On Tuesday, the 3^rd of December the President of IAPMC and Mayor of Płońsk – Andrzej Pietrasik and District Governor of Płońsk signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The main objective of the Convention established on December 13^th 2006 is to ensure the disabled the same rights and responsibilities as other members of society. Important points of the Convention are equality, non-discrimination and equality before the law. According to the document, people with disabilities should be entitled to freedom and security, the right to freedom of movement, education, health care and jobs.

In his speech, Mayor Andrzej Pietrasik – as mayor and President of the IAPMC – highlighted the fact that Płońsk respects Universal Declaration of Human Rights and cares about the rights of people with disabilities.

By signing the Declaration, representatives of city and district pledged that the problems of people with disabilities will be a priority for them.

Please check out the following article:

http://www.stopkillerrobots.org/2013/11/ccwmandate/

Few days ago in one of our member cities – Volgograd, Russia, a great tragedy has occurred.
A scandalous act of violence which has taken away lives of 6 innocent people. This sad event only proves the necessity of functioning an organization like ours. We as Mayors – members of the IAPMC, can not allow for this kind of actions. Therefore, on behalf of myself and all members of the IAPMC I would like to condemn these and other cowardly acts taken by the terrorists and aimed against the residents of our cities.

Yours in Peace,

Andrzej Pietrasik,

President

26th General Assembly of International Association of Peace Messenger Cities held in Greek city of Messolonghi has ended. This meeting was very important for the future of our organization, because the General Assembly elected new authorities of the Association for years 2013 – 2016. According to the Statute of our Organization adopted by the General Assembly in Slovenj Gradec in 2012 the Board of our Organization has to consist of 1 President, 4 Vice-presidents and 11 cities – members of the Executive Board.

General Assembly decided as follows:

For the position of the President of the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities was elected Mr. Andrzej Pietrasik – Płońsk (Poland).

For the positions of the Vice-presidents were elected:

-          Mr. Vincent Kouaoh N’Cho representing the city of Abidjan (Ivory Coast)

-          Mr. Panagiotis Katsoulis representing the city of Messolonghi (Greece)

-          Mr. Victor Hadjiavraam representing the city of Morphou (Cyprus)

-          Mr. Brian Fitch representing the city of Brighton & Hove (Great Britain)

Following cities are the Members of the Executive Board for years 2013-2016:

-          Abidjan (Ivory Coast)

-          Brighton & Hove (Great Britain)

-          Kragujevac (Serbia)

-          Messolonghi (Greece)

-          Morphou (Cyprus)

-          New Haven (USA)

-          Płońsk (Poland)

-          Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

-          Slovenj Gradec (Slovenia)

-          Mexico City

-          Volgograd

For the Position of the Secretary General was elected the city of Slovenj Gradec, represented by
Mr. Andrej Čas – Mayor of the city and Mr. Dusan Stojanovic for the position of the Deputy-Secretary General of IAPMC.

As proposed by the city of Slovenj Gradec, Mr. Alfred Marder received the title of Honorary President of the Association.

September 27, 2013

His Excellency, Ambassador to the United Nations and Plenipotentiary

Your Excellency:

The crisis in the Middle East demands the convening of the postponed Helsinki Conference to discuss a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Weapons of Mass Destruction. Resolved unanimously at the NPT Conference in 2010, it provides a permanent solution, within the framework of the United Nations system and the United Nations Charter, to the issues that are threatening a global conflagration.

The people of the world are demanding an end to incessant wars and conflicts. With billions without safe drinking water, children dying from hunger and disease every minute, millions not knowing when the next meal, the solution to this crisis is not to be left in the hands of a few States.

It is incumbent upon those who can raise their voices in the General Assembly to insist that a Helsinki Conference is convened as quickly as possible. Every effort must be exerted to prevent the obstruction of the will of the global community. Establishing a Free Zone in the Middle East would deal with the very issues of Chemical and Nuclear Weapons that are being used as the pretext of the crisis. A Free Zone in the entire Region would ease tensions and potentially open the door for future possibilities.

Your Excellency, my organization, the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities, is urging Civil Society globally to press for these steps for peace, steps that originated in a United Nation Conference and received unanimous consent of all in attendance.

We are asking you to use your position and voice to call for the Helsinki Conference. All States have a stake in preventing a catastrophe.

Please accept my personal greetings.

Yours in Peace,

Alfred L Marder

President

International Association of Peace Messenger Cities has a great honor to invite you to participate in the Internet “live streaming” event dedicated to spreading the idea of world peace.

The year 2013 will be the third year of commemorating the International Day of Peace by IAPMC, designated by United Nations on September 21st 2001. A first attempt was the successful partnership with the children of Kragujevac, Serbia with New Haven, USA children in 2011. The live streaming event organized in 2012 was an even bigger success.

Young people from 10 cities around the world, transmitted messages of peace through various performances in five events occurring at various times throughout the day.  With use of modern technology the challenge of distance will not interfere, therefore everyone can participate and it costs nothing.

On our website you can also watch last year’s performances recorded during the live streaming.

In 2013 we are planning to invite more cities to take part in this wonderful celebration. This year’s event will be coordinated by the city of Płońsk (Poland) –
a longtime member of our organization.

Here is the sequence of events.

The sign-up form necessary for the application to participate is available on the IAPMC event sign up page.

SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

Before June 15, 2013

1. Request participation

• Submit a request to participate to the IAPMC through the event sign up page (please use the name of a local coordinator in the sign-up form)
• Ensure that the coordinator has a Google account and know how to use it.
• Ensure you have a video camera and microphone that can be attached to a computer with high-speed internet connection and a projector or some kind  of screen to see your hangout partner.

Before June 30, 2013

2. Identify suitable venue (e.g. classroom, city square etc.)

• IAPMC will tell participants which city “cluster” they are in.
• A moderator designated by IAPMC will contact the local coordinator.
• Send the IAPMC the outline program: who, what, where.

Before August 30, 2013

3. Send the IAPMC moderator the email address of the Google account that will be used for hangout.

September 13, 2013

4. Local coordinator will have to demonstrate his ability to connect to a Google Hangout with video and audio

September 21, 2013

5. The hangout will begin 1 hour before official start time (T.B.A).

The rest of the details will be provided after submitting registration forms.

In this year we celebrate   the 25^th anniversary of IAPMC, The Executive Board will take place in Poland in three cities: Płońsk, Wieluń, Oświęcim from May 11-17, 2013. The meeting is also an occasion to participate in the International Conference on the Human Right to Peace which will be conducted by Spanish Society for International Human Rights and Low and Polish Human Rights Center. The conference will be held in Oświęcim on May 16, 2013

During the meeting there will be discussed the Live Streaming project and International Peace Day. This year the Live Streaming project and International Peace Day is organized by Płońsk on September 21, 2013. It is an opportunity for young people from our cities to connect and exchange ideas about peace and other important topics.

The official invitations will be sent by e-mail to the Executive Board members.