2010 is the Year of Peace and Security in Africa

ANT-Hiroshima's representative in Africa, Ambassador Mussie Hailu, reports that at the Special Session of the Year of Peace and Security conference held on 31st August 2009, in Tripoli...

...the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), in paragraph 23 of its Declaration on the Elimination of Conflicts in Africa and the Promotion of Sustainable Peace, declared 2010 as the Year of Peace and Security on the continent.

This decision was taken in the context of the continued peace and security challenges facing the continent. Indeed, while significant strides have been made in the resolution of conflicts in Africa, large parts of the continent continue to experience conflict, insecurity and Instability, with its attendant humanitarian consequences and socio‐economic impact. Armed conflicts in Africa kill thousands of people every year; create humanitarian disasters; wipe out livelihoods and wealth that ordinary people have worked hard to accumulate over their lifetimes; and make sustainable economic development impossible.

There is also a more profound loss: the destruction of hope for a better future. Against this background, the Year of Peace and Security will be an opportunity for African people and leaders, as well as African institutions, in partnership with the international community, to review current efforts at peace on the continent, with a view to strengthening them and, where appropriate, launching new initiatives for the promotion of peace and security.

The objectives of the Year of Peace will be to give added momentum to peace and security efforts on the continent; give greater visibility to ongoing and past efforts by the AU on the ground; to speed up the implementation of commitments made by Member States; harmonize all efforts to promote peace and security, including with those being undertaken at the grass roots.

More specifically, in the context of the Year of Peace and Security, the Commission intends to initiate a number of activities. Some of these are symbolic outreach activities aimed at communicating and mobilizing the African public throughout the Year while others will consist of initiatives and efforts by relevant AU policy organs to speed up the resolution of existing conflicts and crises and consolidate peace where it has been achieved.

The overarching message for all the activities that will be carried out and the advocacy programme is, quite simply, “Make Peace Happen”. This message highlights the need to mobilize all stakeholders for them to take ownership of this initiative and commit to actions that will make possible the achievement of peace.

In the meantime, the Chairperson of the Commission pledges the commitment of the entire AU Commission to intensify its efforts in the area of peace and security and appeals to African Governments, people, media, civil society organizations and other stakeholders to take advantage of the Year of Peace and Security to rededicate themselves to the realization of the objective of a conflict‐free continent.

The Flame of Peace will travail to all 53 capitals of Africa, returning to Addis in January 2011 during the Summit.

MAY PEACE PREAVIL ON EARTH

Mussie Hailu

ANT-Hiroshima Supports The 7th "Art Party" Exhibition in Hiroshima: Works of Art by Children In Need From Around The World

The 7th annual benefit art exhibition, Art Party, is being held at the Kenmin Bunka Centre in Hiroshima, December 18th~22nd, 2009.

The exhibition presents works of art created by children in need from countries around the world. Every picture on display can be purchased for a minimum of ¥1,000 and 100% of the money is then returned to the children's communities.

The exhibition enables children to play a positive role in improving conditions in their own communities, gives them an opportunity to express themselves through art, and promotes cross-cultural exchange between the child artists and adults and children in Japan who visit the exhibition.

The exhibition is full of vivid images depicting a wide array of topics and moods. The exhibition reveals the very different experiences that children from different countries can have; some of the pictures are peaceful and cheerful, others are troubled by violent scenes or expressive of the difficulties that the children face in their everyday lives in communities struggling for survival.

For visitors to the Art Party exhibition, the pictures enable them to enter for a moment into the worldview of children from less affluent societies. It is a stimulating, often very moving, and highly educational experience. Consequently, Art Party has become a popular and well attended event of the Hiroshima city "scene" at the end of each year and is sponsored by the Mazda Motor Corporation (which is based in Hiroshima).

The man behind the concept of "Art Party" is Adam Beck, who has lived in Japan since 1996. For the last seven years Adam has worked with Tomoko Watanabe of ANT-Hiroshima to organize the event.

So far, 32 children's groups from 25 countries have contributed pictures to the Art Party exhibitions.

The project costs nearly half a million yen to run and it could not happen without the support of many generous donors. Also, the exhibition is staffed entirely by volunteers, including high school and university students. Visitors to the exhibition include Japanese and foreign residents of Hiroshima and people from other parts of Japan, as well as several groups of school children who come to find out about the very different lives of children from around the world.


For more details about Art Part, please contact: artparty@ant-hiroshima.org

The 2009 exhibition is being held at: Hiroshima Kenmin Bunka Centre, Otemachi 1-5-3, Nakaku, Hiroshima.

TEL 082-245-2311 / FAX 082-245-2315

The Kenmin Bunka Centre is located close to Sun Mall. If you come by tram, get off at Kamiyacho Nishi.

