The Hague Appeal for Peace held a conference 11-15 May 1999 in the Netherlands, to mark 100 years since the first Hague Peace Conference. Nearly 10,000 people from over 100 countries gathered in The Hague’s Congress Center in response to an appeal launched by the International Peace Bureau (IPB), the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), and the World Federalist Movement (WFM).
During the five-day gathering, participants discussed and debated – in over 400 panels and workshops – mechanisms for abolishing war and creating a culture of peace in the 21st century. The four agenda areas under the umbrella of the Hague Appeal included disarmament and human security; conflict prevention and resolution; international human rights and humanitarian law; and the root causes of war/culture of peace.
Several INMP members attended the conference, including Prof. Ikuro Anzai and Prof. Atsushi Fujioka from Kyoto Museum for World Peace, and Yuhei Nishimori, Takako Yoshikawa and Kazuyo Yamane from Grassroots House, Kochi City, Japan. They also visited the Ijzer Tower and ‘In Flanders Fields’ museums in Belgium, Yi Jun Peace Museum and the Peace Palace in the Hague.
Sources:
www.haguepeace.org
www.un.org/press/en/1999/19990406.hague.brf.html
www.tokyo-sensai.net/muse – MUSE No.1, July 1999
