UPEACE Newsflash 12 July, 2007

UPEACE COMMENCEMENT 2007

The University for Peace (UPEACE) held its Commencement 2007 on Friday 6 July 2007 at 9.00 am at the National Auditorium in San José, Costa Rica.

A total of 132 students received their Master's degrees from Dr. Amr Abdalla, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, and the academic staff of the University.

The degrees were granted in the following fields of studies: Gender and Peace Building, International Law and Human Rights, International Law and the Settlement of Disputes, Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, Natural Resources and Peace, International Peace Studies, Peace Education, Environmental Security and Media, Peace and Conflict Studies. The students come from 38 countries, including, among others Afghanistan, Costa Rica, Nigeria, United States, Canada, Nepal, Japan, Sweden, Lebanon, Cyprus, China, and Benin.

The keynote speaker of the ceremony was the Honorable Ruth Dreifuss, Former President of the Swiss Confederation and UPEACE Chancellor. In her commencement address Mrs. Dreifuss said, "The day my country, Switzerland, will decide to abolish its army, that day I will call Switzerland the Costa Rica of Europe" .

"Education can and should play an important role in helping promoting more peaceful and harmonious relations between groups (...) University for Peace is doing just this: helping build the capacity that is so much needed in so many regions in the world in order to promote a peaceful and prosperous world", stated Georges Tsaï, Acting Rector of the University for Peace.

The Acting Rector also welcomed Mr. John J. Maresca, who attended the ceremony as Rector-elect. Mr Maresca will be taking up his duties on 9 August 2007 in Costa Rica. Mr. Tsaï also announced that Mr. Julio Maria Sanguinetti, who was recently appointed as Member of the Council by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, was elected as Chair of the Council, effective 1 August 2007.

During the Ceremony, the University conferred upon Professor Gerardo Budowski, Professor Emeritus of UPEACE, the grade of Doctor Honoris Causa in International Peace Studies, in recognition of his merits and contribution in many fields related to the mission of the UPEACE.

As the Government Representative, Mr. Fernando Berrocal, Ministro de Gobernación, Policia y Seguridad Pública, and Member of UPEACE Council said: "Human beings cannot live without hope. Luckily, for UPEACE and the whole humanity, today in this auditorium we are filled with hope, giving these diplomas to so many peace messengers around the world".

Also present were other special invitees from the Costa Rican Government, Don Rodrigo Carazo, former President of Costa Rica and founder of UPEACE, representatives of the Diplomatic Corps and international organizations, as well as relatives of the students and the University s staff. UPEACE is the only institution affiliated with the United Nations authorized by the General Assembly of this organization to confer degrees at the Master's and Doctoral levels in peace studies and related areas.

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UPEACE Council Meeting held at UPEACE Campus

The Council of the University for Peace (UPEACE) held its annual meeting on the campus of the University in El Rodeo de Mora, Costa Rica on 4 and 5 July 2007. These distinguished individuals are fully committed to the mandate of the University for Peace, established in 1980 by the General Assembly of the United Nations to “provide humanity with an international institution of higher education for peace and with the aim of promoting among all human beings the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence…”

The Council welcomed the appointment of Julio María Sanguinetti, former President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, as a member, and unanimously elected him as its next Chair, effective 1 August 2007, replacing William F. Martin, who chaired this session, and will remain as a member of the Council.

The Council welcomed the new Rector, John J. Maresca, who was elected in accordance with the Council’s rules and procedures, which, at the request of the Government of Costa Rica, will be revised for future elections. Mr. Maresca will be taking up his duties in Costa Rica on 9 August. The resignations of Maurice Strong and Sverre Lodgaard from the Council were noted. Members expressed their strong commitment to the continued development and growth of the University and agreed to fully support the Rector and his staff in achieving this.

The Council noted that Costa Rica, a country that has made peacebuilding, and the protection of human rights and the environment, the centre of its public policies, is the ideal site of the University’s campus, and members welcomed the assurances of the representatives of the government of Costa Rica to strengthen links between the University and the government and peoples of the host country. The Rector was strongly encouraged to pursue this, and to increase focus on educational activities in and for Latin America, including in the Spanish language, and to strengthen the University’s capacities to achieve this.

This meeting of the Council was scheduled so as to allow Members to attend the graduation ceremony of the UPEACE Class of 2007.

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UPEACE New Chair of the Council

Mr. Julio María Sanguinetti, former President of Uruguay, has been appointed as of 29 June 2007, by Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of United Nations, in consultation with Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura,
Director-General of UNESCO, as Member of the UPEACE Council. Mr. Sanguinetti has had active careers both as a journalist and as a politician. He played a crucial part in the negotiations that led to the restoration of democracy in his country. He also played an important role in promoting the Mercosur and the Uruguay Round. President Sanguinetti is the recipient of Doctorates Honoris Causa from several universities and has been awarded many national and international honors.

UPEACE New Rector

The United Nations affiliated University for Peace (UPEACE) is pleased to announce the election of Mr. John J. Maresca as new Rector of the University.

John J. Maresca is currently President of the Business Humanitarian Forum, an international non-profit association based in Geneva, which brings business support to humanitarian work and facilitates private sector investment in post-conflict and developing regions.

Mr. Maresca was born in Italy and raised in the United States. He spent a career as a United States diplomat, was Ambassador to several multilateral organizations and negotiations, and was a conflict mediator in the Caucasus and Mediterranean regions. He was sent as a Special Envoy to open United States relations with the newly-independent States of the former USSR, and Albania. He negotiated a number of landmark international agreements, including the Helsinki Final Act, the Charter of Paris for a New Europe, and the Joint Declaration of Twenty-two States, which formally concluded the Cold War.

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