Prospertiy & Peace

PROSPERITY AND PEACE THROUGH ART

ASHFAQ ISHAQ ; EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL CHILD ART FOUNDATION WASHINGTON DC, USA www.icaf.org

KEYWORDS

Conflicts and Ethics, Sport and Art, Millennium Development Goals, Arts Olympiad, Peace through Art, Creativity for Peace, Healing Arts, Global Peace Building, Framework to Evaluate Benefits of the Arts

ABSTRACT

Since its founding in 1997, the International Child Art Foundation (ICAF) has made a unique contribution to global advocacy for arts education and integrating the arts with science, sport and technology. More importantly, the ICAF has demonstrated how the arts can be applied to achieve important social objectives. The ICAF programs guide schools to encourage

children’s creativity, instill empathy and understanding, and inspire creative global leadership. Under the ICAF umbrella, teachers bring the world of arts and cultures to their classroom, providing students with an opportunity to experience and appreciate the varied manifestations of human creativity that make earth – a fragile planet in a remote galaxy – still the most wondrous place in the whole universe.

UNESCO OBSERVATORY, FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND PLANNING, THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE REFEREED E-JOURNAL.

THE MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE
At the dawn of the 21st century the world’s leaders defined the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be achieved by the target date of 2015. These goals are; (i) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; (ii) achieve universal primary education; (iii) promote gender equality and empower women; (iv) reduce child mortality; (v) improve maternal health; (vi) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; (vii) ensure environmental sustainability; and (viii) develop a global partnership for development.

In September 2005 the leaders met again at the UN World Summit and expressed their determination to ‘establish a just and lasting peace all over the world’ and committed themselves to ‘promoting... [continues]

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