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.

Fifteen films bid for top prize in Africa’s premiere film fest

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from France 24

Fifteen feature-length movies are vying for the top prize in next month’s FESPACO festival, Africa’s top cinema event, the organisers announced Friday.

Launched in 1969, the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) draws thousands of movie fans and professionals from across the continent.


The Golden Stallion of Yennega, the top award in the FESPACO movie festival, is named after a creature in Burkinabe mythology © ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP

It is also closely followed by the US and European movie industries, which scout the event for new films, talent and ideas.

A total of 170 films are competing across 11 categories in the February 25-March 4 event, including short film, documentaries, TV series and animation, FESPACO said.
Under festival rules, films chosen for competition have to be made by Africans and predominantly produced in Africa.

This year’s theme is “African cinema and culture of peace” — an invitation, say the organisers, to reflect on how movies can encourage reconciliation in troubled times.

FESPACO’S host country Burkina Faso is in the grip of a seven-year-old jihadist insurgency that has killed thousands of people and driven around two million from their homes.

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

Question for this article:

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

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Following are the feature films vying for the Golden Stallion of Yennenga — a trophy named after a beast in Burkinabe mythology:

– “The Planters’ Plantation”, directed by Dingha Eystein Young (Cameroon)

– “Our Father, the Devil”, Ellie Foumb (Cameroon)

– “Ashkal”, Youssef Chebbi (Tunisia)

– “Under the Fig Trees”, Erige Sehiri (Tunisia)

– “Sira”, Appoline Traore (Burkina Faso)

– “Abu Saddam”, Nadine Khan (Egypt)

– “Bantu Mama”, Ivan Herrera (Dominican Republic)

– “Mami Wata”, de C.J.”Fiery” Obasi (Nigeria)

– “Maputo Nakuzandza”, Ariadine Zampaulo (Mozambique)

– “Our Lady of the Chinese Shop”, Ery Claver (Angola)

– “Shimoni”, Angela Wamai (Kenya)

– “Simin Zetwal”, David Constantin (Mauritius)

– “The Blue Caftan”, Maryam Touzani (Morocco)

– “The Last Queen”, Damien Ounouri (Algeria)

– “Xale, Les blessures de l’enfance”, Moussa Sene Absa (Senegal)

STOP U.S. Wars: MLK Week of Actions, Jan 13–22 The Next Step

. .DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. .

An article from The United National Antiwar Coalition

“The greatest purveyor of violence in the world : My own Government, I can not be Silent.”
  –  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. April 4, 1967

As you know, after the October antiwar actions, more than 75 actions, we held a meeting to discuss next steps.  It was decided that we should have another week of actions and the week around Martin Luther King Day, Jan 14 – 22 was proposed.  So, we are moving forward organizing STOP U.S. Wars actions again during that week.  Many organizations endorsed the October week of actions and are anxious to continue.


As Martin Luther King, Jr. so correctly reminded us, the U.S. is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.  Since WWII, the US has initiated more than 60 military interventions in foreign countries.  The US/NATO proxy war in Ukraine brings the US in direct confrontation with a major nuclear power as does the U.S. provocation against China over Taiwan.

It is extremely important that we build a strong, unified antiwar movement that can break through the media propaganda and censorship and end the US military aggression around the world.

Each of our actions are based on building local connections among various solidarity organizations. A variety of actions are encouraged from demonstrations, teach-Ins, banner drops, chalk-ins to street meetings.

Actions linking ALL the continuing US wars and sanctions is a unifying focus and helps break through the propaganda that saturates each war.

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Question for this article:

Lula: “We will rebuild relations with all the countries of the world.”

. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION .

The inauguration speech of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reprinted by Progressive International (translation by Progressive International

My gratitude to you who faced political violence before, during, and after the electoral campaign, who occupied the social networks and took to the streets under sun and rain, even if it was only to win a single precious vote. Who had the courage to wear our shirt, and, at the same time, wave the Brazilian flag when a violent and anti-democratic minority tried to censor our colors and appropriate the green and yellow that belongs to all Brazilian people. To you, who came from all corners of this country, from near or far away, by plane, by bus, by car or in the back of a truck, by motorcycle, by bicycle, and even on foot, in a true caravan of hope for this celebration of democracy.

But I also want to address those who opted for other candidates. I will govern for 215 million Brazilians, and not only for those who voted for me. I will govern for all, looking to our bright common future and not through the rear view mirror of a past of division and intolerance. Nobody is interested in a country on a permanent war footing, or a family living in disharmony. It is time to reconnect with friends and family, bonds broken by hate speech and the dissemination of so many lies. Enough of hate, fake news, guns and bombs. Our people want peace to work, study, take care of their families, and be happy. The electoral dispute is over.

I repeat what I said in my speech after the victory on October 30th, about the need to unite the country. There are not two Brazils. We are a single country, a single people, a great nation. We are all Brazilians, and we share the same virtue. We never give up. Even if they pluck all our flowers, one by one, petal by petal, we know that it is always time to replant, and that spring will come, and spring has already arrived. Today joy takes hold of Brazil in arms with hope.

My dear friends, I recently reread the speech of my first inauguration as President in 2003, and what I read made it even more evident how far Brazil has gone backwards. On that first January 2003, here in this very place, my dear vice-president José Alencar and I made the commitment to recover the dignity and self-esteem of the Brazilian people. And we did. Of investing to improve the living conditions of those who need it most, and we did. Of caring for health and education, and we did. But the main commitment we took on in 2003 was to fight inequality and extreme poverty, and to guarantee to every person in this country the right to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day, and we fulfilled this commitment, we put an end to hunger and misery, and we strongly reduced inequality.

