Religions for Peace - Global Youth Campaign on Disarmament for Shared Security
Inauguration of the Global Youth Campaign on Disarmament for Shared Security
San José, Costa Rica 7-9 November 2009
The first youth-led global multi-religious campaign on disarmament led by the youth network of Religions for Peace, was inaugurated in San José, Costa Rica, from 7 to 9 November 2009. The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sánchez offered their strong support to this historic initiative. More than a 120 young religious leaders of different faiths from 49 countries in every region of the world came together to outline their strategies for meeting the campaign’s three goals: abolishing nuclear weapons, stopping the proliferation and misuse of conventional weapons and redirecting at least 10% of military expenditure to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) by 2015.
Over the three days of the event, several panel discussions were held, exposing the Youth to valuable insights from international experts on each of the campaign goals. At the same time, capacity building workshops equipped the participants with the practical tools to work on lobbying and advocacy, engaging the media, raising public awareness and working with mayors, parliamentarians and policy makers for the purposes of the campaign. Last, participants were divided into regional working groups to develop national, regional and global plans of action that would eventually contribute to the success of the campaign.
At the closing ceremony of the event, the International Youth Committee (IYC) of Religions for Peace presented the Statement and Plan of Action of the Global level to Mr. Hernando París, the Minister of Justice and Peace of Costa Rica. Each region has also committed to collect signatures on the Arms Down! Disarmament petition, and the Global Youth Network has set a goal of 50 million signatures to be delivered to the United National Secretary General, the permanent members of the Security Council, as well as to Members of Parliaments, in one year’s time.
For more information and updates on the campaign, including ways in which you can become involved, contact Ms. Katerina Ragoussi, Associate Director for Youth, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
