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.

Isabelle Bourgeois: Your joy is my destination

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article by Tony Robinson from Pressenza

Early readers from the first days of Pressenza will remember Isabelle Bourgeois as a passionate journalist who joined the Base Team of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence.  Almost every day, Isabelle would upload a video summary of the day’s events, telling both the serious and humorous sides of the journey.

In fact, Isabelle is a professionally trained journalist who has worked in war zones such as Iraq, Ethiopia and Kosovo for the Red Cross, but despairing of the one-sided stories portrayed in the media, Isabelle abandoned mainstream journalism and has set off to follow her own dream, driven by a profound purpose: to seek out joy in the world and to transmit it to as many people as possible.

As I know Isabelle very well from the time we shared on the World March, she called me a few weeks ago to say she was on her tour called “Joy for the Planet” and wanted to come and see what inspiring people she could find in Hungary.  I realised that after 6 months’ sleeping in her camper van, she’d probably welcome the spare bed and hot shower I could offer her!  So to Budapest she came and I helped out while she met up with a young Japanese ballet dancer who she was in contact with and who offered to be a subject in a video to spread joy through dance.  We spoke a lot about her project, her purpose and the future.


Isabelle decorates her beloved vehicle and home for 2018 (Image by Joy for the Planet)

One has the impression with Isabelle that she is being guided by a great force.  What seems to be a coincidence at first, later on always feels like it was meant to be.  As she says herself, “I’m the right person at the right place, at the right time with the right people.”
I took the opportunity to interview her for Pressenza and offer her her old role back!

Pressenza: What is Joy for the Planet? Tell us about this project.

Isabelle Bourgeois: Joy for the planet is a journey around the world but starting with a tour through Europe, with my camper van that I’ve called Begoodee, in order to promote and share joy, enthusiasm and passion through meeting inspiring people.  I’m a journalist and all my life I’ve been dedicated to promoting and sharing positive news, inspiring news, through the media and I wanted to bring my own contribution to improve humankind, somehow, on a very humble level.  So the idea is to travel throughout Europe for one year with the gift that I’m born with and with my experience as a journalist, with my camera, with my microphone and pencil and some drawings.  I’m bringing joy and sharing joy as a volunteer through videos, articles and interviews.

PZ: I see that as part of the project, in every place you go, you look for inspiring people who you award with the title nominee of joy and give them a solar lamp. What’s that about?

IB: The idea again is to bring trust and faith, but faith not in a religious sense, faith in yourself, faith in your life’s mission, faith in the purpose that you are living on Earth.  So the idea is to build bridges instead of fear, instead of walls, to show how much beauty there is in the world and how many great and inspiring people there are.  And on the road, in order to show the light that goes from person to person helping each other and being passionate about their lives, I found a concrete way to symbolize this transmission of love and passion with a little solar lamp.

So on the road, in a way which is not at all planned or controlled, something totally spontaneous, I might meet some people; adults, disabled people, children who are willing to build solar lamps with me.  So they add their light to this project, they add their love, they add their hopes, by building these little lamps.  And on the road I offer these lamps to inspiring people who dedicate their lives to others, or who bring better living conditions for us.

PZ: What led you to take on this great adventure?

IB: For the last 25 years, I’ve been a journalist and at the beginning I was a regular journalist, writing about gossip, violence and scandals; nothing that actually helps anyone to evolve and I was also working as a humanitarian delegate in war-torn countries.  And being in war zones I was surprised to see so much love, solidarity, great behaviour and forgiveness from all parties involved in the conflict.  But in the evening when I came back home and switched on the TV, the media were only talking about terrorism, bomb attacks, violence and blood, and I said that there’s something here which isn’t right, because I’m in the middle of the war and I see so much beauty also, so much love, so much peace and I thought, “Oh, there’s a kind of conscious manipulation by omitting what makes people human beings.”  And I didn’t want to take part in that lie anymore because this war and violence is a reality but it’s not the reality.  And I witnessed also another reality which is solidarity, helping each other, forgiving and so 15 years ago I decided to create a good news website – somehow similar to Pressenza – on a voluntary basis and I decided to quit mainstream journalism for good, because it contributes much more to increasing fear, hate and judgment among people than to bringing trust and inspiring solutions.  So this was the first thing I did.

