Brahma Kumaris at United Nations

The NGO Committee on Spirituality and Global Concerns invited Samite Mulondo and Michael Rennie from Musicians for World Harmony to come to present at the meeting.  They shared touching stories, video, power point presentations and music.  Musicians for World Harmony is a multifaceted program.  It is a not for profit organization that brings music to places that have challenges and helps foster healing through music.

http://www.musiciansforworldharmony.org/

Samite Mulondo, Founding Director and Michael Rennie, Director

Our Mission is to:

ENABLE musicians throughout the world to SHARE their music to promote PEACE, UNDERSTANDING, and HARMONY among peoples with a special EMPHASIS on the DISPLACED or DISTRESSED who could benefit most from the HEALING POWER OF MUSIC.

To Fulfill this mission, Musicians for World Harmony will:

• Sponsor Musicians visiting and performing in refugee camps and resettlement communities.

• Identify musicians among the displaced and distressed whose music can aid in the healing process. Encourage community-wide response to performances to enable people to recover and revive songs and dances.

• Video-and audio-document all performances, songs and dances.

• Produce audio, video and print materials for distribution in the United States and worldwide that enable the music and messages of hope and peace to reach the widest possible audience.

• Encourage community-wide response to performances to enable people to recover and revive songs and dances.

A group of students from Berklee Music Therapy Program went to Africa on an exchange program through Musicians for World Harmony and their stories can be found on the website.  They sing and play music and an organic outpouring of music comes up out of those around them sharing their stories in song.   Samite and Michael even got everyone singing at the meeting.

The creative process of music allows for a healing of the spirit which helps to heal on many other levels.

Kymberly Schneider

The DPI NGO Briefing panel presentation for disarmament reflects the new more open forum with no barricade of a table barricade between the speakers and the audience.  This is to create a  more interactive and friendly space for discussion.

Speakers: left to right 

• John Burroughs, Executive Director, the New York-based Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP), shared that weapons and wars get in the way of helping to look for solutions for poverty, global warming and diseases.  Also that based on the United Nations Charter nuclear disarmament was necessary to fulfill international law and security issues for a more balanced world.

•  David Webb, Vice Chair, the UK Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said that the peace badge was adopted fifty years ago and it has become a symbol for peace around the world.  It is one of Europe’s biggest peace campaigns for a single issue.  The campaign works to raise awareness through many different avenues such as education, use of media and political policies to promote nuclear disarmament.

• Sergio de Queiroz Duarte, United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, reviewed two of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s speeches one given at Harvard and the other organized by the East West Institute both addressing issues about nuclear disarmament.  He urged the civil society of the NGO community to continue giving their support for non-proliferation and disarmament for a safer world.

• Michael Renner, Senior Researcher, Worldwatch Institute, noted that conflict was caused by and continually refueled by scarcity of natural resources.  Also he commented on the fact that displaced populations of people caused by natural colamities and conflict situations also created conflict and this needs to be addressed and he sees the UN helping to link, climate change in the environment, conflict and disarmament.

• Moderator: (Center) Maria-Luisa Chavez; Chief, NGO Relations, Department of Public Information (DPI), started off by saying this discussion could help everyone to see where disarmament and peace and security stand in the world today.

• Clare da Silva, Legal Advisor, Control Arms campaign, said we needed to look at things differently when time moves forward and not dwell in the past as she quoted Muhammad Ali, who said “a man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted thirty years of his life.”  And though in an ideal world where we would be free from arms and weaponry she addressed that until that happens new policies and an Arms Trade Treaty could help to further change issues from state security to human security.

• Cora Weiss, President of the Hague Appeal for Peace, stressed that civil society has so much it can do to change public policy on disarmament of nuclear weapons and small arms.  She pointed out that the United States could do so much to help with the Millennium Development goals with just a small portion of its military budget.

The world has so much beauty and we need to see this beauty in all the diversity and cooperate with one another to help find solutions for lack of resources and other reasons for conflict.

Kymberly Schneider

The NGO Committee On Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns at the United Nations, New York a Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO), Spiritual Caucus, Values Caucus, UNSRC Enlightenment Society (SEAT), and United Religions Initiative-UN presented  the 2nd annual Week of Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights for UN week.

The United Nations Meditation Room
The Opening Ceremony began at noon on 20 October in the Meditation room and thus everyday people were encouraged to meditate collectively on Human Rights from 9:00am to 10:00am or to meditate at the same time from home or some other space if not possible to be in the room.

