OPTU Draft Resolution for the UN General Assembly

In 2007 Peace through Unity proposed a draft resolution for the UN General Assembly in support of the UN Declaration and Programme of Action for a Culture of Peace. The draft resolution calls on the General Assembly to actively encourage all UN member states to to establish a ministry or department of peace ...

People's Summits for Departments of Peace

The Third Global Summit for Ministries and Departments of Peace took place in Tokyo and Kisarazu, Japan, 21-26 September 2007.

The Second People's Peace Summit for Departments of Peace took place in June 2006 in Victoria, Canada. Read this report by Kate Smith, OPTU representative at the Summit.

The first People's Summit for Departments of Peace took place in London, United Kingdom - 18 and 19 October, 2005. As a result The International People's Initiative for Department's of Peace was established.

1. The UK based ministry for peace (mfp), whose motto is "Putting Power into Peace - Peace into Power". mfp was launched in the House of Commons on 1st July 2003, and in October the same year Labour MP John McDonnell introduced a Ten-Minute Rule Bill for the creation of a Ministry for Peace in government. The Bill was passed unopposed but fell due to lack of time at the end of the Parliamentary session. mfp has since its launch held sixteen public meetings; it is managed by a National Coordinating Committee and has an increasing membership throughout the country. In its Manifesto for Peace mfp identifies three main aspects of violence: direct violence is the physical or verbal violence most people recognize; structural violence refers to political, social and economic structures that repress, harm or kill (dictatorship, racial discrimination, poverty..); cultural violence is the type of violence normalized by religions or ideologies.
   
2. The Canadian Working Group for a Federal Department of Peace, also founded in 2003, is gaining increasing support from prominent Canadian leaders, academics and NGOs as well as from the rank-and-file of Canadians throughout the country. The main aim of such a department would be to work for the implementation of the UN Declaration and Programme of Action for a Culture of Peace.
3. The Peace Alliance Campaign to Establish a US Department of Peace, USA aims 'to reveal and foster an expanded awareness of humanity's interconnectedness manifesting our culture of peace'. Thousands of citizens in 43 states with over 230 congressional district team leaders are working together to build support for a federal cabinet-level Department of Peace, which would serve to strengthen and support non-violent solutions to domestic and international conflicts by addressing the underlying root causes of violence in society. It would also work towards the establishment of a national peace academy.

Caption: Wanganui and district secondary school students at model United Nations in 1994, Photo: Wanganui Chronicle, May 2, 1994