Building a Culture of Peace –
“The Human Person, The Heart of Peace” “I believe that life is precious and must be protected and respected, and that all human beings have the right to live in dignity.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Happy New Year
Regardless of the country you come from, the city or town you live in, and the weather conditions you are facing, New Years’ Eve is a celebration that marks a new year and says goodbye to a completed one. Whether it be fireworks over the Harbour bridge in Sydney, bright flashing lights on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the sound of Big Ben ringing in London at midnight or the dropping of the ball at Times Square in New York, this is a celebration that marks a new year. And with each new year comes the tradition of New Year Resolutions. This is when we all make promises on how to improve our lives for the year to come. These resolutions may be to attend the gym more often, pay closer attention at school, work on developing better friendships or to try and work for a job promotion. It is unfortunate that by mid year there are many gym memberships that will never be used, promises will be made and broken and by the time your end of year school report comes out you may be regretting your idea to ignore the new year resolution to pay closer attention at school. But a new year also begins the promise of a year where we can continue to work at achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to eradicate extreme world poverty, promote gender equality, educate our children, improve health, work to ensure environmental sustainability and secure a global partnership that addresses fair trade, cancellation of debt and more and better aid. By working to achieve the MDGs we are in fact working for peace.

World Day of Peace January 1, 2007
Pope Benedict XVI issued his annual message for the World Day of Peace. A message to promote peace around the world and a message that encourages each of us to live lives of peace and harmony.

The United Nations New Secretary-General
On January 1 this year we recognised the World Day of Peace. This was also the day that the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon of the Republic of Korea began his new role. The Secretary-General leads the United Nations which is the key organisation that is central to global efforts to solve problems that challenge humanity.

Mr Ban was born on June 13, 1944. He and his wife, Madam Yoo (Ban) Soon-taek have one son and two daughters. Mr Ban received a bachelor's degree in international relations from Seoul National University in 1970. In 1985, he earned a master's degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

At the time of his election as Secretary-General, Mr Ban was his country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has longstanding ties with the United Nations, dating back to 1975, when he worked for the Foreign Ministry’s United Nations division. He has retained contact with the UN since then in roles which include serving on committees to ban nuclear testing and also worked on adopting the first resolution to condemn the terrorist attacks of September 11.

2001–2010:
The International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World
The focus of this decade is upon the principles of non-violence towards children, and also focussing on the plight of children worldwide to implement strategies to focus on and ensure assistance for children exposed to harmful and violent situations.

This can be done through both formal and informal education which provides children with the necessary tools for acquiring the knowledge base, skills, values, attitudes and behaviours associated with non-violence. Because many of the children who need this assistance live in majority countries where there is limited access to computers, books and educators, supportive outreach programs must be provided by regional or international organisations. Messages must also be tailored to meet the needs of the primary target audience – children.

Festival of Global Concern:
April 13-15, 2007 Caritas Australia is holding this Trans-Tasman youth festival for students in Years 11 and 12 and their teachers. One of the keynote speakers is Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He is one of Latin America’s leading activists for justice and human rights, and has been at the forefront of confronting corruption in society and championing the rights of the poor and marginalised in a globalised world.

For further information, please contact Melissa Mottram at: melissam@caritas.org.au