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.

Angola: Luanda Biennial Strengthens Culture of Peace

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from the Angola Press Agency

Angola has reiterated the 2nd Luanda Biennial’s commitment to strengthening of the climate of peace in Africa.

This was expressed by Secretary of State for International Cooperation and Angolan Communities, Domingos Vieira Lopes, on Tuesday.

Focus on a culture of peace is also aimed at creating conditions to attract more foreign private investment to the continent, said the Angolan diplomat.

(Continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

The Luanda Biennale: What is its contribution to a culture of peace in Africa?

(Continued from left column)

Speaking  at the opening of the seminar on “The role of Angolan diplomacy in promoting a culture of peace”. Domingos Vieira Lopes defended the need to intensify investment and industrialisation in the continent to enhance the main export products.

However,  he appealed for the support and participation of the member states of the African Union in the Pan-African Forum,  in order to deepen knowledge about continental reality.

The diplomat said the online seminar served to reflect on the experience acquired through the peace and reconciliation process in Angola, after 19 years.

The meeting also aimed at sharing ideas on the best way to contribute to the preservation of peace.

As for the ongoing preparations for the 2nd edition of the Luanda Biennial, scheduled for next September, the Itinerant Ambassador and coordinator of the National Management Committee for the Biennial in the Angolan capital, Diekumpuna Sita José, said that the concept of a culture of peace has to do with change.

He added that the fundamental objective of African leaders is to achieve long lasting conciliation.

Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Pope, in Easter message, slams weapons spending in time of pandemic

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

An article by By Philip Pullella in Reuters (reprinted by permission)

Pope Francis urged countries in his Easter message on Sunday to quicken distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, particularly to the world’s poor, and called armed conflict and military spending during a pandemic “scandalous”.

Coronavirus has meant this has been the second year in a row that Easter papal services have been attended by small gatherings at a secondary altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, instead of by crowds in the church or in the square outside.

After saying Mass, Francis read his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) message, in which he traditionally reviews world problems and appeals for peace.

“The pandemic is still spreading, while the social and economic crisis remains severe, especially for the poor. Nonetheless – and this is scandalous – armed conflicts have not ended and military arsenals are being strengthened,” he said.

Francis, who would normally have given the address to up to 100,000 people in St. Peter’s Square, spoke to fewer than 200 in the church while the message was broadcast to tens of millions around the world.

The square was empty except for a few police officers enforcing a strict three-day national lockdown.

(Article continued in right column.)

Question for this article

Religion: a barrier or a way to peace?, What makes it one or the other?

(Article continued from left column.)

The pope asked God to comfort the sick, those who have lost a loved one, and the unemployed, urging authorities to give families in greatest need a “decent sustenance”.

He praised medical workers, sympathised with young people unable to attend school, and said everyone was called to combat the pandemic.

“I urge the entire international community, in a spirit of global responsibility, to commit to overcoming delays in the distribution of vaccines and to facilitate their distribution, especially in the poorest countries,” he said.

Francis, who has often called for disarmament and a total ban on the possession of nuclear weapons, said: “There are still too many wars and too much violence in the world! May the Lord, who is our peace, help us to overcome the mindset of war.”

‘INSTRUMENTS OF DEATH’

Noting that it was International Awareness Day against anti-personnel landmines, he called such weapons “insidious and horrible devices … how much better our world would be without these instruments of death!”

In mentioning conflict areas, he singled out for praise “the young people of Myanmar committed to supporting democracy and making their voices heard peacefully”. More than 550 protesters have been killed since a Feb. 1 military coup in Myanmar, which the pope visited in 2017.

Francis called for peace in several conflict areas in Africa, including the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia and the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique. He said the crisis in Yemen has been “met with a deafening and scandalous silence”.

He appealed to Israelis and Palestinians to “rediscover the power of dialogue” to reach a two-state solution where both can live side by side in peace and prosperity.