And then I tried as a freelance journalist to publish good news, inspiring news, but most of the media said, “Good news is not news, Isabelle,” and, “You’re too idealistic, you’re too naïve.” Really, I was hitting my head against a brick wall for many years, wanting to show that other side of reality.

So in the mean time I created other projects like, for instance, Planet Positive Action which is a travel company that organises solidarity tours. 

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It’s about travellers who visit a country while at the same time helping and giving a meaning to the trip. So I did that while taking a bit more distance from journalism but I never gave up on the idea of really bringing my journalistic faculties to others because I love my job.

I think journalism is one of the most beautiful jobs in the world.  So two years ago I said I will not give up on inspiring journalism or humanist journalism and I said, “But how can I bring my reportage, my features, my articles, if mainstream media are not that interested in publishing what I see and who I meet?”  And so I said, “I’ll do it on my own, I’ll just find some money to buy a vehicle and I’ll jump into the world with my camera, my microphone, my pencil and I’ll just do it on my own. I will not wait any more for people to follow me in this. I’ll just do it.”

And I did some crowdfunding last November and I succeeded to collect eighteen thousand euros which was beyond my expectations because I was asking for fifteen thousand.  And then I bought my second-hand old camper van and that’s it.  I started my journey from Switzerland six months ago and this is how it happened, to make a long story short. Although the project only took shape two years ago, it’s really a life-time commitment.

PZ: On your journey so far from Switzerland with Begoodee, where have you been? And could you give us a couple of highlights for you?

IB:  Yes.  So I started in Switzerland then I went down to Sardinia, Corsica, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland and then I went through all the Baltic countries to Poland, and I landed now a few days ago in Budapest.

Highlights?  Actually every day of that journey has been a highlight because I’ve met such unbelievable people, extraordinary people.

So for instance in Finland, I met Villé, a 25 years old young man who tried to kill himself when he was 16 years old because he couldn’t fit with that world.  It was like he was parachuted on to a terrible planet he didn’t want to belong to. So he jumped off a cliff, and he told me, “I jumped from the cliff. I’ve lost two legs, but I found my joy.”  And he was sharing with me what made him so joyful today and he said that it was this path that has nothing to do with what is visible, with materialistic issues; it’s about finding peace and loving everything whatever it is, beyond shape and form, beyond the physical.  So he was really a fantastic person.

Also in Finland, I participated in the world championships of boot-throwing. This also I loved so much because it was kind of, when you’re going through a hard time and you have this total nonsense sport which helps you also to give a meaning to your life, because it helps you to take distance from drama and from seriousness.  So I found it actually very therapeutic.

Also in the South of France I met a guy whose dream, he is 75 years old, was to cross the Atlantic inside a barrel.

I’ve met Buddhists, I’ve met Jewish people who are committed to bringing peace to the Middle East.  I’ve met dancers who were dancing to bring all the nations together.

And I have rewarded – it’s not me actually it’s the project, because there is a big difference between me and the project – so the project has rewarded so far 36 or 37 nominees of Joy.

PZ: What’s the future for this project?  Where are you seeing it in the future?

IB:  Of course, the idea now is to build something that will remain, that will be useful for everyone.  So this year’s journey is just for me a calling card to show to everyone that I want to give an example.  So, I did it with all my love, with all my convictions.  I did it and then I will write a book about this journey and I would like to make a movie because so far I’ve edited more than 60 videos but very short so I’d like to make a movie. And then with this movie, the journey (the experience), the writing and the film, I would like to create a kind of a place, a physical location, where people can experience joy: joy through art, joy through science (with quantum physics, for instance, how your thoughts are influencing your destiny), joy with music, joy and education, and so on.  So, it will be a place where people can experience, in an interactive way, how to find the key to joy in life and how to live a dream, how to align your values with your actions.

PZ:  What have you learned in these last six months?

IB: [Laughter] That I was right! I’ve learned somehow very deep, but I’ve learned that I was right to trust human beings.  I was right all my life to trust human beings, and to see jewels within them. And people who behave badly, it’s not that they’re bad, it’s just that they didn’t have the chance to be loved enough to follow their dreams.  So all the harm and the bad is coming from ignorance.  It’s not coming from reality, rather from a source of negativity.  It’s really an accident in a loving process in an individual’s path.  So, I’ve learned that actually everyone is good and has a very beautiful ground but education factors have stopped them from remaining loving or a loved person.  I’ve learned that I shouldn’t judge anymore what is right and what is wrong, because if you decide what’s right, what’s wrong, then you will feed the notion of duality and this is not at all what I would like to contribute.  So by accepting light and dark, good and bad in a compassionate way, I believe that I contribute more to building this sense of oneness on earth.

