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.

Proposal for a nuclear weapon trade-off to end the Russia/Ukraine war

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

Received by email from Unfold Zero (info@unfoldzero.org)

On July 19, The Hill (which goes to most US congressional offices) published Nuclear strategy and ending the war in Ukraine, a very interesting article by Oscar Arias, Nobel Peace Laureate and former President of Costa Rica; and Jonathan Granoff, President of the Global Security Institute, a co-founding organization of UNFOLD ZERO.

(Continued in right column)

Questions related to this article:
 
Can the peace movement help stop the war in the Ukraine?

(Continued from left column)

Mr Arias and Mr Granoff propose that the United States and NATO “plan and prepare for withdrawal of all U.S. nuclear warheads from Europe and Turkey” as a way to “get Putin’s attention and bring him to the negotiating table” and possibly agree to end the war.

It’s a very interesting and bold proposal that could possibly work. It would allow Putin a way to end the invasion by claiming domestically (to Russians) that he had scored a victory – the elimination of US nuclear weapons in Europe. At the same time it would not diminish the security (or perception of security) NATO countries ascribe to nuclear deterrence, as such deterrence does not rely on the US nuclear weapons currently based in Europe.

According to the two authors “NATO’s nuclear arsenal failed to deter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has almost no utility as a weapon of war. But NATO’s nuclear weapons can still be put to good use, not by threatening to launch them and escalate the war, but by withdrawing them to make room for new negotiations and eventual peace.”

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global

Colombia: Peacebuilding in Viotá, a model that seeks to be replicated throughout the country

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article from Newslocker (translation by CPNN)

Former guerrillas, victims and public forces have created dialogue tables and worked together on local projects that provide reparation for the damages caused by the war. They are working on restorative actions in advance, before the JEP imposes its own trials. (The JEP, Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz, was established by the Peace Accords.)


Marker plaque completed in the cemetery of San Gabriel, Viotá. / Courtesy Dunna

The armed conflict in Viotá (Cundinamarca) left traces of terror that, over the years, have eaten away at the dreams of thousands of families. The 22nd and 42nd fronts of the extinct FARC settled there in the 1990s, making this municipality one of their most important strongholds in the Andean region around Bogotá. Entering the new millennium and for nearly four years, the Peasant Self-Defense Forces of Casanare also entered this area and tried to take control through extortion, murder and forced disappearance.

The result of the violence unleashed by these two armed groups was a balance of 12,903 victims registered by the Victims Unit. In the files of the Attorney General’s Office and the Justice and Peace courts themselves, the cases of more than 113 people considered missing were documented, of whom little or nothing was known over the years.

Even without knowing many truths about their loved ones and after a long time without being listened to by the State to seek justice, the people of Viotá have learned to forgive and see the construction of peace as the central element of their life in community. When the former FARC signed peace in 2016, the vast majority of ex-combatants who operated there stayed to complete their reincorporation process into civilian life, according to the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN).

“The case of Viotá is rare, because the normal thing in other territories where thousands of people laid down their arms was for the former guerrillas to go to other departments where no one knew them from the past, to start a life from scratch. However, in Viotá they decided to face their crimes, live with their usual neighbors to whom they did so much harm and chose to show them that in their own home they could successfully advance a model of collective reconciliation,” said Natalia Quiñones, co-founder of the Dunna Corporation, an organization that accompanies innovative alternatives for peace in various areas of the country.

Dunna has been very close to the processes of dialogue and reconstruction of the social fabric in Viotá. There, with the support of the Embassy of the Netherlands, the Bolívar Davivienda Foundation, the Mayor’s Office and the Cundinamarca Agency for Peace and Coexistence, they managed to establish dialogue among those appearing before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) of the ex-guerrilla with its victims, members of the public force and other inhabitants, in order to carry out restorative exercises and healing activities for the mind and body, in order to overcome the traumas and emotional discomfort left by the war.

“We have known each other forever. Now they are my neighbors and I sell them vegetables and pig feed. We do not forget what they did to us, but we accept their repentance,” said a resident of Viotá who has participated in the process.

“We have an interdisciplinary team of psychologists, yoga teachers, psychiatrists, political scientists, lawyers, sociologists and anthropologists who have been working on the development of the Viotá program to generate a reconciliation model that can be replicated at the national level. Our results there showed that 100% of those who received our attention had significant changes in trust, reciprocity, stigmatization and collective efficacy. The exercises of dialogue, restorative circle and mind-body strategies were able to reduce distrust and bring together the inhabitants of the community to address the present and the future that the community faces collectively.