Francis said he realised many Christians were still persecuted and called for all restrictions on freedom of worship and religion worldwide to be lifted.

global, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Germany: Collateral Crucifixion – Pressuring for Julian Assange’s Release!

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Sabine Bock from Pressenza

The artist duo Captain Borderline has created on the theme of “Collateral Crucifixion” a huge, artistic mural on a complete house facade directly in front of the SPD headquarters, the Willy Brandt House, in Stresemannstr. 15 in Berlin Kreuzberg. In conversation with the two artists, they explained to us the reason for creating the revolutionary, crucifix-like work of art.


(Click on image to enlarge)

For almost 10 years, Julian Assange has been in captivity for exposing horrific, inhumane war crimes in an oil war that violated international law and for making his knowledge available to a broad public. The UN Special Investigator on Torture, Nils Melzer, has been the only neutral body to conduct serious research regarding these incidents.

He concludes that Julian Assange has become the victim of a huge show trial whose sole purpose is to show the media worldwide the limits of investigative journalism. The real issue in this legal case against Assange, then, is freedom of the press. Journalists and whistleblowers are being made to believe, through this witch hunt, that they will suffer the same fate should they report on the illegal machinations of the American or Western establishment and governments. How else can it be that powerful men like George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld can invade a country like Iraq for no reason, bomb it, and be responsible for the deaths of almost a million people with impunity, while a man like Assange, who merely publicizes these illegal machinations of the warmongers as a journalist and publisher, ends up in a maximum security prison for it. The responsible politicians, Bush and consorts, on the other hand, can enjoy their stolen wealth in their castles unmolested. That is why we demand the immediate release of Julian Assange from the British prison and to respect the freedom of the press.

(continued in right column)

Questions for this article:

Do the arts create a basis for a culture of peace?, What is, or should be, their role in our movement?

Julian Assange, Is he a hero for the culture of peace?

Free flow of information, How is it important for a culture of peace?


(continued from left column)

To help bring to light the truth behind the construct of lies of which Julian Assange has been a victim for many years, the artist duo Captain Borderline created and completed this revolutionary crucifix-like artwork with Julian Assange as the crucified of the media world on the complete house wall directly in front of the Willy Brandt House in Berlin Kreuzberg during the Holy Week before Easter.

Note

With the purchase of an art screenprint you support the non-profit art and culture association “Colorrevolution” e.V. in financing a huge (20m*10m), media-created mural of “Captain Borderline” with this motif directly in front of the Willy-Brandt-Haus in Berlin. https://assange.colorrevolution.de/

[Editor’s note: The artists of Captain Borderline are A. Signl, B. Shanti and Dabtar, as shown here: augsburger-skandal-zeitung.blogspot.com/2013/08/wer-hat-sich-das-alles-ausgedacht.html

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Drawing on Earth: The Global Creative Challenge 2021

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An announcement from Drawing on Earth

Hi Everyone, we have a new exciting big project in the mix. It’s so big we need your help, we are inviting you and the rest of the world to be part of it.

Earth Day April 22, 2021 – founder and creative director of Drawing on Earth – Mark Lewis Wagner will be attempting to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest chalk street art drawing. We have a story being birthed about imagining a climate changed, about a world creating together, about the future being a place of dynamic balance for everything.


(Click on image to enlarge)

A Creative Challenge to the World

While this is happening we are putting out a Creative Challenge to the World to be part of this Global Story. Draw, paint, dance, music, poetry, use any medium. Set your own personal world record for your largest creative expression. We’ll use FaceBook to create a gallery for everyone to share our work.

The present time of covid isolation and talk of climate change are hard on everyone, it’s especially hard on our youth. They are afraid of something they can’t see, afraid of their future, afraid for the world that they are inheriting. Adults saying, “you young people figure it out, we sure did leave you a mess” is not helpful. That’s a heavy burden, suicides are up with kids around the world for not having a reason to live – that’s OUR PROBLEM to be creative with.

