The Appeal

After plenty of discussions we have written an Appeal from the international youth peace meeting. Here we are, presenting the final conclusions of the meeting.

Purpose 1: the culture of peace as a means of emancipation for the peoples and individuals
A-The European charter on fundamental rights and the United Nations charter:

• Adaptation and effectiveness of the fundamental rights and liberties put forward in the United Nations charter and the European charter on fundamental rights: We ask for reform in the UN in order to make the organization represent the peoples instead of only their governments.
• Accessibility through the composition of the charters: We demand that the preambles and the fundamental articles of these charters are easier accessible for the peoples, this can be achieved by publishing and teaching in schools, by creating a better composition and by implementing any other means necessary.
• Battle against gender inequality and discrimination: We call upon the international institutions, the governments, the media, the peoples and individuals to fight against discrimination and inequality between man and women and between individuals of the same sex, especially what concerns young people.

B – Promotion of multiculturalism and cooperation between the peoples in the Euro-Mediterranean zone.

• The battle against ideas and stereotypes that are anchored in the collective imagination, especially racial discrimination, Islamophobia, Christianophobia and anti-Semitism.
• We call upon an intensifying of the efforts to raise the youth’s knowledge of history in order to promote a culture of peace.
•  We put forward the culture of peace as a cure for the problems posed by migration in the Euro-Mediterranean zone and we call upon a support of all the initiatives that promote peace.
• We believe that the development of cooperation in the southern countries can keep forces alive.

C-Solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict: The right of people to govern their self!

• Demand to stop the occupation of Palestine territory by the state of Israel.
• We firmly support the sovereignty of the Palestine state.
• Preserve solidarity with the Israeli and Palestinian pacifists.
• There can be a two state solution. Palestinians should have full right to live in their own territory with full sovereignty over this territory that was granted to them by the UN in 1967.
• We demand that the Israeli government stops preventing humanitarian actions in favor of the Palestinian people.

Purpose 2: The culture of peace as a means to obtain human and sustainable development

A-The millennium goals of development:

• We support the contribution of the European Union to the millennium goals of development.
• We believe that a large accessibility to the European program of youth in action (PEJA) is essential.
• We demand an increase in political and financial support of initiatives put forward by the African civil society.

B-The impact of military activities on the environment and health:

• We call upon raising the level of information concerning nuclear weapons in order to raise consciousness among the people of the consequences on our environment and health.
• We demand a campaign to raise awareness of the criminal effects of armament on our ecosystem.

Purpose 3: reinforce the engagement of young people against the culture of war

A-Reduce the military spending to ensure the satisfaction of human needs:

• We call upon a battle against militarism and the merchandising of human life.
• We call for an emphasis on the causality between armaments and the degradation of the environment.
• We demand actions to raise the awareness of young people towards the use of weapons of mass destruction during the Vietnam War by the American army and its undeniable influence on the health of future generations and the environment.

B-The urgency for nuclear disarmament:

• We ask for a more strict application of the nuclear non proliferation treaty.
•  We demand all nations to stop using weapons based on enpovered uranium of which the long term effects on health can be disastrous.
• In the context of the Fukushima disaster, we call upon the populations to form an opinion about civil and military use of nuclear energy and participate in or open the debate.

Overture: the young people of the international meeting for the culture of peace have different backgrounds and come from different countries: Algeria, France, Croatia, Spain, Palestine, Israel, Belgium, Germany, Cameroon, Senegal, Djibouti, Mauritania, the United States of America, Turkey, the Congolese republic, Togo, Greece and Brazil.

This initiative will allow the development of other meetings held by our associates across Europe and the world in the spirit of promoting a culture of peace.