In other projects with similar protocols, Dunna has obtained satisfactory results in terms of post-traumatic stress and mental health, showing that this type of model can help between 91 and 94% of the participants to successfully overcome mental health risks. derived from the trauma and to achieve emotional well-being”, added Quiñones.

In Viotá they learned to forgive with the formula of action without harm: nothing that is done on the ground or any gesture or word that is said in the spaces of dialogue and listening should re-victimize anyone. However, a feeling shared by the victims and perpetrators of the war in Viotá is that words alone are not enough to repair the many atrocities that were experienced.

(Article continued in the right column)

(Click here for the original article in Spanish)

Discussion question

Restorative justice, What does it look like in practice?

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

(Article continued from left column)

In Viotá, the encouragement to compensate crimes against humanity and give dignity to the survivors has been a constant. It has been channeled into collective reconciliation through cooperative projects of infrastructure and memory.

The voices of peace prevail and one of them is that of José del Carmen Viracachá, a peace signer who lives in this area. Ten years ago he was convicted of war crimes and he now understands that a custodial sentence is not the best way to pay tribute to those who have suffered so much in the past. He said in an interview, “We want to make and export peace through example. Forgiveness is valuable, but it must be accompanied by concrete actions that serve people and so that they see our repentance and our commitment not to repeat anything bad. Confinement almost never fixes anything; that’s why I think that the harshness of the past must be addressed directly.

New paradigm of justice

Prison as the ultimate goal for those who committed crimes in the context of an armed conflict according to the Statutory Law of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), enacted three years ago, on June 6, 2019.

An acronym appears in the document that will be talked about frequently in the coming months: the TOAR (Works, Works and Activities with Restorative content).
The Peace Agreement stipulated two types of TOARs to be developed at different stages of the post-conflict. On the one hand, there are the TOARs that are a consequence of the imposition of the JEP’s sanctions; these do not yet exist, because the court has not yet issued any ruling. They will be imposed in the cases of macro-cases 01 (taking of hostages and other serious deprivations of liberty) and 03 (extrajudicial executions). In these cases restorative activities will be required, as long as those appearing comply with the conditions of the Statutory Law; that is to say, tell complete truths, give guarantees of non-repetition and dignify their victims.

On the other hand, and returning to the case of Viotá, there are the anticipated TOARs, which consist of carrying out restoration activities (infrastructure works, construction of monuments, demining tasks or literacy tasks, among others) in advance of any imposed sanctions. These anticipated TOARs honor the rights of the victims and obtain discount benefits from a restrictive sentence of freedom when it is imposed. These restorative activities must have the endorsement of the Executive Secretariat of the JEP. During 2021, the JEP jurisdiction followed up on 64 of these projects in various departments.

During the dialogue sessions that Dunna led with the actors of the conflict in Viotá, several options were discussed for collective work to promote the historical memory of the town. What do we need to see on our streets to feel represented and respected after the conflict? How to advance a work or activity that is not forgotten by future generations? Those were some of the questions raised among the people of Viotá, who also had to take into account in order not to be frustrated that any project they thought of had to be in harmony with the development plan of the town and subject to the economic capacities of the municipality, which ultimately must pay for the expenses.

“The most difficult task was to first seek funding before putting the TOARs on everyone’s lips. The priority, of course, is to choose something that the community wants and sees in it a symbolic and restorative content; Luckily, a consensus was reached and the people were able to prioritize projects that their municipal administration could afford to pay. Viotá’s dignity is the goal and remembering those who no longer with us was the most beautiful”, explained Natalia Quiñones.

That was how all eyes were directed to the path of San Gabriel. The Viotá cemetery is located there, to which paradoxically they could not take their dead, due to the precarious access roads. The surrounding streets were destroyed, so the cemetery was not accessible. This was a headache, especially during the years of conflict and in the covid-19 pandemic.
To address this situation, peace signatories, victims, public forces and citizens built a 68-meter-long path, with which they managed to give a new face to an iconic area for this town and a sign of honor to the dead who the war took and that for so many years they could not visit as they wanted.

On March 17, 2022, the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia announced the completion and delivery of the work to open the path of San Gabriel. This marked the closure of a cycle in which Viotá does not want to repeat again, especially since it was a war that they never looked for and never understood, but that completely penetrated their homes.

“This project not only benefits the people of San Gabriel; it also serves for reconciliation. The cemetery has always had a special importance and thanks to this we know that those who previously made us suffer now help us feel good about ourselves and about what we can do together towards the future”, said a resident of Viotá who preferred not to be named.