What do we need now on the planet? We asked the Earth what it needed. Imagination, not the frilly stuff but the visionary powerful real imagining that makes the future happen. That’s how we put humans on the moon, made cars, cell phones, how we handled other pandemics – we imagined these first.

(continued in right column)

Question for this article:

Do the arts create a basis for a culture of peace?, What is, or should be, their role in our movement?

(continued from left column)

The Earth said it needs humans to basically grow up, or grow in. The Earth needs humans to evolve out of their current teenager mind and into our mature beings where we use our intuitions and mystery. We take responsibility for ourselves, for each other, our communities, and the world (another word for this is Initiation).

Let’s imagine the world we want to live in, and in doing so making it happen. Let’s make up a story and an artistic challenge for everyone to participate and feel connected, and then see what happens. A new tribe of creating creators.

Recipe for Success

Here is what we want and need to make it happen.

* For you to make some art on or near Earth Day April 22, 2021

* Get friends and family involved. A friend has already talked to her neighbors and everyone is going to do a chalk drawing in each of their driveways.

* Be part of our virtual team. Email us: info@drawingonearth.org for more info.

* Network to an organization in your community: art centers, schools, school district, PTA council, church, etc. and get them involved.

* Nationally Networking: children’s art museums, museums, art organizations, community organizations, Burning Man, etc..

* International Networking: every continent, countries, UN, UNICEF, etc…

Drawing on Earth

Drawing on Earth is a 501c3 nonprofit that Connects Art and Creativity to Youth and Communities Around the World. In 2008 our first project set a Guinness World Record for the largest pavement art (chalk drawing). We covered 90,000 sq. ft. of pavement (almost 2 football fields) with chalk with the help of 6,000 people, most of them elementary school kids from Alameda CA. We even had a satellite photograph the art. We mainly focus on chalk drawing on streets and school playgrounds. We have drawn on 3 continents and so far worked with 30,000 kids and adults.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global

Breizh, France: Women of Peace

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article by Geneviève Roy for Chroniques du 8 mars 2021 de Breizh Femmes

Sarah is a young peace activist from Rennes. To conclude the evening programmed in video a few days ago by the Mouvement de la Paix , she described the citizen actions carried out by her generation as less collective than those of their elders. “We try to seek peace from day to day through dialogue, exchanges, travel. Our outlook is different because for most of us we have not known a war first hand.” Impressed by the words of the various women who testified from one end of the planet to the other, she deplored the lack of commitment of young people “caught up in everyday life” in a society “where everything goes fast”.


These women were not lacking in enthusiasm when recounting their commitments for peace. However, “women’s work for peace is neither visible nor valued,” regretted Croatian journalist Shura Dumanic, relating the loneliness of activists in her country who do not receive any support from the state and can only count on NGOs or European religious associations.

“If we don’t start with the children, we will never guarantee the existence of peace or equality”

From Nabila the Palestinian to Birgitta the German via Mina in Algeria or Fatema in Morocco, all their voices praised the strength of women in this difficult fight for peace.
“When civil society acts effectively to promote the goals of peace” – recalled Birgitta Meier from Erlangen – “women are always in the forefront”. And it is for this reason that Mouvement de la Paix had chosen this year again to highlight them on the occasion of the month of March devoted in Rennes to women’s rights.

For many of them, building peace requires education. In Gaza, Nabila Kilani, English teacher and founder of an educational and cultural center, says: “If we don’t start with children, we will never guarantee the existence of peace or equality.” And she seems to have started well. She initiated her project in 2009 with two children and now welcomes 120! “We are reopening the minds of children to give them hope for a better future for themselves and for all of Palestine”.

(Article continued in right column)

(Click here for the original article in French.)

Questions related to this article:

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

(Article continued from left column)

For her part, the Japanese Miho Shimma fights relentlessly against nuclear weapons, choosing among other things, to address children. “One day I saw French children playing atomic warfare,” she says; that’s how her book l’Enfant Bonheur was born, now published in French but also translated into English, Italian, German and even an Indian language.

