【Training on Peace-building for Asia-Pacific Youth Leaders】
Theme: Celebrating the Youth’s Potential towards a Culture of Peace
Dates: September 19-22, 2006
Venue: Miriam College, Loyola Heights, Quezon City
Proponent: Loreta N. Castro, Executive Director, Center for Peace Education (CPE), Miriam College, Quezon City, Tel. 580 5400 local 3550, lcastro@mc.edu.ph
Description and Rationale:
As we all know there is a need to multiply our efforts to build peace in our society. This training seeks to bring together youth leaders from various parts of the Philippines and our Asia-Pacific region, a proactive step toward enabling them to discover their potential as builders of a culture of peace, a culture that rejects violence in all its forms and upholds human dignity and the value of life.
The youth are often the target of mobilization for armed conflict and are often also the victims. Hence, special efforts to involve them in processes of peace are crucial.
The year 2006 marks the 20th year of the UN proclamation of 1986 as the International Year of Peace. It is an auspicious time to also celebrate the youth’s potential toward building a culture of peace. We are including selected youth leaders from the Asia-Pacific as this type of youth opportunity is rarely organized in our region.
The training dates, September 19-22, 2006, were so chosen to include the International Day of Peace which is on September 21.
In November 2005 the CPE organized a Training on Youth Peacebuilding between Christian and Muslim youth involved in the Twinning Project between Miriam College (Metro Manila) and Rajah Muda High School (Pikit, Cotabato, Mindanao).