As part of its Countering the Militarisation of Youth work, War Resisters International is coordinating an International Day of Action For Military-Free Education and Research, which will take place on 14 June 2013. The day will be based on the September 2012 week of action in Germany, which was supported by over one hundred groups and organisations, with actions in at least eight cities.
14 June 2013 is an opportunity to try out action ideas ahead of an international WEEK of action for military-free education and research in 2014.
Groups/organisations can organise their action(s) autonomously. Some ideas for what you could do:
Hand out leaflets at schools, colleges, and universities, exposing the ways in which the military has a presence and influence in these institutions (from overt recruitment to running activities, to the funding of research), and proposing alternatives.
Doing this online (on facebook, twitter, identi.ca, etc) too!
Taking photos of yourselves/each other holding signs saying things like 'Lots of military personnel visit schools; few peace activists do. There needs to be a balance!'; 'I question the prioriting of military research in universities'; and 'No to armed forces recruiters in schools or universities', etc
WRI will publicise all the actions that take place. We already have around ten groups/organisations from seven different countries (Germany, India, Chile, Israel, the USA, Spain/Basque Country, and the UK) confirmed.
Confirmed actions so far:
In Israel, New Profile will be performing some street theatre!
In India, in Patna (Bihar province) there will be a seminar on 'Anti-War Education: A Gandhian Concept'
In Nigeria, members of The World Youth Peace Organisation will be holding placards lamenting military recruitment in education institutions, and visiting schools to talk about the education grants used by militaries in various countries to entice young people to join the military
In the UK, ForcesWatch will be launching a report on the presence and influence of the military in UK universities
In South Africa, Ceasefire hope to do something to coincide with Youth Day, which commemorates the youth uprising on 16 June 1976
Please email owen [at] wri-irg.org if your group/organisation would be interested in taking part in the June day of action, and/or the 2014 week of action. The WRI office can offer advice and put you in touch with other groups.
And be sure to check out the International Day of Action For Military-Free Education and Research on Faceook!