PZ: And finally, what brings you joy?

IB: Of course, this project actually.  There is joy in finding joy actually.  So because all my life, I really felt joy despite the burdens, difficulties and troubles in my life, I never quit that deep feeling that everything has a purpose and that we’re not alone and that there’s a reason for all the turbulence in your life.  So I never quit that underground stream of joy, but it was of course up and down, up and down, like as if I was going out of the flow and then back into the flow, and out of the flow and back again.  But now, through this project I feel really that I’m non-stop in the flow of joy, non-stop, because I feel that I’m the right person at the right place, at the right time with the right people and that I’m really doing what I was born for, that I’m in my life’s mission.

PZ: Very good. Thank you and good luck!

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe

Peoples Climate Movement Launches Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice September 8th

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

A press release from 350.org

On September 8th, four days before the start of the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, California, and two months before the U.S. midterm elections, people from across the country and around the world will take to the streets to demand bold action on climate change. Globally the mobilization is called “Rise for Climate,” where advocates plan to send a clear message to governments through distributed actions in towns, institutions, cities to push forward real climate action. 

 At GCAS, mayors, governors, and CEOs from the US and beyond are expected to announce plans to make further emissions cuts a part of global efforts to combat climate change. Communities are calling on these leaders to ramp up their ambitions.

The Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice September 8th mobilization builds upon a year of strategic movement building in a set of states that will energize local, state, and national efforts and lay the foundation for a long-lasting, sustainable climate movement.

Last year, as the Trump Administration rolled back climate and health policies, along with many others, more than 200,000 people marched in the streets of Washington D.C. in resistance. At the same time, we saw hundreds of local and global elected officials make verbal commitments to climate action. This year, the Peoples Climate Movement aims to transform the energy of resistance into action by calling on leaders and elected officials to invest in real solutions to the climate crisis that prioritize the most impacted and vulnerable of our communities, like a massive, just transition to a 100% renewable economy that ensures safe and healthy communities, the right to organize for all workers, and millions of family-sustaining jobs.

Speaking towards the global day of action, Estrella Sainburg, Circle Organizer, GreenFaith said, “September 8th marks a global day of action because simply put, stopping the climate crisis is going to take all of us. Across the world, communities will rise up to demand that elected officials raise the bar and step up their commitments. “Real climate action” doesn’t mean hollow words. It means a fast, fair, and just transition away from fossil fuels to a 100% renewable energy economy, that protects the most vulnerable communities already impacted by climate change and creates good paying jobs and opportunities for all. These are some of the real solutions that our communities need and deserve. We will use the Global Climate Action Summit as a key moment to put ourselves on the right path of action and implementation. This is the moral obligation at hand for our leaders and we are calling on them to step up to the plate.”

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Question for this article:

Despite the vested interests of companies and governments, Can we make progress toward sustainable development?

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Paul Getsos, National Director, Peoples Climate Movement said, “PCM’s work to lift up Climate, Jobs, and Justice now, prior to GCAS, and in November is not only critical in this political moment, but supports our overall goal of building out a climate movement that is long lasting and sustainable. We are creating the space for our partners to amplify, and be led by, the often overlooked voices of their constituents. Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice September 8th is a mobilization of these voices across the country and around the world, building power to bring about a new, clean energy economy.”

Branden Snyder, Executive Director, Good Jobs Now! said, “The role of Good Jobs Now in Detroit is to raise the issue of environmental racism, educate on the impact Climate Change is having in our city and connect it to the everyday economic justice issues that Detroiters know very well to this fight. The effects of oil and gas pollution are disproportionately afflicting African-Americans, particularly with higher cancer and respiratory issues affecting Detroiters who live near incinerators and refineries. We see environmental racism in the rising heating cost and the damage that occurs after heavy rains because of our old and “grey” infrastructural system. Our work with the PCM is to build a people powered movement to fight against it.”