 The workshops, panels, discussion groups and expressive arts for
the week sought to explore the essence of Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote.

To view a full schedule please go to CSVGC-NY website link below.

http://www.csvgc-ny.org/

 Highlights of the week’s events follow…

The Spirit of the UN Award was given just after the opening ceremonies to H.E. Hilario G. Davide, Jr., who is Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Philippines to the United Nations.  He was also the Keynote speaker and part of the panel on 21 October 1-2:45pm in UNICEF House, Labouisse Hall for the Culture of Peace Working Group on the topic:
Advancing the Culture of Peace: Is Peace a Human Right?

left to right: Ichinori Tsumagari, Rochelle Roca-Hachem, David Adams, Dot Maver, Audrey Kitagawa,
Sharon Hamilton, His Excellency Ambassador Hilario G. Davide, Jr., Anne Creter, & Iris Spellings

Laraagi shared musical sessions interspersed throughout the program and Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury (recipient of the Spirit of the UN award in 2007) gave some peaceful remarks towards the close of the program really expressing that peace is a human right.  Ann Creter’s report can be found at this link:
http://www.peacepartintl.org/content/view/225/135/

Students Unite for the Right to Peace: Activating Campus Peace Centers
21 October 3-4pm UNICEF House, Labouisse Hall

 left to right panel: Dr. Neil Altman, Deborah Moldow and Prof. Hal S. Bertilson, PhD.
(pictured again as the table sized peace pole is blocking his face)

http://www.campuspeacecenters.net/

The audience was full of students many of them international exchange students from a few colleges in the area who introduced themselves and asked questions about peace centers and made comments about what they were doing and what could be done for peace in the future and a lively discussion followed after the panel’s presentation of the topic.

Spiritual and Ethical Dimensions of Human Rights Law
22 October 3-5pm UNICEF House, Labouisse Hall

left to right panel:  Audrey Kitagawa, Chair, CSVGC-NY, WFUNA, Widney Brown, Amnesty International, Liberato Bautista, President, CONGO, Rev. Elizabeth Alexander, Gethsemane Church, Genie Kagawa, Universal Peace Federation

 The panel opened with concerns for human rights.  The language used for speaking of our fellow human beings should express respect, and love.  People who have made mistakes deserve to have chances to change their ways.

Then lively discussions took place among small groups in the audience and some of the panelists joined in.

 Silent Meditation
23 October 12-1pm Church Center, Grumman Room 8th Floor

A small group had almost an hour in silence together on a beautiful sunny day overlooking UN Headquarters…this was followed by a brief sharing of experiences and then on to the next session…where the banner needed to travel…

The Way of the Feminine: Making Human Rights Come Alive
1:15-2:45pm UNICEF House, Labouisse Hall

A very creative flow of energy …through artistic expression was created in the room as poetry, music, song, dance and a film presented to give the history of the Declaration of Human Rights filled the space with feelings of  rights and dignity for humanity as all performers joined together in a cooperative spirited production.

many of the presenters join in song at the end of the program

 The Consciousness of Human Rights:  The Transformative Moment
3:30-5:30pm Church Center, 10th Floor

Jaqueline Murekatete - Rwanda, Human Rights Activist, Genocide Prevention Program Director:  Miracle Corners of the World and Gabriel Bol Deng - Sudan, Founder:  HOPE (Helping Offer Primary Education) for Sudan, a non-profit organization, shared their personal survival stories.  Both of them lost so much but each one feels it is necessary to raise awareness so such things will not happen again and also to help those who are left behind in the aftermath.  For Gabriel hope in and respect for others is key, as well as being grateful for working and giving back to the community.  Jacqueline brings to mind a quote from Gandhi anytime things seem a bit much “You must not lose faith in humanity.  Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” and she is able to go on.

To find out more about Jaqueline’s and Gabriel’s work please see their websites below:

http://miraclecorners.org/

http://www.hopeforariang.org/index.htm

 Audrey Kitagawa, Gabriel Bol Deng, Jaqueline Murekete,
Diane Williams, Sharon Hamilton, and Martha Gallahue

 Closing Gathering & UN Anniversary Cake-cutting
24 October 1:30-2:45pm UNICEF House, Labouisse Hall

A gathering, a closing, a celebration, and a look at the future.  Music, singing and fellowship.

