IPRA UPDATE
February 19, 2006

Hello to all volunteers, organizations and individuals interested in the upcoming International Peace Research Association’s 21st Biennial Conference in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 29-July 3--IPRA2006. This international gathering of peace researchers, educators and communities marks but the second time in its 42 year history that IPRA has met in North America.

With the Biennial Conference fast approaching, an IPRA update is past due. The delays in communication have been prompted by the necessity to regroup, evaluate IPRA’s financial options, and focus on arranging the structural details of the Plenary and Commission sessions. November’s David Suzuki event was successful in terms of attendance and raising awareness about IPRA – it was less successful in the financial realm, running at a loss of roughly $500. This debit raised concerns as to whether it would be desirable or even possible to go forward with the Speakers Series and perhaps the conference itself.

Thanks to the help of some of the international leaders of IPRA, and the IPRA Foundation, the Speakers Series and the conference will proceed. For those of you in Calgary and environs, Lt.-Gen. Romeo Dallaire will be speaking at 7:30 March 10 at MacEwan Hall on the University of Calgary campus. Dallaire, as former commander of peacekeeping forces in Rwanda is a genuine Canadian hero. He has agreed to speak on our theme, “Patterns of Conflict, Paths to Peace”, with a focus on the UN’s role in developing future paths to peace. Following his address he will make himself available for a book signing. Tickets are $35 plus taxes/surcharges and are currently on sale via Ticketmaster: http://www.ticketmaster.ca . It is anticipated that this event will sell out quickly, hence the advisability of purchasing tickets promptly in order to guarantee seats.

Many high-profile speakers have confirmed their attendance, including:

Stephen Lewis: appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan as his Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. Mr. Lewis, has served as Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) from 1995-1999, and former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations.

Dr. Vandana Shiva: physicist, ecologist, activist, editor, and author of many books. In India, she has established Navdanya, a movement for biodiversity conservation and farmers' rights. Vandana Shiva directs the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy. Her most recent books are “Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge” and “Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply” She was featured in the documentary “The Corporation”

Johan Galtung: Norwegian professor, working at the Transcend Institute. He is seen as the pioneer of peace and conflict research and founded PRIO – the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo. He is also one of the authors of an influential account of news values, the factors which determine coverage given to a particular topic in the news media.

Sister Mary Soledad L. Perpinan ("Sister Sol."): Secretary-General of the Asia Pacific Peace Research Association and President and CEO of the Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Women. Her work with victims of the international sex trade is widely respected. You can get a preview of her wisdom on a video prepared by Dr. Tim Pyrch of the University of Calgary, documenting parts of her visit to Calgary last March at http://www.commons.ucalgary.ca/sistersol.

We are currently working out the details and are excited about the possible attendance of Martin Luther King III, President and CEO of the King Center, and President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the organization that his father co-founded in 1957 in Atlanta, Georgia. Martin III's dedication to creating and implementing strategic nonviolent action to rid the world of social, political and economic injustice has propelled him to the forefront as one of America’s most ardent advocates for the poor, the oppressed and the disillusioned.

These are but a few of the insightful people who will be addressing the conference. We expect confirmation from a number of other prominent individuals who have made, and continue to make, remarkable efforts towards peace is anticipated as they continue to indicate their interest.

Additional presenters of renown will be featured in what should prove to be exciting and engaging Plenary Sessions. The themes of the Plenaries are as follows:

Aboriginal Canadians on Peace
Peace and the Environment
Peace Journalism
”Professionalism” in Violence Prevention and Peace Building
Peace Research and Action: Regional Trends in the 21st Century.
Security with a Human Face
Sustainable Peace Building Architecture

The deadline for the Call for Papers passed on February 15th. Hundreds have submitted proposals to participate in the Commission Sessions.

The fees for the conference have been reduced to make it affordable for as many as possible. Early Bird rates, for those who register before April 15, have been adjusted to: $225 for IPRA members; $275 for non-members; $100 for students; and $110 to attend a single day of the conference. Registrations are now being accepted. The registration package and a preliminary conference schedule are available on our website, http://www.ipra2006.com/.

A new element has been added to the IPRA2006 website: Pieces of Peace. An invitation is extended to individuals, groups and organizations to contribute to a web page dedicated to sharing ideas, poetry, artwork, and essays about peace in all its dimensions. This location is designed as a space and opportunity to all who wish to share their Piece of Peace on the world wide web. The website is currently being updated in order to accommodate this new venture. The link should appear within the next few days.

There is still a great deal of work that needs to be done, but this is the challenge which the local Calgary volunteers have been patiently, or otherwise, waiting to accept. With the logistics organized and registrations starting to come in, the task now is to publicize the conference and work on adding the “extras” that make a conference unique and memorable. The process of working through the financial logistics of being able to host the world class leaders who plan to attend IPRA2006 has still to be faced. Any suggestions or connections to financial sponsors who would be willing to assist us in meeting our goals are sorely needed.

Thank you for your patience and for your excitement about IPRA 2006. We hope to see you in Calgary this June. A call for volunteers to our Calgary core will follow this email in due course. In the meantime the urgency of suggestions regarding sponsorship plus all other inquiries may be addressed to myself:

Anna Brassard
Chair, Organizing Committee
IPRA - Calgary 2006
E-mails: anna@ipra2006.com or aebrassa@ucalgary.ca