a+ a- print

A Forum for Peace:
Daisaku Ikeda’s Proposals to the UN
edited by Olivier Urbain

A Forum for Peace
Pub. Year

2014

Publisher

I.B. Tauris

ISBN

978 1 78076 840 3 (pb)
978 1 78076 839 7 (hb)

Since 1983, Daisaku Ikeda has published an annual peace proposal in which he surveys core global challenges and proposes steps to address them. These have explored a wide variety of issues—from peacebuilding and nuclear disarmament to sustainable development, education for global citizenship and youth empowerment to human rights and gender inequality. Central to Ikeda’s perspective here is the importance of the United Nations and how it can be strengthened to effectively nurture peace and social justice.

In A Forum for Peace: Daisaku Ikeda’s Proposals to the UN, Olivier Urbain brings together excerpts from the proposals up to 2013. These are usefully arranged by theme and organized into chapters, each of which looks at an aspect of the general mandate of the UN.

Chapter 1, “A UN Living Up to Its Mission,” for example, includes the theme “A Parliament of Humanity,” exploring Ikeda’s ideas regarding the role and mission of the UN. Other themes examine his thoughts on such issues as enhancing the participation of civil society and structural reforms to bolster the UN’s capacity for peacebuilding.

The second chapter explores themes such as poverty and human development, human rights and a culture of peace. Themes in Chapter 3, “A UN for a World Without War,” are related to various aspects of disarmament and weapons control. Also included in the volume are the full texts of three separate proposals specifically exploring UN reform, Education for Sustainable Development and Nuclear Weapons Abolition, respectively.

It is the structure of the content that makes this book especially valuable. Ikeda’s Peace Proposals can be considered a vital and unique component of his vast output. The organization of the material here, very clearly laid out in the table of contents, enables one to quickly identify and examine over a hundred themes and ideas from his proposals. This alone makes the work an essential resource for anyone interested in Ikeda as a peacebuilder. This substantial volume likewise helps to outline the magnitude of Ikeda’s contributions to peacebuilding—the extent to which he has grappled with the structural as well as philosophical problems of peace.

This is echoed in the foreword by Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the UN between 2002 and 2007, who writes, with respect to Ikeda’s engagement with the UN, “I know of no one who has highlighted the role and responsibility of the world body so consistently, relentlessly and substantively for such a long period of time. Some UN functionaries and scholars have addressed similar issues, but none for as long and consistently as he has done.” A Forum for Peace substantiates such a claim.

* * *

Olivier Urbain, editor of this book, was director of the Toda Institute for Global Policy Research from 2008 to 2017. Presently he is director of the Min-On Music Research Institute. He is the author of Daisaku Ikeda’s Philosophy of Peace: Dialogue, Transformation and Global Citizenship (2010), and the editor of Music and Conflict transformation: Harmonies and Dissonances in Geopolitics (2008) and of Daisaku Ikeda and Dialogue for Peace (2013).


CONTENTS


Foreword by Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury

List of Proposals

Chapter 1. A UN Living Up to Its Mission

Fulfilling the Mission: Empowering the UN to Live Up to the World’s Expectations, 2006 United Nations Proposal (Full Text)

  • The Parliament of Humanity
    • From National Interest to the Interest of Humanity (1987)
    • Choose a “Human Face” rather than a “National Face” (1989)
    • The Spirit of the UN Charter: “We the peoples…” (1991)
    • Some Keys to Strengthening the United Nations (1993)
  • Participation of Civil Society
    • A Global People’s Council (2000)
    • A People’s Fund for the UN (2001)
    • The Security Council and NGOs (2005)
    • The General Assembly and NGOs (2006)
    • An Under-Secretary-General for Civil Society Relations (2009)
  • Soft Power
    • The Security Council and the Economic and Social Council (1994)
    • Human Security (1995)
    • “Prevention” and “Stability” (2001)
    • A Global Governance Coordinating Panel (2005)
    • An Office of Global Visioning (2009)
  • A New Legal Framework for Conflict Resolution
    • International Law for Peace (1995)
    • The International Criminal Court (1999)
    • Establishing Legal Systems for the Prevention of Terrorism (2002)
    • Counter-Terrorism Strategies (2004)
  • Peacebuilding
    • A UN Conflict Prevention Center (1989)
    • A UN High Commissioner for Indigenous People and National Minorities (1993)
    • A Conflict Prevention Committee (2000)
    • A Peace Rehabilitation Council (2004)
    • The Peacebuilding Commission (2006)
  • Regional Governance
    • An Asia-Pacific Organization for Peace and Culture (1986)
    • A UN Asia Office (1994)
    • Stability and Peace in the Asia-Pacific Region (2005)
    • Toward an East Asian Union (2007)
    • Envisioning a United States of Africa (2001)
    • African Youth Partnership Plan (2008)

