For security reasons please RSVP by January 26, 2004 to: jainb@ruderfinn.com or by phone at (212) 715-1595
Dear Honorable Speakers,
Esteemed Swami Veda Bharati,
Greetings and all good wishes go out to you and your family. We are honored and privileged to have you address the upcoming conference on "FIGHTING AND PREVENTING TERRORISM: EDUCATION AND PARENTING FOR PEACE AND GLOBAL ETHICS." We hope that the New Year will bring with it hope for a more peaceful future through our efforts towards "EDUCATION AND PARENTING FOR PEACE AND GLOBAL ETHICS".
Enclosed please find the invitation to the conference for you to forward to your friends and colleagues if you wish to invite them to participate in the conference and to spread the information about our upcoming conference at the UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium on Wednesday, 28 January 2004.
We shall be indebted to you if you could kindly forward this invitation to your colleagues, as well as to your friends and contacts within the NY /NJ area.
Please find as well attached, for your information, the announcement concerning official UNESCO sponsorship for the conference.
We will be contacting you early next week with updates and further details concerning the conference.
Bawa Jain, Secretary General
World Council of Religious Leaders
I am glad to inform you that UNESCO will extend its sponsorship to the Global Conference on Education and Parenting for Peace and Tolerance to be held on 28 January 2004 at UN Headquarters.
UNESCO is convinced, as you are, that the prevention of terrorism must go through active preventive measures in the field of education and parenting.
While we are not aware of the details of your earlier May conference and its results, we consider that the Conference now being prepared fits particularly well with UNESCO's designated role as lead agency for the 2001-2010 International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World. You may wish to refer to the recent brochure entitled "UNESCO: mainstreaming the culture of peace", which is available at http://www3.unesco.org/iycp/uk/uk_sum_cp.htm. As recalled by UNESCO's Director-General in its preface:
"By focusing on our children, we implicitly pledge ourselves to
education for all, a concept that combines formal and non-formal education and seeks to promote quality basic education that is grounded upon the universal values - and practice - of a culture of peace and non-violence.
Such a task must engage every one of our fellow citizens in all dimensions of life: in schools, workplaces, the home; at the national and at the community levels; in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Above all, children themselves must be empowered to become actors, not mere spectators,in shaping their own visions and futures."
This brochure contains many recommendations which are of direct application to education for peace and tolerance, such as: revising curriculum materials, particularly history textbooks, to promote mutual understanding and remove bias or stereotypes; creating new curriculum materials addressing peace, non-violence and human rights; producing and disseminating educational materials and textbooks on education for a culture of peace and human rights; developing public-awareness campaigns targeting children in the family and the local community; promoting multicultural and multi-ethnic events in arts and sports to promote mutual understanding (festivals, artistic exchanges, competitions); creating support for parents, teachers and local associations with an aim to protect children from violence in the media (television, press, cinema, video games and the Internet).
In this connection, you may also wish to visit UNESCO's dedicated web-page on the subject of UNESCO's action against terrorism at the following (unwieldy) address: http://portal.unesco.org/unesco/ev.php?URL_ID=13001&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=1055861079. It contains a Position paper prepared by UNESCO for an inter-agency meeting of 26-27 February 2003 (with detailed approaches to the Organization's related activities in the field of education), together with the Director General's speech on that occasion, the text of a Resolution by UNESCO's General Conference and some related material.
I trust that you will kindly advise Mr. Bawa Jain of the contents of this communication. Let me wish you all success for this important Conference.
Sincerely,
Hans d'Orville
Director, Bureau of Strategic Planning
UNESCO