All posts by CPNN Coordinator

About CPNN Coordinator

Dr David Adams is the coordinator of the Culture of Peace News Network. He retired in 2001 from UNESCO where he was the Director of the Unit for the International Year for the Culture of Peace, proclaimed for the Year 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly.

28TH FESPACO: Gold for Tunisia and silver for Burkina

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Issa Siguire in Le Pays de Burkina Faso (translation by CPNN)

The lanterns of the 28th edition of the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) went out on March 4, 2023. It was Youssef Chebbi of Tunisia, who won the Etalon d’or de Yennenga, with his film “Ashkal”. Burkinabe director Apolline Traoré wins the Silver Stallion.


Tunisian director Youssef Chebbi succeeds Somalian Khadar, director of the film “The Gravedigger’s Wife”, by winning the Yennenga Gold Stallion, with his film “Ashkal” at the 28th edition of FESPACO. Absent at the ceremony, his representative received the trophy and the sum of 20 million CFA francs in his name. `

Directors Apolline Traoré from Burkina and Angela Wamai from Kenya, 2nd and 3rd respectively, win the Silver and Bronze Stallions.

For Dora Bouchoucha, president of the jury, the process which led to the choice of the film brings together political considerations, entertainment and cinematographic creativity. “In the Three Stallions, there is all that. But the one that had more creativity, more cinematic talent, was the Ashkal movie,” she explained.

Even if Apolline Traoré did not win gold, she says she is proud to win the Silver Stallion: “We have problems. This Gold would have comforted the people of Burkina Faso but if it can do it for the Tunisian people who also have problems, so be it. After my special prizes, I can not dare to say that I am not happy, “she rejoiced.

As for the Minister in charge of the Arts of Burkina Faso, Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo, he was delighted with the holding of the festival which, in his opinion, shows to the eyes of the whole world that Burkina Faso is still a country to be visited. “It was also a way for us to show that despite all the difficulties and security pressure, Burkina Faso remains standing as well as African culture”.

And to express the gratitude of Burkina to Mali, guest country of honor and to its counterparts from the sister countries of Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, Senegal, Guinea Conakry, like the Minister in charge of Culture of Burkina, that of Mali, Andogoly Guindo, welcomed the masterful organization. “I would like, at this stage, to renew the gratitude of the Malian government, of the Malian people to the Head of State of Burkina Faso. We can safely say that this 28th edition has kept its promises”, he declared.

It should be noted that the results of the 28th edition of FESPACO were drawn up by its General Delegate, Moussa Alex Sawadogo. According to him, more than 10,000 accredited people, including 2,413 film and audiovisual professionals and 1,328 journalists, made the trip to experience the festival of African cinema live. 95 directors of film festivals responded to the call of the biennial of African cinema. Better still, some fifty countries from diverse backgrounds were welcomed to the capital of African cinema, Ouagadougou.

“I take this opportunity to convey all my gratitude to the institutional and private partners from America, Europe and Africa without forgetting the State of Burkina Faso and Mali, guest of honor country which, by their presence, their support financial, material and technical, for their multifaceted contributions, gave the celebration an exceptional beauty. Our congratulations go to all the winners of the 28th edition of FESPACO, recipients of special prizes or prizes from the official juries“, said Moussa Alex Sawadogo, before announcing that the 29th edition of the biennial of African cinema will take place from February 22 to March 1, 2025.
 
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(Click here for the original French version of this article.)

Question for this article:

Film festivals that promote a culture of peace, Do you know of others?

(continued from left column)

The 28th edition of FESPACO in numbers

– More than 10,000 accredited participants
– 2,413 film and audiovisual professionals
– 1,328 journalists
– 95 directors of film festivals
– 50 from different countries were welcomed in the capital of African cinema;
– 1,200 films were viewed
– 170 officially selected films
– 12 sections;
– 365 screening sessions
– 9 rooms
– 36 screening sessions in Kaya on eight (08) selected sites
– 96 booths out of 98 occupied at the 21st MICA
– 218,000,000 CFA francs distributed under the official prize list and special prizes.
– 22 participants in the Yennenga Academy including 16 girls
– 08 candidates for five scholarships provided for the Yennenga Post-production;
– 17 participants for the Yennenga Co-production;
– 16 papers
– 5 practical workshops
– 57 archive professionals took part in the workshops.

Sources: Press kit

They said:

Minister in charge of the Arts of Burkina Faso, Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo: “African culture remains standing”

“It was a huge challenge for Burkina to organize this 28th edition of FESPACO. Tonight, we can say that it is a challenge that has been met. It is a way for us to say that despite all the difficulties, including those of security, Burkina Faso remains standing. African culture remains standing and I think it is a great proof of this state of mind that has been given through the organization of this edition. Mali is the guest country of honour. It is hand in hand, with Mali, that the organization was carried out. We had the honor and the pleasure of counting among us counterparts from our brother countries, from Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, Senegal and Guinea Conakry. I think it’s a very good lesson in solidarity that has been given through this edition. »

Minister of Culture and Francophonie, Françoise Remarck: “FESPACO is essential and demonstrates that African culture and cinema are important elements for the influence of our continent”

“I really salute the organizing committee for the work done. I salute the commitment of my colleague from communication and culture in Burkina Faso. I thank him for all the attention towards me and my delegation. The level of competition was high. These biennales demonstrate that our countries were right to invest in cinema. Some organized countries raise the level but we also see the arrival of new countries such as CAR, Mauritius, Cape Verde. This means that by implementing cinema policies, by investing, it pays off. We are extremely happy to be here. We congratulate all those who have been selected and of course, all the winners. FESPACO is essential and demonstrates that African culture and cinema are important elements for the influence of our continent. They make it possible to highlight our personal stories, to change the narrative about us and all this is to be credited to FESPACO. We are very proud of it and we are very happy with what we have seen. We take this opportunity to say thank you to Burkina Faso. We congratulate the organizing committee which, despite the rather special condition, did not give up, on the contrary, took up the challenge and we are very proud of it. »

Apolline Traoré, director and Etalon d’Argent: “We will continue to fight”

” We have problems. This Gold would have comforted the people of Burkina Faso but if it can do it for the Tunisian people who also have problems, so be it. After my special prizes, I can’t dare say that I’m not happy. It wouldn’t be good of me. Even if I don’t have the Gold Stallion, I have the Silver Stallion and I’m happy about it. I’m not giving up, I’ll keep fighting. I had also hoped that a woman would win the Etalon d’or for the first time, even if it wasn’t necessarily me. But we will continue to fight. »

Chloé Aïcha Boro, Burkinabe director: “FESPACO makes us and we make FESPACO”

“As a rule, the artists that we are, we criticize. We criticize the policies, the organization. We are in our role and it is normal. This announcement, we must salute the fact that they have maintained the edition despite the security context. As for the organization, it’s FESPACO and there’s always a mess. We love and we hate it at the same time. FESPACO is our home. It makes us and we make the FESPACO”. 

Africa, EDUCATION FOR PEACE

New report of Inter-Parliamentary Union shows that women MPs have never been so diverse

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

A press release from the Inter-Parliamentary Union

According to the latest IPU report, Women in Parliament 2022, women’s participation in parliament has never been as diverse and representative as it is in many countries today. And for the first time in history, not a single functioning parliament in the world is male-only. 