Now that the Viotá process is completed, Dunna is working in Fusagasugá and Venecia to replicate this model in Cundinamarca. They hope to expand the TOARs to more regions of Colombia and demonstrate that any peace is possible if in the communities there is a robust sense of belonging and a genuine willingness to forgive and not repeat harm.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

Chihuahua, Mexico: America García proposes initiative requiring all municipalities to issue regulations on the culture of peace

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from Juarez Noticias

The local deputy for Morena, América García Soto, presented an initiative to urge the 67 municipalities of the State of Chihuahua to issue regulations on the culture of peace. With this Chihuahua would become one of the pioneer states in promoting these new public policies, since there are no precedents in the Supreme Court of Justice of the nation in relation to this issue.

(continued in right column)

(Click here for the Spanish original of this article)

Questions for this article:

How can culture of peace be developed at the municipal level?

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

(continued from left column)

“It is evident that we all want to live in a better, more equitable society, without violence, promoting a culture of peace, both theoretical and practical, where women and men can be assertive. That means respecting our needs, expressing our convictions, defending our rights, taking into account the other, not needing or violating, or submitting to the will of other people, “said the congresswoman in the State Congress session held this Monday (August 15).

The initiative was approved unanimously by all of the Congress members and referred for legal action.

In this regard, she recalled that just last week Ciudad Juárez witnessed one of the largest massacres in recent years, where unfortunately 11 people lost their lives, in addition to multiple damages to convenience stores, and armed clashes by of different criminal organizations.

The deputy for Morena clarified that the regulations that she proposes to be issued are based on the concept of “Culture of Peace” as defined by the United Nations “Declaration and Action Program on a Culture of Peace”, which was created with the purpose of promoting and guaranteeing equality, international citizen security, economic development and education.

Garcia Soto explained that “At the national level, there is a history of similar public policies, initiated by an elected representative and committing the different spheres of government to incorporate action plans.”

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

Bolivia: XVIII World Mediation Congress

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Corrreo del Sur (translation by CPNN)

“We are moved by the hope that another world is possible, that spending one’s life serving others is worth it…” These emotional words were expressed by the president of the University Network of Conciliation and Mediation Centers and dean of the Faculty of Law, Political and Social Sciences of the Universidad San Francisco Xavier, Fátima Tardío, during the closing ceremony of the XVIII World Mediation Congress, co-organized by the Universidad de San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca in Sucre, Bolivia, the Universidad de Sonora (Mexico) and the Institute of Mediation of Mexico.

The congress took place for five days, between August 1 and 5 and brought together more than 2,000 people including exhibitors, workshop leaders, teachers and university students from different parts of the world. They came from countries such as Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Spain, France, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Portugal and Uruguay.

Its success is due to the quality of the participating professionals and also to the efforts of the teams responsible for every detail of the organization: a battalion of University officials and generous volunteers. At the level of authorities, the Vice Chancellor Peter Campos and Dean Tardío were in charge, in addition to the Director of Social Interaction and University Extension, Narda Gonzáles, and the articulating link with the Mediation Institute of Mexico, César Rojas.

THE SEED, THE CONGRESSES

“From this event will come the seed of a new way of understanding education in Bolivia, that change is possible, that utopia is possible and that it is worth fighting for a dream,” emphasized the Dean, who had previously described as “very symbolic” the fact that Vice President David Choquehuanca and the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, Ricardo Torres, were present at the closing ceremony of the congress.

Walt Disney warned of the risk of dreaming by indicating that if one has dreams, they are likely to come true…

(Article continued in right column)

(click here for the original version in Spanish).

Question for this article:

Mediation as a tool for nonviolence and culture of peace

(Article continued from left column)

A few weeks ago, the conflictologist from Chuquisaca, César Rojas, was in charge of the conversation “Culture of peace, mediation and journalism”, organized by the National Association of the Press (ANP), and there he expressed his hope that Sucre could host more congresses such as the which was developed between the historic building of the Faculty of Law and the modern International Center for Conventions and Culture (CICC).

Following this route, on Friday, the Vice Chancellor of San Francisco Xavier, Peter Campos, announced the letter of intent for the 400 years that this institution will celebrate in 2024: “We want our city of Sucre to be the capital of international congresses”. He made an important announcement: in 2023, in the Bolivian capital, the “First World Congress of Restorative Justice” will be installed and in 2024, the Latin American Congress of Research for Peace (CLAIP).