Unfortunately, today, 20 years later, we are returning to a past that we thought was buried. Much of what we did was undone in an irresponsible and criminal way. Inequality and extreme poverty are back on the rise. Hunger is back, and not by force of fate, not by the work of nature nor by divine will, hunger. The return of hunger is a crime, the most serious of all crimes committed against the Brazilian people. Hunger is the daughter of inequality, which is the mother of the great evils that delay the development of Brazil. Inequality belittles our continental-sized country by dividing it into unrecognizable parts. On one side a small portion of the population that has everything, on the other side a multitude that lacks everything and a middle class that has been growing poorer year by year due to the injustices of the government. Together we are strong, divided we will always be the country of the future that never arrives and that lives in permanent debt with its people. If we want to build our future today, if we want to live in a fully developed country for everyone, there can be no room for so much inequality. Brazil is great, but the real greatness of a country lies in the happiness of its people, and nobody is really happy in the midst of so much inequality.

My friends, when I say govern, I mean to take care. More than governing, I will take care of this country and the Brazilian people with great affection. In the last few years Brazil has gone back to being one of the most unequal countries in the world. It has been a long time since we have seen such abandonment and discouragement in the streets. Mothers digging through the garbage in search of food for their children. Entire families sleeping outdoors, facing the cold, the rain, and the fear. Children selling candy or begging when they should be in school, living the full childhood they have a right to. Unemployed men and women workers, exhibiting at the traffic lights cardboard signs with the phrase that embarrasses us all: “Please help me”. Queues at the door of butcher shops in search of bones to alleviate hunger, and, at the same time, waiting lines to buy imported cars and private jets. Such a social abyss is an obstacle to the construction of a truly fair and democratic society and a modern and prosperous economy.

That is why I and my vice-president Geraldo Alckmin assume today, before you and all the Brazilian people, the commitment to fight day and night against all forms of inequality in our country. Inequality of income, gender and race inequality, inequality in the labor market, in political representation, in State careers, inequality in access to health, education, and other public services. Inequality between the child who goes to the best private school and the child who shines shoes in the bus station with no school and no future, between the child who is happy with the toy he just got as a present and the child who cries of hunger on Christmas night. Inequality between those who throw food away and those who only eat leftovers. It is unacceptable that the richest 5% of people in this country have the same income share as the other 95%. That six Brazilian billionaires have a wealth equivalent to the assets of the 100 million poorest people in the country. That a worker earning a minimum monthly wage takes 19 years to receive the equivalent of what a super-rich person receives in a single month. And there is no point in rolling up the windows of a luxury car to avoid seeing our brothers and sisters who are crowded under the viaducts, lacking everything. The reality is there on every corner.

My friends, it is unacceptable that we continue to live with prejudice, discrimination, and racism. We are a people of many colors and all of us must have the same rights and opportunities. No one will be a second-class citizen, no one will have more or less support from the State, no one will be obliged to face more or less obstacles just because of the color of their skin. That is why we are recreating the Ministry of Racial Equality, to bury the tragic legacy of our slaveholding past. The indigenous peoples need to have their lands demarcated and free of threats from illegal and predatory economic activities, they need to have their culture preserved, their dignity respected, and sustainability guaranteed. They are not obstacles to development. They are guardians of our rivers and forests and a fundamental part of our greatness as a nation. This is why we are creating the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples to combat 500 years of inequality. We cannot continue to live with the hateful oppression imposed on women, subjected daily to violence in the streets and inside their own homes. It is unacceptable that they continue to receive lower salaries than men, when in the exercise of the same function they need to conquer more and more space in the dissuasive instances of this country, in politics, in the economy, in all strategic areas. Women must be what they want to be, they must be where they want to be. That is why we are bringing back the Ministry of Women. It was to fight inequality and its sequels that we won the election. And this will be the great mark of our government, from this fundamental fight a transformed country will emerge, a great and prosperous country, strong and fair, a country of all by all and for all, a generous and solidary country that will leave no one behind.

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(Click here for the article in Portuguese.)

Questions related to this article:
 
Latin America, has it taken the lead in the struggle for a culture of peace?

(Continued from left column)

My dear comrades, I reassume the commitment to take care of all Brazilians, especially those who need it most, to end hunger in this country once again, to take the poor out of the bone line and put them back in the Union’s budget. We have an immense legacy still vivid in the memory of each and every Brazilian, beneficiary or not of the public policies that made a revolution in this country. But we are not interested in living in the past. Therefore, far from any nostalgia, our legacy will always be the mirror of the future that we will build for this country. Under our governments, Brazil has reconciled record economic growth with the greatest social inclusion in history, and has become the sixth largest economy in the world, at the same time in which 36 million Brazilians have been lifted out of extreme poverty, and we have generated more than 20 million jobs with signed work cards and all rights guaranteed. We adjusted the minimum wage always above inflation. We broke records of investment in education, from kindergarten to university, to make Brazil also an exporter of intelligence and knowledge, and not only an exporter of commodities and raw materials. We more than doubled the number of students in higher education and opened the door to universities for the poor youth of this country. Young whites, blacks, and indigenous people for whom a university degree was an unattainable dream became doctors. We fought one of the great focuses of inequality, access to health, because the right to life cannot be held hostage to the amount of money one has in the bank. We created the Farmácia Popular (Popular Pharmacy), which provided medicines to those who needed them most, and more than that, which brought care to about 60 million Brazilians in the outskirts of the big cities and in the most remote parts of Brazil. We created Smiling Brazil to care for the oral health of all Brazilians. We have strengthened our Single Health System. And I want to take the opportunity to make a special thanks to the SUS professionals for the great work during the pandemic, bravely facing a virus, a lethal virus, and an irresponsible and inhumane government.

