Crowd funding project with the aim to mint and distribute a « Medal for Peace » and to make a donation to the UNHCR

What is our project « A Medal for Peace » ?

Our project « A Medal for Peace » consists in:

- financing the coinage of a « souvenir medal » by the Monnaie de Paris (Paris Mint),

- giving it to the key players in World Peace,

- forwarding it, together with a Peace message, to the Ambassadors of the States represented in our country,

- make one or more donations to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR, also called UNHCR),

- allow anyone interested in joining our project to do so.

This medal, available in two colours (gold or silver) represents the Dove of Peace, which carries the universal message of Peace, written in several languages.

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What is a souvenir medal ?

A souvenir medal is a valuable collectable item, with the shape of a coin, minted in our case by the Monnaie de Paris.

In its « yellow / gold » version, the alloy used is NordicGold.

Copper, aluminum, zinc, tin.

In its « white / silver » version, the alloy used is CuproNickel.

Copper, nickel.

Both alloys are widely used in the coinage of almost all World currencies.

The dimensions of a souvenir medal are 34 mm in diameter and 2.5 mm thick.

The weight of a souvenir medal is approx. 15.70 g and has a reeded edge.

The concept of souvenir medals can be found in the collection of « tourist medals », sold by numerous tourist attractions, museums, monuments and natural sites among their products. These medals are very popular as collectable items by the general public.

The minimum quantity to be minted for each project is 5,000 medals, which represents a significant initial investment of slightly over 5,000 euro, without the supplements such as boxes, shipping costs (80 kg), etc…

Each souvenir medal has a different obverse (front) which is an original creation as well as a common reverse (back) bearing the year of minting (also called key date).

The latter bears the mint mark of the Monnaie de Paris, certifying that the minting has taken place within this prestigious institution.

What is the Monnaie de Paris ?

The Monnaie de Paris is one of the oldest institutions in France, celebrating presently its 1,150th birthday. It was founded in 864 via the Edict of Pîtres by Charles the Bald.

It is nowadays an industrial and commercial public undertaking which exercises its kingly mission of the French national currency manufacturing. It mints the euro, but also many other currencies, art cast irons, collector’s coins, medals and decorations, etc…

It has two business sites: the historical headquarters, located on the Quai de Conti, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, as well as the Etablissement Monétaire de Pessac, near Bordeaux.

The Monnaie de Paris of managed since 2002 by Christophe BEAUX.

More info : www.monnaiedeparis.fr

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What is the UNHCR, also called HCR ?

UNHCR, also called HCR, is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

It is an official Agency of the United Nations. Its purpose is to organise the logistic, human and material aspects of rescue operations to the refugees worldwide, whether by war facts or climate, technological and environmental disasters.

The Agency was awarded twice the Nobel Peace prize (1954 and 1981)

The actions are numerous, its righteousness is unerring and it is open to external donations.

We have chosen UNHCR by conviction, but also according to our personal experience as well as our knowledge of the field.

Grounded in 1950, UNHCR is managed since 15 June, 2005 by Mr António GUTERRES.

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Who are the authors of the work represented on the medal ?

Who are the authors of the work represented on the medal : Stéphane and Sabine, the project leaders.

Stéphane had the idea of the symbol of Peace. Sabine wanted to add the word « Peace » in different languages.

To do so, we inspired ourselves by one of the universal representations of Peace, copyright free, appearing on the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, as well as the written transcription of the word « Peace » in some languages.

As it was not possible to represent all the languages of our planet on the medal, we have chosen these in a way that seemed the most efficient to us.

The final design, inspired by our sketch and fixed on the Pass for Press has been designed on our request by the Engraving Workshop of the Monnaie de Paris, with the advice and support of the Service « Cultural and Tourist Attractions » of the same institution. We warmly thank them for their professionalism.

In order to prevent any counterfeiting, we have also taken care of protecting the copyright of our work at the National Institute of Intellectual Property (INPI) with the help of a Soleau envelope.

What is the communication transmitted by the medal ?

The communication transmitted by the medal is a universal message and free of any proselytism.