Chapter 2. A UN to Eliminate Misery from the Earth

For a Sustainable Global Society: Learning for Empowerment and Leadership, 2012 Environment Proposal (Full Text)

  • Poverty and Human Development
    • The Elimination of Poverty (1996)
    • A Global Marshall Plan (2000)
    • An Earth Forum for Social Justice (2001)
    • The Millennium Development Goals (2003)
    • A Global Primary Education Fund (2004)
    • A “Water for Life” Fund (2008)
    • A World Food Bank and an International Solidarity Tax (2009)
    • Decent Work for All and Improvement of Education for Girls (2010)
  • Environment and Energy
    • An Environmental Security Council (1990)
    • A United Nations of Environment and Development (1992)
    • The Drafting of an Earth Charter (1997)
    • A Global Green Fund and Renewable Energy (2002)
    • UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005)
    • Strategies to Prevent Global Warming (2006)
    • A World Environmental Organization (2008)
    • An International Sustainable Energy Agency (2009)
  • Human Rights
    • Overcoming Racial Discrimination (1996)
    • A Network of Human Rights Agencies (1998)
    • Prohibition of the Use of Child Soldiers (1999)
    • The Convention on the Rights of the Child (2002)
    • Human Rights Education (2004)
    • The UN Human Rights Council (2006)
    • An International Conference on Human Rights Education (2008)
    • Building a Culture of Human Rights (2011)
  • Culture of Peace
    • Overcoming the Culture of War (1999)
    • The Role of Women for Peace (2000)
    • Planting Seeds of Peace (2004)
    • A Respect for Diversity and the Spirit of Dialogue (2005)
    • A Global Society that Puts Children First (2010)

Chapter 3. A UN for a World without War

Building Global Solidarity toward Nuclear Abolition, 2009 Nuclear Abolition Proposal (Full Text)

  • Control of Conventional Weapons
    • The UN Register of Conventional Arms (1995)
    • Guidelines for Arms Transfers (1999)
    • An Arms Trade Treaty (2007)
    • Control of Small Arms (2005)
    • Prohibition of Land Mines (1997)
    • An International Treaty Banning the Use, Production and Stockpiling of Cluster Munitions (2008)
  • The Deinstitutionalization of War
    • A Universal Declaration Renouncing War (1984)
    • A UN Decade for Peace and Disarmament (1988)
    • An International Conference for a World without War (1990)
    • A UN Peace Summit (1994)
    • Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research (1996)
  • Disarmament Education
    • World Disarmament Campaign (1983)
    • “Nuclear Arms: Threat to Our World” Exhibition (1985)
    • The Spirit of the “Declaration Calling for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons” (1987)
    • A World Citizens’ Charter (1988)
    • A Special Session on Education (1990)
    • Disarmament and Nonproliferation Education (2005)
    • Grassroots Education for Disarmament (2006)
  • Nuclear Disarmament
    • A Peace Summit of Nuclear Powers (1987)
    • Reform of the Conference on Disarmament (2002)
    • A UN Special Session on Nuclear Disarmament (2003)
    • An International Nuclear Disarmament Agency (2005)
    • Toward Nuclear-Free Security (2007)
  • Regional Nuclear Disarmament
    • Expansion of Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones (1995)
    • Denuclearization of the Middle East and Northeast Asia (1997)
    • Departure from the Nuclear Umbrella (1999)
    • Building Trust through Denuclearization (2003)
    • Denuclearization of the Arctic (2008)
  • Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
    • People’s Power and International Laws for Peace (1997)
    • A Nuclear Weapons Convention (2000)
    • Outlawing Nuclear Weapons (2009)
    • The Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons as a War Crime (2010)
    • A Nuclear Disarmament Summit (2011)

Chapter 4. Empowerment for Future Change

Human Security and Sustainability: Sharing Reverence for the Dignity of Life, 2012 Peace Proposal (Full Text)

Compassion, Wisdom and Courage: Building a Global Society of Peace and Creative Coexistence, 2013 Peace Proposal (Full Text)


Afterword by Dr. Olivier Urbain

Index

Share this page on

  • Facebook
  • X