This section contains information on peace projects from different organisations. It also contains news items related to peace projects. 

Tree Guru                Youth Incubator            Belin Wall         Millenium Summit       

Message to Peace Secretrary  

Periyar Wild Life Sanctuary 

Message from Peace Secretary March 2011  

Terramadre

International Day Against Poverty

Focal Meeting

Summary of peace groups  New

Tree Guru

 Picture from the BBC

From the BBC: "His campaign to encourage people to plant trees effectively addresses two burning issues of the world: global warming and shrinking job opportunities." To read more click here . 

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Berlin Wall

I first wanted to watch the live broadcast of the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the FAll of the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate, this time a symbolic wall of 1,000 big dominoes made by young people and artists was going down!

9 November 1989 has been so important for Berlin, for Germany, for Europe and the whole world, 20 years of freedom and of the breaking down of barriers....

(Pictures taken from tv screen…not the best quality….just to give an impression, Brandenburger Gate, wall of dominoes, fall of the wall)

Rita

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Millenium Summit

"THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ACHIEVING THE  MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS"

The Millenium Summit brought together representatives of 189 UN Member States to discuss the Role of the United Nations in the new century. At the Millenium Summit in 2000, World Leaders agreed on common vision for the Future.
The Millenium Development Goals (MDG’s)  encapsulates this vision with a set of quantitative targets to be met by 2015. To achieve the Goals, developed and developing countries agreed to come together to form a global partnership based on deployment of resources and implementation of the policies needed to fight poverty and accelerate development.
The UN family are supporting this global partnership. Each partner brings to
 this effort resources, knowledge, experience and leadership.

Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
Goal 2:  Achieve Universal Primary Education
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

All eight  Millenium Development Goals and their targets are equally important
Partnership with Governments  to the civil society and private sector; a focus on the MDG’s serves to align the important work of the UN system in other mandated areas by providing measurable development outcomes;
Nine years after their adoption, the MDG’s have become a platform for galvanizing international efforts to reduce poverty and hunger and advance the agenda of human development in all countries. Progress in achieving the MDG’s, however, has been uneven both across and within countries. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa, where the development
Challenge is greatest, show the largest gaps. In middle-income countries, residents in rural areas and traditionally excluded groups are also lagging  behind.

Noema Chaplin

UN Observer for Servas International;
United States Servas  Main representative to the UN;Political and Economic Scientist
Board Member CCC/UN;
Executive Committee Member, UNA-USA’s COO;
Member of CSVGC;
Member of Committee on Mental Health ;
Vice Chair NCHS;
F. President of International Institute for Entrepreneurship

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Message To Peace Secretaries

September 21 2010,

Copy of file here  

Message from Luisa Corbetta ~ Servas International Peace Secretary

Dear Servas Peace Secretaries and National Secretaries,

It’s a great pleasure to address you a few words after being appointed as Servas International Peace Secretary .I send Mr Kim , who had to resign, my hearty wishes of a quick recovery and good life.

We are approaching September 21 the International Day of Peace and I would like to share with you some thoughts about the connection between Servas as an organization of hosts and travellers and peace (with a small ‘p’ but not less important than Peace with capital ‘P’)

Travelling means to open your whole person to the encounter with the new, the unknown: sometimes it’s very similar (relaxing!) sometimes very different (exciting, challenging!) Always it’s a new experience in a new reality. In my backpack I put my background but I also leave a lot of empty room to be filled with the new…..

The same approach is for the host: I welcome , I open my arms and my mind to the traveller. “Minds are like parachutes: they only function when open” , therefore the result of the encounter between these two “openness” can only be positive.

• On the cultural side: more knowledge of one little portion of the world so far unknown. Discussion, exchange of ideas with people of other culture and backgrounds about our different societies , learning about differences. We also share our concern in social and international problems

• On the emotional side: personal relations are set up in everyday life style , we meet the family of our host , the people dear to him/her. Often personal contacts go deeper, they become true friendship or sometime they turn into even stronger ties. Sometimes there are dislikes, different opinions and perspectives, conflicts, but even those can turn into a fruitful experience.

- On the physical side: host and guest share the same home space (sometimes quite small), they share the same food as members of one family in a regular daily life environment. With our words, our gestures, our bodies, our meta-language we convey who we are, what is our perception of the other.

Travelling is also an inner journey: how much has this trip changed me inside? All I have done, seen, learnt has it affected me somehow? Will there be an impact in my life or on the contrary will everything soon vanish as if that experience had never taken place?

Again the answer is positive: more inter-culture knowledge, more learning, more understanding, respect and tolerance towards what / who is different. I have gained more awareness of my individual and collective identities (plural-, we each have more than one identity). I have gained more awareness of the society I live in: its good aspects to be proud of and which need to be strengthened, and on the other hand more awareness of its negative sides, which need to be changed. I have gained a stronger feeling of closeness to the whole world

Exchange, awareness, respect of differences, generate in the Servas host and even more in the Servas traveller the urge to engage for a better world. To give our little contribution , our small ‘drop in the ocean’ in order to build up through international understanding on a ‘grass roots’ level a world with less violence, with more justice and equality, more respect of human rights and of the environment, more peace. There are several ways and organizations in the world to be peace builders : Servas is one, let’s follow its spirit and ideals !!