In our governments we invested in family agriculture and in small and medium farmers, responsible for 70% of the food that reaches our tables, and we did this without neglecting agribusiness, which obtained investment in record harvests year after year. We took concrete measures to combat climate change and reduced the deforestation of the Amazon by more than 80%. Brazil has consolidated itself as a world reference in the fight against inequality and hunger, and has become internationally respected for its active and haughty foreign policy. We were able to accomplish all of this while taking care of the country’s finances with total responsibility; we were never irresponsible with public money. We have made fiscal surplus every year, eliminated the foreign debt, accumulated reserves of 370 billion dollars, and reduced the foreign debt to almost half of what it was when we took office. In our governments there has never been and never will be any unnecessary spending. We have always invested and will invest again in our most precious asset, which is the Brazilian people.

Unfortunately, much of what we built in 13 years was destroyed in less than half of this time. First by the coup against President Dilma in 2016, and then by the four years of a government of national destruction whose legacy history will never forgive: 700,000 Brazilians killed by covid-19, 125 million suffering some degree of food insecurity from moderate to very severe, and 33 million going hungry. These are just a few numbers that are actually not just numbers, statistics, and indicators. They are people, men, women and children who are victims of a misgovernment that was finally defeated by the people on the historic October 30, 2022. The technical groups of the transition cabinet coordinated by my vice-president Alckmin, who for two months delved into the entrails of the previous government, have brought to light the real dimension of the tragedy.

What the Brazilian people have suffered in the last few years has been the slow and progressive construction of a true genocide. I want to quote, as an example, a small excerpt from the one hundred pages of this true chaos report produced by the transition cabinet. The report says: Brazil has broken feminicide records. Racial equality policies have suffered severe setbacks. Youth policy was dismantled and indigenous rights have never been so violated in the recent history of the country. The textbooks that will be used in the 2023 school year have not yet begun to be published. There is a shortage of medicine at the popular pharmacy, and no stock of vaccines to confront the new variants of covid-19. There is a lack of resources for the purchase of school meals. Universities run the risk of not finishing the school year. There are no resources for Civil Defense and the prevention of accidents and disasters. And who is paying the bill for this blackout is, once again, the Brazilian people.

My friends, these last few years we have lived through, without a doubt, one of the worst periods of our history, an era of shadows, uncertainties and a lot of suffering. But this nightmare came to an end through the sovereign vote in the most important election since the re-democratization of the country. An election that demonstrated the commitment of the Brazilian people to democracy and its institutions. This extraordinary victory for democracy forces us to look forward and forget our differences, which are much smaller than what unites us forever: the love for Brazil and the unshakeable faith in our people.

Now is the time to rekindle the flame of hope, solidarity, and love for our neighbor. Now is the time to take care of Brazil and the Brazilian people again, generate jobs, readjust the minimum wage above inflation, lower the price of food, create even more vacancies in universities, invest heavily in health, education, science and culture. Resume the infrastructure works of Minha Casa, Minha Vida, abandoned by the neglect of the government that is now gone. It is time to bring in investments and reindustrialize Brazil, fight climate change again and put an end once and for all to the devastation of our biomes, especially our beloved Amazon. We must break away from international isolation and resume relations with all the countries of the world. This is no time for sterile resentments. Now is the time for Brazil to look forward and smile again. Let us turn this page and write together a new and decisive chapter in our history.

Our common challenge is to create a fair, inclusive, sustainable and creative, democratic and sovereign country for all Brazilians. I have made a point of saying throughout the campaign: Brazil is resilient. And I say it again with all conviction, even in the face of the picture of destruction revealed by the transition cabinet: Brazil is resilient. It depends on us, all of us. And we will rebuild this country.

In my four years in office, we will work every day for Brazil to overcome the backwardness of more than 350 years of slavery, to recover the time and opportunities lost in these last years, to regain its prominent place in the world, and for each and every Brazilian to have the right to dream again and the opportunities to realize what they dream of. We need all together to rebuild and transform our beloved country. But we will only really rebuild and transform this country if we fight with all our strength against everything that makes it so unequal. It is urgent and necessary to form a broad front against inequality that involves society as a whole, workers, entrepreneurs, artists, intellectuals, governors, mayors, deputies, senators, unions, social movements, class associations, public servants, liberal professionals, religious leaders, ordinary citizens. After all, it is time to unite and rebuild our country. That is why I make this call to all Brazilians who want a more just, solidary, and democratic Brazil. Join us in a great collective effort against inequality. I want to end by asking each and every one of you that the joy of today be the raw material of the fight of tomorrow and of all the days to come, that the hope of today ferments the bread that is to be shared among all, and that we are always ready to react in peace and order to any attacks from extremists who want to sabotage and destroy our democracy. In the fight for the good of Brazil we will use the weapons that our adversaries fear the most, the truth that has overcome the lie, the hope that has overcome fear, and the love that has defeated hatred. Long live Brazil and long live the Brazilian people!

Basel Peace Office announces the nine finalists for the 2023 PACEY Youth Award

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article from the Basel Peace Office

Basel Peace Office is pleased to announce the nine finalists of the 2023 PACEY Youth Award. We invite anyone interested in youth initiatives for a better world to join us for the PACEY Award ceremony on January 21 to vote for the three winners, each of whom will receive a prize of €5000 plus organizational support for their initiatives.

“The PACEY Award supports innovative projects which empower youth to lead transformative actions in the fields of peace, climate security and disarmament”, says Ms Marzhan Nurzhan, Deputy-Director of Basel Peace Office and Co-founder of Youth Fusion, a global youth network for the abolition of nuclear weapons. “We received nominations of over 80 inspiring youth projects and project proposals from around the world. The nine finalists are just a sample of the quality and level of youth action on these important issues for humanity and the planet.”

