New Year Meeting with Ambassadors for Peace - Copenhagen, Denmark

New Year Meeting with Ambassadors for Peace Copenhagen, Denmark, January 20, 2018 By Nobuhiro Igarashi During the nicely prepared lunch principles, followed by a report of UPF everybody introduced themselves. All activities in 2017, background and

S aturday January 20th we held a listened so attentively that they almost motivation behind our activities and New Year meeting with forgot to eat their lunch and all guests our plan for 2018. Ambassadors for Peace in our expressed gratitude to be invited. MP Ulla Sandbæk shared about the UPF Peace Center. Among the 14 Our meeting started with a short IAPP events she attended in London, participants were MP Ulla Sandbæk , introduction to UPF and our peace Laura Valesin from We Make Peace, a New York, Seoul and Ramallah. NGO who raises peace awareness and implement peace education in schools, a young politician, a consultant for integration and founder of Nurse Gambia Project. Only three male representatives (from UPF) were present.

At the end nurse, Mona Nicolaisen, was appointed as our new Ambassador for Peace. She told about how she together with another nurse builds up a charity project in Gambia. Once or twice a year they travel to Gambia with their suitcases and backpacks full of supplies needed in Gambia. They sponsor water drillings for pure water in villages, help children from poor families to attend school, teach especially girls and women about help to self-help, fx how to establish fenced The video “What is an Ambassador for sustainable, non-violent cultures and gardens to grow vegetables on their Peace?” showed participants communities. Their aim is to reinvent own etc. They make all funding by the impact UPF has on the grassroot the concept of peace as an ideal for themselves though selling small level all over the world and how young people to aspire to, to build homemade things. individuals can make a difference. strong foundations for peace within each individual, in the classroom, and The next day during our Sunday The last part of our program was in society. Since 2009 their program Service another guest rang the brainstorming about how we can step has also been piloted in the UK and in doorbell, she mistook the date! She up and make better activities in the the US prior to its official US release attended our UN Day of Peace event coming year. Already in our invitation in 2013. last year and wanted to know more we asked the participants to contribute about UPF. Again, over lunch we with their ideas and proposals of how Everybody agreed it is important to shared about UPFs vision and also our UPF activities can be best possible educate children and youth about about our religious background. She is as well as suggestions for new peace, tolerance, respect, coexistence an author and coach and strongly initiatives. Laura Valesin showed etc. and a small group was formed to believes we are living in the age of copies of We Make Peace textbooks find ways to enhance this work and women with great changes and a for peace education in schools, where raise awareness about this among paradigm shift. they have learning programs, politicians. We look very much forward to develop workshops and campaigns to build UPF activities during the coming year.