It should be read to the letter: « Let’s realise, transmit, give this medal in order to spread a Peace message worldwide ! ».

This message might seem outdated and utopian, but if nobody believes in it, if no one is available to carry and support it, … what is the future for the human mankind?

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Who are the project leaders ?

The project leaders are Stéphane et Sabine SIBOT.

We are French, we live in a small village in the Limousin, we are married and parents of one child.

The arrival of our child in our life has been an everlasting catalyst.

For the future of our child (and we hope just like many other parents), we aim for the best, including the possibility to grow and prosper in the best of the Worlds.

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What is the relation linking the project leaders to the idea of a medal and an action for Peace ?

The relation linking the project leaders to the idea of a medal and an action for Peace is Passion, at all levels.

We met purely by chance around a common passion, and since then, we have never left each other. From this meeting, an associative adventure is born which led us to face several personal and organisational challenges.

From this stage, friendships are born, as well as experiences sometimes dreamy, sometimes harsh. The experience of Life.

And the most important, from this meeting, our child is born.

As we wrote it above : the arrival of our child in our life has been an everlasting catalyst. For the future of our child (and we hope just like many other parents), we aim for the best, including the possibility to grow and prosper in the best of the Worlds.

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Are the project or the project leaders affiliated to a religious or political movement ?

No.

Our conduct and project have to be non-religious and non-political. However, regarding the message to be forwarded as well as the objectives of the action and the donation, we address ourselves to all the People and the Nations on Earth.

Whatever are your convictions and beliefs, regardless of the colour of your skin, wherever are your origins, Peace deserves you and you deserve Peace.

Life has already brought us to experience some challenges which have contributed to strengthen our positions and character.

We are who we are, we come where we are coming from (and we do not forget it), and we refuse any proselytism.

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I would like to help you in building this project, what do I have to do ?

In order to help us building this project, you have simply to commit yourself to finance the sum of your choice, among the thresholds we have defined beforehand. With the help of all other contributors, this will help us to reach our fundraising objectives.

After this, talk about this project to your circle, help us by relaying our ideas and project.

Transmit to your friends, your contacts, share !

The success of such an operation lies mainly on cohesion as well as information flows on social networks.

Let’s contribute all together to this solidarity task!

There is a difference between the break-even point of the project and the donation.

Yes. The difference between the break-even point of the project and the donation results from the fact that we are going to give 3 full-time months of work, to two persons. We are going to do everything for the project to succeed while safeguarding our family life and more precisely the life rhythm, the scholarship and the hobbies of our child.

We have discussed a lot about the different aspects of this project.

We wish more than everything that it succeeds, but it must not in any case jeopardise our couple, our family and the stability and the life frame of our child.

During the execution of this project, in which we have already invested some money (web sites, copyright, communication, office consumables, etc…), our recurrent financial charges continue : rent, groceries, transport, heating, communication, etc…

Moreover, as we are private bodies, we will be subject to income taxes under the category of the non-professional industrial and commercial profit. Even if we eventually will lead this project to a structure, we will anyway have to contribute to a dedicated plan.

Please note that for its operation and service, the crowd funding platform will take a commission of 8% (5% for the operation + 3% bank charges) in case of a successful fundraising.

These charges, these costs, this continuity have been assessed and included in the project financing.

They represent a significant part that we should certainly not underestimate.

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Do you already have an experience or references in the charity field ?

Yes, and a successful experience.

In an associative framework, we have contributed to the 2012 Téléthon by putting into place and steering the operation of the Santa Claus medal.

This operation has exceeded all our objectives and has enabled us to make a donation of 10,048 euros to AFM-Téléthon.

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Even if it is not the objective of my help to your project, I want to know everything about the counterparts.

To allow these counterparts to exist, the fundraising of the project has to be successfully completed at the very first stage.

If it is not successfully completed, you don’t take any risk and it won’t cost you anything.

We will contribute alone to the costs related to the building of the project : time spent on the project, the Soleau envelope, web sites names and hosting, the dedicated bank account as well as the total direct and indirect costs related to this project.

If it is brought to its term, this will mean that the « Medal for Peace » could be minted by the Monnaie de Paris.