Miya Yoshitani, Executive Director, Asian Pacific Environmental Network said,  Leaders around the world should be looking at solutions through the lens of people that have been most impacted and who will be most impacted by climate change. This means going beyond increasing temperatures, droughts, and rising sea levels; and recognizing that climate change is a threat multiplier for working families everywhere. For families facing housing insecurity and rising food and energy costs, people who need jobs where you don’t have to trade your health for a living wage. Our communities are at the forefront of creating solutions to the climate crisis. And elected officials should follow their lead.”

Lenore Friedlaender, Assistant to the President of SEIU Local 32BJ said, “Working people are being devastated by climate change.  Extreme weather, rising sea levels, chronic diseases like asthma that are made worse by pollution, the lack of clean drinking water in our schools and communities all take a toll on working class, people of color and poor communities.  Climate change at a time of increasing economic inequality is a toxic combination for the majority of americans. We have the opportunity to create good jobs in wind, solar and the renewable energy sector that move us to a healthier future and a more just society. The time to act is now.”

Reverend Leo Woodberry, Pastor of Kingdom Living Temple and Executive Director of New Alpha Community Development Corporation said, “Only when we put Justice First, Can we ensure that we have a just transition that addresses Climate Change, Jobs with a living wage, and to improve the lives of the least among us.”

For more information please go to:

www.riseforclimate.org

www.peoplesclimate.org

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

North America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Brazil: Cotia organizes the 1st Walk for the Culture of Peace

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from Visão oeste

The first Walk for the Culture of Peace, organized by the Sports, Culture and Leisure Secretariat of Cotia, is scheduled for Sunday (26/08) in partnership with a commission of representatives from different religious groups in the city.

The objective of the event is to spread peace, respect and interreligious dialogue, bringing, through culture, respect for the other, showing that intolerance has generated daily suffering around the world.

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(Click here for a Portuguese version of this article)

Questions for this article:

Can festivals help create peace at the community level?

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The event will begin at 9:30 am in Praça da Matriz, with departure scheduled at 10:00 am. The course will feature music, poetry and dances. The arrival point will be at Joaquim Nunes Square and participants will be welcomed by a cultural feast with food stalls, handicraft exhibitions, open microphone, dance performances, capoeira wheel, samba wheel, among other attractions.

“The proposal is to pave the way for the promotion of respect for cultures. The involvement of different religions in a single event is a way to combat prejudices with expression, fight against segregation, and combat prejudice in a general way, “said Gilmar de Almeida, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Culture.

Still according to him, the goal is that this is a movement that perpetuates in Cotia.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

David Swanson Awarded 2018 Peace Prize of the US Peace Memorial Foundation

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

Report from the US Peace Memorial Foundation

The Board of Directors of the US Peace Memorial Foundation  has voted unanimously to award its 2018 Peace Prize to The Honorable David Swanson “whose inspiring antiwar leadership, writings, strategies, and organizations help to create a culture of peace.”


Video of presentation

Michael Knox, Chair of the Foundation, presented the award on August 26 at the Veterans For Peace 33rd Annual Convention held in St. Paul, MN.

In his remarks, Knox said, “Thank you, David, for dedicating your life to ending wars.  You are one of the most prolific writers, speakers, activists, and organizers for peace.  The breadth of your work is staggering.  You have enlightened us with books that are in the forefront of modern antiwar thought; and with speeches, debates, conferences, blogs, billboards, radio shows, online courses, videos, websites, and more innovative ideas than we can name.  We want you to know that your efforts are greatly appreciated, here and around the world.”

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Questions for this article:

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

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Upon learning of the award, David said, “This wonderful honor is definitely having the impact on me that I imagine is intended, namely it is inspiring me to keep at it and work harder to advance the abolition of war and the development of peaceful behaviors and institutions.  Thank you for the pat on the back but also for the kick in the rear.  We have a long ways yet to go.”

In addition to receiving the 2018 Peace Prize, our highest honor, Swanson has been designated a  Founding Member  of the US Peace Memorial Foundation.  He joins previous Peace Prize  recipients Ann Wright, Veterans For Peace, Kathy Kelly, CODEPINK Women for Peace, Chelsea Manning, Medea Benjamin, Noam Chomsky, Dennis Kucinich, and Cindy Sheehan.  Nominees considered by the Board in 2018 included Daniel Ellsberg, Nancy Mancias, Colman McCarthy, Sharon Tennison, Sally-Alice Thompson, and S. Brian Willson.  You can read about the antiwar/peace activities of all recipients and nominees in our publication, the US Peace Registry.


