LatinaLista — Peace can mean many different things: the end of war and conflicts; the end of school bullying and gang fights; the end of political partisan name-calling; or the not-so-simple act of achieving that higher level known as “inner tranquility.”
Yet, regardless of the definition, a lot of people are clueless about how they can achieve peace — especially young people. Many peace organizations around the world feel it’s never too early to introduce young people to the concept of peace, peace-building exercises, the practice of peaceful activities and how to use their voices to promote it.
As the world continues to spiral into conflict after conflict, the issue of peace is becoming an imperative for all societies on the planet.
That’s why, this weekend, February 11-12, 2012, the first-ever 24-hour global youth peace telesummit will convene. Called The Youth Rising for Peace Summit, the telephone conference is totally dedicated to young people.
A different peace leader from a different part of the world will be featured every hour for 24 continuous hours sharing their breakthroughs, presenting new projects and ideas that will get people to thinking on “how to exchange violence, oppression and war for PEACE at every level.”
Thousands of young people will gather virtually to hear from and interact with dozens of peacebuilders – from New Zealand, Japan, Israel/Palestine, Costa Rica and every place in between – all talking about the ideas, programs and projects that inspire them.
Some of the ways that will be discussed on how to take action through Youth Rising:
- Promote legislation to reduce youth violence in America and to prevent genocide globally.
- Participate in a global peace essay and artwork contests that need your creativity and vision
- Submit a video to Deepak Chopra’s video contest about peace as a lifestyle
- Help reduce nuclear arms around the world
Organizers for the telesummit say they want the event to be a resource for anyone who wants to learn how they can achieve peace in their corner of the world. Whether they want to work for local, national or global peace, the telesummit wants to show that peace starts with connecting with a cause and speaking up for it.
But it won’t be all fun.
And to keep it real, we’ll shine the light on the challenges youth are facing, including those experiencing deadly conflicts, victimization as child soldiers and sex slaves, living homeless on the streets – and point to efforts underway to address these horrible atrocities.
The event is free but registration is required.
