Diverse Ability
July 2005
Banner photo: HEINRICH VAN DEN BERG/WWI/Still Pictures
UN Activities
UNIDR Director Patricia Lewis
The "Building a Culture of Peace for the Children of the World" exhibition was held at the United Nations Office at Geneva in Switzerland, from April 4 to 15, to coincide with sessions on the rights of the child during the 2005 UN Commission on Human Rights. Speaking at the opening, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDR) Director Patricia Lewis referred to the exploitation of children in armed conflict and said the exhibit highlights many ways in which a culture of peace is especially important to such children.
This showing was cosponsored by the SGI and UNIDR. Aftab A. Khokher, First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Pakistan, commented, "I believe this exhibit and its message is important and needs to be seen in countries around the world regardless of culture, language, religion or politics. Indeed, the needs of children transcend all of these."
To date, the exhibition has been shown at Columbia and Harvard universities, the UN Headquarters in New York and the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., as well as in Canada, Spain and Jordan. The UN Headquarters showing alone had nearly 10,000 visitors.
Human Rights Education
On March 31, SGI representative Kazunari Fujii chaired and helped organize a meeting parallel to the Commission on Human Rights on the right to education and human rights education at the UN Office at Geneva. The Special Committee of NGOs on Human Rights and the Human Rights Education Caucus cosponsored the event, which was attended by more than 50 NGO participants. The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Vernor Muños Villalobos, and Ingeborg Breines, director of the UNESCO Liaison Office in Geneva, made presentations at the meeting. On April 18, Mr. Fujii made a joint NGO statement at a plenary session of the Commission on behalf of 14 NGOs supporting human rights education.
Sustainable Development
The SGI took active part in the 13th session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-13) from April 11 at the UN Headquarters in New York. On April 12, SGI representative Hiro Sakurai made a presentation on behalf of faith-based NGOs in New York at a CSD Education Caucus forum which focused on the important role education plays in engaging all sectors of society in the work of sustainable development.
The "Building a Culture of Peace for the Children of the World" exhibition in Geneva
On April 13, a meeting on the role of faith communities in education for sustainable development was held in the UN Headquarters as a side event of CSD-13. As a follow-up, a facilitated networking and visioning session entitled "Engaging Faith Communities in the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development" was held on April 15. There SGI representatives introduced the organization's efforts to contribute to the Decade using the film A Quiet Revolution and the "Seeds of Change" exhibition as educational tools.
Nuclear Disarmament
On May 27, the closing day of the 2005 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a meeting was held where the faith community recommitted themselves to continue working for nuclear abolition despite the disappointing conclusion of the conference.
Entitled "Faith and the Future: The Inter-Religious Community and the Struggle for Nuclear Abolition," the symposium was organized by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) in cosponsorship with the Temple of Understanding and Pax Christi USA, and brought together the NPT participants, the faith community and youth.
Former Canadian ambassador for disarmament Douglas Roche was followed by five panelists from different faith traditions. As one of the panelists, Hiro Sakurai explained how the Buddhist approach to change espoused by the SGI focuses strongly on the inner processes of life, and how a change in people's inner life ultimately shapes the direction of society. This was the outlook that inspired the Soka Gakkai's second president, Josei Toda, to issue a call in 1957 for banning all nuclear weapons.