“Women are the first victims of global warming in many countries”

Women who work for peace also do so for more equality. In Germany, Birgitta Meier testifies, the peace movements work in convergence with the feminist movements and also the environmental movements. “We cannot do peace education without showing the role that women play in advancing these ideas, but without also approaching environmental movements since women are the first victims of global warming in many areas countries”.

Feminism and the environment was also discussed by Mina Cheballah who is leading a project in Algeria with feminist activists working with women farmers. “The culmination of the project is the safeguarding of ancestral seeds by the creation of a community seed bank in order to allow farmers to no longer depend on the big firms which force them to buy seeds every year.”

International firms also indicted by Miho Shimma in the name of her commitments to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki but also to the Bikini Atoll where she is from and which still bears the after-effects of the American nuclear tests of the 1970s. “When I disseminate information on atomic bombs, I am not only talking about the victims of nuclear weapons, I am also talking about the victims of nuclear tests.”

It’s the same concern for Tran to Nga. “I was under the bombardments, I buried comrades with my own hands.” 80 years old, she does not stop fighting against Agent Orange, responsible in Vietnam for many deaths and malformations still present on the site. fourth generation of population. “I started out on my own”, she says, referring to the too long trial that has occupied her for ten years – “but today I have thousands and thousands of friends around me all over the world, and my fight will continue because Agent Orange is the ancestor of pesticides and other toxic products which continue to poison our Earth.”

These determined women, despite the magnitude of the task, retain their enthusiasm in their struggle for peace. And which is perfectly illustrated by the conclusion of young Sarah: “for me, peace today is promoting social ties because it is the ignorance of other cultures which leads if not to war at least to fractures between human beings. . Unfortunately, I feel that this sense of combat is lost a bit with my generation when we could bring our skills to associations.” An observation which is perhaps already the beginning of a commitment.

Europe, global, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,

Brazil: Policy for the Culture of Peace and Restorative Justice is prepared by the Municipality of Recife

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from the Diario de Pernambuco

On Monday [March 26], the City of Recife drafted a Bill 009/21 with a proposal for a new Municipal Policy for the Culture of Peace and Restorative Justice and sent it to the City Council. According to the press office of the City Hall, the project was the result of a broad debate with the society.


Centro Communitário de Paz, Recife

The press office also states that the capital of Pernambuco “is one of the first to have such a complete law and that it covers all areas of municipal competence.” Once the proposal is discussed and approved by Casa José Mariano, the Recife City Hall, through the Citizen Security Secretariat, will have a Municipal Council for the Culture of Peace and Restorative Practices.

(continued in right column)

(Click here for the Portuguese original of this article)

Questions for this article:

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

(continued from left column)

The formulation of the proposal started at the 1st Municipal Conference on Culture of Peace and Restorative Justice, held on December 16 and 17, 2019, at the Catholic University of Pernambuco, where public and private institutions discussed the construction of paths and solutions to the difficulties that have been encountered by in the municipality in the field of security, justice and human rights.

“According to the adviser, at the final plenary session, after two days of debate, 123 proposals were approved covering the six axes:
* The Culture of Peace;
* Restorative Practices and conflict transformations;
* Human Rights and ethnic racial relations;
* Gender, sexuality and vulnerable populations;
* Social participation and citizen protagonism;
* Communication and training.

Several proposals are foreseen in the new municipal policy, among them is the training in conflict mediation and non-violent communication for teachers and traffic agents, integrative health practices, the creation of a policy of continuous training of Culture of Peace for employees of the City Hall, conducting restorative circles in prisons, conducting workshops against bullying and other forms of violence, among other proposals.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

Brazil: Ecocine International Film Festival of Environmental and Human Rights

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from the Folha de Pernambuco (abridged)

The Ecocine International Environmental Film and Human Rights Festival begins today and continues until the 5th ( https://ecocine.eco.br/), an online meeting that gathers documentary series and films that focus on the environment. The virtual event brings together a list of 134 films in streaming from 35 countries, including Brazil, India, Holland, Malawi, France, USA and Iran.


