On October 19-21, 2001, WANGO, in partnership with the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP), will sponsor "Assembly 2001: The Search for Solutions to Critical Global Problems." This conference, which will be held in New York City, will be convened on the theme Global Violence: Crisis and Hope.
This theme has been chosen so that serious attention can be directed to the issues that have moved to the fore in the wake of the heart-wrenching events that occurred in New York and Washington, D.C., on September 11. To address the complex set of problems linked to terrorism, violence, and conflict, the Assembly will provide a forum for a broad range of distinguished speakers, representing significant diversity of opinion. In attendance will be international leaders from over 100 nations, representing the fields of politics, religion, the media, academia, and NGOs.
Among the speakers who have confirmed to address the Assembly are Hon. Mikhail Gorbachev, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former President of the USSR; Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke, former Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations and Negotiator of the Dayton Peace Accords; Hon. Abdurrahman Wahid, former President of Indonesia; and Dr. Wally N'Dow, WANGO Secretary General. Assembly 2001 will be chaired by Rev. Dr. Chung Hwan Kwak, chairman of IIFWP, and co-chaired by H.E. Rodrigo Carazo, former president of Costa Rica.
The Assembly 2001 program will approach the general theme from a variety of perspectives, both through Plenary Sessions and Working Committees. The Plenary Sessions will feature world-class speakers from diverse areas of expertise. The Committees will be organized to address the crisis from specific vantage points, for example, from the perspective of religion and its role in either helping solve or stimulate critical problems, from the perspective of political leadership; academics; the media; NGOs; and so forth. WANGO will also offer a special session dealing with fundamental issues related to children, given the heightened recognition that children are our future, and by investing in them we can create a more peaceful, healthier world.
