Theme for 2013: "Education
for Peace"
"On this International Day of Peace, let us pledge to
teach our children the value of tolerance and mutual respect. Let us
invest in the schools and teachers that will build a fair and inclusive world
that embraces diversity. Let us fight for peace and defend it with all
our might." (UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon)
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Conversations
with Rigoberta Menchú,
Peace Nobel Price winner in 1992
On the occasion
of the UN International Day of Peace, UPF-Austria in cooperation with the Academic
Council of the United Nations System (ACUNS), Art of
Reconciliation
and with Media Partner The Best of the World Network organized a conference
with Nobel Price Laureate Mrs. Rigoberta Menchu at the UN Vienna Headquarters
on Friday, September 20th 2013.
The event was supported by UNIS Vienna and the Embassy
of Guatemala.
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The Chairperson of
the conference, which was held in the UNIS
Multimedia room was Dr. Leo
Gabriel, a Social anthropologist, journalist and film maker, who
has lived and worked in Central and South America for several decades and
initiated many social projects. Welcome messages were
given by Mr. Janos Tisovsky, Director of UNIS, as well as Mr. Desmond Doyle, founder
of Art of
Reconciliation.
The third welcome message was given by H.E.
Antonio Roberto Castellanos Lopez, Ambassador of the
Mrs. Rigoberta Menchú gave the keynote address with
translation from Spanish to English. She is an indigenous Guatemalan woman, of
the K'iche'
ethnic group. Menchú has dedicated her life to publicizing the plight of
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In her speech at the conference she emphazised the
importance of education for everybody. "We
need to know who we are and where we go." She continued: "In order to
attain peace we need dialogue and negotiations. This needs people in the background
who work hard and don’t give up. We want all the organizations in the world to
become active in helping those who suffer the most, like mothers helping their
children. I spent 14 years of my life walking down the corridors of the UN in
To
the Refugee Protest Camp spokesman of
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After
the meeting in the UNIS Multimedia Room there was a Ceremony at the Peace Bell at Vienna United Nations Plaza. Then the Peace Day message of the UN Secretary General was
delivered by H.H. Dennis Thatchaichawalit, Director, Division
for Management, UNOV, followed by Mrs. Rigoberta Menchú's Peace Day address, in which she summarized the principles
of peace as she learned them from her ancestors, which turned out to
have universal character:
1.
Respect: If all people respect
each other we can build a better world together
2.
Be greatful! We need to be
thankful over and over again if we want to live in peace
3.
Reciprocivity: others give to me,
but I have to give as well (give & take), under equal conditions
4.
Unconditional love: if we do our
work with unconditional love, we can create a different world!
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After her speech a special recognition from the
UNWG - United Nations Women's
Guild Vienna given by Dalila León–Kostal to Mrs. Rigoberta Menchú. Finally, the Peace
Bell was rung, which set an end to
the official program. Unfortunatelly and to the regret of many who
wanted to talk to her personally Mrs. Rigoberta
Menchú had to leave quickly for other mettings in
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Organizers: Universal
Peace Federation (UPF), Academic Council
of the United Nations System (ACUNS), Art of Reconciliation, Media Partner: The Best of the World
Network
Supported
by UNIS
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