ACTIVATING PEACE: THE PEACE MANIFESTO

This project was begun in the summer of 2024 by the first three members of our Advisory Council shown below, the three Davids, David Adams, David Hazen and David Wick. We were appalled by the terrible state of our world, by the suffering from wars, by the suffering caused by the diversion of resources that should be used for human needs but instead are spent on the weapons of war, and by the ever-widening gap between rich and poor people and between rich and poor countries. Something had to be done! We could not sit idly by while our world is destroyed!

With the help of Fred Arment, the director of the International Cities of Peace, we prepared a course Activating a Culture of Peace that you can take for free even if you are not a city of peace by registering here.

To develop the course, we recalled the progress made and the hope generated during the United Nations International Year for the Culture of Peace, the Year 2000, when the United Nations adopted The Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace. A simple version was circulated as the Manifesto 2000 and 75 million people signed it promising to work of a culture of peace in their daily lives. There were over a million signatures in India, Nepal, Algeria, Brazil, Colombia, Korea and Japan.

The Manifesto 2000 was terminated at UNESCO, due to the opposition of the most powerful member states, who denied that there is a culture of war in the world. This time we propose to launch a Peace Manifesto in the spring of 2025 to be spread directly on social media without depending on the United Nations.

You don't need to take the course. You can begin by simply reading the Manifesto 2025 here, and spreading the word about it on social media once the project is launched. We are developing a website where you can compose your media posts as an inspiration to others. We hope that this will develop such a snowball of support by people around the world that the culture of peace becomes the agenda for the next evolution of human history.

SENIOR ADVISORY TEAM
David Adams


David Adams (born 1939) is an American peace activist, scientist, scholar, writer and journalist. As a professor at Wesleyan University he ran a brain research laboratory and published many scientific articles. Adams then served at UNESCO, where he worked on the Culture of Peace initiative that eventually led to the International Year for the Culture of Peace.
David Hazen


David Hazen, an American born in 1943, has a Master's degree in whole-system design-planning, is a conscientious objector, teacher, canoe-builder, sign maker, certified addiction counselor, author, video blogger, electric vehicle builder, advisor to International Cities of Peace, advocate for a U.S. Department of Peace, organizer of local compassionate action projects, and recipient of two PeaceBuilder Awards.
 
David Wick


In 1983 David helped launch the American NGO, Pathways To Peace (PTP) which had assisted the resolution passage of the UN International Day of Peace in 1981. He has been a leader in organizing the celebration of the International Day of Peace since 1984 and he currently serves as a PTP President. With his partner Irene Kai he co-founded the Culture of Peace Commission of the city of Ashland, Oregon. He is Past President of the Rotary E-Club of World Peace.
 
 
Alicia Cabezudo

Professor Emeritus at the School of Education, University of Rosario, Argentina and UNESCO Chair on Culture of Peace and Human Rights at the University of Buenos Aires. She has held offices in the Interntional Peace Bureau, and the Global Alliance of Ministries and Infrastructures for Peace.. She is working now in Colombia as Education Expert and Consultant after the Havanna Peace Agreements Process on Post Conflict Education.
Toh Swee-Hin (S.H.Toh)

Professor Emeritus, University of Alberta; Laureate, UNESCO Prize for Peace Education (2000); formerly Distinguished Professor, University for Peace and Director, Multi-Faith Center, Griffith University. Born in Malaysia and a Canadian/Australian citizen, he is an educator/activist for peace, human rights, social justice, intercultural under-standing, sustainability and interfaith dialogue with contributions to UNESCO, IPRA, Parliament of World's Religions, and APCEIU.
Virginia Cwagas

Peace educator from the Philippines, formerly Peace Education Professor, UN mandated University for Peace, Costa Rica. Her activism began in the Philippines protesting martial law leading to the EDSA People Power Revolution. A Filipino-Canadian, she is committed to education for a culture of peace, nonviolence, human rights, and sustainable development for youth, teachers, community leaders and civil servants in Global South and North contexts.

YOUTH ADVISORY TEAM
Myrian Castello


From Brazil, founder and Executive Director of Fabrica dos Sonhos and the Right to Dream Movement to transform dreaming into a human right and SDG with projects for a culture of peace that range from entrepreneurial education and income generation to reducing gender-based violence. International facilitator, passionate about developing communities and individuals, and promoting systemic changes through participatory leadership and regenerative strategies.
 
Nawal Amjad


Nawal Amjad is a thought leader on authentic leadership & a political scientist from the University of London, LSE & LJMU UK. She has been the Youth Ambassador for UNDP Pakistan and a fellow for YECAP - UNDP Asia-Pacific. In 2022, she was chosen as 1 of 50 Global Youth Leaders by UNESCO-APCEIU & subsequently as 1 of the 25 Regional Leaders of South Asia by UNESCO-APCEIU in 2024. Currently, she serves as an Assistant Manager for Academics and Transnational Partnerships, Beaconhouse International College, Pakistan.
Munira Beisenbayeva


An experienced English teacher and global citizenship educator from Kazakhstan, Munira has worked with the Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools for over 9 years, leading Model UN projects, mentoring students in global perspectives, and conducting teacher training across. Munira is an advocate for student research and self-regulated learning and is passionate about peace education and sustainable development. 		 
(to be determined)

 		  
(to be determined)

 		  
(to be determined)