Manifesto Of Responsibility

І. LESSONS LEARNED FROM DISASTERS

Experience gained: We are aware that a lack of timely and true information in an extreme emergency causes a sharp increase in human casualties.

Hence the first lesson learned: To pursue and speak the truth.

Experience gained: A lack of balance between the rate of technological progress and man’s spiritual development disturbs the equilibrium between humanity’s growing needs and the natural limitations of man and nature alike.
Hence the second lesson learned: In taking strategic decisions on development, we must base them on the interests of future generations.

Experience gained: Disasters force us to stop and rethink our views, values and intentions. Humanity is beginning to realize that the world and all things in it do interconnect. The destructive impact of contemporary life on man’s nature and the destructive impact of man on nature can cause global catastrophes.

Therefore the third lesson learned is: We must preserve the balance of harmonious development.

Experience gained: Global disasters, both man-made and natural, are impossible to overcome through the efforts of just those who are immediately affected.

The fourth lesson learned. We must admit that global problems cannot possibly be solved through the efforts of a single nation. This will help us understand the necessity of joining efforts not only during a natural calamity, catastrophe or terrorist act, but also in order to find ways of future development in harmony with nature.

Our experience of the disasters we have survived compels us to concentrate on the seminal issue – development of society and empowerment of the individual, and the strengthening of our responsibility to the future.

ІІ. CHARITY AND RESPONSIBILITY

We extend our compassion to the nations who have borne the brunt of any disaster, survived it and continued to rebuild their environment and society.

We express our respect for and our gratitude to all those who at the most critical of moments showed the best human qualities – mercy and courage, responsibility and readiness for sacrifice, kindness and professionalism, unity and willingness to join efforts for the sake of disaster victims.

At the same time, we propose that humanitarian assistance be regarded as a moral responsibility.

ІІІ. DIALOG ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: VALUE OF THE HUMAN BEING, HUMAN VALUES

It is after a catastrophe that we comprehend the value of our life and civilization. Therefore, we should think about how humanity should develop, and which path every person and nation have to choose so that this world can become safer and more harmonious for future generations.

We think it necessary to institute a regular international forum on human development as a critical tool in the prevention of humanitarian catastrophes or injuries.

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

Considering the above-mentioned, we call on the Governments of countries and on international organizations to initiate a global partnership for joint action in the interests of development, namely:

to consolidate the international community’s efforts in the area of health services for children, thereby for future generations;
to regard support for motherhood and childhood as a priority in the development of communities;
to develop an all-encompassing system for the international monitoring of the needs of children who have suffered as a result of disasters and a system of caring for them. To introduce a program of “Children of Disasters”;
to recognize the increased rate of disease among children in Ukraine (as well as in other countries, who have suffered from the Chornobyl tragedy) as such, which could have been caused by the accident at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Station;
to include the countries of the world in the process of providing medical and humanitarian assistance to all the countries, without exception, which have suffered, with a priority on taking into account the needs of children;
to assure newly-born children with early diagnoses after catastrophes, increasing the capacities of intensive therapy departments for the newly-born;
to introduce a system of strengthening the immune systems of children, as a priority task in the area of health services;
to provide for the stockpiling of reserves of microelements which are lacking in the organisms of people, in the event of a radiation-related disaster;
to resolve the problem of a lack of iodine and other elements among the population by renewing its presence in food products, first and foremost by natural means;
to introduce a system of permanent research on the long-term consequences of catastrophes in order to uncover patterns and to prevent them recurring in the future;
to unite efforts and the possibilities of civil and military medicine as well as medical disaster relief efforts for the provision of swift reactions to emergency situations and tragic events, wherever they may occur;
to establish partnership ties between the most advanced medical institutions of the world with the goal of effectively exchanging modern technologies and diagnostic and treatment standards;
to create national strategies for preventing birth defects among populations which have suffered from catastrophes and to create and maintain a register of birth defects;
to simplify procedures for the immediate import and export of pharmaceuticals and medical services in the event of a need in rendering immediate assistance;
to intensify the coordination and to optimize international support in the event of a catastrophe with the subsequent creation of a world-wide system of warning and overcoming disasters; to increase safety awareness, creating a corresponding legal base for decreasing the risk of catastrophes arising;
to draw the focused attention of the Governments of countries to the necessity of creating natural ecosphere sanctuaries in areas which have suffered and are inhabitable as a consequence of catastrophes;
to build a system of support, oriented toward the development of mankind, for communities which are in a state of crisis;
to introduce education programs for assisting people in widening the horizons of their worldview toward an awareness of the world’s interconnectedness and human unity;
to assist in raising awareness of the real consequences and breadth of human impact on the environment in the mass media; to provide for regularly informing people of their responsibility before future generations, including by means of the more in-depth professional preparation of teachers;
to improve the system of adopting strategic decisions, providing for open discussion of their expected consequences;
to create institutes and methodologies for conducting humanitarian-based reviews of new technologies, management decisiosn and the means for providing for the increasing needs of humanity.

By uniting efforts for the realization of the proposed initiatives we can broaden worldviews, deepen awareness of reality and consciously cooperate in creating a joint future.