(continued in right column)

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

Question for this article:

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

(continued from left column)

The films address issues of an urgent nature with global impact. There are special sessions for children, adolescents and educators. All sessions are free.

Freedom

According to the event’s founder and anthropologist, Ariane Porto, the themes of environmental and human rights are so many and so urgent, that the voices coming from all directions meet and sometimes clash. ”We chose this year to honor “Liberdade.” Freedom to be, to be, to come. Freedom to stay, to rebuild, to resist, to change. Freedom of body, spirit, mind. And, fundamentally, freedom to live in a socially and environmentally sustainable world, where all species, human or not, have the right to exist”, she writes on the event’s website.

Free

Among the highlights is “From trash to treasure” (photo), a documentary directed by the Brazilian Iara Lee, which portrays a community in Lesotho, Africa, which transforms tons of garbage into everyday clothes and accessories. Another one in the spotlight is “Professor Polvo”, a film that is included in the race for an Oscar statuette this year – in the Documentary category, available on Netflix. The catalog can be accessed on the event website through quick registration.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Senegal: “Ethnic remarks”: the Platform of Women for Peace in Casamance calls for “serenity”

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from Press Afrik

The members of the Platform of Women for Peace in Casamance (PFPC), meeting on March 25, 2021, deplore the ethnic comments made by some people in the country. According to them, “the social climate in Senegal is increasingly harmful because of these words and tendencies with connotations” dangerous and never known in the history of our Nation. The members of this platform call for serenity and social stability in the country.

“Our nation is characterized by a multiethnicity which, instead of being a source of division, is a richness and a pledge of a symbiosis, a harmony, a mutual respect. The joking cousin is the real social cement that unites the Serer to Pulaar, Diatta Ndiaye to Diop, the game of fraternal alliances which banishes any hostility between Diola and Serer. Respect for the other in his difference are in the process of being dangerously put to the test, ”said the members of the Platform of Women for Peace in Casamance in a statement made public.

(Article continued in right column)

(Click here for the original French version)

Questions for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

(Article continued from left column)

They add: “These pillars of social stability, woven for millennia between ethnic groups, have always reduced tensions and possible crises are automatically and socially attenuated. Our nation has always known how to overcome its crises together as one people, with purpose and faith ”.

According to members of the platform, for some time now, comments that weaken these pillars have been made from north to south of the country. “A disrespectful speech of the other, which discredits and minimizes his neighbor because of his ethnicity. And even worse, we are witnessing a pitched battle between identity associations which once owed each other protection and mutual respect,” they added.

Continuing, the members of the PFPC express their deep dismay at the multiplication of divisive speeches and conflicting ethno-geographic actions recorded in recent days in the press and by certain politicians. According to them, this kind of speech and behavior is a source of hatred, seriously endangering human security, peace and national unity.

The PFPC condemns the resurgence of socio-ethnic and socio-political tendencies. They urge the State of Senegal and all voice carriers to curb these ethno-psychological tendencies by putting in place functional mechanisms for strengthening social dialogue and good practices in terms of a culture of peace, of socio-cultural and politico-religious coexistence.

The members of the Platform of Women for Peace in Casamance call on political actors, opinion leaders and members of the press to make and disseminate positive, constructive and peaceful speeches.

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Cameroon: A radio station for the protection of the Waza biosphere reserve

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from L’UNESCO

The Waza biosphere, the oldest in Cameroon, is located in the Lake Chad basin, in the Far North region. It is classified as a forest reserve, wildlife reserve, national park and sanctuary. This special status justified its reclassification in 1979 to the rank of biosphere reserve, recognized by UNESCO.

