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.

Chile changing: transgender student leader lends voice to renewed protests

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article by Natalia A. Ramos Miranda from Reuters (reprinted by permission)

As the long southern hemisphere summer holiday draws to an end this month, students in Chile are returning to college – but not always to classes. Many are getting ready to head out into the streets and breathe new life into the protests that rocked the country last year.


Emilia Schneider

Organizers of marches to mark International Women’s Day on Sunday are hoping to attract large crowds. Last year, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 attended the one in Santiago.

One of the loudest and most influential voices pressing for change is Emilia Schneider, a transgender, feminist and militant leftist who is the leader of the Student Federation of the University of Chile (Fech), the country’s oldest student union.

The Fech is known for its role in demonstrations for free education between 2011 and 2013 that brought Chile and its student leaders global attention. But it was caught on the backfoot in October last year when civil disobedience over public transport fare hikes spiralled into weeks of widespread violence and demonstrations over inequality and elitism.

The protests were Chile’s most profound unrest since the end of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in 1990. They cost the economy millions of dollars, at least 31 people died, more than 3,000 were injured, and 30,000 were arrested.

Now, the Fech is joining in, and has endorsed the protesters’ demands for deep societal changes.

“We are the sons and daughters of neo-liberal Chile and the shortcomings that came with it,” Schneider, a 23-year-old law student, told Reuters this week in an interview at the headquarters of the Fech.

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Question for this article

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

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

(Article continued from left column)

“We had seen years of protests in this country but the demands had not been heeded,” she said, citing the highly privatised provision of services such as health, education and pensions that had sparked a “sense of discomfort that built up over years.”

Schneider said she has benefited from a Gender Identity Law that allows people to legally change their name and sex and took effect in December last year. The passing of the law caused shockwaves in the historically conservative and predominantly Catholic country, where divorce was legalized just 16 years ago and abortion is allowed only in extreme situations.

She argues that her gender change was only made possible by her privileged position as a student leader and the support of her liberal family. Many like her still face job insecurity, discrimination, and patchy access to health services, she said.

Schneider has a potent link to the country’s dark past: her great-grandfather was General Rene Schneider, a well-known figure in Chile who opposed plans for a military coup in 1970 and was killed by a far-right group.

Older Chileans lived through the chilling effect of the 1973-1990 dictatorship but younger people protesting had less “fear of participating in politics,” she said.

President Sebastian Pinera has sought to address protesters’ grievances by sacking his most unpopular ministers and introducing new laws to improve salaries, pensions and healthcare. He also backed a growing clamour for a new constitution to replace the incumbent drafted during the Pinochet regime.

But many remain dubious about his ability to push the laws through a divided Congress and, if he does, how much change they will really bring.

Schneider has turned her organization’s focus to lobbying for influence over the new constitution and specifically the participation of more women in the drafting of the new text if it is approved in a referendum on April 26.

“We want a feminist constitution,” she said, “one that guarantees sexual and reproductive rights, gender equality and greater participation by women and those who do not conform to traditional genders.”

Chile may be changing, she said – but not fast enough. “We have to keep seeking new policies to generate fresh changes,” she said. “Protests alone will not get us there.”

Latin America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

A crucial moment for women’s rights in Afghanistan

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article by Heather Barr in Human Rights Watch

This is a moment of both fear and hope for Afghan women — and an urgent time for the world to support their hard-won rights. The Feb. 29 deal between the US and the Taliban could pave the way for a peace that Afghans desperately seek. But there are huge risks for women’s rights in this process.


Women walk along a street in the old part of Kabul on February 29, 2020. Women across the country are nervous about losing their hard-won freedoms in the pursuit of peace.  © 2020 WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

Women have suffered deeply during Afghanistan’s 40 years of war, and they desperately long for peace. They have also fought ferociously for equality in the years since the fall of the Taliban government and have made great progress. Today there are women ministers and governors and judges and police and soldiers, and Afghanistan’s parliament has a higher percentage of women than does the US Congress.

But Afghan women’s rights activists have faced resistance from the Afghan government — and lack of support from international donors — as they fought for their rightful place at the negotiating table for peace talks. This exclusion, combined with the Taliban’s relentless discrimination against women and girls, increases fears that women’s rights could easily be a casualty of this process.