“Young people in Europe and around the world are standing up to demand policy progress on the climate crisis, nuclear abolition and ending war,” says Prof (em) Andreas Nidecker MD, founder of the PACEY Award. ‘They clearly see the threats to current and future generations and are taking action.”

“Peace and security are the central starting points on the path to sustainable development,” says Dr Lukas Ott (lic. phil.), Head of Canton and Urban Development, Presidential Department of the Canton of Basel-Stadt. “Peace is the foundation that something good can grow out of it. Youth-led projects and activities that promote peace, climate-protection and disarmament are more important now than ever.”

According to Prof Lukas Kundert, Director of the Basel-Stadt Evangelical Reformed Church, the award highlights youth action that connects ethical ways of living with practical approaches to achieving peace. “Righteousness and Peace kiss each other” he says.

The PACEY Award will confer one prize for a project based in Europe and two prizes for projects based outside of Europe.

Finalists

The three finalists in the European project category are:

* Global Perspectives on Corporate Climate Legal Tactics (United Kingdom), a project to examine the unique aspects of climate litigation across the corporate world leading to the production of a toolbox for the effective implementation of climate law. With research from 17 different legal systems, the project will analyse and compare best practices from those jurisdictions and provide recommendations to relevant stakeholders in order to facilitate continuous improvement in the implementation of climate change law.

* Peace in our Schools (Georgia), a project to work with young Ukrainian refugees and Russian immigrants, who have fled the Russia-Ukraine war. The project, founded by Jewish and Muslim peacemakers from Georgia and Afghanistan, aims to provide emotional intelligence and conflict resolution training to Ukrainian and Russian youth, through programs in Georgian schools. The project is managed by the Network of Former Youth Delegates to the United Nations.

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

How can just one or a few persons contribute to peace and justice?

(continued from left column)

* SAFNA Youth Forum Database Project (Switzerland), a project to create a database on nuclear disarmament and arms control, with commentaries on national legislation and jurisprudence. The project, being led by the Swiss Association of Lawyers for Nuclear Disarmament (SAFNA) Youth Forum, is inspired by the ICRC databases on international humanitarian law, and aims to assist, students and professionals in the fields of international law, international politics and international relations.

The six finalists for the Beyond Europe category are;

* Adopt a tree, not a weapon (Democratic Republic of Congo), a project to address the climate crisis and activism of local and foreign armed groups using children as soldiers to commit violence and destroy the biodiversity. The project, run by former child soldiers and other young volunteers from the Amani-Institute, uses a range of innovative approaches including inter-active theatre, to educate and engage other youth.

* Ertis Mektebi school (Kazakhstan), a project to provide mainstreamed education for children with special needs.  The school is being established in Semipalatinsk, where there are over 4000 children with neuropsychological and musculoskeletal disabilities, most of whom are likely to be third and fourth generation victims of Soviet nuclear tests, more than 450 of which were conducted in the Polygon/Semipalatinsk region Kazakhstan from 1949 -1989. The mainstreaming approach is to establish a school where both children with disabilities and children without health problems will study together.

* Nuclear Lives: Uranium Mining on Indigenous Communities of Meghalaya (India), an interview series documenting the testimonies of victims of uranium mining in Meghalaya. The uranium is used for both nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. The project uses a story-telling approach to complement academic research in order to elevate public knowledge and political attention regarding the negative impacts of uranium mining – the widespread acres of forest cleared, water bodies contaminated, soil rendered fruitless, stillborn births and death of local wildlife.

* Silence the Guns (Cameroon), a project led by Children for Peace to educate and engage children, especially girls, in Central Africa in non-violence and peace-building. The project works with  schools, university, mosques, churches & faith-based organizations, refugees, UN agencies and other organization in order to counter violent extremism, armed conflict and the illicit proliferation of weapons.

* Storytelling as a Catalyst of Action for Peace, Love, and Climate Justice in MENA (Middle East and North Africa), a project led by the MENA Youth Network which aims to establish an online media archive of stories and voices of youth in the MENA region most affected by the intersection of conflict and climate change, and run workshops and exhibitions in collaboration with civil society groups in communities across the region. The project will harness the power of storytelling to advance and highlight urgent needs, and empower and unite youth towards establishing peace, love, and climate justice in the region.

* Youth Peace Caravans (Sudan/Uganda), a peacebuilding program initiated and led by a former child soldier from South Sudan in the refugee settlements in northern Uganda to foster peace among the South Sudanese young Refugees. South Sudan is home to 64 tribes with long history of animosity. When the civil war broke out, those who fled the country were forced to live in shared refugee settlement areas where negative assumptions led to clashes, death and injuries. Through youth peace caravans, young people are unlearning the negative assumptions by engaging more with each other through community exchange visits, sharing stories, skills and ideas and doing community service together.

The PACEY (Peace, nuclear Abolition and Climate Engaged Youth Award) was established by Basel Peace Office in 2020 as a €5000 award for a European Youth Project. In 2021, the City of Basel (Switzerland) joined and added a prize of €5000 for Beyond Europe/Global Youth Project. And we are pleased to announce that from 2023, we are joined by the Reformed Evangelical Church of Basel-Stadt with support for another award of €5000 for a second Beyond Europe/Global Youth Project, making three awards in total.

Finalists in each category will present their projects/proposals at the PACEY Awards event which takes place online on January 21, in conjunction with Basel Peace Forum 2023 and the annual Basel Inter-generational Forum on Peace, Disarmament and Climate Action ( hybrid events). Participants at the PACEY Awards event will vote by secret ballot to determine the three winners.
 

International Women’s Day 2023: “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from UN Women

The theme for International Women’s Day, 8 March 2023 (IWD 2023) is, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. This theme is aligned with the priority theme for the upcoming 67th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW-67), “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”. 