With its 170,000 hectares in area, the Waza biosphere offers ideal conditions for offering quality ecotourism, in particular thanks to the numerous presence on site of elephants, giraffes, large colonies of different species of birds and felines, among which are lions. Unfortunately, the Waza biosphere is also considered a dangerous place because it is traversed by terrorist groups which constitute a threat to social cohesion.

The biosphere of Waza, this tourist wealth of Cameroon, has been damaged in recent years at the hands of its local communities, threatening its biological, hydraulic and cultural heritage. Despite a certain involvement of these same communities in the management of Waza, there is still a difficult compromise with regard to the direct needs of local residents and the requirements of sustainable management of this rich but fragile biodiversity.

(article continued in right column)

(Click here for the french version of this article.)

Question related to this article:

How can tourism promote a culture of peace?

Islamic extremism, how should it be opposed?

How can peace be promoted by radio?

(article continued from left column)

Almost 30 years after the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity, the need to manage biodiversity resources in a sustainable manner appears to be a priority more than ever. In this regard, initiatives aimed at making the concept of sustainable management operational have multiplied.

It is within this framework that the UNESCO Regional Office for Central Africa supports the countries of the Lake Chad Basin (Cameroon, Niger, Central African Republic and Chad), to strengthen the resilience of communities in the face of security and climate challenges.

UNESCO, through the BIOPALT project, is supporting the establishment of a community radio station in the Waza biosphere. To ensure the success of this support, the BIOPALT project team made an exchange visit and experience sharing with the local team, which focused on the potential positive impacts of the local radio tool within from the community. In addition, UNESCO is considering other support actions, in particular the restructuring of the building to house the radio but also training, the acquisition of radio equipment and their installation.

In this period of the COVID-19 pandemic, radio appears more than ever essential in the dynamics of mobilization and support of beneficiaries around local initiatives. It also facilitates the creation of favorable conditions for dialogue between communities and improves the dissemination of useful information to residents, in order to promote the culture of peace and contribute to civic education.

The radio is expected to support, in addition, policies and measures to combat poverty and the search for solutions for lasting peace, particularly in the park and areas prey to Boko-Haram attacks in the region.

The BIOPALT initiative, financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), places particular emphasis on the transmission of knowledge and the sharing of experiences in order to encourage the neighboring populations to adopt and enhance the practices of sustainable development to preserve the biosphere reserve and improve the socio-economic well-being of local communities.

Africa, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Weifang, China established their City as an International City of Peace

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article by Fred Arment for International Cities of Peace

TRULY HEARTENING. The millions of citizens of Weifang, China established their City as an International City of Peace in February. They are now deeply involved in peacemaking within their community and beyond. Take a look at this extraordinary magazine focusing on their City of Peace efforts. It is in Chinese language but, from the photos, you can see the budding of global peace in their community. This morning’s email from Weifang City of Peace Liaison Sun Li:


Special issue on peace city
(Click on image to enlarge)

“Dear Mr. J. Fred Arment,

Thank you very much for the congratulations’ link you sent me. Weifang has become an international city of peace, which is of great significance to Weifang and has attracted great attention from all walks of life in China. At the same time, with the help of Professor Liu Cheng, Weifang is making great efforts to do a good job in peace propaganda activities and fulfill the responsibility of a peaceful city.

(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)

Recently, we have held a lot of teaching activities. Our staff have entered many schools in Weifang City, carried out peace education, and led the children to do activities related to peace. We help children understand the meaning of peace and the beautiful vision of world peace.

Website links of some activities:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/8nAhZYk3a4i-2KYabMeG2g
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/nXaaNy-keK1zKbkJga_yBw

In addition, we have published a special issue of peace city.
Link to the website of the special issue:
https://book.yunzhan365.com/dlyu/npqi/mobile/index.html

At present, Weifang is discussing cooperation with Professor Liu Cheng, planning to hold some activities on peace, hoping to let more people understand the true meaning of peace through publicity and education activities.
With respect and appreciation,
Sun Li

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, East Asia