ONE CHANGE, ONE COMMUNITY

Also in his farewell speech, the president of the Mediation Institute of Mexico, Jorge Pesqueira Leal, awarded with the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by the San Francisco Xavier University, advocated “the desire to build a change for the good of our planet ”. He said: “We have been truly cruel to our home… it is inadmissible, but it is a reality, the social injustice that we live.”

“Let’s generate that much-needed change,” he invited the crowd, which once again packed the CICC auditorium.

María Auxiliadora Moreno Valenzuela, head of the University Rights Ombudsman of the University of Sonora, on behalf of María Rita Plancarte Martínez, University rector, highlighted the work, the meeting and the learning of the congress days. “Especially important are the new processes to disseminate mediation within the framework of the culture of peace (…), the creation of a large community of mediators, as well as promoters of mediation, to improve relationships in families, schools and workplaces; also in the universities, since these are the motor and impulse of the works related to mediation”.

She expressed her conviction that the results of the congress will result in “alliances and projects that serve to create in everyone’s consciousness the need to make our environments and spaces into friendly places with positive human relationships and healthier environments.” She called on everyone to contribute to “a more egalitarian world and, with it, a more humane one.”

The Sucre congress also served to consolidate the new Ibero-American Network of Conciliation and Extrajudicial Mediation Centers, made up of 17 countries, which was underlined by its ad hoc president, José Javier Tapia Gutiérrez.

ORGANIZERS

In San Francisco Xavier, the departments or units that worked on the organization of the XVIII World Mediation Congress were: Infrastructure (30 people), Academic Commission (5), Administrative and Logistics Commission (6), Systems Area (10 engineers), Accreditors and Registration (16), Social and Cultural Commission (4 in charge of 100 Protocol students), Choristers (30). Source: Narda Gonzales, director of Social Interaction and University Extension (USFX).

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Mexico: Curricular Strategy on Gender Equality to be implemented in public schools

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article by Aura Moreno for the Estado de México

Gender stereotypes have been identified in children up to 5 years old, so when they join primary school they already have extensive knowledge about what it means socially to be a man or a woman, said Rosa María Torres Hernández, rector of the National Pedagogical University and member of the Consultative Council for the Review of Educational Content in the Matter of Gender Equality for Basic and Upper Secondary Education of the State Educational System

“These ideas are built in a society with a history that has generated unequal relationships, privileging the masculine over the feminine, according to what we know from the 2018 youth consultation of the INE and the consultation carried out by INMujeres”

In a public event, she pointed out that in recent decades gender studies have multiplied in the face of the growth of violence, especially that experienced against women.

(Article continued in right column)

(Click here for the original Spanish version)

Question for this article

Gender equality in education, Is it advancing?

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

(Article continued from left column)

Gender stereotypes

The results of these analyzes have allowed us to know that children, from a young age, acquire basic concepts about gender. To address this problem, she said, the Curriculum Strategy on Gender Equality will be implemented in public and private schools at the basic and upper secondary levels in the State of Mexico.

This in a state where more than half of the students in the state public system are women and 60 percent of the enrollment of the Autonomous Mexiquense is made up of women. Practically 7 out of 10 Mexican teachers are also women.

Curricular Strategy on Gender Equality will be implemented in public schools

“One of the problems in the national territory is gender inequality and violence, especially towards girls and women of all ages, mainly indigenous women, poor women, with low schooling, sexual diversity or if they live with a disability.”

For his part, the governor, Alfredo del Mazo, added that with the matter of Gender Equality they seek to build a fairer society. He explained that they have prepared 4 books for teachers and 5 for students that will be distributed in public and private basic and upper secondary education.

(See also Unesco Recognizes the Implementation of the Subject of Gender Equality in Edoméx Schools.)

Latin America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Honduras: A massive march cries out for peace in Olancho

. HUMAN RIGHTS .

An article from La Tribuna

JUTICALPA, Olancho. Representatives of public and private institutions joined the “Walk for Peace 2022”, through the main streets of this departmental capital.

Marchers called for an immediate ceasefire in the face of criminal acts that affect municipalities, delabdubg the authorities for greater security, and for the investigation and punishment of those responsible materially and intellectually for the violent acts.


The march concluded in the Municipal Plaza of Juticalpa.

The authorities, teachers, administrative staff and students of the North-East Regional University Center, CURNO, joined the “Walk for Peace 2022”.

(Click here for the original article in Spanish about this event)

Questions related to this article:

How effective are mass protest marches?

Students from the “Francisco Morazán” National Pedagogical University, UNP-FM, and from primary and secondary schools also participated.