The counterparts are listed on the right side of this page. You are most welcome to read them.

And how will I receive my promised counterpart ?

To receive your counterpart, you will have to have contributed to our project and that your contribution is validated by the platform KissKissBankBank.com

You will receive your counterpart by mail or courier parcel, together with a personalised diploma of Peace Messenger.

The cost of the shipping is included ! You won’t have any additional cost (unless there is a special case, on your specific request).

If wished and whether this is materially and geographically possible, the peace contributors of the two highest levels could receive their counterparts from hand to hand, and if desired, this could be the subject of an article published on unemedaillepourlapaix.fr and its affiliated communication channels (FB, Twitter, Instagram, etc...).

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How can I keep myself informed about the project operation ?

To keep yourself informed about the project operation, it is very simple.

We have worked on the settling of the following channels to ensure a wide transparency :

- The page « A Medal for Peace » on KissKissBankBank.com :

http://www.kisskissbankbank.com/une-medaille-pour-la-paix

- Facebook :

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Une-medaille-pour-la-Paix/1422879301287881

- Twitter :

https://www.twitter.com/MedaillePaix

- Instagram :

http://instagram.com/medaillepaix

- Our website :

http://www.UneMedaillePourLaPaix.fr/

And its affiliated links :

http://www.AMedalForPeace.com/

http://www.UnaMedallaPorLaPaz.com/

http://www.UnaMedagliaPerLaPace.com/

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How will I know, if the fundraising is successful, that the donation has been given to the HCR ?

You will be informed (and this will be public) that the HCR will have received the funds because we will ask for a receipt.

Upon receipt, the latter will be published on all communication channels that we will have put into operation.

And if the operation allows a logical continuity of our action, it will be the same case for any future donation.

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What would be your final selling point to convince us ?

Today, we have the possibility to help refugee families via the HCR, who are victims of war facts, or climate, technological and environmental disasters.

Today, they are « them ». But problems don’t always happen to the « others ». A very little thing can change everything… If tomorrow, it would be « us, you », we would be very happy to get assistance. Absolutely.

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Everything looks perfect to me. What’s next?

Thank you !

And after, if this operation « A Medal for Peace » is successful, we will bring it to its end and if some medals remain still available, they will be sold, and a part of the profit of this sale will be once more given to the HCR.

After this, we will do our best to answer to a new challenge, perhaps within an NGO or by creating our own structure, always in a social and charity aim.

And if needed, we will again use crowd funding…

If unfortunately the operation doesn’t succeed, we will learn our lessons from it. We would still have tried, and this would be after all a good experience.

What will be the use of the fundraising ?

What will be the nature of the donation to the HCR ?

The donation to the HCR will represent an amount of 1,480 euro (ca. 2,000 US dollars), provided that the fundraising equals the objective (minimum threshold). If we exceed the objective, this amount will be proportionally higher.

This minimum amount corresponds for instance, to the financing of :

The supply of 4 tents that could accommodate each one a refugee family,

or

The supply of ca. 400 mosquito nets to protect the children from malaria,

or

The supply of ca. 130 family kits of kitchen utensils for the preparation of food,

or

The supply, for approx. 200 families, of jerrycans for the transport of drinking water.

These examples are taken from the indications of the UNHCR website, at this following URL: http://donate.unhcr.org/

If the fundraising exceeds the objective, the donation to the HCR will be proportionally increased in function of the breakeven point with the charges, and so on.

Let’s imagine that we would raise 10 times the objective, the donation would be multiplied whenever possible.

Regarding the counterparts, we will include the notion of « minting and shipping deadline », which will depend on the production capacities of the Monnaie de Paris workshops, the supply of raw material… as well as the logistics that we will have to implement.

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We thank you for having taken the time these questions-answers and we urge you to believe in our project, by helping us to achieve it through a successful fundraising.

Be assured that we will lead this project with all our hearts.

However, should you have any additional question, please feel free to ask us.

Stéphane et Sabine SIBOT

UneMedaillePourLaPaix.fr

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Une médaille pour la Paix !