Peace Education

Opportunity Costs: Military Spending and the UN Development Agenda

By Colin Archer and Annette Willi, 2012

IPB wrote a Position Paper entitled Opportunity Costs: Military Spending and the UN’s Development Agenda. It makes the case that military spending should be taken into consideration in the debate now under way on the UN’s Post-2015 Development Agenda (following on from the Millennium Development Goals). In IPB’s view, militarization is a significant factor in the sustainable development equation, often undermining the security of citizens. At the same time, the massive resources devoted to the military sector could – if even a small portion were reallocated – make a major contribution to meeting the challenges of mass poverty, unemployment and climate change.

IPB critical of Nobel Peace Prize for the European Union

12 October, 2012

“For a peacemaking bloc, this is a highly militarized one”

The IPB finds the award of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union surprising in that it awards a prize not to a head of state but to an entire bloc of states, thus making it difficult to identify the real recipient. Is the EU really a ‘champion of peace’, as Nobel conceived it? Or is it a club of states with many contradictory impulses and interests? Continue reading “IPB critical of Nobel Peace Prize for the European Union”

Global Day of Action on Military Spending 2012 – IPB activities

On April 17, IPB organised two events to mark the second GDAMS.

What we did:

gva seminar panelLunchtime seminar at the UN

Diplomats and NGOs participated in this event. The panel was composed of:

– Mr. Kassym-Jomaert Tokayev, Director-General of UNOG, who highlighted the role of the civil society in drawing attention to military spending and its impact on human security. Continue reading “Global Day of Action on Military Spending 2012 – IPB activities”

On the occasion of the annual commemorations of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

3 August, 2012

On August 6 and 9 our thoughts turn once again to the tragic destruction of the two Japanese cities in 1945, and in particular to the victims of this first, and hopefully last, use of nuclear weapons in warfare. As the years go by, there are fewer and fewer of the hibakusha left alive to witness to the horror they experienced at a young age. Continue reading “On the occasion of the annual commemorations of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki”

2014: 100 years since the start of World War I

30 May, 2012

The centenary of the outbreak of the First World War takes place in just over two years. Already governments and other official-level bodies are planning extensive commemorations, both nationally and on the European level. Numerous exhibitions, books, films and other projects are in the making. Peace perspectives need to be heard, especially in the mass-media debates, and in productions aimed at informing young people. Continue reading “2014: 100 years since the start of World War I”

IPB calls for action on nuclear disarmament

29 March, 2012

The first PrepComm of the next NPT Review Conference in 2015 will open on this coming April 30 in Vienna.   The last Review Conference in 2010 declared, before the mounting public opinion calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons, that it ‘resolves to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons…’. The IPB calls on all its member organizations to plan actions in support of our initiatives in Vienna to build the momentum among the civil society in favour of nuclear disarmament, and to urge their respective governments to press for the start of negotiations on a convention banning nuclear weapons for ever. Continue reading “IPB calls for action on nuclear disarmament”

Global Day of Action on Military Spending 2011 – IPB activities

IPB worked with several other organisations to organise three very successful activities to mark the Global Day of Action on Military Spending – a project itself co-coordinated by IPB. Activities included a public action at the Place des Nations, a lunchtime seminar on ‘Military Spending or the MDGs?’, and an evening meeting on militarisation in Burma.

What we did:

1. Public action at the Place des Nations in front of the UN, with 2 famous disarmament monuments, the Landmines Chair and the Twisted Cannon. It was organised by IPB and the Group for Switzerland without an Army/GSSA. A Symbolic installationt shows the vast disparity between global military spending and what is needed for the MDGs – using 160 boxes each representing $10bn, and 30 boxes for the MDGs. Continue reading “Global Day of Action on Military Spending 2011 – IPB activities”