PUNE, April 26: Exactly a hundred years after the First Hague Peace Conference was convened by Czar Nicholas II of Russia in 1899, activists from all over the world will meet for the Hague Appeal for Peace conference, at The Hague, Netherlands, from May 11 to May 15. Endorsed by the UN General Assembly and over 1,000 non-govt organisations, the peace effort will see more than 3,000 participants join hands in an effort to promote initiatives for lasting peace and justice.Armene Modi, chairperson, Ashita no Kai, an NGO working for the empowerment of women in Shirur taluka of Pune district, who will be participating in the `Dialogues on Gender and Human Security' says the aim is to explore and discuss strategies to inculcate and promote a culture of peace - where women have an important role to play - and to translate it into action. "War begins in the hearts of men. An important issue will be an international curriculum for schools with the aim to promote study of peace rather than war. The focus will be on `peace education', which is very important in this conflict-ridden world."The revival of the 100-year-old movement focuses on disarmament, and the search for ways to prevent war, to abolish nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, to implement the 1997 Ottawa Landmines Treaty, ratify the International Criminal Court and highlight a new campaign to reduce trade in small arms.UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Queen Noor of Jordan will join in the appeal for peace. Other presenters include Nobel Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu (South Africa), Rigoberta Menchu (Guatemala), John Hume (Northern Ireland) and Jose Jose Ramos-Horta (East Timor). South Africa's First Lady Graca Machel, environmentalist Vandana Shiva and writer Arundhati Roy from India, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, government leaders from 11 countries will attend the conference.The discussion draft of the Hague Agenda for Peace and Justice for the 21st Century (up on website haguepeace.org) has attracted a wide response and the resulting agenda will be further revised following the conference. A South Asian Agenda for Peace and Justice for the 21st Century is also being developed.At the conference, women's groups will organise panels, exhibits and demonstrations to make it clear to the governments of the world that they feel strongly about peace and justice and want to be part of any decisions coming out of the conference.As part of `Women Raise your hand for Peace', messages in various languages will be placed on a cut-out of a hand as part of an exhibit in the conference building (The messages can be sent to International Women's Tribune Centre, fax: (1-212) 661-2704, e-mail: iwtc@igc.apc.org).As the world approaches the new millennium at the end of the most conflict-ridden century, the common man's hopes and aspirations are best summed up in the slogan of the peace appeal: `Peace is a human right. (It's) Time to abolish war.'
