5/22/2007 - A Petition for a Global Expansion of Educational Youth Exchange Programs

A petition asking world leaders for increased support of intercultural student exchange programs was launched in Oslo, Norway on April 27, 2007 in what turned out to be a glorious northern spring day. The launch ceremony took place at the Nobel Peace Center.

AFS, which has been offering intercultural education exchange programs for 60 years, is sponsoring the initiative and has extended an invitation to all organizations and individuals who believe in promoting peace and understanding through youth exchange programs to join this effort. The petition has a goal of gathering more than one million signatures and calls upon the world’s leaders to “enable young people everywhere to live and study in cultures other than their own by significantly expanding youth exchange programs.” The on-line petition can be found on the web at http://www.exchanges4peace.org.

The event was attended by close to 300 persons and featured as speakers various prominent local and international guests. Pernilde Vikanes, the Partner Director of AFS in Norway began the ceremony by welcoming the guests and introducing a powerful 90 second video produced by AFS Intercultural Programs to promote the petition.

The video presentation was followed by a welcome address by Mr. Francisco Cazal, President of AFS Intercultural Programs in which he said, “I would like to welcome you this evening to the launching of the petition drive at the Nobel Peace Center. We could not have chosen a better venue to formally inaugurate this petition which asks the leaders of the world to continue to work for peace by creating and promoting more intercultural youth exchange programs. This Peace Center and the Nobel Prize it bestows upon those who labor to build peace in our world, has truly laid the groundwork and showed the way for the rest of us to follow.”

Mr. Cazal added that “AFS is celebrating its 60th anniversary, a celebration of what our founders, the AFS ambulance drivers decided to build in 1947. They knew from first hand experience, that war and its consequences brought horror and terrible suffering to humanity, they wanted to do whatever they could to avoid conflagrations of such unimaginable destructiveness from ever happening again. They knew, also from personal experience, that it is extremely difficult to see other human beings as “the other”, as aliens, when they had built a web of mutual understanding through their shared joy and suffering. Today, we thank our founders for their extraordinary vision and acknowledge that to achieve a lasting peace, to achieve a durable bond among the people of the world, we must join everyone else who is willing to help and support us. Peace is no longer a dream that we long to attain. Peace is an imperative to our survival and to the survival of our world.”

Mr. Odd Einar Dørum, a member of the Norwegian Parliament addressed the audience about the history of AFS in Norway and the importance of global intercultural exchanges. Ms. Christine Weima Lager, Youth Director of the Norwegian Red Cross, the largest volunteer driven organization in Norway, offered remarks on the Norwegian Red Cross and the importance of volunteer based organization to mobilize people at the grassroots level.

Mr. Joar Hoel Larsen, a prominent Norwegian journalist, served as master of ceremonies. He conducted a short question and answer session with the participation of Arthur Howe Jr, former president and trustee of AFS Intercultural Programs and Ms. Raharsi Dethirafuri, AFS student from Indonesia to Norway. The lively juxtaposition of a founder of the AFS programs and young AFS participant provided insights about the importance of exchanges and the value they hold for our world’s youth.

Mr. Brian Atwood, chairperson of the Board of Trustees of AFS Intercultural Programs and dean of the Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, introduced the petition drive to the audience and welcomed the first signatories to register on the web site.” Intercultural student exchange programs foster mutual understanding and acceptance among different cultures,” said J. Brian Atwood, “these exchanges help teach our youth to be citizens of the world and provides them with the tools to advance intercultural understanding in their communities, regions, cand ountries or in the international arena. The exchange programs also help to educate the next generation of leaders to be advocates for a world in which peace and understanding replace conflict and ignorance. This petition will send a message to our leaders to support intercultural student exchange programs to create a better future.”

Ms. Pernilde Vikanes said that, “I am very pleased that AFS Norway is hosting the launch of the petition drive and that this event coincides with the 60th anniversary of AFS programs in our country. This petition is bringing together numerous organizations that have an international presence or headquarters in many countries of the world. It is also capturing the interest of individuals across the cultural, governmental, civilian and business sectors. The simple message of peace and understanding that this petition carries is hard to ignore and easy to understand. I think that the world is ready to welcome this type of call to action.”

Text of the Petition:
We, the undersigned, know that peace and justice require that we extend the hand of friendship across borders, cultures and religions and that knowledge and understanding are needed to nurture these friendships.
The nations of the world can promote peace by helping the world’s youth build these friendships.
Therefore we call upon the world’s leaders to enable young people
everywhere to live and study in cultures other than their own by significantly expanding youth exchange programs.
Friendship leads to understanding. Understanding leads to peace. We call on all to grasp this opportunity.

Photo: Mr. Joar Hoel Larsen, Journalist, NRK and Master of Ceremoniesand Arthur Howe, Jr, former AFS International president and WW II ambulance driver