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Iraqi group spreads tolerance and peace through art
Many Peaces in Iraq: Creating a Foundation for Conflict Transformation Through Peace Studies
Center for Justice and Peacebuilding partners with UNDP and Iraqi youth to build culture of peace
258,000 Iraqi children back at school in eastern Mosul as battle rages in west of city
Iraqi teachers’ campaign strives to end violence against women
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Hawassa University in Ethiopia offers their experience as a model for other universities. “We suggest that our experiences at Hawassa University can contribute to the learning about how universities in conflict-affected settings can play a positive role in peacebuilding. We would welcome further contact with other universities that are interested in sharing and exchanging learning and knowledge of peace education journeys and our efforts to make a difference in the peacebuilding processes in our societies. . . .
“Hawassa University’s peacebuilding initiatives and the results achieved so far are showing us that we can facilitate students to become better agents of peace through establishing, in collaboration with them, the spaces to discuss and debate peace, by providing good quality capacity-building interventions that enhance their conflict analysis, conflict management and critical thinking skills, and by mainstreaming a visible culture of peace in our institution.”
Here are excerpts from the Wikipedia article about the International Network of Museums for Peace.
The Network was established following a conference in Bradford in 1992.
Between 1992 and 2009, the network was very informal, sustained by occasional newsletters between international conferences. As the number of peace museums worldwide increased, however, the network needed to formalise its structures. Steps towards addressing this were taken at the Gernika conference of 2005, including changing the name of the organisation to the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP).
2009-2018
In 2009 the INMP was established as a foundation (nonprofit) in The Hague and, with the support of the municipality, opened its secretariat and archive in the Bertha von Suttner Building near the Peace Palace in 2010. Since 2014 the INMP, as an international NGO, has been granted special Consultative Status from the UN ECOSOC, and gained ANBI-status in the Netherlands. The foundation consists of a General Coordinator, ten international Executive Board members and twelve international members in the Advisory Committee.
In 2018, the INMP Office in the Hague was closed, and moved to the Kyoto Museum for World Peace at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan.
Here is the message according to the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, who heads up the “The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival” reviving the campaign that was called for by Dr. King back in 1968.
Speaking on the “Democracy Now!” news hour, Rev. Barber reflected on how little has truly changed since King’s time: “Fifty years later, we have nearly 100 million poor and working poor people in this country, 14 million poor children. … Fifty years later, we have less voting rights protection than we had on August 6, 1965,” he said. “[Republicans] have filibustered fixing the Voting Rights Act now for over four years, over 1,700 days.”
“Every state where there’s high voter suppression,” Barber continued, “also has high poverty, denial of health care, denial of living wages, denial of labor union rights, attacks on immigrants, attacks on women.”
Barber says the answer is fusion politics: “We have black, we have white, we have brown, young, old, gay, straight, Jewish, Muslim, Christians, people of faith, people not of faith, who are coming together,” creating what he calls the “Third Reconstruction. . . ”
Barber sees transformation of the Deep South on the near horizon, but doesn’t claim it will be easy. Recent court victories against both racial and political gerrymandering in North Carolina will further empower African-Americans and other traditionally marginalized groups. But the real work will be done not in the courts, but in the streets. . . .
Martin Luther King Jr. was robbed of life by a sniper’s bullet 50 years ago. But on this anniversary of his birth, this national holiday that people fought decades for, his vital work to empower the poor, lives on.
Here are some key indicators from the 2019 edition of the World Nuclear Report, which show that the use of nuclear energy is declining.
1. Over the past two years, the largest historic nuclear builder Westinghouse and its French counterpart AREVA went bankrupt.
2. In 2018, ten nuclear countries generated more power with renewable than with fission energy. In spite of its ambitious nuclear program, China produced more power from wind alone than from nuclear plants. In India, in the fiscal year to March 2019, not only wind, but for the first time solar out-generated nuclear, and new solar is now competitive with existing coal plants in the market. In the European Union, renewables accounted for 95 percent of all new electricity generating capacity added in the past year.
3. The number of units under construction globally declined for the sixth year in a row, from 68 reactors at the end of 2013 to 46 by mid-2019, of which 10 are in China, but there is still no construction start of any commercial reactor in China since December 2016.
4. The nuclear share of global electricity generation has continued its slow decline from a historic peak of about 17.5 percent in 1996 to 10.15 percent in 2018.
5. Over the past decade, levelized cost estimates for utility-scale solar dropped by 88%, wind by 69%, while nuclear increased by 23%. Renewables now come in below the cost of coal and natural gas.
Since 2003 CPNN has carried at least ten articles about initiatives to promote peace and reconciliation on the island of Cyprus that has been divided since 1983 between two sides with allegiance to the ancient enemies Greece and Turkey.
The Presidents of the two sides of the island have called for reconciliation on several occasions mentioned in these articles, but the most consistent action has been carried out at the grassroots by organizations of teachers from the two sides.
CPNN has been describing the education project since it began in 2016.
In 2018-2019, the educational programme “Imagine” which addresses primary, lower and upper secondary and vocational schools managed to bring together 3665 students and 397 teachers from more than a 100 Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot schools from across Cyprus.
At the the ‘Imagine’ Head Teachers Conference in December 2019, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades met with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci. Anastasiades said “there is no other choice or alternative but to bring peace to our land”. In his address, the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci referred to the importance of cultivating a culture of peace in Cyprus and highlighted the value of education.
Akinci added that the decision with President Anastasiades to form the bicommunal technical Committee back in 2015 was “the most important decision we took with my friend Nicos.” That committee thas supported the educational programme “Imagine.”
