NEW YORK - November 9 - Don't sleep in too long after turkey dinner
this Thanksgiving--you might miss all the action.
For one week--from November 27 through December 4--activists from hundreds of
organizations across the United States and as far away as South Africa will focus on the
needs of young people in an increasingly violent world. International YouthPeace Week is a
global celebration of local initiatives by youth activists and advocates.
Fine establishments in shopping districts everywhere may find themselves beset upon by
highly organized and flamboyant bands of young people at the beginning of the holiday
season. No peddlers of war toys or garments produced by sweatshop labor can consider
themselves safe from a sales-draining leafleting.
Or local police departments with reputations for systemic abuses could be set back on
their heels by a citizens march calling for an end to the criminalization of our youth.
"We are tired of being preyed upon by military recruiters in our schools, as youth
around the world are pressed into military service through forced conscription," said
Derrick Francis, a young activist with YouthPeace and Global Kids in New York City.
"We are demanding real opportunities for our lives that don't involve
mortgaging our futures to the military or the student loan providers."
Now in its third year, International YouthPeace Week is a dynamic coalition effort
coordinated by the War Resisters League, the pacifist organization that spearheaded
October 19th's "Day Without the Pentagon" demonstration in Washington, DC, at
which 39 people were arrested. YouthPeace is energized by young people and their
advocates who are outraged by the frightening increase in the ways that violence
disrupts--and sometimes ends--the lives of our youth. For further information,
contact the YouthPeace program at 212-228-0450, fax 212-228-6193, e-mail wrl@igc.org.# # #
YouthPeace brochure
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON INTERNATIONAL YOUTHPEACE WEEK
1. What is International YouthPeace Week?
International YouthPeace week, held November 27 to December 4, 1998 is a global
celebration of local initiatives by youth activists and advocates. This week was chosen to
provide an annual platform for world-wide issues affecting children and youth through a
coalition effort. This is the third year that the message and time of the
International Days to Protest War Toys, which have been held the first two days
after the US Thanksgiving holiday, was expanded to give more time to protest the
violence in young lives. International YouthPeace Week is an opportunity for
organizations and individuals to work, through educational activities and political
action, to make peace and justice a part of every young person's life.
2. What is the purpose of celebrating International YouthPeace Week and what are the
issues involved in this observance?
A broad range of organizations and individuals who share the War Resisters League's
opposition to war and all its causes that impact our urban centers and rural
regions-oppression, imperialism, domestic domination and neglect, genocide and economic
warfare-are called on to celebrate the enduring spirit of our youth while engaging in
dynamic nonviolent activism as youth activists or advocates.
The international community is asked to support the recommendations of the Graca Machel
study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children and to "encourage Governments to
reduce their levels of militarization and to honor the commitments they made at the World
Summit for Development to support the concept of human security by taking steps to shift
the allocation of resources from arms and military expenditures to human and social
development."
Adopting the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child would mean
that all governments would raise the age of enlistment to eighteen and end the forced
military service of children and their participation in armed conflict. International
YouthPeace Week is also a chance to work against child labor and demand sustainable
development which will provide safe environments for all young people throughout the
world.
If you are an organization or individual that believes in working in coalition with others
who are committed to social change through nonviolent action, it is imperative that you
participate in International YouthPeace Week. National and international alternatives to
the militarization of youth can be shared with new audiences during this week of
YouthPeace programs and actions.
3. What does sponsorship or endorsement of International YouthPeace Week require?
Sponsorship means actively engaging in the act of YouthPeace by hosting a program or
developing an action, sharing the message through mailings and other medium to your
membership and affiliates. Sponsorship also means serving as a resource for other groups
regarding International YouthPeace Week.
Endorsement of International YouthPeace Week means lending your name to this important
endeavor and publicizing it whenever possible. Endorsers are also asked to attend and
promote International YouthPeace Week activities taking place in your area and participate
in the petition drives attached to several of the issue areas.
4. What are the seven issues for seven days of actions during International YouthPeace
Week?
Education and Action during International YouthPeace Week include:
1. Educating consumers about the dangers of war toys by leafleting toy stores that carry
war toys
2. Constructing counter-recruitment displays and providing counseling in high schools and
colleges where JROTC or recruitment vans are present
3. Engaging young people in letter writing projects to International Prisoners for Peace
as part of the War Resisters International Dec. 1 Prisoners for Peace Day
4. Protesting the death penalty for youth offenders by signing on to the Stop Killing Kids
Project of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
5. Demanding an end to Child Labor by protesting companies who use children as a labor
force
6. Insisting that children stop being forced into armed conflict by having all governments
adopt the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
7. Creating forums to educate communities about the environmental hazards caused by
nuclear and industrial waste.
Plus whatever peace and justice issue your group is working on (land mines, AIDS
education, etc.) during International YouthPeace Week.
5. What are the activities and programs choices for organizations or individuals who
engage in International YouthPeace Week?
1. Holding nonviolent training sessions for young people (using peer trainers when
possible) including nonviolent teen parenting sessions.
2. Hosting YouthPeace forums-round table discussions by youth for youth.
3. Sponsoring a YouthPeace Fair in your community and spreading the YouthPeace message
through workshops, games, displays and information tables.
4. Creating visual art and dramatic performances as well as poetry to share in
exhibitions, theaters, wherever spoken word events are held, in schools, churches and the
streets.
5. Engaging religious communities by providing the YouthPeace Litany for their religious
services held during International YouthPeace Week.