The activity also had the organizational support of the Network of Families Living Together in Peace, with the intention of developing a culture of peace and a resounding no to violence among children and young people.

Educational institutions of all levels participated. They were supported by the authorities of CURNO, the Political Government of Olancho, the mayor of Juticalpa and the Departmental Directorate of Education of Olancho.

The “Walk for Peace 2022” was a desperate call to Olanchana society to eliminate violence and strengthen peace.

The department of Olancho, with 24,000 square kilometers ,is the largest in Honduras, similar in size to countries like El Salvador and Israel.

The department is whipped mercilessly by crimes and threats of all kinds, but the most serious thing is the environment of impunity with which those responsible for these criminal acts act, the march condemned.

According to official sources, the population in the department of Olancho is approximately 600 thousand people, almost 50 percent concentrated in the municipalities of Juticalpa and Catacamas.

Official statistics show that the municipalities of Juticalpa, Catacamas Patuca and Dulce Nombre de Culmí have the highest number of homicides between men and women.

HUMAN RIGHTS, Latin America

UK: Mayor of Winchester hosts peace event to mark the A-bombing of Nagasaki

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article from the Hampshire Chronicle

The Mayor of Winchester, Cllr Derek Green, hosted Winchester’s fourth Mayors for Peace event to commemorate the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

More than 40 guests were present at Abbey House on August 9, representing Winchester City Council, Hampshire County Council, the University of Winchester, community organisations and a number of faiths groups in the city.

Mayors for Peace is an international, non-political organisation with a membership of more than 8,500 cities and regions, including 85 in the UK. It aims to realise a world without nuclear weapons, support safe and resilient cities and promote a culture of peace. Winchester joined in 2020.

Cllr Green said: “I was delighted to host the Mayors for Peace event. I share the spirit of my fellow Mayor of Nagasaki in his message to the event, who stated, ‘I hereby declare to do the utmost to realise the abolition of nuclear weapons and everlasting world peace’.”

Presentations included an experience of living through the bombing, read by members of SGI-UK, who organised the event.

The University of Winchester showed the ginkgo saplings they are growing from seeds of trees that survived the atomic bombing, presented last year by the Mayor of Hiroshima to the Mayor of Winchester. These will be used in schools as part of a developing education programme.

(article continued in right column)

Question related to this article:
 
How can culture of peace be developed at the municipal level?

(article continued from left column)

PeaceJam spoke of their work to inspire young people for the future. Former PeaceJam director Sally Milne recalled working with Prof Sir Joseph Rotblat, a prominent nuclear physicist who renounced nuclear weapons and became a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

Winchester’s City of Sanctuary movement highlighted how conflict is driving refugee flows all over the world – and raised the frightening prospect of nuclear weapons being used in the current conflict in Ukraine.

The event ended on a positive note with a song from a Ukrainian choir and a determination among everyone present to work more closely together to do everything in our powers to ensure that the second atomic bombing of Nagasaki, will be the last experienced by humanity.

John Brackstone, director of faculty operations for Education and the Arts at the University of Winchester, said: “It is a great honour that the University of Winchester can help to nurture these saplings and create a suite of materials that bring the themes around the ginkgo tree’s survival of Hiroshima, global peace and environmental awareness into a format that is accessible and appropriate for primary school children.”

Caroline Millman of PeaceJam UK, said: “PeaceJam UK was grateful and proud to be part of such an inspirational and thought-provoking occasion and have the opportunity to connect with like-minded people who also have a genuine respect for humanity.”

Chair of Winchester City of Sanctuary, Both Flint, said: “Winchester City of Sanctuary’s vision is for Winchester to be a welcoming place of sanctuary for all, a peaceful space where people can feel safe and protected. We cannot do this alone which is why it is so important to work together, with partners and our wider community to promote peace and sanctuary and a world free from conflict. We stand in solidarity with Mayors for Peace and partners like SGI-UK and Peace Jam and look forward to working with both more closely.”

Paul Williams of event organisers SGI-UK, said: “I’m pleased that our Buddhist organisation for culture, education and peace was able to be an effective catalyst to bring together such a wonderful group of partners, working together under the Mayors for Peace banner”.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Europe

Nigeria: Reps Push For ‘Silence The Guns’ Implementation

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Philip Nyam in New Telegraph

The House of Representatives recently passed a resolution calling on the executive to immediately implement the “silence the guns” peace policy of the African Union (AU). PHILIP NYAM reviews the roadmap

Worried by growing conflicts and widespread insecurity across the continent, the African Union met in Lusaka, Zambia in 2016 and drew a master roadmap of practical steps to silence guns in Africa by the year 2020. Six years after, the implementation of the roadmap titled “Lusaka Master Roadmap 2016” has been beset by challenges and Nigeria, the biggest black nation on earth is yet to fully integrate the policy.