The US-Taliban deal is focused on foreign troop withdrawal and preventing Taliban support for international terrorism attacks. It also triggers “intra-Afghan” talks between the Taliban, the Afghan government, and other factions, which are slated to start March 10. But women’s rights were not included in the Feb. 29 deal. Zalmay Khalilzad, the lead US envoy to the talks, repeatedly said that women’s rights — and other issues relating to human rights, political structures and power sharing — should be resolved through the subsequent intra-Afghan talks. This has been a source of frustration to activists.

The Taliban remain deeply misogynistic. Their 1996 to 2001 regime was notorious for denying women and girls access to education, employment, freedom of movement and health care, and subjecting them to violence including public lashing or execution by stoning. Taliban rhetoric and conduct has moderated somewhat in subsequent years, with some Taliban commanders permitting girls to attend primary schools, typically in response to community pressure. But the Taliban also continue to carry out violent attacks against girls’ schools and block women and girls from exercising many of their basic rights, and remain deeply opposed to gender equality.

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Question for this article

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

Is peace possible in Afghanistan?

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In February, a Taliban leader wrote, “[W]e together will find a way to build an Islamic system in which all Afghans have equal rights, where the rights of women that are granted by Islam — from the right to education to the right to work — are protected.” Skeptics noted the comma separating women from equal rights, and that from 1996 to 2001 the Taliban also argued that women were enjoying all rights “granted by Islam.”

The Afghan government has been an unreliable supporter — and sometimes even an enemy — of women’s rights. The administrations of both Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani have frequently brushed aside women’s rights. Both have mostly rebuffed activists’ demands for women to have full participation in the peace process, as provided under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. Foreign donors have been more willing to engage in photo ops and grant agreements than to expend political capital to press for Afghan women to be in the room, at the table, during negotiations.

Lack of clarity about the intra-Afghan talks and the designated negotiators has further heightened fears about the implications for women’s rights. Political infighting following the disputed Afghan presidential election has delayed the appointment of the government negotiation team. Pressure to divvy up these roles among power brokers threatens to squeeze women out. The absence of clear information about what country will host the talks and who will facilitate them prevents women’s rights activists from lobbying for including women.

A fight over whether a release of prisoners will move ahead is muddying the waters further and calling into question the timeline for the intra-Afghan talks. Meanwhile, violence, reduced ahead of the deal’s signing, threatens to escalate again.

Several years back it was common to hear Afghan feminists argue that there should be no negotiations with the Taliban — a group that refused to recognize women’s full humanity. Today those calls are all but gone. Even the staunchest women’s rights activists have mostly accepted that there is no path to peace in Afghanistan but through negotiations with the Taliban.

But protecting women’s rights needs to be one of the key objectives of this process, and for that to happen, women need to be at the negotiating table. Governments increasingly recognize that the role of women in peace processes is not just an afterthought, but critical to sustainable and implementable peace accords. The Afghan government and all its international partners need to back Afghan women, who are in the fight of their lives.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, South Asia, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,

Thousands of women march in Chile again

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from Prensa Latina

Thousands of women marched again this Monday [March 9] in the capital , Santiago, and other cities of Chile, as part of a general strike called by the 8M Coordination and supported by social and student organizations.


A group of Indigenous woman demonstrate during a march in Santiago on International Women’s Day [Martin Bernetti/AFP] 

In Santiago, the women concentrated at midday in the emblematic Plaza de la Dignidad from where they later left to demonstrate along the southern path of the Alameda on a route that ended at the Plaza Los Heroes, passing in front of the Palacio de La Moneda.

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Question for this article

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

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

(Article continued from left column)

Although without the massiveness of Sunday’s huge demonstration, which concentrated around one million people, the thousands of participants on this Labor Monday did clamor with equal force for social change in a macho and patriarchal society, and equal rights and opportunities.

During the march, they denounced the injustices they are victims of, since Chilean women receive more than 20 percent less salary than men for equal work, as well as lower pensions, and instead must pay more to access bank loans, health insurance and pension insurance, just to cite a few examples.

Closely guarded by a strong police contingent with armored water and gas throwers, the protesters also chanted slogans demanding the resignation of President Sebastian Piñera and in favor of the option to approve a new constitution in the plebiscite called for April.

Many also expressed in posters and slogans the need to extend gender parity to other areas of the country’s institutions and not only to the constituent convention that will draft the new constitution in case the Apruebo option wins.

