29 May 2022
Congratulations to Mr. L. Attar-Bayrou with International Day of UN Peacekeepers
VOICE IAC AT THE SUMMIT OF VETERANS IN STOCKHOLM
27 May 2013
General Secretary of the International Advisory Committee of the Organizations of reserve officers (IAC) Anatoly Kumakhov at the invitation of the General Secretariat of the World Veterans Federation (WVF), and the Organizing Committee, and the Swedish Veterans Federation took part in the «Peace and Security Summit», which was conducted by the World Veterans Federation in Stockholm 27 — 31 May 2013.
At the opening ceremony of the Swedish Prince Carl Philip from him and from the King of Sweden Carl Gustaf welcomed the participants of the Summit. The ceremony ended with the performance of the Orchestra of the Royal Guard of Sweden.
At the Summit attended about 50 members — organizations of the Federation. IAC was represented at the summit of the 12 observer organizations.
In his presentation titled «Some reflections on the capabilities of reserve officers and veterans community in providing peace and security and countering terrorism», A. Kumakhov informed the participants about the activities of the International Advisory Committee of the Organizations of reserve officers as they relate to the main issue of the agenda — a complex problem facing the world community. (The text of the speech is given below).
At the closing ceremony of the Summit A. Kumakhov on behalf of the Secretariat of IAC awarded commemorative medals IAC «Officers' solidarity»
The Summit culminated in the adoption of the final document — the Declaration, which calls on veterans' organizations help to ensure international peace and security, joint efforts to counter international terrorism.
Text of the speech:
Dear Mr. Hamid Ibrahim, President of WVF,
Dear Mr. Bergtun, Ambassador of the United Nations,
vice-president of WVF,Dear Mr. Ola Nilsson,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the Secretariat and all members of the International Advisory Committee of Organizations of Reserve Officers I would like to express my gratitude for the invitation to this very important international summit, dedicated to the discussion of issues that affect the interests of all members of modern society.
I do not consider it my mission to make a fundamental report on the topic, which is rather pressing nowadays. It is the prerogative of experts and representatives of the professional community. I would like to share with you some reflections related to the activities of the International Advisory Committee of Organizations of Reserve Officers (IАC), to the extent in which they deal with our today’s topic.
Let me briefly introduce the organization on behalf of which I have been given the opportunity to speak at this summit. IАC was established in March 2011 on the initiative of a Russian public organization — the National Association of Unions of reserve officers of the Armed Forces (MEGAPIR). Now it incorporates 28 organizations of reserve officers, reservists and veterans from Western, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. In May 2012 in Vienna and Bratislava there was held the second meeting of the IАC within the International humanitarian action «Mission of peace and friendship». The international action, which bears the same name, and the third meeting of the IАC will be held in the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Astana, in July 2013.
IАC does not pursue any political objectives. Any political activity, as well as interference in the internal affairs of other organizations or countries, is excluded from the frame of its activities. Members of the Committee are working together in compliance with the legislation of the states, as well as international treaties and agreements. International Advisory Committee of Organizations of reserve officers is a voluntary and democratic formation with exclusively humanitarian functions.
The cooperation of the participating organizations of the Committee shall be carried out in such directions as consultations, fostering the formation of friendly and compassionate relation to veterans and military pensioners in the public opinion, based on the principles of spirituality and compassion, sharing work experience, including promoting spiritual and moral education of children, youth, and promotion of healthy lifestyles, involvement in physical culture and sports, and strengthen the prestige of the armed forces and military service.
Members of the Committee are focused on searching the ways and means of cooperation in the formation of the principles of fairness, mutual respect and friendship among young people, in strengthening cultural, intellectual and business relations between countries by means of «public diplomacy» in the course of mutual visits, scientific — practical conferences, debates, cultural and enlightenment, consulting activities, as well as organization of joint historical and educational events.
The concept of creating the IАC from its very beginning states that working with young people is one of the priorities of its activities. The importance of this aspect of our activities is determined considering the fact that one of the main sources for extremist and terrorist organizations and groups are young people, and especially those of them who are not satisfied with their social and economic status, which is, first of all, caused by high unemployment. Young people, for whom maximalism is such a typical behavior, also react very acutely on the existing trend of further society stratification, facts of corruptions, etc. And accordingly the role of youth in maintaining the social welfare of society, peace and security has always been important.
The problem of ensuring international peace and security has turned into new forms after the end of the «cold war». Changes in the world and international relations did not lead to the prevention of threats to stability and security. On the contrary, the nineties of the twentieth century and the «zero» years of the present century were characterized by numerous acute local conflicts, which more often happened inside states, or in connection with their collapse. There appeared very dangerous hotbeds of hatred generated by aggressive nationalism, ethnic, clan and religious intolerance.
The radical socio — economic and political changes, including the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact resulted in deepening of segregation of countries and nations, regional disagreements and conflicts, as well as strengthening of separatist tendencies, the stepping up of terrorist organizations activities. Armed conflicts that burst out in different regions, pose a threat to the overall security of states and nations. Although after the Second World War people have managed to avoid
large-scale wars between states, they unfortunately, have not created stable international peace and security.The social life of many states is seriously affected by unemployment, regional separatism, and aggravation of national and confessional differences. Latest examples of these are the events in some countries in the Middle East and Africa, and indeed other regions of the world; among them are the recent events in the U.S. — the terrorist attack in Boston and others. Unfortunately, young people are most often drawn into such
anti-social andanti-human events.We can stand against such crimes and dangers, which nobody can feel secure of, only by joint international efforts.
