An Inter-generational Forum followed by the PACEY Plus Youth Award
January 19, 2021. 15:00 – 19:15 Central Europe Time (9am - 1:15pm Eastern Time USA)
A forum of youth, experts and policy makers discussing actions and effective policies for peace, disarmament, the climate and public health especially in times of pandemic. The event will also include the finalists and award ceremony for the Basel PACEY Plus youth award. The event will be held in three sessions of 1¼ hours each with a short break between each session.
Speakers include:
- Marzhan Nurzhan (Kazakhstan/Switzerland), Convenor of Youth Fusion, the Abolition 2000 Youth Network for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World;
- Divina Maloum (Cameroon), Founder of Children for Peace. International Children’s Peace Prize Co-winner 2019 (with Greta Thunberg),
- Marie-Claire Graf (Switzerland). President of the Swiss Associations of Student Organizations for Sustainability. Leader of Swiss youth climate strikes. Youth Present Representative.
- Prof. Dr Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker (Germany), Past Chairman of the German Bundestag Environment Committee, Honorary President of the Club of Rome, Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council;
- Maria Espinosa (Ecuador), Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, President of the UN General Assembly (2018-2019), Chair of the World Future Council Commission on the Rights of Children and Youth;
- Baroness Sue Miller (UK), Co-President of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament. Vice-Chair of the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Security and Non-Proliferation;
- Lukas Ott (Switzerland), Head of Cantonal and City Development Unit, President’s Department, Canton Basel-Stadt;
-
Prof Dr (med) Andreas Nidecker (Switzerland), President of the Basel Peace Office. Board member of Physicians for Social Responsibility/IPPNW Switzerland.
Organised by the Basel Peace Office, Youth Fusion and the Office of Cantonal and Urban Development, Department of Presidential Affairs, Canton of Basel-Stadt, Switzerland.
Click here for the full program. Click here to register.
Program:
Session 1: Issues and goals. 15:00 – 16:15 CET (9am – 10:15 Eastern Time USA)
This session will provide an introduction to the issues, key political goals and actions of youth. There will be introductory presentations by three young activists from the climate action, nuclear disarmament and peace & sustainable development fields, followed by discussion.
Session 2: From youth action to policy change. 16:30 – 17:45 CET (10:30 – 11:45 Eastern USA)
The session will have introductory presentations by three policy makers who will provide examples of successful campaigns and effective policy, followed by dialogue with youth on how to turn the visions and energy of youth into effective political action and policy change.
Session 3: PACEY Plus Award; 18:00-19:15 CET (12noon – 1:15pm Eastern Time USA)
This session will include presentations of the finalists for the Peace, nuclear Abolition and Climate Action of European Youth (PACEY) Plus Award, followed by forum participants voting to determine the two winners. PACEY Plus Award will provide two prizes of €5000 each, one to a European youth project that advances peace, disarmament and/or climate protection, another to a youth project from outside Europe focusing on these issues.
Outline
Youth movements for climate action, peace and nuclear disarmament have sprung up in Europe and around the world in the past few years as young people have become concerned about existential threats to current and future generations, and increasingly frustrated at the lack of sufficient action by governments to address these threats.
This Youth Forum takes place in conjunction with the Basel Peace Forum 2021, which brings together experts and decision-makers from politics, business, civil society, and academia from all over the world to discuss innovation and effective approaches to peace-making and conflict resolution.
The Basel Peace Forum also takes place just before three significant events relating to nuclear disarmament: January 22 is entry-into-force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, January 24 is the 75th anniversary of the very first resolution of the United Nations in which all UN members committed to the elimination of nuclear weapons, and this is also the week when the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists re-sets the Doomsday Clock indicating the level of risk to humanity from nuclear weapons, climate change and other existential threats. For more information see Nuclear Ban Treaty and UN Resolution 1 (1).