Celia Xakriaba, a climate activist, is one of 4 indigenous women to be elected to the Brazilian Parliament. Photo from Wiki Commons.

The findings in the annual IPU report are based on the 47 countries that held elections in 2022. In those elections, women took an average 25.8% of seats up for election or appointment. This represents a 2.3 percentage point increase compared to previous renewals in these chambers.

Brazil saw a record 4,829 women who identify as black running for election (out of 26,778 candidates); in the USA, a record number of women of colour (263) stood in the midterm elections; LGBTQI+ representation in Colombia tripled from two to six members of the Congress; and in France, 32 candidates from minority backgrounds were elected to the new National Assembly, an all-time high of 5.8% of the total.  

Other positive trends include technological and operational transformations, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which have increased the potential for parliaments to become more gender-sensitive and family-friendly. The influence of gender issues on election outcomes, with increased awareness of discrimination and gender-based violence, as well as alliances with other social movements, also helped drive strong results for women in some of the parliamentary elections.

However, overall progress towards global gender equality remains painfully slow: the global share of women in parliaments stood at 26.5% on 1 January 2023, a year-on-year increase of only 0.4 percentage points, the slowest growth in six years.

Mixed regional findings

Overall, six countries now have gender parity (or a greater share of women than men) in their lower or single chamber as of 1 January 2023. New Zealand joined last year’s club of five consisting of Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), at the top of the IPU’s authoritative global ranking of women in parliament.

Other notable gains in women’s representation were recorded in Australia (the strongest outcome of the year with a record 56.6% of seats won by women in the Senate), Colombia, Equatorial Guinea, Malta and Slovenia.

High stakes elections in Angola, Kenya and Senegal all saw positive strides for women. Wide divides characterized results in Asia: record numbers of women were elected to the historically male-dominated Senate in Japan but in India, elections to the upper chamber led to women occupying only 15.1% of seats, well below the global and regional averages.

The Pacific saw the highest growth rate in women’s representation out of all the regions, gaining 1.7 percentage points to reach an overall average of 22.6% women in parliament. Every Pacific parliament now has at least one woman legislator.

In the 15 European chambers that were renewed in 2022, there was little shift in women’s representation, stagnating at 31%.

(continued in right column)

Questions for this article:

How can parliamentarians promote a culture of peace?

Prospects for progress in women’s equality, what are the short and long term prospects?

(continued from left column)

In the Middle East and North Africa region, seven chambers were renewed in 2022. On average, women were elected to 16.3% of the seats in these chambers, the lowest regional percentage in the world for elections held in the year. Three countries were below 10%: Algeria (upper chamber: 4.3%), Kuwait (6.3%) and Lebanon (6.3%).

Bahrain is an outlier in the region with a record eight women elected to the lower chamber, including many first-time lawmakers. 73 women ran for election to the lower chamber (out of a total of 330 candidates) compared with the 41 women who ran in the last election in 2018. Ten women were also appointed to the 40-member upper chamber.

Quotas work

Legislated quotas were again a decisive factor in the increases seen in women’s representation. Legislated quotas enshrined in the constitution and/or electoral laws require that a minimum number of candidates are women (or of the under-represented sex). Chambers with legislated quotas or combined with voluntary party quotas produced a significantly higher share of women than those without in the 2022 elections (30.9% versus 21.2%).

Women’s leadership on climate change

Women in Parliament 2022 gives several examples of female climate leadership including Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland, who has pushed for net zero by 2035, and Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, who is aiming to phase out fossil fuels by 2030.

At COP27, the UN Climate Change Conference, Senator Sherry Rehman, the Minister of Climate Change in Pakistan, was one of the prominent advocates which led to the successful establishment of a loss and damage fund to support poorer countries who are greatly affected by climate change. However, despite this leadership, women continue to be under-represented in decision-making positions on climate. For example, women accounted for less than 34% of country negotiating teams and only 7 out of 110 Heads of State present at COP27.
 
Quotes from IPU leadership

Lesia Vasylenko, President of the IPU Bureau of Women MPs.

“Every woman who is elected brings parliaments one step closer to becoming more inclusive and representative. And it’s great to see much more diversity this year in many elections around the world. But overall progress is far too slow, with half the world’s populations still vastly under-represented. There is an urgent need to change this to strengthen democracy everywhere.”

Duarte Pacheco, IPU President

“The only way to make real progress toward achieving gender equality in parliaments is to share the responsibility between men and women. I call on my male colleagues in every parliament in the world to work with their female counterparts to move forward and accelerate the pace of change.”

Martin Chungong, IPU Secretary General

“Our research shows that there are still too many barriers preventing women from entering parliament or indeed forcing them to leave politics, as we have seen recently. We have the data, tools and solutions to make gender equality a reality by, for example, making parliaments gender-sensitive and free of sexism, harassment and violence. What we now need is the political will at the highest level to make it happen.”

***

The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments. It was founded more than 133 years ago as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 178 national Member Parliaments and 14 regional parliamentary bodies. It promotes democracy and helps parliaments become stronger, younger, gender-balanced and more representative. It also defends the human rights of parliamentarians through a dedicated committee made up of MPs from around the world.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, global, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

United Nations: CSW67 Opening statement: Digital rights are women’s rights

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

Opening statement to the Commission on the Status of Women at its 67th session, by Ms. Sima Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women

A new kind of poverty now confronts the world, one that excludes women and girls in devastating ways—that of digital poverty.   

The digital divide has become the new face of gender inequality, which is being compounded by the pushback against women and girls that we see in the world today.    


Ms. Sima Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, delivers her opening statement to the 67th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in the General Assembly Hall at United Nations Headquarters in New York, 6 March 2023. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

That is why the work of this 67th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) could not be more timely nor more critical.   

We meet to do what this Commission does best: develop norms and standards for an urgent issue of significant importance that offers both opportunity and challenge.  

The CSW mandate is exemplified in the priority theme of this year’s Commission. 
  
The digital revolution presents unprecedented opportunities for women and girls.  At the very same time, it has also given rise to profound new challenges, compounding gender inequalities in severe ways.   

The Secretary-General’s report is unambiguous. We will not achieve gender equality without closing the digital gap. 
 
The data are sobering.  Women are 18 per cent less likely than men to own a smartphone, and far less likely to access or use the Internet.  This past year alone, 259 million more men than women were online. Only 28 per cent of engineering graduates and 22 per cent of artificial intelligence workers globally are women, despite girls matching boys’ performance in science and technology subjects across many countries.
   
In the technology sector globally, women not only occupy fewer positions, but they also face a gender pay gap of 21 per cent.  Nearly half of all women working in technology have faced workplace harassment. 

The gap in access to digital tools and opportunity is widest where women and girls are often most vulnerable. This gap disproportionately affects women and girls with low literacy or low income, those living in rural or remote areas, migrants, women with disabilities, and older women.  It jeopardizes our promise to leave no one behind. 
    
These differences have serious consequences for women and girls.   

The digital divide can limit women’s access to life-saving information, mobile money products, agricultural extension, or online public services.  In turn, this fundamentally influences whether a woman completes her education, owns her own bank account, makes informed decisions about her body, feeds her family, or gains productive employment. 
  
