July 2009

Religions for Peace Organizes
Religious Youth Summit on Disarmament in Nepal

The World Conference of Religions for Peace cohosted the International Summit of Religious Youth Leaders on Disarmament for Shared Security with its regional affiliate of the Religion and Peace Academy of Nepal July 10-11 at a Kathmandu hotel. The summit included some 100 Nepali religious leaders and members of UN-related and nongovernmental organizations as well as some 50 religious youth leaders from 24 countries, including members of the International Youth Committee (IYC) of Religions for Peace. From Rissho Kosei-kai, Rev. Koichi Matsumoto, director of the Youth Department, took part as Religions for Peace's special advisor to the secretary-general for youth affairs, along with other five members.

The meeting began with opening remarks by Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, president of Nepal. The participants then divided into smaller groups to discuss the proliferation of nuclear weapons, continued use of cluster bombs, landmines, and other conventional weapons and the increase in military expenditure in various countries in the world despite the global economic recession.

Participants also discussed the possibility of cooperating for a global youth network campaign. Via the Internet they discussed the proposal with members of the International Peace Bureau and Mayors for Peace, a global coalition of mayors of 2,926 cities in 134 countries and regions in the world.

At the end of the summit, the participants adopted the Kathmandu Declaration, which states, "Our actions will focus on education and advocacy. At the local level we will raise community awareness about military expenditure and the impact of weapons of all types. Bringing the voices of these communities to the global arena, we will join with the Religions for Peace network and partners such as Mayors for Peace and the International Peace Bureau to advocate with national and international decision makers. As milestones for our efforts we look to the March 2010 Global Nuclear Summit announced recently by President Obama of the United States review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in May of 2010 at the UN as well as the culmination of the MDGs [UN Millennium Development Goals] in 2015."