Photo: UN Trust Fund/Phil Borges

The United Nations Observance of IWD recognizes and celebrates the women and girls who are championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education. IWD 2023 will explore the impact of the digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities. The event will also spotlight the importance of protecting the rights of women and girls in digital spaces and addressing online and ICT-facilitated gender-based violence.

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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?

(continued from left column)

Bringing women and other marginalized groups into technology results in more creative solutions and has greater potential for innovations that meet women’s needs and promote gender equality. Their lack of inclusion, by contrast, comes with massive costs: as per UN Women’s Gender Snapshot 2022 report, women’s exclusion from the digital world has shaved $1 trillion from the gross domestic product of low- and middle-income countries in the last decade—a loss that will grow to $1.5 trillion by 2025 without action. Reversing this trend will require tackling the problem of online violence, which a study of 51 countries revealed 38 per cent of women had personally experienced.

A gender-responsive approach to innovation, technology and digital education can increase the awareness of women and girls regarding their rights and civic engagement. Advancements in digital technology offer immense opportunities to address development and humanitarian challenges, and to achieve the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals. Unfortunately, the opportunities of the digital revolution also present a risk of perpetuating existing patterns of gender inequality. Growing inequalities are becoming increasingly evident in the context of digital skills and access to technologies, with women being left behind as the result of this digital gender divide. The need for inclusive and transformative technology and digital education is therefore crucial for a sustainable future.

The United Nations Observance of International Women’s Day under the theme, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”, will be marked by a high-level event on Wednesday, 8 March 2023, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. EST. The event will bring together technologists, innovators, entrepreneurs, and gender equality activists to provide an opportunity to highlight the role of all stakeholders in improving access to digital tools and be followed by a high-level panel discussion and musical performances.

The Latin American front, after the assumption of Lula

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from (translation by CPNN)

In the Itamaraty Palace, headquarters of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, the recently inaugurated president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva held meetings with leaders of 15 countries, in which Brazil reaffirmed its decision to relaunch the regional organizations of integration, analyze a change in anti-drug policies imposed by the US, and sign a pact to protect the Amazon.


Boric and Lula

The expectations of a relaunch of Latin American integration gained strength at the beginning of the year and after Lula’s inaugural speech, but for now they avoid taking into account the serious divergence on integration models that subsist within the left itself and/or progressivism. .

«Our commitment will be with Mercosur and the rest of the sovereign nations of our region. We will have an active dialogue with the United States, the European Union and China. We will make more alliances to have more strength from now on. Brazil has to be the owner of its destiny, it has to be a sovereign country”, said the new Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, when announcing his road map for foreign policy.

The Mercosur agenda has several pending points, such as the possible entry of Bolivia, something in which Lula made a commitment with President Luis Arce in September, and the return of Venezuela to the organization. Lula will have to attempt a dialogue with the right-wing government of Uruguay, which has maintained a critical position towards the regional body, within the framework of its attempt to advance only in uncertain agreements with third countries or groups of nations, including China.

The bilateral meetings with presidents and high-ranking Latin American dignitaries, after Lula’s inauguration, were the kickoff to resume important issues for Brazil and its partners: a pact to protect the Amazon, a bi-oceanic corridor with Chile, and Brazil’s active return to the mechanisms of regional organizations that were abandoned by the Bolsonaro administration.

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(Click here for the original article in Spanish.)

Questions related to this article:
 
Latin America, has it taken the lead in the struggle for a culture of peace?

(Continued from left column)

After meeting with Lula, the new President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro wrote that the fight for the Amazon is a common project for the two Latin American leaders. “A great pact to save the Amazon jungle in favor of humanity. Towards a change in drug policy; a Brazil guarantor of peace in Colombia and the study of the electrical interconnection of the Americas with clean energy sources”.

Brazil plans to convene a summit with the 11 presidents who share the Amazon. The meeting would take place in the first half of the year in Brazil.

“We have decided to restart the link between Argentina and Brazil with all the strength that it should always have,” said Lula, who will return the visit in Buenos Aires, where concrete actions will be sought to promote bilateral and regional integration. The expectations that open up for Latin America and for the particular cases of Venezuela and Bolivia.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric remarked that “The complicity that exists between both governments and the Latin American and South American integration policy that we are going to carry out, working together, Chile and Brazil, has become clear.” Boric spoke with Lula about his interest in the bi-oceanic corridor, a route through Argentina and Paraguay that will link the ports of Brazil and Chile.

“We are going to work to strengthen the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) and Unasur, and we are going to risk it so that integration is not only based on declarations,” he added.

Lula reported that with Bolivian President Luis Arce he discussed collaboration on social policies, energy and the supply of fertilizers. Arce stressed the importance of deepening the work agenda on border issues, gas, electricity, urea, investment and trade between the two countries.

The president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, the only Central American president to attend Lula’s inauguration, affirmed that at the next meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), on January 24, she will establish with Lula, through a agreement, the different ways in which Honduras will receive support from Brazil.Lula da Silva Jorge Rodríguez

Jorge Rodríguez, president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, held a meeting with Lula on Monday. Social movements in Brazil held an event in the capital to return the Venezuelan embassy to Venezuela after three years of being closed due to the aggressive policies of the government of the outgoing Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro.

In addition to the re-entry to Mercosur, several issues remain pending on the agenda with Venezuela. The first is the normalization of diplomatic relations, which is already underway with the appointment of Manuel Vicente Vadell as ambassador to Brazil and the announcement by Foreign Minister Vieira to immediately send “a charge d’affaires to recover the buildings that we have there.” ”, and then appoint an ambassador.

(Thank you to OtherNews for calling this article to our attention.)

Latin America, has it taken the lead in the struggle for a culture of peace?