It was in view of this that the House of Representatives last month passed a resolution to impress on the government to speed up the process of its implementation. The House resolution came barely after the meeting of the African Union Commission in Lusaka, Zambia, between June 6 and 8 brought together participants from the relevant departments of the AU Commission, Divisions within the Political Affairs, Peace and Security Department, representatives from RECS/RMs, representatives of the African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation (AFRIPOL), African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT) and Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) and representatives of AUC partners supporting silencing the guns project such as the UN Department of Political and Peace-building Affairs.

The meeting finalised an implementation plan that will guide the operationalisation of the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework of the AU Master Roadmap Silencing the Guns AU and Regional Economic Communities converge to finalise the implementation plan and road map on practical steps to silence the guns in Africa. This is in addition to adopting the terms of reference of an AURECs/ RMs Steering Committee on Silencing the Guns. The meeting also agreed on the establishment of the Steering Committee including the relevant departments of the AUC and focal points/officers in each REC/RM to follow up and coordinate activities related to the STG Initiative.

It also served as a collaborative platform to facilitate regular exchanges between the AU, RECs/RMs, Civil Society Organisations, academia, the private sector and other stakeholders that have a role to play in the implementation of the Silencing the Guns Master Roadmap. Explaining why the implementation had to be postponed from 2020 to 2030, the Coordinator of Silencing the Guns under the Political Affairs, Peace and Security at the African Union Commission, Mr. Advelkader Araoua, said that “the extension of the life span of the AU master roadmap on practical steps to silence the guns in Africa to the year 2030, is a test of our ability to deliver on our commitments to free the African continent from wars, civil conflicts, humanitarian crises, human rights violations, gender-based violence, and genocide.” Also, the Head of Governance, Peace and Security at the COMESA Secretariat, Ms. Elizabeth Mutunga stressed the need to continuously assess the external environment in developing an implementation plan for the monitoring and evaluation.

“Emerging and unpredictable factors, that have not necessarily originated from our region are having a very big impact on the peace, conflict and security dynamics of our region,” she noted. The motion It was after the meeting that the House of Representatives passed a resolution pushing for the implementation of the roadmap. In a motion titled “Need to adopt and implement the “Silencing the Guns” Road Map, Hon. Ahmed Munir noted that “Silencing the Guns 2030” is a flagship roadmap project adopted in Lusaka, Zambia in 2016 by the African Union with the aim of realising a Conflict-Free Africa by the year 2030. He said that the concept of silencing the guns was borne out of the observation that the African Continent is the scene of numerous violent conflicts that make the desired economic and political integration of the continent difficult. As part of the AU’s Agenda 2063, the AU sought to ensure that Africa is characterised by peace, political tolerance and good governance.

Hon. Munir expressed concerns that initially, the roadmap was to be achieved by 2020 of which the continent fell short and the goal was further extended to 2030 “cognisant that peace and security matters across Africa are interwoven and the continent cannot afford to further miss the 2030 set target.” In adopting the motion, which was unanimously endorsed, the House urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to fully embrace the report and ensure relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s) key into the roadmap. The lawmakers also urged the office of the National Security Adviser to fully adopt the report and cascade it down to other relevant security agencies.

Synopsis of the roadmap

The African Union Master Roadmap of practical steps to silence guns in Africa by the year 2020 better known as the Lusaka Master Roadmap 2016 entails the following. The continuing insecurity, instability, disruption of political harmony, erosion of social cohesion, destruction of the economic fabric and public despondency in various parts of Africa call on the Peace and Security Council (PSC) to play a locomotive role in spearheading strategic interventions to put this sad situation to an end.

(continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

Can the African Union help bring a culture of peace to Africa?

(continued from left column)

Most crises and violent conflicts in Africa are being driven by poverty, economic hardships, violation or manipulation of constitutions, violation of human rights, exclusion, inequalities, marginalisation and mismanagement of Africa’s rich ethnic diversity, as well as relapses into the cycle of violence in some post-conflict settings and external interference in African affairs. Undoubtedly, these challenges can be overcome, as long as the correct remedies are idenpletified and applied.

