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IN THE NEWS - PEACE
IS PRACTICAL & SOLUTIONS EXIST NOW:
 The
DOPeace & Nonviolence Bill provides for the establishment of a Peace
Academy. Learn more about The University for Peace, an
existing functioning model, from CA State Coordinator Christine Elliot
during her recent visit to Costa Rica.
Below is the article as featured in The Light Connection April 2006 issue.
Peace and Non-Violence In Action Around The World
Last Fall Light Connection featured a local grassroots group
that is advocating with members of Congress to pass the ground-breaking
“Department of Peace and Non-Violence” (“DOPN”)
Bill (H.R 3760 and S.1756). The Bill is currently in committee in both
Houses of Congress and, when passed, will establish a Secretary of Peace
and Non-Violence as part of the federal Cabinet, with jurisdiction to
offer non-violent solutions to conflicts occurring both in international
locations as well as here at home in our own neighborhoods.
The Department will focus on peaceful conflict resolution, the prevention
of violence by addressing its root causes, and the promotion of justice
to expand human rights. The national campaign is being organized by “The
Peace Alliance” who state on their Web site (www.thepeacealliance.org),
“By understanding and addressing
the root causes of violence, we can predict and ameliorate myriad hostilities,
improve national security, ease the burden on state and local governments
created by the violence in our streets, help protect human rights, and
prevent and de-escalate armed international conflict.”
Two San Diego business people, Christine Elliot and John McNeil, are Southern
California State Coordinators for the growing national grassroots campaign
advocating on behalf of the DOPN Bill. In the Fall of 2004, they began
with a small group of 70 committed San Diego citizens and their ranks
have swelled to 3300 people now on their distribution list throughout
Southern California (www.afdop.org). Nationwide, there are active DOPN
groups in all 50 states and recently San Diego was host to all DOPN State
Coordinators at the Town and Country Hotel January 20–22, 2006.
Costa Rica Connection
This past Holiday season, John and Christine decided to vacation in Costa
Rica because  of
the country’s links with peace. They visited the United Nations
University for Peace, a possible model for the “Peace Academy”
provided for in the DPON Bill. (See additional details below). A friend,
Rita Marie Johnson, and her husband Juan Enrique Toro, are ministers for
a Unity Church in the Costa Rican capital of San José. Rita Marie
also runs the non-profit “Peace Army”, a training organization
that educates K-12 teachers how to teach non-violent communications techniques
to Costa Rican students.
Christine and John observe, “Costa Rica is one of the only countries
in the world with no standing army, and a former President and current
Presidential candidate, Oscar Arrias, was instrumental in facilitating
the peace negotiations among many Central American countries that still
lasts today.”
The U.N. -University For Peace
The Department of Peace and Nonviolence Bill provides for the establishment
of a Peace Academy, patterned after our existing military academies. While
novel for the United States, this is not a new concept. Before their recent
Costa Rica vacation, Christine and John learned from their friend, Cindy
Henson that a model already exists in San José, Costa Rica.
Why would a successful business woman resign her comfortable corporate
position and move to Costa Rica to attend the United Nations University
for Peace to obtain a Masters Degree in International Peace and Conflict
Studies? Cindy Henson wanted to raise her social and spiritual consciousness
and then live the life that arose from that consciousness. Cindy notes,
“In Spanish it is called ‘conscienciacion’ which means
raising awareness and taking action.”
The University for Peace (www.upeace.org)
was chartered by the United Nations and is funded by grants from committed
nations and private donors. Their mission is
“to provide humanity with an international institution of higher
education for peace with the aim of promoting among all human beings a
spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, to stimulate
cooperation among peoples, and to help lessen obstacles and threats to
world peace…in keeping with the…Charter of the United Nations.”
 Cindy’s
year-long (2004–2005) education at the University for Peace included
learning about the relationship between peace and conflict and the links
between conflict and poverty, education, environment and economics. She
tells us it is much more complex than the sound bites heard on CNN. However,
it was the interaction with her fellow students that was the most enriching
for her. There were people from 39 other nations, bringing their cultures,
religions, rituals, experiences and languages to the lush tropical setting
in peaceful Costa Rica.
Cindy says, “I came away from my experience with a deep respect
for humanity and our undeniable connection with one another. My new ventures
are to live life more fully, more focused on serving and contributing
my gifts and talents. Living peacefully is my goal.” Cindy leads
Henson Consulting Group (www.hensonconsultinggroup.com) providing strategic planning, leadership development
and business development consulting. Based on her experience in Costa
Rica, she has added conflict resolution services and training.
Other Countries & Department of Peace
On International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2005, participants at
the Alliance for a New Humanity conference in Puerto Rico, representing
hundreds of organizations from around the world, voted in favor of a resolution
endorsing a U.S. Department of Peace. This international endorsement from
the conference is further evidence of the expanding global movement for
ministries and departments of peace in countries around the world. Participants
in Puerto Rico who expressed their desires to take this movement into
their own countries included citizens from Palestine, Israel, Sri Lanka,
Australia, Canada, Japan, Denmark, Germany, and many others.
The International People’s Initiative for Departments of Peace was
launched at the People’s Summit for Departments of Peace in London
in October 2005, where organizers came together from a dozen countries
on four continents to explore how to support one another in the effort
to institutionalize a culture of peace in the operation of government
in their countries. A second Summit will be held in Vancouver, Canada
in June this year. This effort, involving grassroots movements to establish
Departments and Ministries of peace in countries around the world, has
a new Web site and newsletter posted to keep you updated: www.
peoplesinitiativefordepartmentsofpeace.org
Undeniably, there is a growing desire in people the world over to shift
the paradigm of violence we have chosen and to create a new world order,
wherein conflict will be prevented, reduced or resolved through communication,
understanding and compassion. It’s an idea whose time is now.
Learn more by visiting www.thepeacealliance.org
and www.afdop.org. If you are in San Diego, stop by their booth at EarthFair
in Balboa Park on Sunday April 23, 2006.
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Print Version of this Article: as featured in The Light Connection
~ April 2006 issue
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Americans for the Department of Peace
(AFDOP) is a citizens’ group advocating passage of the Bill
to establish a cabinet level U.S. Department of Peace.
We are the Southern California chapter of the national organization to
advocate for this Bill, “The Peace Alliance”:
www.the peacealliance.org
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