This discussion was originally launched back in 2013 during what has been called the first progressive wave”. Here is a link to the discussion as it existed at that time. The photo above comes from that time, as well as the articles listed below prior to 2015.

The re-election of Lula in Brazil in 2022 has raised hopes for a second progressive wave”.

Following the re-election of Lula as President of Brazil, we asked the CPNN representative in Brazil, Herbert Lima, if he thought that Brazil would now take a leadership role for the culture of peace. Here is his assessment:

The first and second terms of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula) in Brazil, from 2002 to 2010, were marked by a strong campaign to build a culture of peace in the country. Lula and his Workers’ Party (PT) defended the idea that building a more just and egalitarian society would be fundamental for building a culture of peace.

During his term, Lula implemented policies aimed at reducing poverty and social inequality, such as the Bolsa Família program and raising the minimum wage. These measures had a significant impact on improving the living conditions of millions of Brazilians, contributing to the construction of a fairer and more balanced society.

In addition, Lula also stood out on the international level, seeking to build relations of cooperation and dialogue with countries in Latin America and the world. This posture contributed to the reduction of international tensions and to the promotion of a culture of peace.

Since the end of Lula’s term in 2010, the culture of peace in Brazil has faced difficulty. The subsequent government of Bolsonaro did not prioritize policies aimed at reducing poverty and social inequality, which contributed to increased social tensions and increased violence. In addition, there was an increase in hate speech and intolerance, which threaten the construction of a fairer and more inclusive society.

There was also a change in the country’s international posture, with a distancing from relations of cooperation and dialogue with other countries in Latin America and the world, which may have contributed to the increase in international tensions.

However, it is important to highlight that building a culture of peace is a continuous and challenging process, which requires the action of different sectors of society, and does not depend only on the government. Civil society plays a fundamental role in building a culture of peace, through campaigns and actions aimed at promoting tolerance, solidarity and inclusion, and during this period it did its part, opposing the Bolsonaro government and its policies of dismantling of the institutions of the Lula government.

It is still difficult to accurately predict how the future of the culture of peace in Brazil will be in the coming years, as there is a clear division and political polarization in the current congress. However, it is possible to evaluate the proposals and speeches of the Workers’ Party (PT) and Lula to assess expectations about the culture of peace in the country. (See CPNN article of January 9.)

In general, it is expected that, if Lula has political capital in Congress, he and the PT will again prioritize policies aimed at reducing poverty and social inequality, such as the Bolsa Família program and raising the minimum wage. These measures have the potential to improve the living conditions of the most vulnerable Brazilians and, thus, contribute to building a fairer and more balanced society, fundamental to a culture of peace.

In addition, Lula and the PT are expected to seek to strengthen cooperation and dialogue relations with other countries in Latin America and the world, which may contribute to the reduction of international tensions and to the promotion of a culture of peace. (See CPNN article of January 7.)

However, it is important to remember that building a culture of peace is a complex and challenging process, and that government action is just one of the many pieces of this puzzle. Civil society also plays a fundamental role in this process, through campaigns and actions aimed at promoting tolerance, solidarity and inclusion.

ARTICLES SINCE 2022

Mexico supports the launch of the Third World March for Peace and Nonviolence

Start of the 3rd World March for Peace and Nonviolence: A global call for unity

Revista CoPaLa, Constructing Peace in Latin America, July-December 2023

Book: Culture of Human Rights for a future of Peace

Mercosur without Racism: Brazil will propose a campaign at a meeting of ministers from the bloc

Brazil President Lula’s speech to the G7

Lula Won’t Send Arms to Ukraine: “Brazil Is a Country of Peace

Brazil’s ex-president Lula pledges to bolster Latin American integration if elected

Lula: “We will rebuild relations with all the countries of the world.”

The Latin American front, after the assumption of Lula

In COP27 Speech, Lula Vows to Make Amazon Destruction ‘A Thing of the Past’

ARTICLES BEFORE 2015

Congreso de Cultura de Paz esgrime detalles de justicia y equidad (Bolivia)

Culture of Peace Congress calls for justice and equality (Bolivia)

Bachelet y Humala proyectan futuro de paz (Chile y Perú)

Chile, Peru Plan a Future of Peace

Proclamation of Latin America and Caribbean as a zone of peace, signed by the Heads of State and Governments of the Community of Latin American and Caribbeans States

What is happening with solar energy?

.. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ..

A survey by CPNN

Here are two graphs published in the last few weeks that tell an important economic story.

The first graph was published in a report of the International Energy Agency (IEA) on December 6. We see that solar energy (photovoltaic) is predicted to surpass other energy sources within the next 3 years. Nuclear power is not shown in the graph, but it accounted for about 10% of global energy generation in 2019, down from a peak of 16.5% in 1997.


(click on image to enlarge)

According to an article published December 12 in Yahoo Finance, improvements in technology and increased economies of scale, have substantially decreased solar energy costs. While the cost of utility scale photovoltaic fixed tilt installation was $4.75 per watt in 2010, the cost was just $0.94 per watt in 2020. And for the future, it is likely solar costs will decline further.

According to an article in China Daily on December 26 quoting the IEA, the cost of photovoltaic production is lowest in China: costs in China tend to be 10 percent lower than in India, 20 percent lower than in the US and 35 percent lower than in parts of Europe.

(Continued in right column)

Question for this article:

Are we making progress in renewable energy?

(Continued from left column)

The second graph was published by the website Cleantechnica on December 14, based on a report from Rethink Energy. We see that China and the United States were at the opposite extremes of solar power installation last year. China increased its solar installation more than anywhere else in the world, while the United States actually decreased its installations.


