Dear Friends of World Peace:
You are welcome to participate in our IAEWP 13th World Peace Congress scheduled to take place in the outskirts of Milan on the Lago Maggiore, May 16-18, 2003. You are welcome to extend this invitation to others who may be interested. Here below is the agenda and the Registration Form. Please communicate directly with the Secretary of the World Peace Congress: Miss Cosy Back, E-Mail: gangchen@micronet.it
Best regards.
Dr. Charles Mercieca
President, IAEWP, NGO-UN
The 13th World Peace Congress of the International Association of Educators for World Peace (IAEWP) is scheduled to take
place in Italy, May 16-18, 2003.
The World Peace Congress Organization Committee was formed under the direction of His
Holiness Lama Gangchen who is the AssociationÕs National Chancellor of Italy. The theme of this international peace event reads
as follows:
Education for Peace: The Best Investment for Future Generations.
The location selected for this
important international event was in one of the most panoramic and peaceful sites in northern Italy.
Location and Objectives
The exact chosen location was in the Grand Hotel Majestic in Verbania Ð Pallanza on the Lake Maggiore close to the border
with Switzerland. Education is derived from two Latin words: "e" meaning "out of" and "duco" meaning "lead."
Hence, in education we have a process whereby we try to lead someone hopefully from ignorance into knowledge, from confusion of
mind into clarity of mind, from darkness into light. However, we may also lead someone the other way round. Much depends on the
educator in charge.
Through this international event, education is directed to the full development of the human character and personality. Besides, education is geared toward the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. In addition, education needs to promote understanding, tolerance and friendships among all nations without exception. In spite of diversities we find among people in the areas of race, religion, and ethnic background, all people share the same basic spiritual and material needs. They all form a part of the same human species.
In spite of its weaknesses, the United Nations still remains the best instrument in the world to bring about a permanent world
peace. Some of the best documents we have on peace education studies and programs come from the United Nations, Education,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which is the educational branch or arm of the United Nations. Needless to say,
the implementation of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights remains a focus of genuine peace activities around the world.
The success of this World Peace Congress 2003 may be attributed to the collaboration of the Ministry of Education and Culture of
Verbania as well as to wonderful benefactors.
During this three-day of conference period, several topics of national and international concern have been put on the agenda. Education is presented as hope for future generations. Besides, education is viewed as an effective instrument in the development of a culture of peace to substitute the culture of war that we inherited. Needless to say, a good education is centered not only on culture but on spirituality as well. St. Catherine of Siena used to say: Anima sana in corpore sano Ð A healthy mind is found in a healthy body. This means that for education to be complete we must care for environmental protection.
Looking into a Future of Hope
The pollution of our air and water constitutes a crime because it is harmful to the health of everyone concerned. Hence,
educating for the protection of the environment is a sacrosanct duty from which we cannot escape. We need to keep in mind that
peace is not merely the absence of war. Peace develops from inside the individual. It cannot be imposed on anyone from the outside.
We have a permanent peace when people are trained from early childhood to be virtuous, that is, to be kind, charitable, humble,
patience, concerned for the needs of others, meek, and prudent, among other analogous qualities. This explains why during the past
recorded history of 6,000 years numerous governments tried to impose peace and never succeeded.
The promotion of peace through war has always been proved to be fallacious to say the least and satanic to say the most. Our challenge today is to educate big industries to change their lethal products of weapons of destruction into products that are beneficial to all people without exception. Instead of providing nations with weapons of destruction, we may start providing nations with good educational and medical facilities. In fact, it has been calculated that if 50% of the present money spent on wars were to be spend on constructive purposes, we will eliminate the problem of hunger from all over the world, we will provide homes for the countless millions of homeless people, and we will find cure to such maladies as cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, leukemia, and other deadly maladies that took off mercilessly the life of countless millions.
The projected manifestation of peace as envisioned by this World Peace Congress 2003 will be echoed throughout the decades of this 21st century. We need to move forward looking forward. The problem we have today with some of our governmental leaders in a number of nations is that they move forward while still looking backward. This explains why they visualize the future as a repetition of the past, which will not eventually be the case. This world peace event that was scheduled to take place in Italy in May 2003 is bound to become a turning point in the history of humanity. This great and providential peace event will serve to initiate a drastic change, moving the world from a culture of war into a culture of peace, which is the best investment we can possible give for future generations.