Latin America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Protests and celebrations mark Women’s Day, despite threats

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article by Adam Geller in PBS

From the streets of Manila to a school in East London, people around the world marked International Women’s Day on Sunday with calls to end exploitation and increase equality.


Women chant slogans as they protest during the International Women’s Day in Baghdad, Iraq, March 8, 2020. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani – RC2PFF9MY13Z

But tensions marred some celebrations, with police arresting demonstrators at a rally in Kyrgyzstan and separatists detonating a bomb during a ceremony in Cameroon. No one was hurt in the attack.

“In many different ways or forms, women are being exploited and taken advantage of,” Arlene Brosas, the representative of a Filipino advocacy group said during a rally that drew hundreds to the area near the presidential palace. Protesters called for higher pay and job security, and demanded that President Rodrigo Duterte respect women’s rights.

In Pakistan, women rallied in cities across the country, despite petitions filed in court seeking to stop them. The opposition was stirred in part by controversy over a slogan used in last year’s march: “My Body, My Choice.”


Women of General Confederation of Labour (CGT) attend a protest demanding equality on International Women’s Day in Paris, France, March 8, 2020. Photo by Pascal Rossignol/Reuters.

Some conservative groups had threatened to stop this year’s marches by force. But Pakistani officials pledged to protest the marchers. The rallies are notable in a conservative country where women often do not feel safe in public places because of open harassment. The main Islamic political party, Jamaat-e-Islami, organized its own rallies to counter the march.

One of the largest demonstrations occurred in Chile, where crowds thousands flooded the streets of the capital with dancing, music and angry demands for gender equality and an end to violence against women.

“They kill us, they rape us and nobody does anything,” some chanted.

National police estimated 125,000 took part in the capital and nearly 35,000 in other cities, but organizers said the crowds were far larger.

Many demanded that a proposed new constitution strengthen rights for women and thousands wore green scarves in a show of support for activists in neighboring Argentina, which is considering a proposal to legalize elective abortion.

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Question for this article

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

(Article continued from left column)


Women demonstrators chant slogans and gesture during a march on International Women’s Day in Algiers, Algeria March 8, 2020. Photo by Ramzi Boudina/Reuters.

Thousands of women also marched in Madrid and other Spanish cities, despite concern over the spread of the new coronavirus.

A massive banner reading, “With rights, without barriers. Feminists without frontiers” in Spanish was carried at the front of the march in the capital.

Spanish health authorities said did not put any restrictions on the march, but recommended that anyone with symptoms similar to those of the coronavirus stay home.

At a school in East London, meanwhile, the duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, joined students in listening to speeches about women labor activists, and urged both girls and boys to respect the contributions of women every day of the year.

“For young men … you have your mothers, sisters, girlfriends, friends in your life — protect them. Make sure they are feeling valued and safe,” she told the students.

But safety was in short supply at some events to mark the day.

The detonation of explosives triggered panic at a ceremony in Bamenda, an English-speaking town in the northwest of Cameroon. Suspicions focused on separatists who had vowed to disrupt the events. No one was killed or wounded.

Police in Bishek, the capital city of Kyrgyzstan, detained about 60 people after a group of unidentified men broke up what authorities called an unauthorized rally.

Demonstrators had gathered in the city’s main square to express support for women’s and children’s rights. But unidentified men barged into the gathering. Police said people from both sides were detained, but news reports said they were primarily women. They were released several hours later, after about 10 had been charged with resisting police, the Akipress news agency reported, citing an attorney.

(Editor’s note): Photos are available on the Internet from countries around the world, including:

Indonesia, Pakistan, Iraq, Australia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Spain, Philippines, Switzerland, Thailand, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru and Bangladesh, in Al Jazeera;

Brazil, Spain, Chile, Syria, Belarus, United Kingdom, Russia, France, Pakistan, Iraq, Indonesia, Turkey, Bangladesh, Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Mexico, Peru, Switzerland and Australia in The Guardian;

Italy, France, Chile, Serbia, Spain, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Philippines, United Kingdom and Malaysia in the Irish Times

global, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

USA: Patriots for Peace fighting the good fight

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article by Tim Mosier from the Estes Park Trail

Members of the Estes Park Patriots for Peace stood tall on the corner of Elkhorn Ave and Virginia Dr Wednesday afternoon promoting peace in the community and around the globe.

Many Estes Park residents are probably familiar with these warriors for peace and have become accustomed to seeing them in their spot just outside of Bond Park each and every Wednesday.. . .


