Global NewsCast, Sept. 2025

ICP Global NewsCast, September, 2025

Growing! 457 Member Cities of Peace, 76 Countries, 6 Continents

REMEMBER: All Cities of Peace can be part of the ICP Global Feast for Peace on or around the United Nations International Day of Peace, Sept. 21st, 2025. Come to our Quarterly Zoom or check our member Facebook Pages for information. Be sure to send your best photos to inspire@internationalcitiesofpeace.org in order to be in our 2026 video!

Join us for the Quarterly Zoom for All Liaisons and Facilitators!

ON SEPTEMBER 16, THERE WILL BE THREE SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

1. ICP Representatives to China: With Nigerian Dr. Ayo Ayoola-Amale, Canadian Darlene Doiron, and the UNESCO Chair of Peace Studies in China, Professor Dr. Liu Cheng with assistant, Dr. Sun Chaojing
2. ICP Representatives in Australia: A special message from Australian Dr. Uma Kumar and a debrief from  J. Frederick Arment, the keynote speaker at the Toowoomba International Peace Conference for the Continent of Oceania.
3. ICP Corporate Social Responsibility Program Update: For the ICP BETA Team featured in the ICP Action Plan Portfolio. All interested ICP City of Peace Liaisons are welcome. Other funding options will be discussed. Come one, come all!

LINK: Sep 16, 2025 11:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EST, GMT-4)

Join Zoom Meeting (next Tuesday, Sept. 16th):

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87879195774?pwd=bVuHo0SavnjBX1rR6NnlqiJ4AM54me.1

Meeting ID: 878 7919 5774; Passcode: 704558

For those that can and believe in International Cities of Peace we need your encouragement. Thank you for donating!

From the Chair of the Board

Today, because of shifting geopolitical winds that are causing great harm, the Founding Principles of International Cities of Peace are clearly the way forward. Respect for in situ leadership is key. Yet, as important, we defined peace as the global Consensus Values of “safety, prosperity, and quality of life” for all in the community. That definition conquers all division, answers questions, convinces the skeptics of the legitimacy of the ancient City of Peace practical ideal. We are changing the way Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) work in sustainable ways. Bottom up, not top down. Keep the central organization efficient but not overbearing. Listen to and respect the peacemakers in each locality. That’s the way to global peace.

Is an Indigenous Communities of Peace program possible?

“In Australia, the plight and possibilities of the Aboriginal people came to the forefront and center for me,” I wrote when I was in Toowoomba. “Welcomed into a community of Aboriginal citizens was an eye-opener. Gummingurru, an ancient ceremonial site used for male initiation into the Jarowair and other Aboriginal tribes, is helping to preserve and document, as well as tell the story of a sacred site that has been active for at least 65,000 years. Today, there are around 500 Aboriginal Nations in Australia and theirs is a long history — 160,000 years of continuous culture, the longest in the world.”

Yet, little is know of their troubles, and less of their wonderful culture, dreams and songlines, from which they connected the stars with paths to water and hunting grounds.

A question came to my mind that day: What if the association of International Cities of Peace could provide the software Profiles for many of the 5000 indigenous peoples in the world to tell and document their unique stories — their trials and tribulations, their hard-won wisdom, the successes they’ve had, and the amazing cultures, all of which may soon be lost.

I pose this question to you…

What tribe, what nation will become the first Indigenous Community of Peace in the association of International Cities of Peace? Who will help fund such a worthy endeavor, a practical way to document history, language, and culture — told by those, present and past, who created it? What a great advance it would be  in the relationship among peacemakers in all countries. Perhaps soon, there will be a practical and historic movement for Indigenous Cultures of Peace to tell their stories themselves, with no intervention, no colonial ambitions —  told for the benefit of everyone. Let me know your answer.

Peacebuilding Calls to Action:

1. Attend the First Tuesday, September 16, All Liaison Zoom

2. Develop an Action Plan to implement on-the-ground work that matters

3. Reach out to other Potential City of Peace leaders

4. Implement Volunteerism: Public Policy and the Public Square

5. Live the ancient ethic of the Golden Rule

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Want to help make a difference? Do you believe in the potential of International Cities of Peace? DONATE what you can. Thank you! We need support to keep the momentum. Our volunteers are amazing. I assure you, your hard-earned money will increase on-the-ground IMPACT. Thank you.

Sincerely and with respect,

J. Frederick Arment, Chair and Lead Facilitator

International Cities of Peace

inspire@internationalcitiesofpeace.org

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