It is in this context that the PSC convened a Retreat that was dedicated to the theme: Practical Steps to Silence the Guns in Africa by the Year 2020, from 7 to 9 November 2016, in Lusaka, Zambia. The Retreat regrouped the PSC Member States, representatives of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), the AU Commission, Regional Economic Communities/ Regional Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (RECs/RMs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa (CISSA) and the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA).

This was all the more urgent given the central thrust of Agenda 2063 and the overall AU Vision of building a peaceful, stable, secure, integrated and prosperous Africa, and the essence of Agenda 2030 on sustainable development goals. Notably, the 4th aspiration of Agenda 2063, which is the African Union’s strategic framework for socio-economic transformation of the continent over the next five decades, highlights the need for dialoguecentred conflict prevention, as well as the management and resolution of existing conflicts, with a view to silencing the guns in our Continent by the Year 2020. Agenda 2063 provides that in order to achieve sustainable conflict prevention and resolution, a culture of peace and tolerance must be cultivated and nurtured in our children and youth, among others, through peace education.

Furthermore, in its first 10 years implementation plan, Agenda 2063 stresses the imperative of ending all wars, civil conflicts, gender-based violence and violent conflicts and prevent genocide, as part of Africa’s collective efforts to silence the guns in the continent by the year 2020. In organising the retreat, the PSC was inspired and guided by the clarion call in the OAU/AU 50th Anniversary Solemn Declaration adopted by the AU Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa on 26 May 2013, in which they, among other aspects, expressed their “determination to achieve the goal of a conflict-free Africa, to make peace a reality for all our people and to rid the continent of wars, civil conflicts, human rights violations, humanitarian disasters and violent conflicts, and to prevent genocide.”

The PSC’s resolutions further read: “We pledge not to bequeath the burden of conflicts to the next generation of Africans and undertake to end all wars in Africa by 2020. In this regard, we undertake to address the root causes of conflicts, including economic and social disparities; put an end to impunity by strengthening national and continental judicial institutions, and ensure accountability in line with our collective responsibility to the principle of non-indifference.

“We undertake to eradicate recurrent and address emerging sources of conflict including piracy, trafficking in narcotics and humans, all forms of extremism, armed rebellions, terrorism, transnational organized crime and new crimes such as cybercrime; push forward the agenda of conflict prevention, peace-making, peace support, national reconciliation and post-conflict reconstruction and development through the African Peace and Security Architecture; as well as, ensure enforcement of and compliance with peace agreements and build Africa’s peacekeeping and enforcement capacities through the African Standby Force.

“We will maintain a nuclear-free Africa and call for global nuclear disarmament, nonproliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy; ensure the effective implementation of agreements on landmines and the non-proliferation of small arms and light weapons; address the plight of internally displaced persons and refugees and eliminate the root causes of this phenomenon by fully implementing continental and universal frameworks.”

In conceiving practical steps to silence the guns in Africa by the year 2020, the PSC took into consideration the political history of the African continent, which has been marred particularly by three major tragedies, namely, slavery, colonization and the unpaid extraction/ exploitation of natural resources, which have created a huge burden for Africa and its people. The end of slavery at the end of the 19th century and the fall of colonialism under the weight of protracted nationalist and liberation struggles across the continent ushered in a new era in Africa.

However, the new era is faced with a myriad of challenges that the continent has not yet been able to successfully overcome. The cycle of violent conflicts and disruptive crises persist on the continent, so do situations of relapses back into the cycle of violence and destruction for some countries that were perceived to have already emerged from conflicts. It is therefore critically important for Africa and its people to put in place strategic guidelines for addressing these challenges.

In some instances, the African continent has also not been able to foster and manage effective political transitions, partly due to the fact that the erstwhile liberation movements have taken too long to transform themselves into dynamic governing political parties, which could more successfully adapt to operating in pluralistic democratic societies as agents of political discourse and crucial facilitators rather than act as a stumbling block to any democratic dispensation.

Similarly, failures to transform some of the military wings of some of the liberation movements into professional and disciplined national armies, which pledge loyalty to civilian government regardless of the political party in power, have brought problems to some parts of Africa. All of these facts have stifled serious attempts to silence the guns in Africa.

Yet, peace, security and socio-economic development should be pursued simultaneously. Equally challenging is the task of sustaining transitions from war to peace and to prevent relapses. This is why the AU PSC developed a Master Roadmap of realistic, practical, time-bound implementable steps to silence the guns in Africa by 2020.

The master Roadmap is premised on the principle that Africa should take, assume total responsibility for its destiny. Assuming such responsibility should also take into account the fact that, while appropriate decisions and programmes have been adopted with a view to resolving some of the challenges Africa is faced with, there has been encroachment on some of those decisions by the implementation deficit.

