The Ground Opening of the 30th Anniversary of the AWC
Members from 20 Countries Attending
Are terror attacks surrounding with us? Are we living in a more and more scary era filled with terrorist attacks? Recent trends seem to point to the unwelcome direction.
In 1980s, President Douglas Mattern of Association of World Citizens (AWC) visited Russia eight times and met President Gorbachev in 1989. It was a force to have the nuclear disarmament resolution adopted between the US and USSR. However many years after the great success, global military spending exceeded 10 trillion US dollars, a record high since the end of cold war, according to SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) Yearbook 2004. Year 2005 is the 30th Anniversary of AWC. In order to continue the peace efforts, AWC holds a four-day peace conference running from August 2nd to 5th in the University of San Francisco at the Mc Laren Conference Center.
"The 30th Anniversary of AWC" opens at 10 am on August 2nd. A series of cultural exchange performances will be held starting 2:00 pm. Fr. Stephen A. Privett of University of San Francisco, Mayor Patrick Kwok of Cupertino, Susan Zipp, Bill McCarthy and many other special guests from 20 member countries will present in the opening.
The four-day event is co-hosted by AWC, International Association of Educators for World Peace (IAEWP), Federation of World Peace and Love (FOWPAL) and Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy. The topic of the conference is "Bring War and Organized Violence to an End-- The Failure of Global Empire and Birth of Global Community". Douglas Mattern, president of AWC and Mike Whitty, State Chancellors for IAEWP, chaired the meeting. Dr. Hong Tao-Tze, president of FOWPAL and Member of Advisory Board of AWC is the vice chairperson for the Conference.
At the opening session, they invite Dr. Clovis Maksoud, former UN Ambassador for the Arab League and former Ambassador to India for Lebanon, to deliver a keynote speech. In the opening remark, Dr. Hong mentioned the concept of "There is no peace without love. Peace needs love. And, love needs to be balanced," which he exchanged with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in Italy. The concept is also agreed by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. Dr. Hong also pointed out that as UN-affiliated NGO, AWC is obligated to work with the UN for the world balance and peace. Therefore, in the 5 panel discussions, the UN reform is widely and extensively discussed in response to the reform proposed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The Lifetime Achievement for World Citizen Award will be presented to Dr. Hong for his contribution in introducing the idea of world citizens. At 2:00, a cultural feast will present, which includes Dr. Siddiqee's Sitar and Drums performance, and Eddie Gale's Jazz performance. Meanwhile, the popular Tai Ji Men martial arts performance and civil dance will present their famous heart kung-fu to unite heart and qi in one. In the end of the day, a solemn Ceremony of ringing the Bell of Peace will invite honor guests to ring the Bell of Peace and make their wishes of peace. The sound of the Bell of Peace reverberates throughout the earth and wishes the conference success.
Panel discussions will be launched on august 3. Topics include UN Reform-Peoples Parliament-MDG, Nuclear Disarmament/War, and Working Network. The conference will be concluded on August 5 |