At its heart, the digital gap is pervasive because technology is pervasive in all aspects of our modern lives. 
  
We must also squarely face the threats to the safety and well-being of girls that technology can present when abused.  Even where they enjoy access to digital tools and services, discrimination has taken a foothold and continues to find new ways to deny them their rights. 
  
Research has shown that 80 per cent of children in 25 countries reported feeling in danger of sexual abuse and exploitation when online, with adolescent girls the most vulnerable. 

A survey of women journalists from 125 countries found that three-quarters had experienced online violence in the course of their work and a third had self-censored in response. 

Afghan women who spoke out through YouTube and blogging had their doors marked by the Taliban, with many fleeing their country for safety.  
 
In Iran, and as noted in the Secretary General´s report on the situation of human rights there, many women and girls continue to be targeted because of their participation in online campaigns.  
 
We continue to see radical groups and some governments use social media to target women, particularly women human rights defenders.  

Women’s rights activists cannot play their role in advancing equality if they fear reprisals.  They become, in effect, invisible.   

This is the new, digital repression and oppression. We stand in full solidarity with women and girls subjected to repression and oppression worldwide. 

The reality is that those forces and actors who would deny women and girls their rights are as adaptable as they are evil. 
  
So, we must adapt faster and more effectively than they do, with stronger responses, protections and ultimately, greater resolve.  
 
Technology and innovation are indeed enablers.  What they enable is up to us. 

At the same time, the digital revolution offers the potential for unprecedented improvement in the lives of women and girls.  We must not spurn it. 

Research by UN Women and DESA shows that global progress towards the SDG targets has become more precarious than ever.   

We live in a world of poly-crises that make progress ever more uneven including in the digital space, creating new and unique barriers for women and girls.   

These crises span from the still-unresolved challenges of COVID, to the global economic divide advancing unprecedented inequities across food and energy access, to conflict and instability such as that in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Myanmar, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine and Yemen. 

We need every advantage we can find to bring the SDGs back on track. 

Technology and innovation are proven accelerators to drive concrete progress, once again, across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  

(Article continues in right column.)

Questions related to this article:

Does the UN advance equality for women?

Is Internet freedom a basic human right?

(Article continued from left column.) 

Harnessed effectively, technology and innovation can be the game-changers to catalyse poverty reduction, decrease hunger, boost health, create new jobs, mitigate climate change, address humanitarian crises, improve energy access and make entire cities and communities safer and more sustainable – benefitting women and girls. Now is the time to shape the outcomes of CSW67 to inform the SDG Summit and the Summit of the Future in 2024 and the Global Digital Compact. 

In countless ways, the Sustainable Development Goals depend on the world’s ability to leverage technology and innovation for good.   

Consider social media.  It allowed women, desperately seeking help in the face of rising domestic violence during COVID-19 lockdowns, to access information and support.   

It has generated ‘heat maps’ to focus disaster response, most recently in the tragic earthquakes of Türkiye and Syria.  

Social media has been a crucial connector for the women’s movement within and between countries. 

Technology has facilitated our work across UN Women’s bold mandate.   

In countries such as Niger and Haiti, we have been able to digitalize data collection in Rapid Gender Assessments, saving time and money, as well as offering new, more powerful data management and visualization. 

In Ukraine, national authorities, civil society organizations and the private sector are working together to build digital solutions that support gender-responsive aid, economic recovery and reduce digital gaps.   

From artificial intelligence to virtual reality, to the blockchain – possibilities to harness technology, to save and improve lives and achieve the vision of the United Nations Charter, where every member of the human family lives a life of freedom and dignity, seem truly limitless.  

It is up to us to decide the course we wish to chart, and whether, ultimately, we use the opportunity being afforded us to build a better world, leaving no woman or girl behind in the digital revolution.   

Let me turn to the way forward. 

Our challenge is not to train more women or distribute mobile handsets.  Rather, it is to fix the institutions and the harmful gender stereotypes surrounding technology and innovation that fail women and girls.   

The Secretary-General’s report offers us solutions that I hope will be reflected in your Agreed Conclusions.   

First, we must close the gender digital divide.  Every member of society, especially the most marginalized, must have equal access to digital skills and services.  Digital services, especially e-government services, must be tailored and accessible for all women and girls. 

Second, we must invest in digital, science and technology education for girls and women, including those girls who missed out on education first time around.   

These opportunities cannot merely be the provision of basic computer skills. They must extend to the whole suite of capabilities needed to secure 21st century jobs in a digital world.  

Third, we must ensure jobs and leadership positions for women in the tech and innovation sectors.  As the Secretary-General said: “There is a great danger for gender equality, misogyny is embedded in the Silicon Valleys of this world”.  This demands profound institutional change.  That burden lies in large part on the leaders of the technology sector.    

Fourth, we must ensure transparency and accountability of digital technology. By design, technology must be safe, inclusive, affordable, and accessible.  This includes ensuring that unconscious or conscious bias is not embedded into new technologies and in the field of artificial intelligence.   

Fifth, we must place the principles of inclusion, intersectionality, and systemic change at the core of digitalization.  

If women are not included among technology and artificial intelligence creators, or decision-makers, digital products will not reflect the priorities of women and girls.    We must ensure that women and girls are a central part of the design, development, and deployment of technology.   

Sixth, we must confront misinformation head on, and we must work with men and boys to foster ethical and responsible online behaviour and make equality a cornerstone of digital citizenship. 

Finally, we must make the necessary effort and investment to ensure that online spaces are free of violence and abuse, with mechanisms and clear accountability to tackle all forms of harassment and discrimination and hate speech.   

We have turned a blind eye to their damaging effects for too long.   

Technology should liberate, it is instead aggravating violence, with online behaviours that seek to control, harm, silence or discredit the voices of women and girls.  

If we do not leave this Session having said collectively, unambiguously, “enough, no more”, then we will have failed. 

All these solutions demand the concerted actions not only of governments but of the whole of society, and in particular the private sector.   

The Action Coalition on Technology and Innovation, launched as part of the Generation Equality Forum, is one example of a platform that cultivates multi-stakeholder partnerships dedicated to advance gender equality through alliances between governments, private sector, youth, civil society, and the UN System.  We need to see this reflected at national levels and extended further. 

The issues of which this Commission is seized have always evolved, but rarely has that evolution been so dramatic, the opportunities it presents so transformative, the threats accompanying it so alarming, yet the solutions so clear.   

The pace of change demands that we contribute a global normative framework that ensures we harness technology towards the achievement of gender equality –  and that we do it here and now.   

We cannot indulge in distraction when presented with an opportunity to achieve something so necessary and so timely.  
 
I am confident we will spare no effort in showing that this Commission is of one mind and asserts with one voice that “digital rights are women’s rights”.  

This must be the vision and the outcome of CSW67.  

I look forward to working with you all to that end. 

I thank you. 

global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,

UN Security Council: ‘Radical change of direction’ needed in women, peace and security agenda

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from the United Nations

New goals and effective plans on women’s involvement in peacebuilding are needed before it is too late, the head of the UN agency leading global efforts to achieve gender equality warned the Security Council on Tuesday. 

Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, was speaking during a Council meeting to reaffirm the importance of Resolution 1325  on women, peace and security,  adopted in October 2000, and to take stock of implementation since it turned 20 nearly three years ago. 


UN Photo/Manuel Elías Verónica Nataniel Macamo Dlhovo, Minister for Foreign
Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique and President of the Security Council
for the month of March, chairs the Security Council meeting on
Women and peace and security.

“As we meet today at the mid-point between the 20th and 25th anniversaries, on the eve of International Women’s Day, it is obvious that we need a radical change of direction,” she said. 

No significant change 

Ms. Bahous noted that although several historic firsts for gender equality occurred during the first two decades of the resolution, “we have neither significantly changed the composition of peace tables, nor the impunity enjoyed by those who commit atrocities against women and girls.” 

She said the 20th anniversary “was not a celebration, but a wake-up call,” pointing to situations from across the globe that have emerged since then.

They include the regression of women’s and girls’ rights in Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover, sexual violence committed in the war in the Tigray region in Ethiopia, and online abuse targeting women opposing military rule in Myanmar. 

Women and children also comprise a staggering 90 per cent of the nearly eight million people forced to flee the conflict in Ukraine, and nearly 70 per cent of those displaced within the country.
 
Military spending increasing 

Furthermore, women peacebuilders had hoped that the COVID-19 pandemic would cause countries to rethink military spending, as the global crisis revealed the value of caregivers and the importance of investing in health, education, food security and social protection. 

“Instead, that spending has continued to grow, passing the two-trillion-dollar mark, even without the significant military expenditure of the last months,” she said. “Neither the pandemic nor supply-chain issues prevented another year of rising global arms sales.”  

The way forward 

Ms. Bahous outlined two suggestions that show what a change of direction could look like for the international community. 

“First, we cannot expect 2025 to be any different if the bulk of our interventions continue to be trainings, sensitization, guidance, capacity building, setting up networks, and holding one event after another to talk about women’s participation, rather than mandating it in every meeting and decision-making process in which we have authority,” she stipulated. 

Her second point focused on the need to get resources to women’s groups in conflict-affected countries, particularly through the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund. 

The UN-led partnership was established in 2015 and has so far supported more than 900 organizations. 

“We urgently need better ways to support civil society and social movements in these countries. That means being much more intentional about funding or engaging with new groups, and especially with young women,” she said. 

(Article continues in right column.)

Questions related to this article:

UN Resolution 1325, does it make a difference?

Does the UN advance equality for women?

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

(Article continued from left column.)

Women’s involvement equals success 

The meeting was chaired by Mozambique, which holds the rotating Security Council presidency this month.
  
The country’s Foreign Minister, Verónica Nataniel Macamo Dlhovo, expressed hope that the debate will lead to action, such as stronger strategies on gender equality, as well as women’s effective participation in peacekeeping and peacebuilding. 

“There is no doubt that by involving women in the peacebuilding and peacekeeping agenda in our countries, we will achieve success,” she said, speaking in Portuguese. 
“Under no circumstances do we want that the people who bring life into the world are negatively impacted. We must protect them. Use women’s sensitivity to resolve conflicts and maintain peace on our planet.” 

Respect international law 

Currently, more than 100 armed conflicts are raging around the world, according to Mirjana Spoljaric, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
 
The organization sees the daily brutal impacts of armed conflict on women and girls, she said, which include “shocking levels” of sexual violence, displacement, and deaths during childbirth because they lack access to care.
 
Ms. Spoljaric upheld the importance of international humanitarian law during conflict and urged States to apply a gender perspective in its application and interpretation. 

“Respect for international humanitarian law will prevent the enormous harm resulting from violations of its rules, and it will help to rebuild stability and reconcile societies,” she said. 

States also must ensure that the clear prohibition of sexual violence under international humanitarian law is integrated into national law, military doctrine and training. 

“Engaging more boldly and directly weapon bearers on this issue – with the ultimate goal that it does not occur in the first place – should become a de facto preventive approach, supported and facilitated in times of peace to prevent the worst in times of war,” she added. 


African women leaders network

Bineta Diop of the African Union Commission also addressed the Council, highlighting its work in getting countries to accelerate implementation of the resolution.
This is being done through a strategy focused on advocacy and accountability, and in building a network of women leaders on the continent.

“We are ensuring that women’s leadership is mainstreamed in governance, peace and development processes so as to create a critical mass of women leaders at all levels,” she said.

“We need to make sure that they are in all sectors of life. not just in peace processes.”

Partner with women activists 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee from Liberia called for amplifying the women, peace and security agenda. She recommended steps such as engaging and partnering with local women peace activists, who she called “the custodians of their communities.” 

Women must also be negotiators and mediators in peace talks. “It is amazing to see how only the men with guns are consistently invited to the table to find solutions, while women who bear the greatest brunt are often invited as observers,” she remarked. 

She also urged countries to “move beyond rhetoric” by ensuring funding and political will, because without them, Resolution 1325 “remains a toothless bulldog”.
  
Ms. Gbowee stressed that women, peace and security must be seen as a holistic part of the global peace and security agenda.  
 
“We will continue to search for peace in vain in our world unless we bring women to the table,” she warned.  “I firmly believe that trying to work for global peace and security minus women is trying to see the whole picture with your one eye covered.” 

Africa, global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY, ,

Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, Palestine, Arab League reiterate commitment to supporting Al Quds

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from Egypt Today

CAIRO – 12 February 2023: Al Quds support conference kicked off on Sunday at the Cairo-based Arab League HQ with the participation of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Jordanian King Abdullah II, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit.


High-level representatives for presidents and kings of Arab League member states also attend the event alongside foreign ministers and representatives for international, regional and Arab organizations.


Al Quds is the Arabic name of Jerusalem

Spokesman for AL Secretary General Gamal Roshdi said the conference is meant to bring to limelight the Quds issue before world public opinion in view of Israel’s crimes and violations.



Al Quds Affiars Minister Fadi al-Hidmi said the conference is extraordinary, calling for a clear political Arab stand.

The conference focuses on three main axes; the political conditions in Quds, development and investment priorities in Quds and the Israeli illegal and racist measures against Quds people.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has reaffirmed Egypt’s firm stance towards the rejection of Israel’s measures to change the legal status of Al Quds and its sanctities.


President Sisi called on Arabs to support the Palestinian cause.



President Sisi welcomed the participants of the conference, saying that Al Quds, which hosts Al Aqsa mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, is the crux of the Palestinian cause.



The president said that Egypt rejects all Israeli measures to change the historical and legal status of Al Quds and supports the Hashemite custodianship of the Holy places of the City.

President Sisi said that Egypt, more than four decades ago, stretched its hands to Israel to achieve just and durable peace that restores the rights of the Palestinian people and establishes a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.



He said today’s gathering coincides with extraordinary circumstances threatening regional security and the concept of coexistence.



President Sisi said Israel’s unilateral measures including settlement activities, demolition of houses, confiscation of lands, expulsion of the Palestinians from their homes and attempts to Judaize Al Quds, run counter to the international legitimacy resolutions and fuel congestion.



