Geneva, Switzerland - The Universal Peace Federation, the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the UN in Geneva, and the Geneva Interfaith Intercultural Alliance (GIIA) organized an important seminar on disarmament at the United Nations in Geneva.
It brought together government, UN and NGO experts in the field of disarmament with the Model UN Interreligious Youth Council of GIIA, including nearly 70 students from Lausanne and Geneva universities.
The keynote opening speech was given by H.E. Amb. Dian Triansyah Djani, former President of the Trade and Development Board of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, current Vice President of the Human Rights Council (2009-2010), and candidate for Chairman of Conference on Disarmament, the UN’s sole disarmament negotiating body that is located in Geneva.
The UN Institute for Disarmament Research Deputy Director, Mrs. Christiane Agboton Johnson, explained very thoroughly the issue of “small arms” as the “weapons that are constantly used all around the world,” which by their massive numbers have become weapons of mass destruction.
Dr. Joong Hyun Pak, Dean of the World Peace Academy in Seoul, Korea, shared the troubling reality of the present nuclear standoff in his homeland of South Korea. He presented an interesting new concept of the creation of a fifth major UN headquarters, in Asia, reminding participants that the Asian continent, which has the largest global population plus vast land and ocean surfaces, does not have a major UN headquarters. He also suggested that the demilitarized zone at the 38th parallel that divides the Korean peninsula could be converted into a Peace Zone or Peace Park.
To read UPF's Declaration on the International Day of Peace 2009, click here.