On the week of May 22nd we will be presenting the global nonviolent peace force proposal to the Millennium Forum at the United Nations. Endorsers currently include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Elise Boulding, Jim Wallis of Sojourners, The International Fellowship of Reconciliation and the National Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in Sierra Leone. The full proposal may be found on our web site www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org. In Peace, David Hartsough Draft Proposal for a Global Nonviolent Peace Force Executive Summary by Mel Duncan and David Hartsough April 12, 2000 Mission Our mission is to mobilize and train a multicultural, nonviolent, standing peace force. The Peace Force will deploy to conflict areas to help create the space for local groups to struggle, dialogue and seek peaceful resolution while protecting human rights and preventing death and destruction. Goal During the next two years a multinational planning team will develop, organize, recruit and train a global peace force. By 2002 we will have organized: 1. At least 200 skilled peacemakers willing to commit to participate in training and deployment for at least 2 years. 2. At least 400 people with training and specific peace making skills who would be available on a reserve basis for at least one month per year. 3. At least 500 supporting members around the globe willing to contact their media, government officials and religious leaders about the Peaceforces work. 4. At least 6 leaders with international esteem who are willing to lead the Global Peace Force into conflict areas and remain for at least short periods of time. 5. Eight million dollars for operation. 6. Significant media relationships and attention. 7. An international, efficient and accountable decision making body. The Global Peace Force will grow to a level of 2,000 active members by the end of the decade. Background The application of third party nonviolent intervention in conflict areas has increased dramatically during the last twenty years. Groups including Peace Brigades International, Witness for Peace, SIPAZ and Christian Peacemaker Teams have provided small international peace teams to provide unarmed body guards and carry out nonviolent peacemaking in a variety of conflict areas in the world. These actions have saved a significant number of lives especially of human rights workers and helped to create spaces for the reestablishment of peace and civil society. The call for effective peacemaking is gaining popular momentum as people throughout the world have witnessed the recent brutality and futility of armed conflicts in places like Kosovo, East Timor and Rwanda. The world needs dynamic institutions that encourage people to engage in effective and strategic nonviolent activities designed to bring about peaceful resolutions to conflicts. The United Nations recognized this need by designating the next decade to a culture of peace and nonviolence for the worlds children. Last May at the Hague Appeal for Peace activists from around the world gathered to explore how to bring third party nonviolent intervention to a dramatic new level based upon lessons learned from the experiences of the past quarter century. The proposal flows from this historical legacy and those meetings at the Hague. Strategies A clear mandate with a specific strategy and precise objectives will be tailored to each conflict area. Services could include: supporting local peacemaking efforts, accompaniment, training, unarmed border patrolling, interpositioning between conflicting parties, instantaneous video witnessing and creating safe zones While in the conflict area the Global Peace Force will serve as international eyes, ears and voice, alerting the world to conditions of the conflict. Funding Three hundred thousand dollars US are required for each of the two years of planning and development. Eight million dollars will be necessary for the first year of operation. When the Global Peace Force is at full strength of 2,000 active participants and a full complement of supporters by the end of the decade, an annual operating budget of $80 million will be required (the same amount the world spends on the military every hour). Funding sources will include individuals, foundations and governmental organizations. Progress Since meeting in the Hague in May of 1999, accomplishments have included: 150 face to face consultations with over 1,000 peacemakers, government officials, scholars, religious leaders and military personnel in 9 countries. Over 1,000 other consultations throughout the world via the Internet. Endorsements from key individuals and organizations including the Dalai Lama and the United Nations Volunteers Humanitarian Relief Unit. Enlistment of 140 advisors from around the world. $95,000 raised. Conclusion We have the capacity to make the Global Peace Force happen in our lifetimes. The ingredients abound: there are many veterans of nonviolent movements; strategic lessons have been learned; our organizational abilities have increased; highly qualified trainers are available; the World Wide Web, already used to advance the campaigns for banning land mines and establishing an International Criminal Court, is available as an organizing tool; funders are expressing an interest; and, most importantly, people are demanding an alternative to highly militarized interventions. There will be no better way to commemorate the United Nations Decade of Peace and Nonviolence than to do so. Authors Note This proposal is an evolving work that will improve with your thoughts, reflections and experience. We invite you to join us in co-creating the Global Peace Force. Full proposal available at http://www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org Mel Duncan David Hartsough Peaceworkers 801 Front Ave. 721 Shrader St. St. Paul, MN.55103 San Francisco, CA. 94117 U.S.A. (651)917-8717 (415)751-0302 [email protected] [email protected] PEACEWORKERS 721 Shrader St. San Francisco, CA 94117 USA Phone and fax 415-751-0302 email [email protected] Things undreamt of are daily being seen, the impossible is ever becoming possible. We are constantly being astonished these days at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence. |