Netherlands- We awakened Sunday morning focusing on a strong conclusion to our Peacebuilders 2000 conference participation. We knew there were some very important elements that we needed to film for our documentary video on The Hague Appeal for Peace Conference.

I started the day off getting some early morning scenic shots of the city of Rotterdam, our delegation's headquarters for the past seven days. We then headed to the Netherlands Conference Centre to secure our camera position on the auditorium's press row for the closing plenary. The program opened with an address by Bill Pace, Secretary-General for The Hague Appeal for Peace, explaining the importance of NGOs in carrying out the conference's upcoming agenda for the 21st century. He was followed by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan who delivered a moving keynote address that emphasized the elimination of the 30 violent conflicts (wars) and atrocities that are occurring around the world, in addition to Kosovo.

The two hour closing plenary included speeches by Jody Williams, Queen Koor of Jordan, Peace Links, Betty Murungi, Cheri Honkla, Vandana Shiva, Major Britt Theorin, Sheikh Hasina, Song Kosal Karamat Ali, Wim Kok, Yoko Furuyama, and several other individuals. The final conference session was witnessed by a racially diverse, standing-room-only crowd of peace advocates and activists. A number of groups attempted to use the closing ceremonies as a platform for their protests, but they were politely asked to refrain from any disruptive remarks during the program.

AUP was scheduled to conduct an interview with Kofi Annan at the concluding press conference. However, Mr. Annan had to leave immediately after his address to attend an emergency U.N. Security Council session on the status of the crisis in Kosovo. We really felt that our scheduled interview would have given our constituents back in the Bay Area an important insight on the significance of the historic Hague peace conference. Our video crew did a great job of covering the closing press conference, despite the over crowded conditions of the pressroom.

As one of the newest United Nations NGOs representing Berkeley, we at AUP are making plans to broadcast our footage from the entire closing plenary session of The Hague Appeal for Peace Conference on Berkeley Community Media's B-TV Channel 25. Upon returning to the Bay Area we are eager to get right into the editing room to put together something really special for our friends at B-TV. We were encouraged by conference organizers and representative of the U.N. delegation to immediately start disseminating the Hague Agenda for Peace and Justice for the 21st Century.

After the conference, our program staff discussed conducting another United Nations teleconference discussion series around the Hague agenda with a network of NGOs from around the world, similar to last year's U.N. habitat teleconference discussions at UC Berkeley. A lot of people in Berkeley have been eagerly awaiting our organizations teleconference projects, and we feel this is the most effective way to begin a serious dialogue about this peace initiative.

After the press conference, our delegation's staff members (Steve Jefferson, Dr. Phillip Shinnick and myself) were invited to attend a private post-conference lunch reception with conference President Cora Weiss. After the luncheon, our video crew seized their remaining time to conduct final interviews with conference organizers. We got a change to get comments from Weiss and Karina Wood, the U.S. coordinator, two of the main driving forces behind the conference.