Members of the Estes Park Patriots for Peace stand just outside of Bond Park on the corner of Elkhorn Ave and Virginia Dr. From left to right: Robert Burkhardt, Betsy Bayer, Linda Bensey, and Robert Johnson.

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Question for this article:

How can we be sure to get news about peace demonstrations?

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President of the organization, Linda Bensey, said the group has been occupying that corner in downtown Estes Park every Wednesday from noon to 12:30.  The dedication of the group members is strong and community members will see at least Patriot each and every week, no matter the weather.

They have not missed a Wednesday since the group was founded in 2003.
The Patriots for Peace describe themselves as a transpartisan, inclusive organization whose mission includes promoting a culture of peace at all levels of society.  They meet once a month and encourage the community to stop by.

Keep an eye on the Trail-Gazette for more information on meetings and events planned by the organization

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, North America

The Peace Brigades International, Guernica Peace Prize

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Iratxe Astui in El Correo

The Peace Brigades International (PBI) will receive this year the Guernica Prize for Peace and Reconciliation, which is awarded as part of the commemorative program of the acts of the bombing of the town by the German Condor Legion. The decision to recognize the work done by this non-governmental organization was made with the majority of the votes of the members of the jury table..


Members of the PBI during one of their observations. / E. C.

The jury is composed of representatives of the parties that make up the City Council -Eusko Abertzaleak, PNV and EH Bildu-, as well as the mayor of Pforzheim, a German city twinned with the town hall, the Gernika Gogoratuz Foundation, the House of Culture and the Museum of La Paz of the locality. They announced that the distinction responds “to the outstanding work carried out by the volunteers of the organization and their commitment to the defense of Human Rights.”

(Click here for the original article in Spanish.)

(Article continued in the right column)

Question for this article:

Can peace be guaranteed through nonviolent means?

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

(Article continued from the left column)

The Peace Brigades International is a non-denominational and independent group, that sends international observers to be eyewitnesses in regions that are experiencing crisis and conflict situations. “These groups protect with their presence people threatened with death or kidnapping through political violence,” they explained. The peacekeeping forces of PBI have acted in Guatemala (1983-1999), El Salvador (1987-1992) and Sri Lanka (1989-1998), as well as in North America (1991-1999), East Tomor (1999-2002) and Haiti (1995-2000).

Likewise, they also developed their work in Northern Nicaragua, Central Africa (2004-2005) and at the World Uranium Hearing in 1992 in Salzburg. The organization is composed of volunteers who “work as a team.” “They live, conceive strategies, write reports and travel together.”

The jury of the Prizes for Peace and Reconciliation that will be awarded on April 26, also highlighted this year, within the section that distinguishes the anonymous work of the workers for basic peace, the work of the international project ‘Kids Guernica “This artistic initiative was created by three Japanese -Toshifumi Abe, Tdashi Yasuda and Kaoru Mizuguchi- and the American, Tom Anderson, in 1995 on the occasion of making a canvas commemorating the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.

The mural project, in reference to the Guernica of Picasso, “has toured different countries on five continents with the aim of promoting a culture of peace among children around the world,” they explained. The regional town has a good number of works done in different parts of the planet.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe, global,

The Manifesto 2000

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from El Manana

From the insidious and often perverse campaigns, blaming people for the daily manifestations of violence in its different forms, to the proposal to change the economic model to foster shared development in a social justice regime, there is no progress towards an environment of understanding, concord and fraternity. With their machismo, each group with the capacity to be heard resorts to violence.


(click on image for more information)

It is clear that in a culture of violence, conflicts are settled through violence, which is nothing other than the lack of capacity to address differences by a culture of peace, dialogue and mutual understanding. Unlike the expression of Benito Juárez during the period of resistance to the French occupation, it is now seen that among individuals and among nations the violation of the rights of others is at the base of the violence that manifests itself in society, in governments and institutions.

It is not so much that aggressiveness has been unleashed in human beings, no. Through the means of socialization: family, school, religion, associations, etc., aggressiveness can be channeled in three ways: the destructive path of violence; the indifference of passivity; and the constructive, equal to nonviolence, that is, to act but not violently. In that sense, if violence is learned, it is clear that it can also be unlearned and replaced by other mechanisms, not destructive, in conflict resolution.

