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ANNUAL REPORT 2003   This report covers what was done and achieved at the headquarters in Lund, Sweden. TFF is a network of some 80 individuals in their different capacities and with their organisations; bear this in mind when you think of TFF and its activities for peace. The year begins with board member Christian Hårleman's and Jan Oberg's fact-finding mission to Iraq, January 2-17. This is the second fact-finding mission and constitutes the basis for all later Iraq-related activities of he foundation. International Herald Tribune breaks it promise to publish Hans von Sponeck and Jan Oberg's article about Iraq. Five days later, Jan leaves for Tokyo where he has been invited for a conference at the international Christian University, ICU. During his visit he gives lectures and interviews with, among others, the Japan Times, the Tokyo International Press Club, Soka University Peace Research Institute, the Toda Institute - all related to Iraq, On the 30th he lectures at Nagoya University. He is back on February 3. Up to and beyond the February 15, Jan gives about 80 interviews and lectures in 8 countries, all related to Iraq - Japan, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, February 26-27, Jan teaches at the new peace research centre at Tromsø University in northern Norway and on March 6 he gives a lecture with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and International Peace Brigades in Geneva. On March 19-20, he gives an intensive course for young people who shall work in Bosnia, at the College of LO, the Danish Labour Union. On March 8 we post the photo series, "Iraq faces and Surfaces" on the foundation's site. In March also, a comprehensive revision and updating of TNN, the TFF News Navigator. March 19, the US begins its attack on Iraq. On March 27, we launch the war diary, Operation Think Freely about Iraq. Up till May 15, 54 articles are produced and posted almost on a daily basis. In April things slow down a bit at the TFF HQ as co-founder Christina Spännar goes through surgery and gets two new hip joints, after which follow several months of rehabilitation. In early May we make it public that Paul McCartney - Sir Paul - has become TFF Honorary Friend. Quite a response in the media. Board meeting # 55 takes place on June 4. Mr. Christian Hårleman becomes chairman of the board. In June, Jan writes on a chapter for the Today Institute book project on "Global Mediation: Democratizing Public Communication in the Era of Pan-Capitalism" - which deals with the role of media in democracy. The chapter contrasts the author's personal experience from being in Iraq with the media images conveyed about it before and during the war. Bob Hacket, Vancouver, edits the book. In July, Jan starts the work on a book in Danish about the conflict with Iraq and Demark's role, "Predictable Fiasco. The Conflict with Iraq and Denmark as an Occupying Power". It's partly translated versions of PressInfos and other articles combined with other materials. The book is ready by the end of the year. The Danishpublished, Tiderne Skifter, will get the book out after some revisions in April-May 2004. On July 13, Hårleman and Oberg should have left for Burundi, but the increased level of shelling and killing in the capital Bujumbura force them to cancel that plan the day before. The International Institute for Peace Education, IIPE, and the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding, APCEIU had invited Jan to be a lecturer/panelist at a conference on peace education taking place in Seoul, South Korea, in early August. This also goves him an opportunity to visit the De-Militarised Zone, DMZ. Towards the end of the year a photo series from Seoul and the DMZ from that visit is posted on the site. On September 20, there is an extra-ordinary board meeting with new members and long-range planning over two days, in Haverdal on the West coast of Sweden. We have a much expanded board (see below) and a new chairman and we have formed working groups of TFF Associates and board members to conduct new projects. The program of the foundation is slimmed and become more focused. This autumn we work on two projects that shall bring us back to Iraq and a) listen to and empower Iraqi women and b) promote non-violent conflict-resolution in its civil society. We hope to take up work again in Burundi where, three years ago, we began work to promote reconciliation and forgiveness - however, broken off by widespread violence. With the new peace agreement, chances have increased that we can make a sustained contribution. We work on a partial revision of this website, to increase its usability and help visitors find what they look for in a more smooth and quick manner. We step up e-mail messages with PressInfos, PeaceBrowser and PeaceTips. Grant proposals are written, other fund-rasing drives undertaken. It's difficult times. On Gandhi's birthday, in Oslo, TFF is a partner with other Nordic institutes in setting up a small Nordic Gandhi Society. And many TFF Associates rush around lecturing, teaching and training in several countries, Jan teaches at IUPIP in Rovereto, Italy - with Georges Kutukdijan - on the new psychological aspects of war. TFF's new Danish volunteer, Kirstine Due Rönnow takes up work on two things, partly to comment on, revise and proof read the Danish Iraq book, partly to produce a complete, or almost complete, list of publications in Denmark, Sweden and Norway about and by Mahatma Gandhi during the last 60-70 year. Later to be posted on TFF's site. Between October and December, we work on a new TFF Brochure, to be used for fund-raising and general public relations purposes. The opening page of the website undergoes a major change and becomes more "minimalist." November 6-16, fact-finding mission to Serbia and Montenegro. November 26 to December 6, fact-finding mission to Burundi, we establish also the TFF Amahoro Coalition there consisting of 8 NGOs. December 8, board meeting # 56 takes place. Plans and proposals from the extra.ordinary board meeting in September are confirmed and so is the commitment to Burundi. December 9 - 12, Jan and Christina are in Toscana, Italy to receive a peace award given by the Castelnuovo Magra on Human Rights Day, the 10th. On the 11th, Jan gives a lecture at Pisa University. December 14-23, fact-finding mission in Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia. Between Christmas and New Year, we post the photo series from Korea and the DMZ on the site. By December 31, we end and report the latest project grant from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs which, since 2001 has been spent on fact-finding in the Balkans, Iraq and Burundi.   