A very lovely week presented in very poignant ways to touch the core issues for looking at the rights of humanity.  Humans have a right to Peace.

Kymberly Schneider

UN Headquarters Staff, NGOs and Permanent Missions gathered on the lawn in front of the Secretariat Building to help eradicate poverty 17 October 11:00am for the Stand Up Take Action for the Millennium Development Goals.

Some video of this and other programs following this event are available at the links below.

Special Event: United Nations staff, permanent missions, non-governmental organizations and students will take part in a “Stand Up, Take Action” event in front of the UN Secretariat building.  The Stand Up event will feature performances from the cast of the Broadway Musical “A Tale of Two Cities”. [Webcast: Archived Video - English: 38 minutes ]

• Statement by H.E. Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, President of the 63rd session of the General Assembly
  [Webcast: Archived Video - 7 minutes ]
• Statement by Ms. Asha-Rose Migiro, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
  [Webcast: Archived Video - 4 minutes ]

The Day continued with more discussion to end poverty.
Special Event: Observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on the theme “Human rights and dignity of people living in poverty” - Opening ceremony and round table on “Turning rhetoric into action –– Building effective partnerships to combat extreme poverty and exclusion”.
[Webcast: Archived Video : 1 hour and 18 minutes - Part 1 ]
[Webcast: Archived Video : 2 hours and 34 minutes - Part 2 ]

Kymberly Schneider

Anele Heiges, Values Caucus Council introduced Helena Steiner-Hornsteyn a lecturer, healer and author, who shared some thoughts at the Values Caucus meeting.  She also works with Global Compact with her Activale Institute for Human Development and World Harmony.  Helena said that there are no coincidences and that everyone in the room had a purpose.  She talked of getting out of the boxes set up in the world that are holding people back.  Helena suggested that it was important to take ourselves lightly and to have loving attitudes to help to change the consciousness of fear in the world. The world is full of creative energy and all that needs to be done is to tap into that energy to move the world in a more constructive way.

A positive attitude really helps to bring a more harmonious and healthy aspect to each one of us and this in turn is shared with the world.

Kymberly Schneider

The NGO DPI section combined a couple of days 15 and 17 October 2008 the first officially celebrated annual UN International Day of Rural Women  and a day for the Eradication of Poverty this briefing was held on 16 October World Food Day.  Thus the briefing highlighted issues such as poverty levels and food production and security and helping Rural Women with ways to empower them economically in various ways according to the needs of the community being helped.

Maria-Luisa Chavez, Chief, NGO Relations, Department of Public Information (DPI) moderated the briefing.

• Carolyn Hannan, Director, Division for the Advancement of Women, Department of Economic and Social Affairs; (DESA)
• Belinda Leach, Director of Rural Women Making Change (RWMC) and University Chair in Rural Gender Studies
• Evelyn Encalada Grez, Graduate Research Assistant, Rural Women Making Change and founder of Justicia for Migrant Workers
• Colleen Purdon, Community Collaborator, Rural Women Making Change; Coordinator, Rural Women Take Action on Poverty
• Rachel Nampinga, Programmes Director, Eco-Watch Africa
• Letty Chiwara, Cross Regional Programmes Manager, United Nations Development Fund for Women Headquarters, New York

The issues brought up as problems are poor working conditions and pay for rural women, lack of tools, education and skills.  The panel had expertise for areas in Africa and Canada especially.  Innovative ideas in Canada include getting rural women rights to health care and good working conditions from employers as well as spreading awareness for the needs of rural women and getting different groups who can help together with those who need help.

In Africa one initiative that has been put forward and is still in its trial state is a collective cassava processing plant where many people are working together to get more cassava farmed and more effectively processed so it can be sold and that economic benefits can be reaped in the community.  This is working very well and the model is being prepared to copy in other communities.

Rural women around the world make up more than one quarter of the population of the world.  Still they face gender discrimination, lack of land ownership rights, ease of resource access and many other challenges that groups are bringing to light and finding solutions for.  This in turn will help children, families, communities and countries which also will help the world family as these issues are addressed.

The session was filmed and can be viewed via the link below in Real Player.

