THE CHILDREN'S AFRICAN CONFERENCE - August 2002

Useful links: 
Children of the World
Interview with God

"The true challenge today, the real stake which determines the future, is to arrive for the first time to live together, with self-respect for others and for the environment."

Background
The United Nations "International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World" calls for the creation of a global culture of Peace and Non-violence. The Apeadu Childrens' Peace 
Center, in Aburi Ghana-West Africa, is a physical response to this ideal. 

As our world tumbles quickly through the process of globalization, it becomes more and more apparent how individual actions can impact the global community at large and Africa in particular. We begin to recognize that we are all one family of humankind and it is imperative that we pursue the benefits of sharing our own separate identities with one another. The people of Ghana have so much to teach, through their reservoir of meaningful traditions, 

Strong family values and community ties, and tremendous vibrancy in their love of life. At the same time, it is necessary to discuss the terrors so many experience plagued by poverty, famine, war, and disease. Not only does 
globalization allow us to bring our world together, youth in particular have the opportunity to face our collective moral obligation for mutual respect and equity of sharing resources as a global family.

The Apeadu Childrens' Peace Center (ACPC) seeks to provide African and International youth of all backgrounds a program in which education can bring nonviolence and self-empowerment to the foreground in their lives. The blending of myriad cultures can allow youth to embrace cultural differences as well as appreciate societal needs. Through dialogue, group processes, personal revelations, and education, African participants will be supported in learning from their personal and national histories while embracing all they have to offer themselves, their culture, and the world. International participants will be supported in learning about all that African culture has to offer, and further their own global understanding of their responsibility regarding African issues. 

The program's aim is to provide the education, technological and emotional resources needed for youth to participate actively in furthering global goals of peace and non-violence. The Peace Center provides the opportunity for 50-60 youth to come together for conferences and seminars. The programs are dedicated to further develop all participants' sense of well-being for building visions of equality as well as concrete action plans for implementation within their own communities. 

In the creation of this center, there is the hope that it will not stand alone, but as a blueprint and pilot for other such centers of peace education. The Apeadu Peace Center will serve as an example of youth in support of learning together and building a culture of peace and non-violence.

"There is only one way to fight violence with non-violence: education."
"We must educate our children in order that they help us to be wiser. 
Practical measures will follow as a result of this commitment, in the field of culture and principally in the field of education."

Specifics

The Apeadu Peace Center will focus on four initiatives:
* To provide peace education for African and international youth 
* To provide the resources and facilities for international conferences to 
establish specific long-term solutions to African and global issues
* To create a social, political, technological, and medicinal network to 
reach individuals throughout the continent and worldwide
* To abide by the pledges of the Manifesto 2000 for the Culture of Peace and