Nonkilling Hawai’i Advisory Council Inaugural Meeting

The Nonkilling Hawai’i Advisory Council had its inaugural meeting in Honolulu on Monday, May 18th. Twenty-three people attended from diverse sectors of the community: Native Hawaiian activists and educators, health care professionals, domestic violence and suicide prevention specialists, inter-faith, security, business, and tourism representatives. The meeting opened with an introduction of the Center for Global Nonkilling and its mission by members of the leadership team.

The main focus of the meeting was on the Nonkilling Hawai’i project in which CGNK is looking to Hawai’i for a model for measurably reducing and eventually eliminating killing in the world. A map of Killing in Hawai’i showed that Suicide and Domestic Killings are the two largest areas of concern. A lively discussion followed with members from the community relating their areas of expertise to the Nonkilling Hawai’i project and a Big Ideas session, which highlighted some initial ways to launch nonkilling initiatives integrating discovery/research, education/training, policy/action as well as monitoring/reporting in Hawai’i. The group was also asked to identify other members of the community, who should be at the table. The Advisory Council plans to meet again at the end of the summer.