U.N. center designed to promote peace
DOWNTOWN — Supporters of world peace have a new resource center from which to draw information and inspiration in Santa Monica.
Soka Gakkai International USA, a Buddhist organization, is opening a “Culture of Peace” resource center next month at 606 Wilshire Blvd. The resource center is part of a United Nations-backed program to promote modes of behavior that reject violence by trying to tackle its root causes.
The 400-square-foot facility will house computers and reference materials related to peace. All of the center’s resources will be available to the public, said Ian McIlraith, a spokesperson for SGI USA, which owns the building where the center is will be located.
Construction is being finished, and the public opening is slated for July. To honor the creation of the community resource, Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury — who served as president of the U.N. Security Council while acting as Bangladesh’s ambassador to the world body — addressed a crowd of 100 at the center on May 23. “We should not separate ourselves from others,” Chowdhury said. “The more we feel part of a ‘global village,’ the more we feel empowered to build a culture of peace. Let’s invite many people to explore and contribute to the possibilities for peace that this center advocates.”
SGI USA allocates the resource center as part of its larger national headquarters within the same building.
McIlraith said Santa Monica has been home to the SGI USA headquarters for more than 35 years, and it’s no coincidence the group’s leadership chose the city for the culture of peace site.
“This is the latest in a series of efforts we’ve made over the years to be a contributing member of the community,” he said. “We love the city and really appreciate the friends and partnerships we enjoy with our neighbors and other members of the community.”
McIlraith said that although the center is supported by SGI USA, it’s strictly a secular resource that happens to advocate some of the ideals Buddhism embraces.
“The United Nation’s Culture of Peace program conveys many of our core values as Buddhists,” McIlraith said. “We feel that a resource center that promotes peace in a meaningful yet practical way for everyday people, without teaching religion, can make a valuable contribution to the community.”
One of the highlights of the center will include “My Dream for Peace,” a clearinghouse where visitors can briefly describe their hopes for peace and post it for others to read, and also be encouraged by other people’s dreams for peace.
Visitors will be able to peruse a library focused on eight action areas of peace, as defined by the U.N. A Web site will provide links to other organizations, initiatives and movements on the Internet related to peace. Interactive DVDs also will be available with information about peace.
“There is a moving quote from Gandhi here in this center that reads, ‘As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world, as in being able to remake ourselves,’” Chowdhury said during his commemoration of the center. “This is certainly true, yet I would like to add that, ‘When we successfully remake ourselves, that, in itself, remakes the world.’
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 30, 2005. Read the original PDF.