The president appealed to the international community to work on salvaging the two-state solution plan and pave the way for the resumption of peace talks, saying that Egypt will continue its efforts to reconstruct Gaza Strip 



Sending a message to the Palestinian people, the president said that their cause will remain on the top of the priorities of Egypt and the Arabs.



Sending another message to Israel, its government and people the president said “time is ripe for peace and coexistence among the peoples of the region.”
 
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune of Algeria warned that the racist policies adopted by Israeli occupation authorities in Al Quds and its attempts to obliterate its Arab, Islamic and Christian identity will only achieve imaginary gains that violate legitimacy and demography.

(article continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

How can a culture of peace be established in the Middle East?

(article continued from left column)


Addressing the conference, the Algerian President reiterated condemnation of repeated Zionist attempts to impose a fait accompli through falsifying facts in the holy city.



He reiterated Algeria’s full commitment to support the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state within June 1967 borders with Al Quds as its capital.



He reiterated Algeria’s appreciation for the positive steps that have been achieved recently at the diplomatic level, especially the adoption of a resolution by the UN General Assembly to activate the role of the International Court of Justice in consolidating the rights of the Palestinian people.



He said Algeria will continue endeavors aiming at strengthening Palestinian national unity to materialize the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people in obtaining their freedom and restoring their sovereignty.

Also, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit stressed that Arabs should enhance the steadfastness of Palestinians to preserve the Arab identity of Al Quds in face of all attempts to Judaize it.

Abul Gheit said the issue of Al Quds is at the heart of all Arabs, warning that the holy city does not only suffer from occupation but also from attempts to obliterate its identity.



Al Quds is under occupation and no one can change this fact, Abul Gheit said, warning that all attempts to Judaize the city will lead to more violence.



He underlined the importance of preserving the historical status of Al Quds so that just and comprehensive peace can be achieved, saying today’s conference aims at sending a message to the entire world on the importance of protecting the holy city from violations committed by occupation forces.



He warned of attempts to divide Al Quds and erase its Islamic identity, saying such attempts would lead to more hatred and conflicts.



He made clear that Israel is adopting a systematic approach to undermine the two-state solution, urging all peace loving powers to join efforts to settle the Palestinian issue.

King Abdullah II of Jordan has called on the international community to work on achieving the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to establish a sovereign and viable state on the 1967 borders with Al Quds (East Jerusalem) as its capital.


Addressing Al Quds support conference, King Abdullah said the current state requires intensifying efforts to support the Palestinian people.



He said his country continued efforts to protect the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Al Quds.



The king stressed the importance of maintaining peace on the basis of the two state solution and ending Israel’s storming operation of Aqsa mosque, pointing out that the Palestinian cause will remain on Jordan’s top priorities.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said supporting Al Quds and its people is a religious duty and vital at the humanitarian and national levels. Abbas said al Quds is in need for the support of Arab and Islamic countries.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said “we will go to the United Nations for a resolution protecting the two-state solution through granting Palestine full membership.”


He called on Arab funds and associations to perform their duty in defending al Quds and protecting its identity.



Abbas voiced deep appreciation for President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s attendance of the conference, thanking Sisi and the Egyptian people for Egypt’s continued support for the Palestinian cause and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.



He also thanked King Abdullah II of Jordan for his support for the Palestinian cause and his efforts to protect Islamic and Christian sanctities in al Quds.



He called for putting into effect the decisions of the Arab summit that was held in Algeria last November.



Meanwhile, he lauded an initiative launched by the Qudsona Foundation and Al Quds empowerment fund and Al Quds endowment fund for mobilizing dlrs 70 million financing amid plans to up this number to dlrs 200 million within the coming five years.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Mideast

Amnesty International: Human Rights wins in 2022 

… . HUMAN RIGHTS … .

An article by Amnesty International

Confronted withwhat can sometimes seem like an endless cycle of bad news in the media, it’s easy to feel despondent. But, amid the gloom, there were plenty of good news stories to celebrate this year.

Throughout 2022, Amnesty’s ongoing campaigning, media and advocacy workcontributed to positive outcomes for people all over the world whose human rightswere being violated. Individualsunjustly detained were freed from prison.Human rights abusers were held accountable. Vital legislationand resolutionswerepassed by governmentsat national and international level. Progress towards the global abolition of the death penalty continued.And important advances were made both for the rights of women and LGBTI people.

Here’s a round-up of human rights wins in 2022.

Individuals freed from unjust imprisonment

Amnesty’s ongoing work for individuals helped secure the release of people across the world, delivered justice for families, and held abusers accountable.

In January, university lecturer Professor Faizullah Jalal was released after being arbitrarily arrested and detained by the Taliban.

Hejaaz Hizbullah, a Sri Lankan lawyer and Amnesty prisoner of conscience, was granted bailin February after almost two years of pre-trial detention under Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).Two other detainees held under the PTA, Ahnaf Mohamed Imran and Divaniya Mukunthan, were also released on bail in August and September respectively.

In Honduras, the “Guapinol eight”, a group of water rights defenders and prisoners of conscience, were unconditionally released in February, after spending more than two years in prison for their human rights work.

The following month, in neighbouring Guatemala, IndigenousMayan environmentalist and prisoner of conscience Bernardo Caal Xol was released early after being jailed on bogus charges related to his activism. More than half a million actions were taken on his behalf during Amnesty’s 2021 Write for Rights campaign.

Elsewhere, Magai Matiop Ngong — for whom more than 700,000 actions were taken during Write for Rights 2019— was released from prison in South Sudan in March, having been sentenced to death at the age of 15 in 2017.

August saw the release of schoolteacher Hriday Chandra Mondal, who was detained for discussing the difference between science and religion in his classes. All charges against him were subsequently dropped.

In May,18-year-oldPalestinian Amal Nakhleh, who suffers from a chronic autoimmune disorder, was released from Israeli administrative detention following 16 months of campaigning by Amnesty and others.

In July, a Russian court acquitted Yulia Tsvetkova of “production and dissemination of pornographic materials” over her body-positive drawings of vaginas that were published online.

Following an Urgent Action by Amnesty, Maldivian activist Rusthum Mujuthaba, who was being held on blasphemy charges in relation to a social media post,was released from prison in August.

Palestinian national Dr.Mohammed al-Khudariwas released from prison in Saudi Arabia in October after spending more than three years in arbitrary detention along with his son, Dr.Hani al-Khudari. Both men were handed down prison sentences based on trumped-up charges. Dr.Hani al-Khudari remains in prison despite the expiry of his sentence in February andAmnesty continues to campaign for his release.

Six Palestinian men who reported that they had been tortured in Palestinian Authority prisons were released on bail within two weeks ofAmnesty’s intervention in November.

Thanks to the support of Amnesty Argentina, a Ukrainian familywas able to escape the war and settle in the country in November. A short film documenting their story is available here.

In Yemen, journalist Younis Abdelsalamwas released in December after being arbitrarily detained for over ayear for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.

Justice for families, abusers held accountable

In Malawi, justice was served in April when a court convicted 12 men over the 2018 killing of MacDonald Masambuka, a person with albinism.