The US Peace Memorial Foundation directs a nationwide effort to honor Americans who stand for peace by publishing the US Peace Registry, awarding an annual Peace Prize  , and planning for the US Peace Memorial  in Washington, DC.  These projects help move the United States toward a culture of peace by honoring the millions of thoughtful and courageous Americans and U.S. organizations that have taken a public stand against one or more U.S. wars or who have devoted their time, energy, and other resources to finding peaceful solutions to international conflicts.  We celebrate these role models to inspire other Americans to speak out against war and to work for peace.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, North America

Colombia: Fundación Escuelas de Paz: Illustrating the Art of Peace

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Special to CPNN from the Fundación Escuelas de Paz

The Colombian Government is moving forward in the implementation of the Peace Accord with the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force (FARC) political party and is working to secure a peace deal with the National Liberation Army (ELN). With the peace process in place, Colombia is setting an example to the world for peace and reconciliation after over half a century of armed conflict and severe violence. However, the government cannot alone bring peace to this nation.

That is why the Bogotá-based peace-building NGO, Fundación Escuelas de Paz (FEP) has been supporting peace development in Colombia since 2001. FEP plays a vital part in the emerging multi-level and multi-dimensional approaches to peace-making in Colombia by working with civil society, government, and foreign partners to discuss the importance of diverse paths to peace and promote programs that educate youths on peace-building through a multitude of projects.

FEP employs a range of actions such as research, publication, and peace-building projects, and works closely with conflict resolution field experts to support the fundamental principles of “Culture of Peace” to make peace a right and a responsibility for all citizens, especially for the new generation of Colombians. FEP operates through an interdisciplinary team that works in stimulating environments that strengthen youth networks, teachers, and schools of peace.

Every year, FEP designs and executes conflict resolution and reconciliation type projects. From May 2018 to December 2018, FEP is performing a project titled “Música, Arte y Memoria: Jóvenes del Meta transformando el tejido social” (Music, Art, and Memory: Youths of Meta transforming the social fabric), which is funded by USAID Human Rights Program and FEP. The project includes a series of eight workshops to teach peace-building skills to youths through the use of the arts. Today, recognition of the contributions of arts and culture to peace is real and quickly evolving. It is fueled not only by artist-peace-builders and cultural facilitators, but the interest is also increasing from practitioners of more traditional peacebuilding approaches, such as mediation, facilitation, negotiation, transitional justice, and human rights advocacy.

This year, FEP is getting help from two current graduate students, Valentin Castro and Evan Tueller. Valentin and Evan are both candidates in the Masters of Conflict Resolution Program at Georgetown University. Last December, both students received a fellowship through Georgetown University to go abroad during the summer and work with an organization on peacemaking themes. Valentin and Evan arrived in Bogota, Colombia on June 2, 2018, to begin their 10-week internship at FEP and help design their first peace-through-the-arts workshop for youths living in rural Colombia.

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Question related to this article:

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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The project takes place in the Department of Meta in two small towns: Mesetas and El Castillo, territories once plagued by extreme violence and armed conflict. Valentin and Evan will help execute peace workshops and develop two products to leave behind with FEP: a video documenting the execution of the first workshop and a template for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) that FEP can use to analyze and measure their overall success better.

The goal of this project is for youth groups belonging to the municipalities of Mesetas and El Castillo to become peace ambassadors for their communities by carrying out non-violent collective actions using mediums such as art and music. Other essential themes within this project include education on human, civil, and political rights, and promoting responsibility and leadership roles at individual and group levels. Upon the completing these peace workshops, the follow-on intent is for the youths to use the skills and lessons learned to replicate and teach smaller peace workshops to other youth groups in their communities. This project will help influence and raise the competence of the young people of Meta as peace representatives on the issues of human rights, conflict transformation, peace-building, and intercultural dialogue.