Sociological research shows that the study of the degree of society frustration and methods, using which young people try to get rid of the feeling of uselessness and dissatisfaction with their lives, may assist in
policy-making and real programs dedicated at preventing radicalization of young people by means of reducing of unemployment, which is one of the most urgent problems in many countries. Disappointment is strongest among young professionals, people with high career expectations and serious ambitions who often cannot find their application in the current conditions. Sociologists have noticed that the highest level of political radicalism is registered among young professionals with higher education, who react to social injustice a lot heavier than others.Instability in the economic, social, humanitarian and ecological fields, uncontrolled migration, unlimited
IT-technologies , the continued intensification of social stratification in society have turned into a threat to peace and security, leading to the aggravation of social and economic tensions in different regions of the world and threatening to generate new conflicts acts of terrorism. The problem of maintaining world peace and international security remains a top priority for the international community, all international organizations and peaceful forces. We are based on an assumption that international public organizations uniting reserve officers, reservists and veterans can constitute a certain supplement to the established system of international security, the crucial role in which belongs to the United Nations. An important means of conflict prevention on the interstate and the national level is becoming formed by people’s and preventive diplomacy andconfidence-building measure.From the experience of the IАC it may be noted that organizations of reserve officers being the most
socially-organized andwell-educated part of our society, have turned into a force, which is capable of finding mutual understanding and playing an important role in strengthening confidence between nations, despite thesocio-economic and confessional differences in the countries. In the context of counteracting modern challenges and threats members of the IАC within the framework of public work contribute to the strengthening of friendship, cooperation and mutual understanding on the basis of the spiritual community of the reserve officers, reservists and veterans. As it is officially stated in the main activities of the IАC, reserve officers, reservists and veterans are aimed at extensive participation in the work of the institutions of civil society, promoting humanitarian contacts as the basis of «public diplomacy» in promoting peace, preventing regional conflicts, and using its experience in the fight against of terrorism, drug abuse, and education of youth.An important aspect of the work is the exchange of experience in the promotion of youth centers and organizations in favor of spiritual and moral education of children, adolescents and young adults.
I would like to mention that the Appeal to the heads of states and governments, the public, veterans, youth organizations, the international community, which was adopted at the
2-nd meeting of the IАC in Bratislava stated:— The participants of the second meeting of the International Advisory Council of Organizations of Reserve Officers, taking place in Bratislava and Vienna, officers from East and West European countries, Middle East and Asia, appealing to the heads of states and governments, social, veteran and youth organizations, confirm our adherence to the mission of encouraging efforts, aimed at building confidence and strengthening friendly ties among reserve and retired officers, as well as peoples of countries with different social, economic, religious and political structures.
— Committee members share common opinion that only by joint efforts we can stand against the challenges and threats of the time of globalism. They are aimed at using all our experience and capabilities to counter international terrorism, spread of drug addiction and other factors, which pose a universal threat to civilization.
In today’s world of religious and national extremism, religious intolerance, fanaticism, armed conflicts on religious grounds largely determine the status and development trends of
social-political situation in different regions. That is why it is important not only to apply measures for the prevention of this, but also to carry out actual preventive measures against various types of terrorism resulting frominter-ethnic andinter-confessional conflicts, the growth of separatism, ethnic and religious extremism, which constitute a direct threat to the security of countries.Representatives of different countries of the IAC, are united in the opinion that in its mission the IAC is capable of making certain contribution to the noble cause of fighting in order to prevent conflicts and wars, of strengthening of friendship and mutual understanding between nations and countries, regardless of the block orientation,
socio-economic status and confessional affiliation. It is also important to participate in the education of the younger generation in the spirit of tolerance and building confidence between nations, to teach our children and grandchildren to make friends, communicate, and do not quarrel with each other in different countries. We are confident that an important role in promoting peace and security belongs to the cooperation of officers and veterans from various countries, those people who have had special training, and many of whom have participated in combat operations, and know better than others know the real value of war and peace. And this can be achieved only by maintaining regular contacts between reserve officers and veterans of different countries.This is indeed a contribution to peace and international security for future generations.
And to conclude with, just for information, I would like to mention two actions having direct consonance with the theme of the summit.
Dear colleagues, I think that you will be interested to know that just a while ago on April 10 in the Commission of the Public Chamber of Russia on problems of national security and
socio-economic conditions of military personnel, their families and veterans, headed by the President of the IAC Alexander Kanshin, there were discussed urgent problem — «Ways to improve working together of government agencies, power structures and civil society to prevent forms of extremism andcounter-terrorism in Russia».At the hearing several questions were discussed, Among them are the following: the coordination of the efforts of civil society institutions, the National
Anti-Terrorist Committee, the power structures as a necessary prerequisite for an efficient response to terrorist threats and for providing the inviolability of the constitutional system; the role of civil society in creating an atmosphere of intolerance to extremism; increase of public vigilance to the threat of terrorism; information and propagandistic counteraction to extremism and terrorism, including the Internet environment; international cooperation in fighting against terrorism, the spread of terrorist ideology and financing of terrorism; opposing the religious, political and ethnic extremism, the settlement of international conflicts.I would also like to inform you that in October 2013 the International Advisory Committee of the organizations of reserve officers in cooperation with the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation and the National Association of unions of reserve officers of the Armed Forces (MEGAPIR), and a number of government and
non-governmental organizations will hold in Moscow an International Business Congress entitled «Safety and security of individuals, society and State», during which there will be discussed the problems related to the prevention of extremism and terrorism, security and the protection of individuals, society and the state. We believe, that thisbusiness-congress will help to consolidate the best practices achieved by the society and the state in the sphere of security. From our point of view this business congress will give a signal to new ideas and socially important projects for the protection of the individual and society.Thank you for your attention.
