ActNow Theatre for Social Change, an emerging young people’s political theatre company, based in Adelaide. ActNow aims to empower young people to use theatre as a tool for social change. Peace Trust funding will support the development of two street theatre performances.

The Academy of DYI - a weekend festival of accessible arts, activism, education and collaboration. It is designed to facilitate skill-sharing and the development of strong networks amongst artists and activists. The festival will be part of the Adelaide Fringe in March 2009 and include panels, workshops, film screenings and exhibitions.

Mallacoota Strum Inc are being supported to commission Padma Newsome to compose a piece for Making Music Together for Peace as part of the East Gippsland Community Peace Project. This weekend community music festival in Mallacoota, 26-28th September 2008 will include choral, improvisation, instrumental and songwriting workshops. Padma Newsome, an ex- Adelaide resident, is a current Commissioning and Residency award recipient from the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University.

The Trust received applications from all over Australia this year. We were impressed by the breadth of ideas for arts projects and the diverse ways individuals and communities are Working for Peace through the Arts. We regret that we are unable to support more projects.

Funding for 2008 has now been allocated.

We will be calling for applications for 2009 early in the New Year, so stay tuned!

Protecting women’s human rights and eliminating violence against women has advanced through the United Nations. Since 1995 substantial work has been done to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action arising from the 4th UN World Conference on Women; 185 countries - more than 90 percent of the UN member states - have now ratified the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); and, United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in 2000.

Despite this recognition, violence against women is a reality that cuts across borders, wealth, race, religion and culture. Every day women experience extensive violence, particularly in countries at war, in crisis or conflict where women’s rights deteriorate and are under pressure:

* One in three women has been beaten, raped, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime; ¹

* Every fifth woman is subjected to rape or attempt to rape; ¹

* 70 percent of the casualties in recent conflicts have been non-combatants. 80 percent of these are women and children; ¹

* Systematic rape, sexual violence and abuse in Darfur, in Sudan, is used as a weapon in the war; ¹

* During the conflict between 1991 and 2002, it is estimated that a third of all women and girls in Sierra Leone were subjected to sexual violence; ¹

* Since the 1999 war Kosovo has become a major destination country for women and girls trafficked into forced prostitution. Around 15-20 percent of the women are allegedly under 14 years; 1

* In Colombia 3.5-4 million people are displaced. The majority of these are women with many children. There are reports of increased violence against the women; ²

* Every year 14,000 Russian women die as a result of violence in the home; ¹

* Every fifth day a Spanish woman is killed by her partner; ¹

* One in three Native American or Alaska Native women will be raped at some point in their lives; ¹

* Every fourth minute a woman in the USA is raped; ¹

* In fourteen countries a man can get mitigation of his sentence or impunity if he perpetrates violence or kills a woman in order to protect the so-called honour; ¹

* According to law in nine countries a rapist gets impunity if he marries his victim. ¹

Violence against women in war areas has, according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), reached epidemic heights. The common denominator for the 1990’s conflicts and the conflicts in this millennium has been comprehensive sexual abuse, forced pregnancy as a tool in ethnic genocide, kidnapping, intentional infection with HIV/AIDS and trafficking in women and children for sexual purposes. ³

Changes in the pattern of gender roles are one of the consequences of conflict, war or occupation. Violence and aggression becomes integrated into everyday life. When killing becomes legitimate, it also becomes legitimate to rape or buy and sell human bodies; a systematic brutalisation of the whole society occurs resulting in numerous and grave assaults on women who are abused by family members as well as by unknown men, civilians as well as soldiers.

Every day and everywhere women are working for respect of their rights and for better conditions. the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom honours the courage and endurance of women and recommits itself to eliminating violence against women, achieving disarmament and an end to violent conflicts.

Since 1915 when it was founded, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom has worked to eliminating war and militarism as the best way to reduce and eliminate violence in our societies and in the world. Ensuring that women are active participants in the decisions that affect their lives before, during and after conflicts is the best way to ensure that women’s concerns and needs are on the agenda and get the priority they need.

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1) Amnesty International, international and Danish websites; 2) Women Building Peace Around The World: The Case of Colombia in a 1325 perspective, WILPF Delegation to Colombia, July 12 - 20, 2007; 3) UNDP, Newsletter from the Nordic Office, 23th April 2003

The Peace Trust funded Kurruru with a major grant in 2007, particularly to support the workshop program leading to the production Second to None, a co-production with Vitalstatistix Theatre Company which took place in November 2007.

Second to None was an outdoor, history-making performance and installation event. It included dance, installation, film and the recreation of important Kaurna ceremony. It is an outdoor, history-making performance and installation event. The audience took a bus journey through four significant sites celebrating the past, present and future of the Port.

ICAN calls for a Nuclear Weapons Convention through which the ultimate goal of a nuclear weapons free world will be achieved. In ways similar to the international campaign to ban landmines, ICAN will: raise voices, educate, network and motivate individuals, professions, organisations and prominent persons around the work in its bid to achieve a Nuclear Weapons Convention.

If you would like to get involved with ICAN the contact details are:

PO Box 1379, Carlton,
VIC 3053, Australia.

www.ICANw.org
www.IPPNW.org
www.mapw.org.au

We wish to raise awareness of the trust, so please forward the e-newsletter on when you recieve it. We will also be giving details of how to become a regular subscriber to the newsletter in the first edition.

If you have any ideas for articles or would like to contribute please let us know.

Thank you to all our members and helpers for supporting the Graham F Smith Peace Trust.

More information at:

http://www.adelaidefestival.org.au/

Mr Julian Burnside QC is a barrister, human rights advocate, refugee activist and philanthropist. Whilst online, why not get to know Julian better at his personal website: www.users.bigpond.com/burnside

The sentiments of Julian echo Graham’s in his involvement in the arts, education and the community and we know the conversation is going to be vibrant as ever.

We will host this event at the Award Winning Italian Centre, Adelaide on the 30th of June 2007.

If you know any artists who may like to contribute to our raffle or silent auction, please let them know of the opportunity.

For bookings please contact:

Krysia Tincello
Graham F. Smith Peace Trust Inc.
PO Box 693, North Adelaide, South Australia 5006
email: info@artspeacetrust.org
Telephone: 08 8272 1759

See you there

It will be connecting the peaces (!), exploring the common threads that compel people to act out against injustice.

The program will respond to issues as they break as well as addressing perennial problems such as racism, colonialism, and environmental degradation.
From September 3rd, 12.30pm Sundays.

We will hold this commemoration to celebrate the International Day of Peace held annually on September 21. It was established in 1981 by a resolution of the UN General Assembly. The resolution recalled that the promotion of peace, both at international and national levels, is among the main purposes of the United Nations. In 2001, the resolution was strengthened by fixing the date annually on 21 September and for it to be a day of non violence and cease fire.

We believe it is particularly important in these critical times to come together and affirm our continued commitment to work for a peaceful world and to demonstrate solidarity, one organisation with another.

Do come and join us to meet, talk, eat, drink, share our successes and our hopes and aims for the future on this International Day of Peace.

Please bring a A3 poster which highlights one or more of your achievements since the International Day of Peace, 2005 or a message of Peace (This is optional). These posters will be displayed at our commemoration. Also please bring your own name tag.

More information & RSVP: Telephone: (08) 8267 3915
Email: ebertsmith@gotalk.net.au

Organised by:
Graham F. Smith Peace Trust Inc
Psychologists for Peace