In June, partial justice was finally delivered for the 2016 murder of environmental and Indigenous rights activist Berta Cáceres, as David Castillo was sentenced to prison for co-authoring her killing. Amnesty continues its campaign to bring others suspected of responsibility for Berta’s murder to justice.

After pressure from the US authorities, and following a visit by President Biden to Israel, the Israeli Defense Ministry agreed in October to pay compensation to the family of Palestinian-American Omar As’ad, who died after Israeli soldiers ill-treated him at a checkpoint in January.

In November, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation informed the Israeli government that it would conduct an investigation into the May killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by an Israeli soldier.

In December, a Lebanese judge indicted five State Security members on charges of torture in the case of Syrian refugee Bashar Abdel Saud, who died in custody in August.

Continued progress towards the global abolition of the death penalty

Amnesty’s campaign for the global abolition of the death penalty saw further success in 2022, as a string of countries abolished or took significant steps towards abolishing the punishment.

The abolition of the death penalty for all crimes came into force in Kazakhstan inJanuary. Papua New Guinea followed suit in April, repealing the punishment 30 years on from its reintroduction.

Via social media , Zambia’s President announced in May that the country would begin the process of abandoning the death penalty and, in June, Malaysia’s government initiated the process of removing the mandatory death sentence for 11 offences.

In September, a new law which removed death penalty provisions from the penal code in Equatorial Guinea came into effect.

(Click here for the French version of this article, or here for the Spanish version .)

(Article continued in right column)

Question(s) related to this article:
 
What is the state of human rights in the world today?

(Article continued from left column)

Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that have not yet abolished the death penalty for all crimes, including Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, continued to carry out no executions.

Landmark national legislation and international agreements

At both national and international level, Amnesty’s work was vital in helping secure the passage of essential legislation and resolutions, as well as ensuring that companies were held accountable for their human rights responsibilities.

National

There were important wins on Refugee and Migrants’ Rights in the U.S. For example, in March, the Department of Homeland Security announced the designation of Afghanistan for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The move offers protection from deportation to Afghans without visa status and in the U.S. before March 15, 2022, allaying immediate fears of a return to a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Amnesty USA is Campaigning for a bill that would provide a path to citizenship for Afghans seeking safety, the Afghan Adjustment Act. 

In a win for the protection and promotion of the right to freedom of expression in May, the Supreme Court of India suspended the 152-year-old sedition law.

The government of Sierra Leone drafted a new mental health bill in June that is more aligned with international human rights standards than the outdated and discriminatory ‘Lunacy Act’ of 1902. This was a central call in Amnesty’s May 2021 report focusing on the issue.

In Niger,the country’s parliament adopted amendments to the cybercrime lawin Junethatlifted prison sentences for libel and insults. The law had been routinely used to target and arbitrarily detain human rights defenders, activists and journalists.

In the US, legislation on gun violence long campaigned for by Amnesty USA and partners was adopted, with the passage of the Safer Communities Act in June. The legislation provides an additional $250 million for community violence interruption (CVI) programmes.

Amnesty saw impact from our work on children in conflict zones in Niger, including increased UN monitoring of the situation. In July, the UN Secretary-General called on his Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict to “promote enhanced monitoring capacity in the Central Sahel region”, which would cover the tri-border region of Niger, which was one of the main recommendations ofour September 2021 report.

Throughout the year, Amnesty also saw some businesses take their human rights obligations more seriously.

Following Amnesty’s request, the authorities of Sierra Leone asked the Meya mining company operating in Kono district to respond to our concerns about the negative impact of its activities on local people. The company replied that it was engaged in various actions to improve the safety of populations and access to drinking water for communities.

Amnesty’s investigation into the aviation fuel supply chain linked to war crimes in Myanmar played a role in several companies announcing their withdrawal from jet fuel sales to the country, where shipments risk being used by the Myanmar military to carry out deadly air strikes. The companies included Puma Energy, which announced its exit less than two weeks after being presented with Amnesty’s findings. Thai Oil and Norwegian shipping agent Wilhelmsen also confirmed they would pull back from the supply chain, with more expected to follow.

International

Following Amnesty’s report, in March, UN Special Rapporteur (SR) Michael Lynk said that Israel is practising apartheid, followed by UN SR Balakrishnan Rajagopal in July, joining a growing chorusof expert assessments.

In April, the European Union reached political agreement on the Digital Services Act (DSA), a landmark regulatory framework that will, among other things, require Big Tech platforms to assess and manage systemic risks posed by their services, such as advocacy of hatred and the spread of disinformation.

Important progress was made on environmental justice, with the passage of a resolution at the UN General Assembly in July recognizing the right to a healthy environment. The news followed a similar resolution passed by the UN Human Rights Councilat the end of 2021.

In July, ten European countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden rejected the Israeli Defense Ministry designation of seven Palestinian civil society organizations as“terrorist” and “illegitimate”. The US government expressed its concern when theIsraeli military raided the offices of the organizations in August, and UN experts condemned the Israeli attacks on Palestinian civil society in October.

At its 51st session, the UN Human Rights Council released a special resolution on Afghanistan in September. Amnesty suggested the inclusion of a call for the UN Special Rapporteur to prepare a thematic report on the situation of women and girls. Several countries supported the idea, and it was included in the final resolution.

In October, the UN Human Rights Council renewed the mandateof the Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela—a key independent international mechanism actively investigating and regularly reporting on past and ongoing international crimes and other human rights violations—until September 2024. And, in November, the Human Rights Council passed a landmark resolution to establish a new fact-finding mission to investigate alleged humanr ights violations in Iran related to the ongoing nationwide protests that began on 16 September 2022.

The mandate of the OHCHR’s Sri Lanka Accountability Project was extended for a further two-year period in October. The project has a mandate to collect and preserve evidence for future accountability processes — a key aspect of ensuring pressure remains on the Sri Lankan government to remedy and stop both historical and current human rights violations.

Victories for women’s rights

The year saw a number of victoriesf or women’s rights, with Amnesty at the forefront.

In the latest progress on sexual and reproductive rights in Latin America, Colombia decriminalized abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy in February.The news followed the legalization of abortion in Argentina in 2020 and the decriminalization of abortion in Mexico 2021.

In May, the lower chamber of Spain’s parliament passed a bill containing important measures to prevent and prosecute rape. Finland’s parliament passed similar measures in June, adopting reforms that make lack of consent key to defining rape. Finland also passed reforms in October that eased the strictest abortion laws in the Nordic region.

September saw the acquittal of Miranda Ruiz, a doctor who had been unjustly prosecuted in Argentina for having guaranteed a legal abortion.

Notable wins for LGBTIrights

Amnesty contributed to some notable wins for LGBTI rights throughout 2022.

In an important affirmation of transgender individuals’ rights to dignity, happiness and family life, South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled  that having children of minor age should not immediately be the reason to refuse to recognize the legal gender of transgender persons.

In July, same-sex marriage became legal in Switzerland, after almost two-thirds of the population voted in favour of it in a referendum. Slovenia followed suit in October, legalizing same-sex marriage after a constitutional court ruling.