6. Sharing the Graca Machel study on the Impact of Armed and the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
7. Advancing your organization's focus by holding a demonstration or leafleting action,
hosting a forum, peace fair or arts event.
6. Where will International YouthPeace Week observances take place?
International YouthPeace Week will be celebrated throughout the United States with
programs and actions taking place in the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles
California, Seattle Washington, Washington DC, Detroit Michigan, Houston Texas and
Atlanta Georgia, and throughout New York and New Jersey as well as Oregon and elsewhere.
International programs will take place in South America, England, France, South Africa,
Bosnia and more. The success of International YouthPeace Week depends on your
participation.
Will you help expand this list by signing on as a participating organization or
individual?
7. Where do I go for further information on International YouthPeace Week?
Contact Malkia M'Buzi Moore
YouthPeace Coordinator
at the War Resisters League
339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012
or call 800-WRL-YOUTH or 212-228-0450
fax 212-228-6193 or e-mail wrl@igc.org
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INTERNATIONAL YOUTHPEACE WEEK
* * * Participating Organizations * * *
International Sponsors:
RLT--Palawan, Phillipines
War Resisters International--London, England
Endorsers:
ASAFED--Lome (TOGO)
IV Latin American Conference for Conscientious Objectors--Quito, Ecuador
E. Cape Province Local Government--Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
Sushanguve Local Government--Sushanguve, South Africa
Mines Action Canada--Ottawa, Canada
Participants:
International Campaign to Ban Landmines--Maputo, Mozambique
Volunteers Centre Zagreb--Zagreb, Hrvatska, Croatia
U.S. Sponsors:
AFSC/Latin America/Asia Pacific Youth Program--Portland, OR
Black Veterans for Social Justice--Brooklyn, NY
Coalition for Peace Action--Princeton, NJ
Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft--San Diego, CA
D.C. SCAR--Washington, DC
Educators for Social Responsibility--Cambridge, MA
Ethical Culture Society of Queens--Bayside, NY
Fellowship of Reconciliation--Nyack, NY
First Unitarian-Universalist Church--Houston, TX
Gang Violence Bridging Project--Los Angeles, CA
Global Kids--New York, NY
Institute for Peace and Justice Families Against Violence Network--St.
Louis, MO
Jane Addams Hull House Assn.--Chicago, IL
Kids Meeting Kids Can Make a Difference--New York, NY
Latinos Unidos Siempre--Salem, OR
Laurentian Shield Resource for Nonviolence--Maple, WI
Los Angeles Alliance for Survival--Santa Monica, CA
Multicultural Advisory Committee NYC Alternative, Adult, Continuing
Ed. Schools and Programs--New York, NY
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty--Washington, DC
Network of Black Organizers--New York, NY
Peace Action Educational Fund--Washington, DC
Peace for the Streets by Kids from then Streets--Seattle, WA
Refuse and Resist--Tulsa, OK
Rice Women's Alliance--Houston, TX
Student Peace Action Network--Washington, DC
Tenafly Middle School Community of Conscience Project--Tenafly, NJ
Veterans for Peace, Maine Council--Winthrop, ME
Women for Racial and Economic Equality--New York, NY
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Metro NY--New York, NY
Westchester People's Action Coalition--White Plains, NY
WRFG Radio--Atlanta, GA
YouthPeace Speakout--Hartford, CT
Youth Task Force--Atlanta, GA
Women's Action for New Directions, Metro Detroit--West Bloomfield, MI
War Resisters League National Office--New York, NY
Eugene Peaceworks/WRL--Eugene, OR
Houston Nonviolent Action/WRL--Houston, TX
INVERT/WRL--Monroe, ME
New York City WRL--New York, NY
Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia/WRL--Seattle, WA
Philidelphia WTR/WRL--Philadelphia, PA
Root and Branch Collective--Ridgewood, NJ
Endorsers:
AFSC Youth Action--Seattle, WA
AFSC Youth and Militarism Program--Philadelphia, PA
Animal Connection--New York, NY
Audre Lorde Project--Brooklyn, NY
Creative Response to Conflict--Nyack, NY
Episcopal Peace Fellowship--Washington, DC
Fannie Lou Hamer Educational Organization--New York, NY
First Presbyterian Church--Carlstadt, NY
Future Leaders Network--Brooklyn, NY
Indiana University Social Action Project--South Bend, IN
Intercommunity Center for Justice--New York, NY
International Health and Epidemiology Research Center--Sherman Oaks, CA
Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy--New York, NY
MADRE--New York, NY
NYC War Tax Resistance--New York, NY
The Painted Gourd Collective--Silver Spring, MD
Physicians for Social Responsibility/NYC--New York, NY
Seattle Buddhist Peace Fellowship--Seattle, WA
STAR/Students Taking Action and Responsibilty--Philadelphia, PA
Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign--Harlem, NY
Urban Justice Center--New York, NY
Women for Racial and Economic Equality--New York, NY
YES--Northport, NY
Participants:
AFSC Southeastern Regional Office SAPE Program--Atlanta, GA
Amnesty International, Southern Region--Atlanta, GA
Broward Citizens for Peace and Justice--Hollywood, FL
CCCO--Philadelphia, PA
The Lion and Lamb Project--Bethseda, MD
Satellite Academy, Bronx Regional High School--Bronx, NY
UNICEF/NGO Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict--New York, NY
To join this list, please respond to this message at wrl@igc.org.
YouthPeace/War Resisters League, 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012
1-800-WRL-YOUTH or +212-228-0450
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