Let me now suggest some practical steps

Servas International does not now have a strong Peace Secretary network . Let’s start a collaboration, we need to work together, we need to build up the network of Peace Secretaries so that the equation Servas hosts/travellers= peace builders gets stronger and more visible .

1-The Intelligent Road Map that was developed by Servas Italy, Turkey and Pakistan in 2007 is a good tool to connect Servas with other small and big organizations with similar values and goals that work for peace and follow non-violence practices in the world. As some of you may not know it (IRM), I attach it inviting you National Secretaries and Peace Secretaries to encourage your members to consider using it, or to building on the idea in your own organisation.

2- You know that Servas has UN observers in Geneva, Vienna and New York City: on which issues do you suggest we should privilege our observation in UN conferences and discussions? Human rights, wars and conflicts, disarmament, environmental issues, global warming and sustainable development, women’s rights, children rights, refugees and displaced people….other issues? How often do you think observers should report to SI and to you? Once/twice a year? At every GA? Others....?

3- I know that many of you do a lot of peace activities in you country or in your region and celebrate anniversaries or important dates. What are your current activities? What are your plans for next year ? Could you please send me a few lines? I also encourage you to send reports to SI website so that your activities will be visible and a stimulus to all.

4- Do you know of NGOs or charities that organise Voluntary Work Camps free (where the voluntary person does not pay for his/her food and lodging )? If so can you please send information and addresses?

5- Do you have any questions /requests for me?

I realise that I’m asking you for a lot of information and some work. Being the Servas International Peace Secretary is a big job that I can’t do alone, I need a team to help me to gather this information and elaborate strategies for action.

Will you join me?

in peace

Luisa

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Periyar Wild Life Sanctuary
4 minute video on Youtube of Periyar Wild Life Sanctuary link

 

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Message from Peace Secretary March 2011 

Welcome address to El Bosque University Peace Building Course - 16.02.2011

I am Luisa Corbetta, I’m Italian and I am the International Peace Secretary of Servas International.

It’s a great pleasure to address you a few words at the beginning of a very interesting and challenging Peace Building Course at El Bosque University: Jaime is a great leader and professor, Martin is a great trainer. They are both committed to peace building in the world.

Some of you may know little about SERVAS an organization of hosts and travellers present in 80 countries in the world. It was founded more than 60 years ago by the American Bob Luttweiler a man who believed in peace, who refused to serve under the army, refused to kill and considered that governments, their commanders fight, wage wars and conflicts (and then sometimes make convenient peaces), but do people want wars? Do people want to be enemies and fight? Maybe not, maybe they just want to live in peace . So , Bob considered, let help them not to fight, to make peace instead of war, to become friends instead of being enemies.

How shall we do it? Encouraging people to travel and meet personally, facilitating their physical encounters through the organization SERVAS of hosts and travellers. Because when people meet face-to-face they are no longer anonymous entities, but become true persons , sharing daily lives, exchanging personal relations. We talk , we become aware of our differences, of our various cultural backgrounds but also of the emotional human sides that we all share as human beings.

So why fight? Why be enemies instead of friends? Why not build our personal peace with a small “p”, our drop in ocean which may also help governors to build Peace in the world with capital “P”?

But meeting on a personal basis is not enough: we don’t improvise to be peace builders, we have to work hard at it. Inside each of us there are negative, violent, destructive forces, intolerant , narrow minded, racist , ignorant, and selfish forces that live alongside with positive, non violent, constructive, open minded, respectful, intelligent, generous forces that want to build a better world.

We must help these positive forces to come out, to become stronger and prevail over the negative ones.

This is what you are going to work upon for 4 sessions with Jaime, Martin and others: you’re going along an inner journey to elaborate and take out the good peace building sides of yourselves. That will help you to build a better relation within yourselves, with the familiar people around you and the strangers from all over the world, hosts and travellers who share the same concern and ideals: peace building in the world is made by ‘small’ actions by average people who will contribute to ‘big’ peace actions made by ‘big’ people.

Enjoy your course and at the end of it I am sure you will be stronger more responsible and happier people, and remember the old say:

“Minds are like parachutes they function only when open!”

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Focal Meeting

WHAT IS A  FOCAL MEETING AND WHAT ARE ITS PURPOSES ? 

A Focal Meeting helps Servas to get back to its deep roots, as it focuses Servas into the way of peace and friendship among peoples facilitating personal encounters to everyone  living in conflict areas of the world where it may be difficult to do so individually without the intervention of a peace organization.

This is done by  carrying out event gatherings or activities of mutual help:

1) Between groups or persons sharing the same culture or belonging to the same country.

2) Between already existing Servas National Groups.

3) Between an already established National Groups and potential Groups or persons willing to create other Servas group in areas without Servas representatives.

If you would like more information about focal meetings please contact

Luisa Corbetta

SI Peace Secretary

peacesecretary@servas.org

Pablo Colhangelo

SI Host List Cohordinator

pcolangelo@servas.org

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Terramadre

For more information, visit here . 

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