This session will review the possible ingredients for a good policy for a local government seeking to promote peace and dialogue, in other words a ‘Template for a City of Peace’.
Three lines of action will constitute the template:

• what you can do to promote peace in your own community (e.g. social cohesion, create a culture of peace, have attention for the potential conflict effects of development processes)
• how you can contribute to dialogue and peace at an international level (express solidarity with those who are threatened by war, provide project support and lobby)
• how to create a structural foundation for peace policy in your community: by defining the responsibilities, allocating staff time and budget, making widely known what you are doing in the field, and seeking co-operation with others. The session will also propose the creation of an annual ‘Capital City of Peace’ award.

The kick off for the debate will be given by representatives of three municipalities:
Ieper suffered tremendously in the first World War. Now it has developed an active peace policy which includes a well-known and participatory three yearly peace prize, an active policy on peace education, an interactive war memorial museum and city links with Gjilan in Kosovo and Wa in Ghana. Ieper is also very active in Mayors for Peace.
The Province of  Milano declared itself a Province of Peace in 2004. It set up a House of Peace where hundreds of events have been organised, reaching thousands of people. Together with 40 municipalities the province also created a Fund for International Cooperation, and set up two committees ‘For Africa’ and ‘For Lebanon’. The Province supports many peace campaigns, particularly the Sudan Campaign for Peace and Human Rights and is member of various international peace networks.
Sarajevo, with a population of 450,000 the capital of Bosnia Herzegovina, is transforming from a severely war-damaged city into a dynamic multicultural and multi-ethnic city. Sarajevo is member of the Executive Board of the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities.

Moderator

Martin Chávez, Mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA)

Speakers
Jan Breyne, Chief Executive of the Municipality of Ieper (Belgium)

 

Irma Dioli, Councillor for Peace, Youth and Sport in the Province of Milan (Italy)

 

Semiha Borovac, Mayor of Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina)