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A Peace Council for Santos
an article by CPNN Administrator
Santos, Brazil, may be the next city in Brazil to establish a Culture of Peace Commission. CPNN readers will recall from a CPNN article that Santos recently hosted a World Peace Congress, organized by Helena Lourenco Beatriz of AbrasOFFA.
The following is translated from the Santos City Website.
Arlindo asks for creation of a Peace Council to work for peace education
Council member Arlindo Barros (PSDB) proposed in a session carried through in the Councilmember Commission of the City Council of Santos, the creation of CEV (Special Commission of Councilmembers) which leads to the creation of a Peace Council. The objective is to work for peace education , sustainable development, human rights, equality between men and women, democratic participation, understanding, tolerance and solidarity, free circulation of information as well as international peace and security. It was also proposed the creation of a commission of Councilmembers in conjunction with representatives of the civil society and citizens to elaborate studies for the creation of the council,as well as its statute and regulations.
The creation of the Council has the support of UNESCO in the sense that the culture of the peace helps the people of the world to live up to the principles that inspired the creation of the organization. Another involved person in the process is Helena Beatriz, president of the AbrasOFFA, that has been mobilizing segments of the society, public and private sector among others, always presenting actions for Social Responsibility.
For the councilmember, it is time for Santos to be part of this movement. “Since the city is a model for the the constitution of city councils of human rights, then naturally it should be one of the first cities in this region to participate in this action for peace”.
In the country, there are already five functioning councils and others are in creation. The United Nations chose the years of 2001 up to 2010 as the international decade of the culture of peace and non-violence in the world. "Therefore I created the CEV because Santos needs to be part of this process”, says Barros.
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
What is a culture of peace city and how does one become one?,
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LATEST READER COMMENT:
I believe that the development of a network of culture of peace cities can be a decisive factor in the transition from a culture of war to a culture of peace based on a profound reform of the United Nations system. The following are excerpts from my book World Peace through the Town Hall.
My experience working in the United Nations system for ten years and observing it closely for seven years since my retirement makes me optimistic that the UN system is capable of managing a transition to the culture of peace. The various specialized agencies that deal with health care, education, food and agriculture, science, communication, not to mention technical questions such as aviation, shipping, atomic energy, etc. are staffed by a capable international secretariat with experience in the day-to-day management of global issues. The UN General Assembly, as well as the international assemblies of other agencies such as the General Conference of UNESCO, provide important forums. Even the Security Council, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund which are now in the hands of a few powerful states and used to support their culture of war could play important roles in the transition to a culture of peace if they were transformed under control of "we the peoples" instead of the state.
For the reasons given throughout this book, a global network of local authorities is the best chance for an international political force independent of the nation-state that could take responsibility for the United Nations and direct it towards a culture of peace.
In summary, the cause of the United Nations seems hopeless for a culture of peace as long as it is under the control of the nation-states of the world with their culture of war.
Without being able to predict a precise date, we can expect within the next few decades that the American Empire and the globalized economy associated with it will crash as did the world economy in 1929 and the Soviet economy in 1989.
A global crash sets the stage for two possible political solutions which are diametrically opposite. One is a strengthening of the culture of war at the level of the state into fascism which was the predominant reaction in the 1930's. . ...more.
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