With this idea in mind, a group of Nobel Peace Prizes, meeting in Paris on March 4, 1999, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, drew up the”Manifesto 2000 for a culture of peace and nonviolence. ” The signatories included: Norman Borlaug; Adolfo Pérez Esquivel; Dalai Lama; Mikhall Sergeyevich Gorbachev; Mairead Maguire; Nelson Mandela; Rigoberta Menchu ​​Tum; Shimon Peres; José Ramos Horta; Joseph Roblat; Desmond Mpilo Tutu; David Trimble; Elie Wiesel; Carlos Felipo Ximenes Belo and others who later joined.

(Article continued in right column)

( Click here for the original version in Spanish.)

Question for this article:

The Manifesto 2000, Is it still relevant today?

(Article continued from left column)

The text of the Manifesto is as follows:

“Aware of my share of responsibility for the future of humanity, in particular to the children of today and tomorrow, I pledge in my daily life, in my family, my work, my community, my country and my region, to:

Respect the life and dignity of each human being without discrimination or prejudice;

Practice active non-violence, rejecting violence in all its forms: physical, sexual, psychological, economical and social, in particular towards the most deprived and vulnerable such as children and adolescents;

Share my time and material resources in a spirit of generosity to put an end to exclusion, injustice and political and economic oppression;

Defend freedom of expression and cultural diversity, giving preference always to dialogue and listening without engaging in fanaticism, defamation and the rejection of others;

Promote consumer behavior that is responsible and development practices that respect all forms of life and preserve the balance of nature on the planet;

Contribute to the development of my community, with the full participation of women and respect for democratic principles, in order to create together new forms of solidarity.”

As you can see, it is a commitment of personal and individual fulfillment, in such a way that there is no way to excuse yourself once it has been voluntarily adopted.

Certainly, at that time it was still believed that the year 2000 would constitute a new beginning to transform the culture of war and violence into a culture of peace and nonviolence, since the culture of peace makes lasting development possible, the protection of the environment and the personal satisfaction of each human being.

20 years later, that dream may be possible if instead of so much garbage, the media would promote dialogue, understanding and peace through justice.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global, Latin America,

International Women’s Day 2020

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from UN Women

Women’s rights and gender equality are taking centre stage in 2020.

Twenty-five years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action—a progressive roadmap for gender equality—it’s time to take stock of progress and bridge the gaps that remain through bold, decisive actions.


Video: We are #GenerationEquality

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day (8 March) is, “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights“.

(continued in right column)

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

Questions for this article

Does the UN advance equality for women?

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

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The Generation Equality campaign  is bringing together people of every gender, age, ethnicity, race, religion and country, to drive actions that will create the gender-equal world we all deserve.

Together, we want to mobilize to end gender-based violence; we are calling for economic justice and rights for all; bodily autonomy, sexual and reproductive health and rights; and feminist action for climate justice. We want technology and innovation for gender equality; and feminist leadership.

Small actions can have big impacts in making this vision a reality. On International Women’s Day, join #GenerationEquality and become part of the movement.

Statement for International Women’s Day by Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. 
In her statement for International Women’s Day (8 March), UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka highlights 2020 as the year for gender equality and calls on everyone to tackle the persistent barriers against gender equality.

global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,

Ecuador: The culture of peace is presented in an international digital magazine

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from Cronica

“Culture and education for peace” is the theme of the third edition of the Culture of Peace Magazine presented, on March 2, by the Unesco Chair of Peace Education and Culture of the Private Technical University of Loja (UTPL). The work presented in digital format has 18 scientific articles and 3 book reviews by authors from Ecuador, Mexico and Spain.


This issue addresses topics such as: anthropology of violence; inclusion of sexual diversity for a culture of peace; violence and conflict in Ecuador in 2019; construction of a culture of peace at the university level; memories of ex-combatant indigenous women of the FARC in Colombia; the symbolic dimension of the Zapatista mask, models of citizen participation and coexistence, among others.

(Review continued in right column)

( Click here for the original version in Spanish.)

Question for this article:

What are the most important books about the culture of peace?

(Review continued from left column)

Santiago Pérez Samaniego, director of the magazine, said that this annual publication has the function of promoting research at local, national and international level, on issues related to peace, education, conflicts and human rights. He stressed that the articles that are part of this edition reflect a rigorous analysis of the different realities, perspectives, good practices or visions of the researchers.