Webcast

Kymberly Schneider

In honor of Gandhi’s birthday 2 October was declared The International Day of Nonviolence as of 15 June 2007.  For the second annual commemoration of the day the Values Caucus held a meeting on nonviolence.  Anne Creter, Values Caucus Council Member and Julia Grindon-Welch, Values Caucus Co-Chair introduced the day and Marianne H. Perez as guest speaker who shared her expertise on Peace building.  Marianne is part of the Department of Peace Campaign and also a peace journalist.  Her approach was very interactive and encouraged everyone to reflect on where they ’stood’ in terms of nonviolence and violence.  She had everyone stand up as she labeled one side of the room violent and the other side nonviolent.  She then asked a series of questions, asking if we thought them to be violent or nonviolent, and asked us to stand by our decision, literally!  She told the group there were no right or wrong answers as she called out different laws or even something as simple sounding as purchasing exotic flowers.  We could also mark the ground in between (0-10) grades of violence down to nonviolence, by standing in between the two extremes.  We were then invited to  share why we made the choices.  Very interesting discussions were created as we saw some of the reality of what lay behind our decisions and Marianne further explained that there are direct, cultural and structural elements in place that allow for violence to happen. This really gave us all a lot to think about!  Whether it be gun laws, or vegetarianism choices are made every day to be violent or nonviolent.

Repercussions of violence are widespread in today’s world and peace is a very important part of developing nonviolence.  To make our very thoughts peaceful will go a long way in fostering nonviolence in the world.

Left to Right Anne Creter, Julia Grindon-Welch, Marianne H. Perez, Monica Willard and another Workshop Participant

link to another report on the workshop -

http://www.peacepartintl.org/content/view/227/135/

 Kymberly Schneider

The International Day of Older Persons has been held on 1 October since 1991.  To commemorate this day the DPI NGO community held a briefing to focus on “A Call for a Convention on the Rights of Older Persons.”

Mr. Eric Falt, Director of the Outreach Division in the Department of Public Information, United Nations explained the purpose of the day.  After a series of photographs was shown of older persons from around the world.  He expressed that practical implementation of proposals for older person.  He also read UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki- moon’s message for the Day.

You can link to this message here:

1 October – New York: Secretary-General’s message on the International Day of Older Persons

For Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, President of the 62nd General Assembly H.E. Norman Miranda, Chef de Cabinet of the Office of the President of the 63rd General Assembly spoke.  His message was of the experience of older persons adding to the quality of work that is done and was pleased to have been 75 when president of the General Assembly.  Older persons have lots of ways that they benefit society so it would be good to make sure to spread awareness of the rights of older persons.

Jose Miguel Guzman, Chief, Population and Development Branch of the UN Population Fund was hopeful that the briefing would indeed set in motion a convention for older person rights.  His organization helped get the voice of people from developing regions heard.  He explained that at the Second World Assembly in Madrid the Political Declaration, adopted Article 19 to globally bring equality to all ages which he feels is very important.

Florence Denmark, Chair of the Committee on Ageing, New York thanked everyone for their cooperation and gave a synopsis of planned events.

The Keynote Speakers:

• His Excellency Minister Paulo de Tarso Vannuchi, Secretário Especial dos Direitos Humanos (Special Secretary of Human Rights) of Brazil, stated that internationally the population was aging.  He felt the Madrid Plan   of Action in 1991 gave some very good qualities such as independence and dignity as well as others for older persons.  In May 2006 many challenges were presented for the older person at the international conference.  For Brazil 1 October was the 5 year anniversary of a government act promoting for persons over 60 public health, sports, leisure and culture for older persons.  He came to a conclusion by saying that ” A country that doesn’t take care of its children or its older person is a country with no soul” this especially needs to be noted in the year which celebrates the 60 years of the Declaration of Human Rights.

• Mr. Sergei Zelenev, Chief, Social Integration Branch, Division for Social Policy and Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said that often the rights of older persons are overlooked internationally.  This is not right because of all the contributions they have given and continue to give society.  He stressed that a convention would provide a place for older persons to be heard.  They need legal structure for protecting their rights.  Also this could help implement the Madrid Plan and bring Member States into action.

The remaining speakers all agreed that some progress has been made but that much more needs to be done.  Global awareness must improve to address issues such as adequate health care, work conditions, elder abuse, and the fact that the population continues to age.  Minister Dzamila Stehlikova said there will be a conference in 2009 held in Prague that will look at the endangerment and dignity of elder persons.  They all feel that the human rights of older persons need to be addressed internationally for improved lives of older persons.

 Part of a slide show bringing awareness to the needs of older persons.

It is really important to see humanity as a family all ages races and genders.  This will help us move forward towards equal rights for all.

Kymberly Schneider