. Following important events on global level in the Year of Peace, the year 2000, time now seems ripe for solving all our international and environmental problems in the next 10 years or at least give a great boost to their final solution. One precondition: the internet should be used wisely to foster a worldwide feeling of solidarity and global responsibility which transcends nationalistic feelings and is respecting all forms of life. Manifesto2000 is a six point signature action; over 1 % of worldpopulation has signed already, that is over 70 million signatories. Sponsored by UNESCO which gathers the signatures, Manifesto2000 has been drafted and designed by the Nobel Price Laureates for Peace - see Manifesto2000 for more details. The Peace Decade 2001-2010 Action Plan can be considered to be a natural outgrowth of Manifesto2000, drafted by the original proponents and presented in statu nascendi already at the Hague Appeal for Peace in 1999. However, until now I have not yet found this action program for the peacedecade on the web although it has been presented recently to Mr. Kofi Annan for consideration at UN-level, so that is why I am publishing this program here.
Anyways it has not yet been adopted by UN, but an important resolution has been agreed upon, reflecting current consensus, but not yet adopting nor even referring to this Peace Decade 2001-2010 Action Plan Declaration and Programme of Action for a Culture of Peace (htm-file) Much work still remains to be done. At the moment I am thinking about setting up two email discussion lists concerning the PeaceDecade: an international one for redrafting the action proposal into official UN-english after a political and philosophical analysis on the content and implications of this Action Plan. At least it should not have a particular bias to governmental procedures of any particular country, nor should basic philosophical flaws remain to be present - for instance in its reference to the Hippocratic Oath. It also should build on current consensus as reflected by the Report of the UN Secretary-General and the Declaration and Programme of Action for a Culture of Peace. Last but not least, the document should be made as readable as possible for its target readership: all families - the basic units of society - encompassing over 6 billion people and organized in communities presided over by a rough estimate of at the most 600.000 mayors, which is less than those over 70 million signatories of Manifesto2000. For this reason it should also refer to the basic principles as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948 by the General Assemblee of the United Nations and the Earth Charter, to be adopted in 2002. Leonard Kater Email: lgwkater@casema.net . |