He stressed that since the first edition in 2016 there has been an increased participation of researchers from different countries in the Culture of Peace Magazine, which “fills us with pride.” “It has become a benchmark of research for the promotion of peace in Latin America, attaining an important international position ”

Institutional contribution

Rosario de Rivas Manzano, academic vice chancellor of the UTPL, during the presentation ceremony extended a congratulation to the team that generated the third edition of the magazine, which he said promotes peace through research that seeks to modify attitudes in people to transform the conflicts that can generate violence. He highlighted the contribution of this publication to the UTPL, as a university that builds a fairer world with respect for human beings and society.

-The Culture of Peace magazine is available on the website: revistadeculturadepaz.com

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar praised as ‘accomplished statesman’ who had ‘profound impact’ on the world

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from UN News

Javier Pérez  de Cuéllar, the fifth United Nations Secretary-General, praised for his ability to foster dialogue and for leading the Organization through a turbulent decade, has passed away at the age of 100.  

A veteran Peruvian diplomat, lawyer and professor, he is the first and only Latin American to hold the top UN job so far.  


Video about Perez de Cuellar
.

In a statement Wednesday evening, current UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that he was profoundly saddened  at Mr. Pérez de Cuéllar’s passing and praised the former UN chief as “an accomplished statesman, a committed diplomat and a personal inspiration who left a profound impact on the United Nations and our world.” 

Born in Lima, Peru, on 19 January 1920, he was appointed to lead the UN after 42 years of diplomatic service. 

Distinguished diplomatic career 

“Mr. Pérez de Cuéllar’s life spanned not only a century but also the entire history of the United Nations, dating back to his participation in the first meeting of the General Assembly in 1946,” said Mr. Guterres. 

Over the course of his career, in addition to being his country’s Ambassador to Switzerland – as well as the then Soviet Union, Poland and Venezuela – Mr. Pérez de Cuéllar held many high level positions in Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 1971.  

During his month presiding over the UN Security Council, in July 1974, he ably-managed the crisis in Cyprus. A year later, he was appointed as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Cyprus for two years, then went on to become the UN chief of Political Affairs and Representative of the UN in Afghanistan. 

The Cold War period and the growing role of the UN 

Mr. Guterres said that his predecessor’s tenure as Secretary-General coincided with two distinct eras in international affairs: first, some of the iciest years of the Cold War, and then, with the ideological confrontation at an end, a time when the UN began to play more fully the role envisaged by the founders.

(Article continued in the column on the right)

Questions related to this article:

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

(Article continued from the column on the left)  
  
In 1982, his tenure as UN chief started with intense negotiations between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the disputed sovereignty of the Falkland Islands/Malvinas. Persistent through the countless challenges, Mr. Pérez de Cuéllar  produced a now famous phrase, referring to the peace talks: “The patient is in intensive care but still alive.”  

Despite health issues, he agreed to serve for a second term as UN chief. In his acceptance speech in 1986, he referenced the financial crisis that the UN was going through at the time, saying that “to decline in such circumstances would have been tantamount to abandoning a moral duty toward the United Nations.”  

Reiterating his “unshakable faith” in the “permanent validity” of the Organization, he added that the UN’s “difficult situation” provided a “creative opportunity for renewal and reform.”  

“Mr. Pérez de Cuéllar played a crucial role in a number of diplomatic successes — including the independence of Namibia, an end to the Iran-Iraq War, the release of American hostages held in Lebanon, the peace accord in Cambodia and, in his very last days in office, a historic peace agreement in El Salvador,” said the current UN chief. 

His second term was also marked by the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Among others, his team facilitated political stability in Nicaragua .  

In 1987, he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize for the promotion of Ibero-American co-operation. In 1989, he received the Olof Palme Prize for International Understanding and Common Security, and the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding. 

Long after his term as Secretary-General ended in 1991, he remained true to the values of the UN, and continued advocating for peace, justice, human rights and human dignity throughout his life. Decorated by some 25 countries, he was also the recipient of several honorary degrees. 

In his speech to the Nobel Committee, which awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to UN Peacekeeping Operations in 1989, he defined the role of inter-governmental organizations like the United Nations as being to “draw the line between struggle and conflict.” Thanks to his unyielding determination, he helped many nations “stay on the right side of that line”.  

“I extend my deepest condolences to Mr. Pérez de Cuéllar’s family, the Peruvian people and so many others around the world whose lives were touched by a remarkable and compassionate global leader who left our world a far better place,” said Mr. Guterres. 

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global, United Nations,