Leadership Conference for the first time, they were particularly impressed by the peace concept as presented by the UPF. The human and spiritual aspects of peacemaking and the core peace and family values – it was the linkage that attracted them.
Many participants enjoyed a truly global nature of the conference. For them the idea of an “Abel UN” was clear and convincing, as they were able to communicate with representatives of so many UN member States.
The regional meetings, within the framework of the ILC, were particularly useful for discussing common issues, coalition building and team spirit upgrade. For example, the meeting of the Eurasian representatives was a chance to present the new South Caucasus Peace Initiative (SCPI) and to discuss the upcoming Global Peace Festival-2008 in Mongolia. Upon the presentation on the SCPI, the Eurasian delegates were eager to discuss issues raised. Some of them already announce of their willingness to join the initiative.
The participants were impressed by the way the conference was organized, indicating that the ILC logistics was “close to perfect.” It is suggested that in the future a stronger point should be made of the role of Ambassadors for Peace as a driving force for all of the UPF successes, and also of the need for broad involvement in service and volunteering, to reach the established goals and objectives.
Eurasian Ambassadors for Peace were excited by the idea of Dr. Vladimir Petrovsky, Professor at Moscow State University, to establish an "Abel CIS" similar to the "Abel UN." An Abel Commonwealth of Independent States would be composed of ex-heads of state of the former Soviet Union who share the peace vision as Ambassadors for Peace.
Leons Bojars, head of the Latvian Union of Entrepreneurs, was very inspired by the Bering Strait Peace initiative. He volunteered to find high-level support for this project in Russia through his business contacts. All Eurasian delegates were very inspired to know that the idea of Bering Strait tunnel was proposed as a topic for discussion between Vladimir Putin and George Bush.
Ambassadors for Peace from Azerbaijan (The Ukrainian Union of Azerbaijanis), Armenia and other former Soviet Union nations unanimously expressed enthusiasm over the idea to work to establish peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have experienced a 17-year old interethnic conflict. They stressed that UPF has a vision to go beyond politics, diplomacy to the level of the relations of heart from people to people in the conflicting area.
NOTE: At the Peace Embassy in Moscow, the Russian National Peace Council held a special round table on April 29 to launch the Russian segment of the South Caucasus Peace Initiative. The MC and the main presenter at the event was Dr. Vladimir Petrovsky. Dr. Ernest Grigorian, president of the Institute of Social Sciences, gave the second presentation highlighting humanitarian aspect of Armenia-Azerbaijan historical relations. The 12 participants of the round table represented NGOs and academic aspects of peacemaking in the region. A UPF representative from St. Petersburg made a presentation at the program conveying a personal message from the President of the St. Petersburg League of Nations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict involving Armenia and Azerbaijan.
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