*rfM/m Press Release Department of Public Information • News and Media Services Division • New York

SOC/4575 29 March 2001

INTERNATIONAL GROUP OF EXPERTS MEETS AT UNTIED NATIONS i TO ADVISE I UNIVERSITY FOR

Cuidad Colon, , 24 March (UPEACE) — On Saturday 24 March, a group of eminent international scholars and experts concluded a two-day meeting at the United Nations, which had been called to advise the University for Peace on the development of its new academic programme and on the formation of a small Academic Advisory Council to ensure the high quality and effectiveness of its courses. The experts provided their advice to the University for Peace on how to ensure that the major programme of expansion and revitalization now in course can enable it to serve most effectively as a global resource for education on the prevention of conflict and the peaceful settlement of disputes.

The meeting was opened by United Nations Secretary-General , Honorary President of the University for Peace (UPEACE) . In a keynote speech, the Secretary-General stated that "we have a mission to stimulate large numbers of students on every continent to reflect seriously on human conflict, its causes and consequences, and on ways to prevent its deadly outcome ... the University for Peace can play an important part in helping to organize and channel that pool of wisdom" .

The meeting was convened and chaired by David Hamburg, President Emeritus of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The President of the Council of the University for Peace, , and the Rector, Martin Lees, underlined the changing nature of conflict in the world since the end of the cold war and the urgent need to enhance education for peace, especially in the developing countries, so as to foster attitudes and expertise to prevent deadly conflict and to encourage the reconciliation of disputes through non-violent means.

The participants came from every continent and included scholars from the global academic community, prominent officials of the and experts from non-governmental, governmental and multilateral organizations. The New York meeting followed a similar consultation held in Bangkok in December 2000, which was attended by deans and chancellors from 35 prestigious universities in Asia and the Pacific. Similar consultations will be held in other regions in due course so as to obtain a diversity of views and experience in the definition of the UPEACE academic programme.

The new academic programme of UPEACE was considered within the international context of the current state of teaching on peace and security issues worldwide. The University for Peace should become a catalyst of a worldwide network of partnerships for education, training and research on the complex issues related to

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For information media • not an official record • also available at http://www.un.org/news - 2 - Press Release SOC/-4575 29 March 2001 peace and security. It should also stimulate and support the efforts of universities in developing countries to undertake education and research for peace and should use electronic media and state-of-the-art technologies to disseminate course materials, documentation and experience.

The University for Peace is forging international knowledge networks in partnership with universities, non-governmental organizations and the business community. These will provide opportunities for the exchange of students, professors and practitioners to study and work on peace issues at the main campus of UPEACE in Costa Rica, within the United Nations system and in other universities and institutions around the world. Through these networks, UPEACE will provide opportunities for young people to study issues of peace and conflict prevention while drawing on the invaluable experience and resources of the United Nations system. The University will also serve as a bridge between the world academic community and decision-makers so as to convey the insights of research to improve the results of policy.

The recommendations made by the experts attending the meeting will play an important role in orienting the development of the academic programme and the organization of UPEACE.

The University for Peace was founded in 1980 as a organization under an international agreement specifically approved by the General Assembly. It is established "with a clear determination to provide humanity with an international institution of higher education for peace and with the aim of promoting among all human beings the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, to stimulate cooperation among peoples and to help lessen the obstacles and threats to and progress, in keeping with the noble aspirations proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations".

For further information contact: Ivonne Aguilar, Media Coordinator; Tel.: (506) 205-9000, Fax: (506) 249-1929, E-mail: [email protected].

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