According to an article in the Business Wire on January 3, China exported solar cells to more than two hundred countries and regions around the world in 2021. The publisher’s analysis shows that India, Turkey, Vietnam, South Korea, Germany, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, the Netherlands and the Philippines are China’s major solar cell export destinations by export volume.

Solar exports from China to Europe are expected to increase as a result of the energy inflation and energy insecurity caused by the Russia-Ukraine tensions, as reported by the South China Morning Post on January 2. As for the United States, imports from China are reduced because Washington has imposed steep import tariffs on Chinese solar panels and banned solar energy components from China’s Xinjiang region over concerns of forced labour. “Chinese solar panels manufacturers will continue facing import restrictions imposed by the US government in the foreseeable future.”

Another impediment in the United States is the opposition to solar power by the right-wing Republicans, as described by the Los Angeles Times on December 13.

English bulletin January 1, 2023

. LATIN AMERICA AND AFRICA .

Looking back at 2023, one bright spot has been the continued advance of the culture of peace in Latin America and Africa.

In Latin America, this has been particularly dramatic in the case of Colombia, which is emerging from decades of civil war. Last month we featured articles from the cities of Armenia, Cúcuta and Florencia. Earlier in 2022, we published articles from Cartagena, Viotá, Medellin and Tuluá, as well as numerous articles on national initiatives for the culture of peace.

In Armenia, the Observatory for the City, Peace, Coexistence and Citizen Culture has been created so that organizations, associations and foundations, public and private entities, as well as members of civil society and victims of armed conflict can contribute to the construction of the peace of the municipality. Armenia is the second city in Colombia to establish such an observatory.

In Cúcuta, during the Nights of Peace. the neighborhoods of Cúcuta and the adjacent rural area will be visited for 17 days, with different entertainments including a theatrical presentation, puppet shows, musical acts and, of course, the traditional prayer of the Novenas of Bonus. All these are framed under the message of the culture of peace and the promotion of the values of respect, forgiveness and reconciliation.

In Florencia, 45 university students, social leaders and victims of the armed conflict attended a course and received the diploma “Transitional justice: a contribution to the construction of territorial peace”. The course started last July for which ten accredited national and international organizations contributed their knowledge and experience.

Mexico, too, is heavily involved. In 2022, we published articles on the Mexican cities and states of Oaxaca, Zacatecas, Alamo and Queretero, Jalisco and Chihuahua, as well as national government initiatives for a culture of peace. Additionally, in December, we published the following:

In San Juan del Rio, various commitments have been established by Rotary International as part of the project “Building a culture of positive peace”,

In Atlixco, the First Day of Culture of Peace included a discussion with local actors “to generate a space for the exchange of knowledge, dialogue and learning for reconstruction of the social fabric and the construction of a Culture of Peace..”

In Jalisco, the “V Global Forum on the Culture of Peace” was held to analyzing the conflicts and problems that trigger violence, as well as proposing solutions to promote social reconciliation.

In Hidalgo, networks of Women Peace-Builders (MUCPAZ) were created in Apan, Tula de Allende and Pachuca, strategic municipalities for the reconstruction of the social fabric.

In Brazil, the project “Weaving Networks for a Culture of Peace and Violence Prevention” was part of the Culture of Peace Fair of Juiz de Fora, dedicated to the establishment of an effective network for preventing and coping with the various forms of violence in the city.

Also in Brazil, the XII Educational Guidance Forum in Brasilia addressed the theme “Educational Guidance for a Culture of Peace”, to prevent violence and for a culture of peace in the daily lives of schools.

In Honduras, the Festival of Inclusion of Cerro Juana Laínez was dedicated to strengthen the inclusion and participation of women, youth, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, people with disabilities, the LGBTIQ+ community and Honduran citizens in the processes of social oversight and participation politics, as a contribution to the culture of peace.

As for Africa, during last year we carried articles on the culture of peace from Togo, Mali, Guinea, Gabon, Madagascar, Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, Chad, Niger and Zimbabwe.

In December alone, here are additional articles from Africa.

In Chad, the provinces of Lac and Hadjer-Lamis came together for a sports cultural festival focused on the culture of peace and living together.

In Morocco, the city of Agadir hosted the the 6th Edition of the African Forum of Territorial Managers and Training Institutes targeting Local Governments. One of the themes was “Capacity building for the promotion of the Culture of Peace and the art of negotiation.”

In Burkina Faso, it was announced that the 28th edition of the Pan-African Film and Television Festival will take place in February with the theme “African Cinemas and Culture of Peace”.

And in the Gambia, the West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP) convened a day’s ‘bantaba’ (group discussion) on youth participation in decision-making and peace-building to strengthen the capacity of peace building practitioners, governmental and non-governmental institutions, and to develop conflict prevention networks and mechanisms to promote the culture of peace.

Finally, the results of the World Cup of Football were celebrated in terms of the culture of peace in Latin America and Africa. From Argentina, Alicia Cabezudo considers that World Championship as an opportunity for education for cultures of peace. And from Africa, the embrace of footballers Achraf Hakimi of Morocco and Kylian Mbappe of France but African ancestry was celebrated as “the spirit of sport which is the culture of peace”.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

dem

Mexico: Culture of Peace Day in Atlixco for first time

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

tolerance

Africa Well-represented in Catholic Non-Violence Initiative on “just peace” in Rome

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

development

Greenpeace on COP15: A bandage for biodiversity protection

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

disarm

What Do Ukrainians Want? Not an Uncompromising Battle That Puts Them in Grave Danger

  

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

women

Hidalgo, Mexico: Networks of Women Peace-Builders created in Apan, Tula and Pachuca

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

education

Brazil: Forum brings together advisors to discuss culture of peace in schools

HUMAN RIGHTS

HR

Revealing He Too Had Manning Leaks, Ellsberg Dares DOJ to Prosecute Him Like Assange

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

info

Colombia: This is how the new Peace and Human Rights Observatory of Armenia will work

What Do Ukrainians Want? Not an Uncompromising Battle That Puts Them in Grave Danger

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by Richard Miller in Common Dreams (licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

(Editor’s note: We recently published an article in CPNN with polls showing that a majority of Russians no longer desire the war with Ukraine despite the dictatorial suppression of opposition to the war by the Putin regime. Now here is an article with polls showing similar results in Ukraine despite the dictatorial suppression of opposition to the war by the Zelensky regime.