A ban on the award-winning film Joyland, which features a transgender person as a central character, was reversed in Pakistan in November.

global, HUMAN RIGHTS, Uncategorized

Historic UN Ocean Treaty agreed – Greenpeace statement

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from Greenpeace (reprinted according to CC-BY International License)

A historic UN Ocean Treaty has finally been agreed at the United Nations after almost  two decades of negotiations. The text will now go through technical editing and translation, before officially being adopted at another session. This Treaty is a monumental win for ocean protection, and an important sign that multilateralism still works in an increasingly divided world.


A school of fish swim in the Pacific Ocean in Australia. © Ocean Image Bank/Jordan Robin  published by the United Nations.

The agreement of this Treaty keeps the 30×30 target – protecting 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030  – alive. It provides a pathway to creating fully or highly protected areas across the world’s oceans. There are still flaws in the text, and governments must ensure that the Treaty is put into practice in an effective and equitable way for it to be considered a truly ambitious Treaty. 

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Question for this article:

Sustainable Development Summits of States, What are the results?

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Dr. Laura Meller, Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace Nordic, said from New York: “This is a historic day for conservation and a sign that in a divided world, protecting nature and people can triumph over geopolitics. We praise countries for seeking compromises, putting aside differences and delivering a Treaty that will let us protect the oceans, build our resilience to climate change and safeguard the lives and livelihoods of billions of people.

“We can now finally move from talk to real change at sea. Countries must formally adopt the Treaty and ratify it as quickly as possible to bring it into force, and then deliver the fully protected ocean sanctuaries our planet needs. The clock is still ticking to deliver 30×30. We have half a decade left, and we can’t be complacent.”

The High Ambition Coalition, which includes the EU, US and UK, and China were key players in brokering the deal. Both showed willingness to compromise in the final days of talks, and built coalitions instead of sowing division. Small Island States have shown leadership throughout the process, and the G77 group led the way in ensuring the Treaty can be put into practice in a fair and equitable way.

The fair sharing of monetary benefits from Marine Genetic Resources was a key sticking point. This was only resolved on the final day of talks. The section of the Treaty on Marine Protected Areas does away with broken consensus-based decision making which has failed to protect the oceans through existing regional bodies like the Antarctic Ocean Commission. While there are still major issues in the text, it is a workable Treaty that is a starting point for protecting 30% of the world’s oceans.

The 30×30 target, agreed at Biodiversity COP15, would not be deliverable without this historic Treaty.  It’s vital that countries urgently ratify this Treaty, and begin the work to create vast fully protected ocean sanctuaries covering 30% of oceans by 2030.

Now the hard work of ratification and protecting the oceans begins. We must build on this momentum to see off new threats like deep sea mining and focus on putting protection in place. Over 5.5 million people signed a Greenpeace petition calling for a strong Treaty. This is a victory for all of them.

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, United Nations,

Colombia: Secretaries of culture meet in Villavicencio to build a Culture of Peace’

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from Periódico del Meta (translation by CPNN)

During the first day of the ‘Meeting of Culture Managers 2023’, the culture secretaries of the country’s 32 departments, capital cities and some districts, as well as the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Knowledge, arrived in Villavicencio in order to build joint agendas through the exchange of experiences regarding the Culture of Peace in the territories.


Meeting of Culture Secretaries. Photo: @Corcumvi

“This meeting is very important because in the 25 years of the Ministry of Culture, it is the first time that an event has been held in southern Colombia. This department and municipality have been selected for the diversity that they represent.. They suffered from the war, and now they seek to develop their culture and the arts”, explained Edith Agudelo, director of Corcumvi.

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(Click here for the original Spanish version of this article.)

Question for this article:

Do the arts create a basis for a culture of peace?

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

(continued from left column)

Likewise, the Vice Minister of Regional Development and Heritage (e), Adriana Molano Arenas, explained that one of the strategic axes of the Ministry of Culture is to build a Culture of Peace throughout the country, mainly in territories that have been culturally forgotten.

“The way in which it is going to be distributed is what we have to design together. However, we want to make it clear that within the framework of our axes of transformation of the Government of social justice and cultural justice, our distribution will take them all into account, but it will have a priority in the municipalities that have been forgotten and marginalized from cultural policies in the past”, stated Molano.

Some of the issues that are on the agenda are heritage, libraries, artistic training, the National Concertation Program, the dignity of artists, ancestral cultures and finally, peasant cultures, one of the priorities of the Ministry of Culture.

“One of the ministry’s priorities is the development of a peasant culture program, we are doing it together with the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and in coordination with various ministries, such as agriculture and the environment,” added the official.

During the meeting, the Minister of Culture (e.), Jorge Ignacio Zorro Sánchez, stressed their intention to generate a change in the country, through agreements that have been planned together.

“This meeting confirms previous agreements that have been determined jointly with the regions. We are sure that this will be the best path for the change and transformations that the nation requires, because it is built collectively with all of them, valuing our differences as an enriching element of democratic societies”, said Jorge Zorro.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Payncop Participates in the Training of Young Weavers of Peace in Gabon, Cameroon and Chad

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

An article by Jerry Bibang (translation by CPNN)

As part of the project “Youth, Weavers of Peace in the cross-border regions of Gabon, Cameroon and Chad”, financed by the United Nations Secretary General’s Fund for the Consolidation of Peace, 86 young men and women from associations , cooperatives and youth movements in the Department of Woleu benefited from capacity building during training workshops organized by UNESCO and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), from 14 to 19 February 2023 in Oyem.

The Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace, Gabon section (PAYNCoP Gabon) is a partner of the project, participating as trainers in this important activity. These training sessions follow those already conducted in Minvoul (Haut-Ntem) and Bitam-Meyo-Kyé (Ntem).

The objective of the training was to strengthen the knowledge and skills of the participants to enable them to carry out their mission effectively as weavers of peace. The young men and women aged between 18 and 40, of various statuses, were trained in the concepts of peace, conflict, human rights, social inclusion, violence based on (GBV), the fight against radicalization and violent extremism among young people, etc., as well as on communication techniques for behavioral and social change.

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(Click here for the original French version of this article)

Question related to this article:
 
Youth initiatives for a culture of peace, How can we ensure they get the attention and funding they deserve?

(continued from left column)

After the training, these weavers of peace will be deployed in their respective communities in order to sensitize individuals and groups, to build peace in hearts and minds, for better social cohesion and living together. For the preservation of peace in Gabon, peaceful coexistence constitute an individual and collective imperative, to which everyone is called upon to contribute, with a view to the sustainable development of the country.

“Given the national context, notably the organization of the upcoming elections, although not being trained specifically for this purpose, the weavers of peace, in their deployment, will certainly make their contribution to the promotion of the culture of peace during the election period, tolerance, the fight against hate speech and fake news, among others,” explained Jerry Bibang, the Permanent Secretary of PAYNCOP.

The session received the surprise visit of the Minister of Health on Friday, February 17, on mission in the Province, who provided valuable advice to young people in formation, but also through them, to their peers.

The cross-border project “Weavers of Peace” provides support for young people in the field of social entrepreneurship. In each of the project sites in Gabon mentioned above, the capacities of the young men and women peace weavers are being strengthened on social entrepreneurship, and some income-generating initiatives with a view to facilitating their socio-economic integration and strengthening the community fabric.