Africa, DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Solidarity with the Palestinians and the forces of peace operating in Israel

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

A press release from Mouvement de la Paix Corrèze (translation by CPNN)

Mouvement de la Paix condemns the Israeli bombings on the civilian population of Gaza. These are not preventive strikes, as the Israeli army and government call them, but war crimes against civilian populations, already victims of an inhuman blockade. The strikes have caused dozens of deaths and injuries among the population, including children. Our solidarity is expressed with the victims, but also with the peacekeeping forces who demonstrated in Tel Aviv against these bombings and against Israeli policy against the Palestinian populations.

In Gaza, as elsewhere, war and bombardments bring no solution.

For the Mouvement de la Paix, the official recognition by France of the State of Palestine, in compliance with resolution 2887 adopted almost unanimously on December 2, 2014 by the National Assembly, would be a strong gesture to reinforce the pressure on the Israeli government for a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

(continued in the right column)

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

Question for this article

Presenting the Palestinian side of the Middle East, Is it important for a culture of peace?

(continued from the left column)

There is urgency because, as this resolution underlines, “the status quo is untenable and dangerous because it feeds frustrations and growing mistrust between the two parties”. This resolution also “stresses the imperative for a rapid resumption of negotiations between the parties according to clear parameters and a determined timetable; affirms the urgent need to reach a definitive settlement of the conflict allowing the establishment of a democratic and sovereign State of Palestine in peace and security alongside Israel, on the basis of the 1967 lines, with Jerusalem as its capital of these two States, and based on mutual recognition; affirms that the two-State solution, consistently promoted by France and the European Union, presupposes the recognition of the State of Palestine alongside that of Israel; calls on the French Government to recognize the State of Palestine with a view to to obtain a final settlement of the conflict. »

The Mouvement de la Paix, as a partner of a European citizens’ initiative made up of a coalition of around a hundred organizations and in France of a coalition of around thirty trade unions, associations, NGOs and political parties , calls for the promotion and signing of the petition aimed at obtaining an end to European trade with the colonies illegally established in the occupied territories.

Click here to sign the petition.

Mouvement de la Paix. August 11, 2022

(Thank you to Roland Nivet for sending this article to CPNN.)

Mideast, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Nagasaki mayor warns of ‘crisis’ on atom bomb anniversary

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from Radio France International

Nuclear weapons present a “tangible and present crisis” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the mayor of Nagasaki said Tuesday, August 9, the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombing that destroyed the Japanese city.

On August 9, 1945, Nagasaki was flattened in an inferno that killed 74,000 people, three days after the world’s first nuclear bomb attack in Hiroshima.

The twin strikes by the United States led to the end of World War II, and to this day Japan remains the only country to be hit by atomic weapons in wartime.

But on Tuesday, mayor Tomihisa Taue sounded a note of alarm.

“In January this year, the leaders of the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China released a joint statement affirming that ‘a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought’,” he said.

(Continued in right column)

Question related to this article:
 
Can we abolish all nuclear weapons?

(Continued from left column)

“However, the very next month Russia invaded Ukraine. Threats of using nuclear weapons have been made, sending shivers throughout the globe.

“The use of nuclear weapons is not a ‘groundless fear’ but a ‘tangible and present crisis’,” Taue said, warning that they could be unleashed through mistaken judgements, malfunctions or in terror attacks.

Survivors and foreign dignitaries joined by hundreds of members of the public offered a silent prayer at 11:02 am (0202 GMT), the exact moment the bomb was dropped on the port city.

Bells rang out and doves were released during the sombre memorial at Nagasaki’s Peace Park, with purified water offered in a prayer ceremony for the victims who died of burns and other injuries.

Instead of waging war, mankind should foster “a ‘culture of peace’ that spreads trust, respects others and seeks resolutions through dialogue”, Taue said.

On Saturday, UN head Antonio Guterres gave a speech in Hiroshima on the anniversary of the attack that killed around 140,000 people, including those who perished after the blast from radiation exposure.

He warned that “humanity is playing with a loaded gun” as crises with the potential for nuclear disaster proliferate worldwide.

A message from Guterres, read out in Japanese at Tuesday’s ceremony, said that “in these times of high tensions and low levels of trust, we should draw on the lessons of Nagasaki”.

Japan has long called for a world free of nuclear weapons but has not joined a nuclear ban treaty that took effect in 2021, saying it hopes to bridge the gap between nuclear powers which did not join the treaty and non-nuclear countries.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, East Asia