"If we are to teach real peace in the world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children"  — Mahatma Gandhi

A modern school has a social responsibility to educate its students to be concerned with the needs of the age and to empower them to contribute towards building a better society. The present world scenario presents a grim picture, as there are many problems which endanger the very existence of human beings and all life on earth. The future of the world's children and of generations yet unborn has become progressively more unprotected and insecure during the past seven decades since the advent of nuclear weapons. There is fear of another war which may be more devastating especially because of the large stockpile of weapons of mass destruction with many countries of the world and/or chances of nuclear technology falling into the hands of terrorists or non-state entities.

City Montessori School (CMS) has a profound vision of empowering its children and youth to become protagonists of a dual process of individual and societal transformation to usher in an era of universal peace and brotherhood. CMS believes that the future of the world and the destiny of humankind can be shaped in the classroom and schools of the world. CMS, therefore, upholds that a school must act as the 'Lighthouse of Society' and provide meaningful education, spiritual direction and leadership to students, parents and society – as well as engage its students with the affairs of the age. CMS believes that at a certain moment in human history, education must also act as a powerful instrument of profound social transformation and that moment has now arrived.

In this regard, CMS works on the education and empowerment of its children and youth through the Junior Youth Empowerment Programme and its curriculum of moral education, its Generation Global programme, Children’s International Summer Villages (CISV), Model United Nations,a series of international conferences, and more. These children and youth are the leaders of tomorrow and the protagonists of change right from now. Therefore, it is imperative to nurture their capabilities for building moral structures, becoming analytical and reading their social reality, identifying the positive and negative forces of society, and developing qualities and attitudes that will enable them to make responsible choices in life and make service an integral component of their education and existence.

The Emerging International Order:
With the vision of enabling its students to engage with the issues of the emerging international order, CMS has been organizing its series of World Judiciary Summits to draw attention to the fact that inspite of the establishment of global institutions of peace and justice such as the United Nations Organization and its affiliated bodies, humanity today is faced with intractable problems. Although every nation knows that the only chance of survival of its people is to cooperate with other nations of the world, they are still not able to transcend the boundaries of national sovereignty, mistrust and hatred. As the world gallops towards the 'tipping point', our children face an uncertain future. We at CMS value this and believe that “the Wellbeing of mankind, its peace and security are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.¹” We believe that it is our bounden duty and obligation to preserve this world for the sake of children and future generations. We must act as trustees and empower our wards to work towards building a peaceful and prosperous society.

It is in this background that we are holding International Conferences of Chief Justices of the World to deliberate on the issue of a safe and secure future for humanity. We believe that the judges with their dedication to justice, impartiality, and regard to universal values and law are highly esteemed and trusted by all sections of society and, therefore, their well-considered impartial views in the matter will have a high impact. Children are the common denominator for all nations of the world. They have abundant faith in the judiciary. Views of the world judiciary can compel politicians to take steps to bring about change in global scenario for safety and prosperity of humanity. At CMS’s World Judiciary Summits, Madam Justice Graciela Dixon, the then Chief Justice of Panama, said, 'We judges can change the realities'; the Chief Justice of Philippines, Mr. Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr., opined that 'the children born and yet-to-be-born have the right to a safe ecology and a safe future'. A large number of Chief Justices and Judges from around the world have supported the cause of children.

In the past 18 conferences the Chief Justices and Judges have endorsed the idea of enforceable international law applicable to all nation-states and to all peoples. A law to be enforceable on all nation-states and peoples has to be enacted by a Parliament duly constituted and recognized by all the nation-states and, therefore, such a World Parliament should be created. For interpretation of such laws and for dispensing justice there has to be a World Court or International Court of Justice with wider jurisdiction. With this end in view these conferences have, in their resolutions, recommended strengthening of the UNO which is possible only if the UN Charter is revised so as to accommodate the desired changes. These resolutions do not seek to criticise and diminish the prestige of the UNO, but seek to strengthen the authority, prestige and power of the UN for its effective role on the world stage to address the problems facing humanity. The UNO is the largest single organisation of the world concerned with world unity and peace and also with welfare and development; therefore we need to support and strengthen it. The Resolutions passed in these conferences also stress upon making peace, human rights and cross-cultural education essential parts of school curricula throughout the world.

Youth Leadership Seminars on Sundays
Every year 9000 students from all campuses of CMS get an opportunity to participate for 4 hours in both plenary and parallel sessions of the conference. These sessions give the students the opportunity to ask thoughtful, intelligent and searching questions during the sessions. There are about 120 students who get the chance to interact closely with the judicial luminaries of the world over three days of the conference. These are young students of classes 8 to 12 who have volunteered from all campuses to participate every Sunday from 9:00am to 12:30pm These Sunday Seminars help students to improve their leadership skills and gain a better understanding about the world’s global governance structures, widen their outlook, avail the unique opportunity of meaningful interaction with international dignitaries, and present appeals on behalf of all children to the Heads of State, Chief Justices and Judges of the world.

For more information about the International Conferences of Chief Justices and Judges on Building a United World for children through Enforceable World Law please visit https://www.cmseducation.org/article51.

1 “Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh”, p. 286