Check out the art work of previous Art Party exhibitions here: http://www.ant-hiroshima.org/artparty/

Read this Peace Seeds article about Art Party: http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/hiroshima-koku/en/special/index_20071211.html

"Yes! Campaign" Sells Over 10,000 Books...

The "Yes! Campaign," reports that over 10,000 of its books about the "Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol," have been sold less than four months since the book was published.

The book is being promoted by a group of A-bomb survivors (hibakusha) who are touring Japan in order to publicize the protocol. So far they have visited Hokkaido, Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa, Hyogo, Okayama, Tottori, and Shimane.

According to Maeko Nobumoto, secretary general of the group, they are "sensing the growing momentum for nuclear abolition."

The "Yes! Campaign" wants the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol to be adopted at the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in May 2010. They are planning to lobby the Japanese government in the hope that the government will agree to ask the conference to discuss the protocol.

The "Yes! Campaign" book includes the text of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol and is illustrated throughout by the well known artist, Seitaro Kuroda.

If you would like a copy of the "Yes! Campaign" book, please contact ANT-Hiroshima at: ant@ant-hiroshima.org.

ANT-Hiroshima

Napalese Versions of Paper Crane Journey Distributed To Local Schools Near Kathmandu

Here are some photos of school children in junior schools near Kathmandu, Nepal who are reading copies of the Nepalese version of Paper Crane Journey, by by Shiho Umino, which were donated by ANT-Hiroshima and distributed by our voluntary representative on the ground, Rakesh Shrestha.







Rakesh Shrestha informs us that the children were excited to receive the books and that they made a refreshing change from reading school study books. The children were also moved by Sadako's suffering and the story of her struggle of an innocent school girl to survive after the devastation of the atomic bomb at the end of World War II.

ANT-Hiroshima

Nassrine Azimi's "Friendship Forest" Peace Initiative, Motomachi Elementary School

In May 2009 Nassrine Azimi the first director of the UNITAR Hiroshima (2003-2009) planted some trees in a corner of Motomachi Elementary School in Hiroshima with the aim of fostering a spirit of peace and harmony. The area set aside for the tree planting was named "Friendship Forest". The trees included a phoenix-tree and a hackberry tree which were the second or third generation "offspring" of trees that were exposed to the A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima on 6th August 1945.



On 19th October, Tomoko Watanabe, (representing ANT-Hiroshima), and Nassrine Azimi's mother (representing Nassrine Azimi) attended a ceremony to mark the opening of the garden for the school children. Songs were sung and the school children read some small speeches about their hopes for peace and Tomoko-san talked to them about peace and the Friendship Forest.

Nassrine Azimi is hoping to plant more "friendship forests" in other places beyond Hiroshima in the future.

ANT-Hiroshima

YES! Campaign Booklets Distributed To Adult English Classes In Hiroshima

This week David (who runs the ANT-Hiroshima.blogspot.com blog) distributed Hiroshima-Nagasaki YES! Campaign For The Abolition Of Nuclear Weapons By 2020" booklets to his students at two community centres in Hiroshima, Suzugamine Kominkan and Ajina-Dai Kominkan.

David is a Hiroshima-based freelance English teacher who also works part time for ANT-Hiroshima. The YES! Campaign booklet has both English and Japanese texts as well as illustrations by Seitaro Kuroda, a famous contemporary Japanese artist. The books provided a good talking point for reading and discussion in the classes.

The two photos in this blog report are of English students in class at Ajina-Dai Kominan with their copies of the YES! Campaign booklet.

If you would be interested in distributing some copies of the YES! Campaign booklet, please contact the ANT-Hiroshima office at ant@ant-hiroshima.org.

ANT-Hiroshima

Sadako Primary School in Pakistan Appeals For Funds

After the earthquake that hit northeastern Pakistanin 2006, a delegation of ANT-Hiroshima representatives visited the area. One of the team, Chika Harada remained in Muzaffarabad until October of that year to help the local people with hygiene control and also to oversea the delivery of sporting equipment to schools in the area.

During that period, about 2,000 copies of the children's peace education book, Sadako's Prayer, were distributed to local schools. This initiative led to local people forming an NGO called "Sadako Foundation" with the aim of providing peace-based education to children in need in the area. They built Sadako Primary School with the help of funds provided by Hiroshima citizens through the auspices ANT-Hiroshima.



In a recent report from Chika Harada, now back in Hiroshima, she explains that the school is in serious financial difficulties and she has made an appeal through the Hiroshima Peace Media Center for funds to help the school survive.

Chika Harada (in blue) about to address a class of children at a school in Kashmir.

For further information, please contact the ANT-Hiroshima office at ant@ant-hiroshima.org.

ANT-Hiroshima.