Since negotiations with Russia ended in late March, the president of Ukraine has proclaimed a goal of uncompromising victory: “Free our entire territory. Drive the occupiers out of all our regions.” The battle to achieve this victory has relied on a vast surge of military equipment, of steeply increasing sophistication, destructiveness and reach, provided by the United States, in military aid in excess of $15 billion . How well does the uncompromising battle fit Ukrainians’ desires? Not well enough to justify the U.S. government’s encouragement and support.

There is no doubt that the vast majority of Ukrainians want Russia to leave the territory it controls. Even in eastern regions controlled by pro-Russian separatists, only a minority wanted to be part of Russia, pre-invasion. And, of course, there is no doubt that the consequences of battles to drive Russia out of Ukrainian territory are, to put it mildly, undesired. In the estimate of the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, well over 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers and as many as 40,000 Ukrainian civilians have already been killed or wounded. Seven million people have fled abroad , from a country where forty one million had lived outside of Crimea before the war, and six and a half million are internally displaced by the war’s devastation. But the moral justification of U.S. support and encouragement for an uncompromising battle depends on a more difficult question, “To what extent do people where the carnage of an uncompromising battle would be concentrated support it despite its toll?” The most defensible answer is an important reason why the U.S. should change course.

Polls of Ukrainian opinion exclude some areas where the toll of an uncompromising battle to expel Russia would be especially severe. A large majority of people living in Crimea identify as ethnically Russian. There is no reason to suppose that they would willingly endure the brutal mayhem required to restore Ukrainian sovereignty. Russian-controlled areas in the east that included extensive separatist-controlled territory pre-invasion are not surveyed now. In the 2019 poll of people in separatist-controlled regions that I cited, conducted by a Berlin-based think tank, 45 percent supported integration with Russia and 31 percent supported special autonomy status within Ukraine. The only news story in U.S. media that I am aware of that is based on extensive on-the-ground interviews in contested separatist regions was published in the New York Times on January 16 this year; it reported widespread support for separatism, substantial opposition, and the longing of most people for the end of the grave burdens of conflict that they had already endured.

(Continued in right column)

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

(Continued from left column)

In polls of the remaining territory, responses favoring an uncompromising battle are much less common where its carnage would be concentrated. For example, in a May 19-24 telephone poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 61% supported continuing “opposing Russian aggression until all of Ukraine, including Crimea, is under Kyiv control,” but in the east, where dangers of carnage are greatest, this was the response of a minority, 45%. This tepid response is already disturbing, given the geographic limitation. KIIS’s comment on a May survey points to another, non-geographic factor: “In our opinion, a more significant impact on representativeness may have [been] either a lower willingness to participate in polls of citizens with ‘pro-Russian’ moods, or the insincerity of those who still took part in the poll (given the obvious facts and prevailing views in the media about the Russian invasion, some citizens ‘publicly’ do not want to say what they really think).”

A long history of political repression contributes to that reluctance. Since well before the current invasion, Zelensky has vigorously repressed potential sources of support for concessive negotiations.

One dual target has been the second-largest party in parliament, the Opposition Platform for Life, which is inclined to accommodation of Russia and led Zelensky’s party in some polls when the repression began, and Viktor Medvedchuk, its chairperson and major financier. On February 3, 2021, three television stations owned by Medvedchuk were banned . Though it lacked the constitutional authority to do so, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council seized Medvedchuk’s assets on February 19, 2021 and put him under house arrest in May. These measures were followed by imprisonment shortly after Russia’s invasion. By the start of 2022, the government had banned most of the main opposition media. On March 20, 2022, Zelensky banned eleven parties, including the Opposition Platform, and signed a decree merging all national TV channels into a single platform.

These actions, along with many other restrictive measures, help to explain why Freedom House’s “democracy score” for Ukraine throughout Zelensky’s presidency has been substantially lower than Hungary’s under Viktor Orban. Prior to these constraints, a June 2017 poll of people outside the separatist regions and Crimea asked about compromise with Russia and separatists for the sake of peace in the eastern provinces. 52 percent responded that “it is necessary to accept compromises, but not all of them.” 18 percent (25 percent in the east) endorsed the option, “Peace ‘at any price,’ it is necessary to make any compromise – with anyone and on anything.”

Faced with challenges to U.S. support for an uncompromising battle, its defenders claim that it reflects the will of the people of Ukraine. If most of those who are in most danger do not willingly accept the price of what the U.S. sustains and encourages, this is a powerful reason why the U.S. should change course.

After nine months of war, carnage and surging armament, concessive peace is still feasible, a peace that the U.S. could promote by moderating its acceleration of military provision, moderating the tone and content of its public calls for Ukrainian victory, and engaging in quiet diplomacy with both sides. It would consist of ceasefire around lines of control not recognized as sovereign borders by Ukraine or Russia, lines including Russia’s control of Crimea and of significant gains since its invasion: substantial expansion in Luhansk and Donetsk beyond the eastern regions that separatists had controlled and a wide southern corridor from there to Crimea, removing pre-war obstacles to supplies and water. Respect for the desires of people in Ukraine is no excuse for rejecting this change in the U.S. response to the Ukraine war.