Have Your Say
Share your stories, struggles, and ideas for policymakers
by contributing to RI’s blog.
BLOG
I’ve been trying to keep up with all of the press coverage of the monks protesting in Burma over the past week. The images alone have been striking - hundreds of monks flooding the streets of the capital Rangoon like a saffron colored river. At first, there was no public reaction from Burma’s ruling junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).
Today has been declared the International Day of Peace. In 2001, the UN General Assembly unanimously supported a resolution declaring September 21st to be a “day of global ceasefire and non-violence, an invitation to all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities for the duration of the day.” This was done in the hope that this small political opening might allow for aid to be delivered, for communities to re-unite and for a spirit of reconciliation to take hold.
The Peace Primary, now three weeks old, is an exciting online campaign centered around key peace issues for the 2008 campaign season. Just twelve organizations were chosen nation-wide and Refugees International was one of them. Only one can win a $100,000 grant from the Ploughshares Fund to promote their peace agenda to candidates. This could be huge for us.