Following the training sessions, from February 22-24, PAYNCOP book part in a meeting in Ebolowa, Cameron, organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UNESCO to strengthen and consolidate cross-border cooperation on the issues of combating illicit drug trafficking and natural resources. PAYNCOP was represented by National Secretary Jerry Bibang from Gabon and the National Coordinator of PAYNCOP Cameroon, Loïck Nkoulou Atangana.

The representatives of PAYNCOP pointed out that the early warning mechanism of the Weavers of Peace, designed initially for issues of peace and security can also be adapted to the fight against drugs and various types of trafficking. This is how it was tested in Cameroon by the Weavers of Peace, particularly in schools to dismantle a network of young drug-using students.

Africa, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

The Global South refuses pressure to side with the West on Russia

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article by  by Vijay Prashad in Peoples Dispatch

Europe and the US ignore Africa, Latin America, and Asia’s calls to find a solution that ends the war in Ukraine—and, as Namibia’s prime minister put it, redirect funds spent on weapons toward solving global issues.


Francia Márquez Vice President, Republic of Colombia speaking at the Munich Security Conference next to Namibia’s Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, Enrique Manalo (Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Republic of the Philippines) and Mauro Luiz Iecker Vieira (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Federative Republic of Brazil). Photo: MSC/Baier

At the G20 meeting in Bengaluru, India, the United States arrived with a simple brief. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said at the February 2023 summit that the G20 countries must condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and they must adhere to US sanctions against Russia. However, it became clear that India, the chair of the G20, was not willing to conform to the US agenda. Indian officials said that the G20 is not a political meeting, but a meeting to discuss economic issues. They contested the use of the word “war” to describe the invasion, preferring to describe it as a “crisis” and a “challenge.” France  and Germany  have rejected this draft if it does not condemn Russia.

At the G20 meeting in Bengaluru, India, the United States arrived with a simple brief. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said at the February 2023 summit that the G20 countries must condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and they must adhere to US sanctions against Russia. However, it became clear that India, the chair of the G20, was not willing to conform to the US agenda. Indian officials said that the G20 is not a political meeting, but a meeting to discuss economic issues. They contested the use of the word “war” to describe the invasion, preferring to describe it as a “crisis” and a “challenge.” France and Germany have rejected this draft if it does not condemn Russia.

Just as in Indonesia during the previous year’s summit, the 2023 G20 leaders are once again ignoring the pressure from the West to isolate Russia, with the large developing countries (Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and South Africa) unwilling to budge from their practical view that isolation of Russia is endangering the world.

The next two G20 summits will be in Brazil (2024) and South Africa (2025), which would indicate to the West that the platform of the G20 will not be easily subordinated to the Western view of world affairs.

Most of the leaders of the G20 countries went to Bengaluru straight from Germany, where they had attended the Munich Security Conference. On the first day of the Munich conference, France’s President Emmanuel Macron said  that he was “shocked by how much credibility we are losing in the Global South.” The “we” in Macron’s statement was the Western states, led by the United States.

What is the evidence for this loss of credibility? Few of the states in the Global South have been willing to participate in the isolation of Russia, including voting  on Western resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly. Not all of the states that have refused to join the West are “anti-Western” in a political sense. Many of them—including the government in India—are driven by practical considerations, such as Russia’s discounted energy prices and the assets being sold at a lowered price by Western companies that are departing from Russia’s lucrative energy sector. Whether they are fed up with being pushed around by the West or they see economic opportunities in their relationship with Russia, increasingly, countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America have avoided the pressure coming from Washington to break ties with Russia. It is this refusal and avoidance that drove Macron to make his strong statement about being “shocked” by the loss of Western credibility.

(Article continued in the column on the right)

Question related to this article:
 
Free flow of information, How is it important for a culture of peace?

(Article continued from the column on the left)

At a panel discussion  on February 18 at the Munich Security Conference, three leaders from Africa and Asia developed the argument about why they are unhappy with the war in Ukraine and the pressure campaign upon them to break ties with Russia. Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira—who later that day condemned  the Russian invasion of Ukraine in a tweet — called  upon the various parties to the conflict to “build the possibility of a solution. We cannot keep on talking only of war.”

Billions of dollars of arms have been sent by the Western states to Ukraine to prolong a war that needs to be ended before it escalates out of control. The West has blocked  negotiations ever since the possibility of an interim deal between Russia and Ukraine arose in March 2022. The talk of an endless war by Western politicians and the arming of Ukraine have resulted in Russia’s February 21, 2023, withdrawal from the New START treaty, which—with the unilateral withdrawal of the US from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 and the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019—ends the nuclear weapons control regime.

Vieira’s comment about the need to “build the possibility of a solution” is one that is shared across the developing countries, who do not see the endless war as beneficial to the planet. As Colombia’s Vice President Francia Márquez said  on the same panel, “We don’t want to go on discussing who will be the winner or the loser of a war. We are all losers, and, in the end, it is humankind that loses everything.”

The most powerful statement in Munich was made by Namibia’s Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila. “We are promoting a peaceful resolution of that conflict” in Ukraine, she said, “so that the entire world and all the resources of the world can be focused on improving the conditions of people around the world instead of being spent on acquiring weapons, killing people, and actually creating hostilities.” When asked why Namibia abstained at the United Nations on the vote regarding the war, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said, “Our focus is on resolving the problem… not on shifting blame.” The money used to buy weapons, she said, “could be better utilized to promote development in Ukraine, in Africa, in Asia, in other places, in Europe itself, where many people are experiencing hardships.” A Chinese plan for peace in Ukraine—built on the principles of the 1955 Bandung Conference—absorbs the points raised by these Global South leaders.

European leaders have been tone-deaf to the arguments being made by people such as Kuugongelwa-Amadhila. The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell had earlier shot himself in the foot with his ugly remarks  in October 2022 that “Europe is a garden. The rest of the world is a jungle. And the jungle could invade the garden… Europeans have to be much more engaged with the rest of the world. Otherwise, the rest of the world will invade us.” In the February 2023 Munich Security Conference, Borrell—who is originally from Spain — said  that he shared “this feeling” of Macron’s that the West had to “preserve or even to rebuild trustful cooperation with many of the so-called Global South.” The countries of the South, Borrell said, are “accusing us of [a] double standard” when it comes to combating imperialism, a position that “we must debunk.”

A series of reports published by leading Western financial houses repeat the anxiety of people such as Borrell. BlackRock notes  that we are entering “a fragmented world with competing blocs,” while Credit Suisse points  to the “deep and persistent fractures” that have opened up in the world order. Credit Suisse’s assessment of these “fractures” describes them accurately: “The global West (Western developed countries and allies) has drifted away from the global East (China, Russia, and allies) in terms of core strategic interests, while the Global South (Brazil, Russia, India, and China and most developing countries) is reorganizing to pursue its own interests.”

This reorganization is now manifesting itself in the refusal by the Global South to bend the knee to Washington.

Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor, and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter. He is an editor of LeftWord Books and the director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He is a senior non-resident fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China. He has written more than 20 books, including The Darker Nations and The Poorer Nations. His latest books are Struggle Makes Us Human: Learning from Movements for Socialism and (with Noam Chomsky) The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of US Power.

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