All of the speakers made a valuable contribution to the meeting and I was deeply grateful for the opportunity to be present. I would like to especially recongize the kindness of Mari Hareide with whom I stayed in Norway and also Fay Dunke, Vice President, Hawaii Chapter for caring for me in Honolulu on my way home. In 1995, there was an expert group meeting in Manila and the fascilitators report contained some valuable and inspiring words for us to understand. Building a culture of peace is a dynamic and multidimensional process which involves changing values, beliefs and behaviours and overcoming prejudices from everyday life situations. Countries and groups seeking peaceful solutions to conflict need to consider the welfare of the individual.
Peace is a process.
In order to contribute to a culture of peace, we need to liberate the potential for creativity. New ways of knowing and understanding are to be discovered. New social skills have to be developed and learned. As we move into the new millennium, dynamic action is needed if we are to make real moves towards a culture of peace. We have the capacity to initiate a positive change in the betterment of life for all, but we must act on that vision now .