Castries, St. Lucia - Representatives of six organizations met and published a joint peace declaration that was published in the two national newspapers: The Voice of St Lucia and The Mirror of St Lucia. With the upsurge in violent acts in this Caribbean island nation, several of which have resulted in homicides, the groups felt compelled to speak with a unified voice on a subject which is so vitally important.
To read the declaration in The Voice, click here.
The six national organizations that issued this joint declaration were the Community Action Programme for Safety, the National Youth Council, the National Commission for UNESCO, RISE, Fighting Against increasing Threats to Humanity, and the Universal Peace Federation. The two national television stations, HTS and DBS, reported on the event in their evening news broadcasts.
The representatives of the six organisations decided that every evening of the week, one organization would give a commentary on one point of the joint declaration, starting on the International Day of Peace, September 21. Televisions stations were contacted, and DBS Television welcomed the initiative and agreed to broadcast a ten-minute commentary every evening at the end of the 7:00 evening news.
The commentaries made a great contribution to the on-going national debate on how to reduce crime and violence. It is rare to see organizations cooperating on such occasions, so everyone felt a sense of great accomplishment that these six organizations could come together to celebrate this day.
To read the text of three of the commentaries, click here.
For UPF's Declaration on the International Day of Peace 2009, click here.