The year in statistics 12 new associates/advisers/board members and 1 new Honorary Friend of TFF. Here are the people who joined TFF in 2003. New Chairman of TFF's Board: Christian Hårleman Former UN peacekeeper, international consultant and adviser to many organisations, member of TFF's Conflict-Mitigation Team in Iraq. New member of TFF's board: Bo Rybeck Distinguished Professor, MD, PhD, former Director-General, Swedish Defence Research Institute (FOA), Surgeon-General, Major-General (ret.) New member of TFF's board: Jørgen Johansen A world-leading scholar and activist for nonviolence, presently director of the new Centre for Peace Studies at Tromsø University in Northern Norway. New member of TFF's board: Gudrun Schyman Former leader of the Left Party in Sweden. Member of Parliament. In 2003 she launches a multi-year public education project that aims to de-construct the patriarchal order and lead our gender-split society into one humanity. New board member: Annette Carlsson A former board member joining us again. Worked with the Swedish Television and Broadcasting Corporation since 1969 periodically as editor-in-chief, as reporter and as producer, From the year 2000, Anette Carlsson devotes herself completely to her own firm "Anette Carlsson Medieproduktion." New Swedish adviser: Bengt Silfverstrand Former social-democratic MP, deputy chairman of the Höganäs municipality board and strongly engaged in international affairs. New TFF Associate: Toshiki Mogami - professor in peace research and social science at International Christian University, Tokyo - an old-time friend and TFF's first scholar-in-residence. New TFF Associate: Annette Schiffmann Kindergardener, printer, designer, photographer, human rights and peace activist, working against death penalty.. New TFF Associate: Lotte Christy A leading peace educator, specialist in crime prevention and mediation, associated with the Danish Center for Conflict-Resolution. New TFF Associate: Margarita Papandreou - former First Lady of Greece and founder of the network, WINPEACE, (Turkish-Greek) Women's Initiative for Peace, an impressive activist for peace and women's equality. New TFF Associate: Hazel Henderson World famous future thinker and alternative economist. Read the list of her books - do we have to say more? New TFF Associate: David Loy Distinguished professor of international studies in Japan. Zen Buddhist and recognised zen teacher as well as prolific writer. Ny TFF rådgivare: Karin Wegestål Fd socialdemokratisk rigsdagsledamot; nu debattör och sedan länge aktiv i Balkanfrågor and andra delar av svensk utrikes- och försvarspolitik.     Paul McCartney joins TFF Photographer: Mark Seliger © 2002 MPL Communications Ltd/Inc MPL Ref: BW-17 Sir Paul becomes Honourary Friend of TFF Paul's poem for TFF Också på svenska How Paul and Jan met Paul signs Christina's record Paul's official homepage Complete biography TFF presentation Book, "Blackbird Singing. Poems & Lyrics 1965-2001" Aftonbladet 7 maj om TFF & Paul   By 2003 TFF has: 2 founders, 10 board members, 1 honorary friend, 50 international associates, 19 Swedish advisers, 7 Peace Antennas: a global network of 88. Plus 10 volunteers. 24 PressInfos. About 500 Feature articles (selected excellent articles not written by TFF associates) posted on the site. 14,500 now receive PressInfos, PeaceBrowser and PeaceTips directly from TFF; re-distribution via listweves, discussion groups and by individuals probably means that our mateials reach 2-3 times more. An estimated 2000-5000 visitors per day at www.transnational.org. About 4,900 e-mails were written to individual recipients from TFF's headquarters. Jan Oberg alone wrote some 700 pages this year, including his Iraq book.   Frequent users of TFF materials and our partners: Oneworld; Global Issues; MediaChannel; The Euobserver; Idealist.org & Action Without Borders; The News Insider; Global Policy Forum, New York; Centre for Conflict-Resolution, Copenhagen; Tibetan Centre for Conflict-Resolution, Dharamsala, India; The Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research; Transcend; IUPIP International University of Peoples' Institutions for Peace; UNESCO Culture of Peace Program; Center for Global Nonviolence, Hawaii; New World Order Forum, St. George House, Windsor, UK; Svenska Läkare mot kärnvapen; Centre for Research on Globalisation, Canada; Middle East Nonviolence and Democracy, MEND; BalkanIDEA, Macedonia; Lawyers Against the War. Links from other sites: 1140 sites have links to TFF's front page.   Outreach activities you do not see in this report Dozens of public lectures over the years, e-mailed PeaceBrowsers and PeaceTips, interviews and comments to media, shorter articles; expansion of e-mail address registers. Constant website updating with hundreds of selected feature articles and more original TFF analyses than ever before posted over the year. Translation and promotion of PressInfos, other analyses and debate articles with newspapers, news agencies, etc.   Organisational maintenance and development that you do not see in this report Board meetings, fund-raising activities, work on the new website, book keeping, library and archive maintenance, correspondence, travel planning, reporting to authorities, correspondence with and development of TFF's global network and invitations to new associates. And last but not least: paying special attention to and communicating with the increasing number of TFF Friends who have supported the foundation.   Volunteer assistants Sara E. Ellis, Kirstine Rönnow Due, Sara Margaryan. Volunteer translators Orla Jordal, Erik Göthe, Dorit Kruckenberg, Jean-Francois Drolet, Orla Hultmann. Web technician Gunnar Jonson.   Fund-raising 2003: US$ 14.211 Our struggle to become a people-financed organisation. We received US$ 14,211 in individual donations from our 140 Nordic friends and 110 friends in the rest of the world. Thanks to every single one of you!   Jan Oberg & Christina Spännar Founders Lund, December 31, 2003