STOCKHOLM, August 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Earlier this summer Sweden's Veteran Federation, SVF, hosted the World Veterans Federation's Peace and Security Summit. The outcome of the summit was The Stockholm Declaration, urging the world's veteran associations and governments to work for the veterans' experiences and skills to a higher degree should be utilized as a resource for the development of their own society.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130822/634639-a )

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130822/634639-b )

The Stockholm Declaration was drafted and adopted on the Peace and Security Summit in Stockholm in May this year. Present at the summit, to support the world's veterans in crafting the declaration, was, among others, the former chairman of the IAEA, Hans Blix, and vice president of Human Rights Watch, Jan Egeland, along with about 90 delegates from 25 countries.

Now that The Stockohlm Declaration is ready-formulated and adopted, the work begins to implement the declaration around the world. The Declaration states, partly:

"The Summit demands that the countries represented within the World Veterans Federation and the international community exploit and make best use of [the veterans'] experiences and capabilities […]. Veterans should also be involved to prevent ethnic crises and in support of integration processes within their societies. The message of the veterans, voiced individually, through their organisations or the WVF should be listened to in all crisis situations."

The Stockholm Declaration opens up a new dimension in the perception of veterans and represents a major step forward to give veterans the opportunity to contribute also at home, after their peace-support operation.

About the Peace & Security Summit 2013

The Peace & Security Summit 2013 is the world conference of the World Veterans Federation, WVF, which represents around 42 million veterans throughout the world. The Swedish Veterans Federation that is Sweden's representative in the WVF was requested by the WVF to host the Peace & Security Summit 2013 in Stockholm in May 2013. The summit was arranged with support from the Swedish Armed Forces, the Swedish National Police Board and the Folke Bernadotte Acadamy, among others.

For more information, please do not hesitate to contuct us
Anders Ramnerup, secretary general, Swedish Veterans Federation (SVF),
phone +46-70-879-90-87, e-mail anders.ramnerup@fredsbaskrarna.se.

http://www.sverigesveteranforbund.se

SOURCE The Peace & Security Summit 2013