Cyprus: We have no alternative but peace, President Anastasiades tells Akinci
Cyprus: Salpy Eskidjian Weiderud: “Work for a world that’s a better place”
Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot educators and activists speak about building peace
EDUCATION: Imagine programme helping to reconcile divided Cyprus
Cyprus: Teachers from both sides attend seminars on peace education
Finalization of activities of ‘Imagine’ Project for school year 2017-2018 (Cyprus)
Programme unites Greek and Turkish Cypriot students
‘Cyprus can be symbol of hope’ the world badly needs, says UN chief Guterres as conference opens
Cypriot teachers work for peace and reconciliation through educational programmes
United Cypriot economy to focus on shipping, tourism, education
Here is a response to this question delivered by Ingaborg Breines to The World Congress of the International Peace Bureau.
More than thousand people have registered for this congress and we know that thousands more would have loved to come. We also know that several thousands are with us in the struggle for a world without war, the struggle to make WAR a thing of the past, something unheard of, something obsolete that humanity only in its infancy could think of.
So we are here to sharpen our non-violent tools, to deepen our understanding and strengthen our cooperation and friendship, so as to be that peace force for a transformative shift presenting alternatives to the insane, dangerous and naïve thinking that inequality, injustice, insecurity and marginalization can be solved by military means. We must develop together the strategies to stop this basically imperialistic thinking that if you want peace, you have to prepare for war. This old fashioned patriarchal way of insisting on the importance of having strong muscles and being militarily strong, is just a sign of moral and creative weakness. If we want peace, and most women and most men do, then we have to prepare for peace and use our financial and intellectual resources accordingly.
Excessive military expenditures not only represent a theft from those who are hungry and suffer, but are also an ineffective means of obtaining human security and a culture of peace. Substantial reductions in military costs would eliminate the crushing poverty whereby nearly one third of humanity lives in insufferable conditions, a majority being women, children and young people. We need to move the money from the military sector and instead tackle the real security issues such as the threat to the very survival of the planet and humanity, be it by climate change, nuclear weapons or excessive inequality. We suggest that all countries reduce their military spending by 10% per year over the 15 years of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda. Although it will not change any power imbalance, it would go a very long way in meeting the needs and aspirations of people. Since one year military spending equals about 615 years of the UN annual budget, such a reduction in military costs would also strengthen the United Nations’ efforts and possibilities to “ save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”.
Rich and poor states alike seem to be pressured into arms races, spending more on armament than they need and can afford. To continue a process of militarization, often outside democratic control, that mainly serves the arms producers and dealers and even brings corruption is a dangerous path that will not bring hope to young people in desperation but may lead into extremism.
There is no way to justify war, killing and suffering. In IPB’s own words, we have to choose between warfare or welfare. We have only this one very unique and beautiful planet. The global climate change warrants urgent remedial actions and an holistic approach which again requires changing attitudes and rethinking of unsustainable and destructive production and consumption patterns.
The path of confrontational policies and accompanying militarization that we are on, is not leading us ahead. So let us create “an active disgust for war” to use Bertha von Suttner’s wording and create the world we want based on the vision and the principles of a culture of peace so well described by UNESCO.
Finally, allow me to share with you an encouragement that former president Gorbachev gave to the peace movement at one of the Nobel Summits in Rome. He said that he would never have dared take the steps he did to end the cold war if it had not been for the urging of the strong peace movement.
Friends, we have work to do.
Training for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence
Campaign Nonviolence Action Days 2024 – Calls-To-Action
Manifesto: European mobilization against increasing militarization and wars
Hundreds Protest, Block Entrances to North America’s Largest Weapons Fair
USA: A Labor Statement on the Crisis in Ukraine
German petition against war in the Ukraine
Statement of Ukrainian Pacifist Movement
Statement of Peace Supporters against the Party of War in the Russian leadership
International Peace Bureau : Common Security Approaches to Resolve the Ukraine and European Crises
UK: Stop the War statement on the crisis over Ukraine
France : War is never the solution. Yes to a negotiated political solution.
Bangladesh: Dhaka Peace Declaration Adopted
Australia : Brisbane Weapons Expo Protest Planned
Latin American Congress of Research for Peace will be held virtually in August
First International Conference Against US/NATO Military Bases November 16-18, 2018, Dublin, Ireland
UK: Surprise, Surprise, Jeremy Corbyn’s Anti-War Policies Turned out to Be a Vote Winner
Berlin: World Congress of International Peace Bureau: Opening Speech
UK: Corbyn and the Anti-war Movement
Florianópolis, Brazil: World Peace Forum: a space to build a better world
Court victory gives momentum to long struggle against London arms fair
This expression, “If we can connect up the planet through Internet, can’t we agree to preserve the planet? “, was inspired by an article by Len Yannielli in the beginning of CPNN back in 2002: Chilean Fisherpeople Fight Salmon Introduction.
Over the years since then, we have carried many articles on this theme. See many of them listed here and here.
A message from Palestine: This is the time to re-imagine, re-create and restore.
UN Launches First-Ever Global Plastics Report on World Environment Day
NASA Study: First Direct Proof of Ozone Hole Recovery Due to Chemicals Ban
Moonshots are not a question of age: millennial Boyan Slat inventor of The Ocean Cleanup
Canada: After three decades, Inuit achieve meaningful protections for Lancaster Sound
World’s Largest Marine Reserve Created Off the Coast of Antarctica
South America: A ‘sweeping’ win for the oceans that you didn’t hear about
History Made: New England Ocean Treasures Protected!
A Tiny Reef in the Philippines Offered Early Proof That Marine Parks Also Help Fishers
Fishing ban in remote Pacific waters is working, report finds