Washington DC – On Saturday, March 10, 2001 youth activists and campaigners from 83 countries gathered at Lafayette Park for the presentation of Youth Against War signatures to the Bush Administration. Over 263,000 signatures from 42 countries were presented symbolically to an empty, three-legged chair. The Bush administration declined to send a representative to accept the signatures.
The Youth Against War campaign was initiated by Song Kosal; a young Cambodian landmine survivor. Kosal lost her leg to landmines when she was a child working with her mother in the rice fields. As a result of her devastating experience, she has committed herself to working for peace. The Youth Against War Treaty is an international, youth-driven petition, which declares:
- We want no more war
- We want no more landmines
- We want no more landmine victims
- We promise to work for peace in our world
Tun Channareth, Cambodian landmine survivor and International Ambassador for the Nobel Peace Prize winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), welcomed the activists. He reminded the crowd that the Mine Ban Treaty was achieved through the collective efforts of ordinary people and that this collective effort could also be brought to bear on the United States.
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Following the welcome address, Michael Garcia and Christopher Dodds, youth representatives from DC Salaam, a local awareness raising program operated jointly between the United Nations Foundation and District of Columbia Public Schools, spoke on the United States, the landmine campaign and youth activism. They urged the US to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty and emphasized the power that youth advocacy can have in policy change.
Mark Sullivan, of Students Against Landmines, spoke on the history of youth activism in the United States. American youth have impacted many human rights policies throughout history – including the civil rights, economic justice and AIDS rights movements. He also told the crowd that youth are not just leaders of tomorrow but are leaders of today and need to accept that responsibility.
Symbolically, signatures and peace symbols were placed on the empty chair by campaigners from the United States, Canada, Mauritius, Brazil, Afghanistan and Cambodia. Youth activists stood behind the chair, carrying signs and banners with the mine ban message.
After this symbolic gesture, Song Kosal thanked the youth and campaigners for their overwhelming support of her campaign. She also asked the crowd to remember their pledge to make peace grow like a flower by doing something small for peace each day.
Jody Williams, co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, concluded the event by noting out that the empty chair on the stage was another reminder of the United States’ inability to "step up to the plate" in taking responsibility for the scourge of landmines on civilian populations. "Although the United States is the largest funder of mine action in the world, until they accept and accede to the Mine Ban Treaty – they will remain part of the problem," Williams stated.
The rally ended with the youth activists singing a special rendition of Smash Mouth’s "Hey Now" with a message for President Bush.
All petitions and peace symbols were mailed to President Bush the week after the rally. To date the ICBL has not received a response from the White House.
The event received extensive media coverage, including nationwide NBC and CNN television broadcasts, print articles and online news segments, BBC news and television coverage throughout Africa- just to name a few.
Not only the White House heard the message youth were sending to the Bush administration; their message resonated around the world.
Congratulations to all youth campaigners for such wonderful work!
