Strengthening Our Connections
April 2006
Banner photo: ©MIMOTITO/Digital Vision/Getty Images
Conference on UN Reform
On February 11, 2006, the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research, a Soka Gakkai-affiliated peace organization, celebrated its 10th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, the institute hosted an international conference in Los Angeles, U.S.A., on February 4-5, on "Transforming the United Nations: Human Development, Regional Conflicts and Global Governance in a Post-Westphalian World." Some 30 university professors, researchers and representatives of UN and NGO organizations attended, including UN Under-Secretary-General Anwarul K. Chowdhury.
Dr. Chowdhury expressed his belief that one of the UN's most crucial tasks is to make a positive impact on the lives of those who are the weakest and most vulnerable in our world. In that context, development should be at the core of the UN's work, and the UN should turn itself truly into a people's organization. He also said that it is youth who can lead the way to laying the foundation for a world based on a genuine concern for people's well-being. The conference closed with words from Kevin Clements, professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Queensland, Australia, and Dr. Majid Tehranian, director of the Toda Institute.