The first peace-building workshop entailed two parts: one part in the morning and the second one in the afternoon. The first phase is titled “El Canto de Nuestra Memoria: Tu Cancion” (The Song from our Memory: Your Song) and the second half is “Desvelando tu lienzo interior a traves del arte, la danza y la creatividad” (Unveiling Your Inner Canvas through Art, Dance, and Creativity). The first half of the workshop uses music to help individuals understand themselves better by using the space to express themselves through musical instruments, vocal sounds, and dance. These techniques also help enable trust within the students since music is known to have the potential to bring people together. The second half of the workshop entails more dancing and concludes with designing a mural that exhibits how the students view the future in their community. Art is fundamental to the development of a child’s imagination because they cannot create nor achieve anything unless they imagine it first.

Our experience at FEP has been remarkable and eye-opening. The FEP team goes beyond being our colleagues—FEP is our family. Professor Amada Benavides is an excellent leader and seasoned professional with many years of experience in constructing peace. We feel lucky to have had the opportunity to work with the FEP team here in Bogotá and the remote regions of Mesetas and El Castillo. The internship with FEP surpassed our expectations and gave us a chance to work in the field and help execute these art peace-building workshops. This internship experience left us thinking of what Aristotle once said, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.”

We leave FEP and Colombia with a better understanding of how to achieve peace through the culture of the arts and with a new positive perspective of how Colombians are finding ways to make their tomorrow better.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

UNESCO recognizes Cortes de Baza (Spain) for Dialogue and Coexistence

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

An article from Granada Hoy (reproduced without commerical purpose)

On August 20, in the cultural week prior to the festivities of Cortes de Baza, Cortes de Baza received recognition as the first Municipality for Dialogue and Coexistence in Andalusia. This appointment arises after the full agreement of the City Council on July 27, where Cortes assumed the institutionalization of the Culture of Peace in the municipality.


Neighbors from Cortes pose next to the title that recognizes them as a Municipality for Dialogue and Coexistence.

The agreement concerns the joint project of the Unesco Center of Andalusia and the Institute of Peace and Conflict of the University of Granada (IPAZ) where the municipality assumes the provisions of resolution A/RES/67/104 (2015) of the General Assembly of the United Nations on the Promotion of Dialogue, Understanding and Cooperation among Religions and Cultures for Peace.

The agreement stipulates that diversity and plurality is an asset and that minorities, whether ethnic, linguistic, cultural or religious, should be recognized, with the aim of eliminating any form of racism, discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance, in addition to look for the resolution of possible conflicts in a peaceful way.

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

Question for this article

The refugee crisis, Who is responsible?

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The agreement supports measures that promote tolerance, solidarity and coexistence with refugees, immigrants and displaced persons, as well as their social integration among other measures. It is the latter, a measure of special importance in recent days, where the arrival of people from other territories to our country is generating numerous debates on how to deal with this problem.

Under these premises and with the creation of the Intercultural Dialogue Table, organized on July 13, Cortes de Baza becomes the first Andalusian town with the recognition of Municipality for Dialogue and Coexistence.

The process of this recognition is carried out through the unequivocal demonstration that the locality assumes the aforementioned principles, through a municipal agreement as is also the case of the Altiplano municipality, where it was approved by unanimity of all political groups, and the creation of an Intercultural Dialogue Board, under the verification, advice and support of technicians and researchers from both the Unesco Andalusia Center and the IPAZ. It should be pointed out that the involvement of the City Council of Cortes de Baza as well as the teaching staff of the Colegio Santos Médicos in the locality has been fundamental.

The Intercultural Dialogue Board of Cortes de Baza is composed of people of different nationalities from Russia, Belgium, Romania, Colombia, Mexico, England, Dominican Republic, among others, as well as religious minorities such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims or Orthodox Christians.

It should also be mentioned that of the 16 members that make up this Board, all but three are women, giving it a feminist and integrative vocation. This plurality is appreciated in a small municipality such as Cortes de Baza, which has a population of less than 2,000 residents.

Europe, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

English bulletin September 1, 2018

. . PROGRESS TOWARD PEACE . .

This month we look at progress toward peace (or lack of progress) in five major wars and military confrontations: Philippines; Colombia; Ethiopia and Eritrea/North and South Korea; and Israel/Palestine.

On July 27, Philippine President Duterte signed into law the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BOL) which aims to complete the peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Southern Philippines. The agreement gives the Moro people greater autonomy in ruling their homeland in Mindanao.

Following the ratification of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, who chairs the Senate subcommittee on the BOL said “It’s a new dawn for Bangsamoro in Mindanao.” “The MILF and the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) are ready to work with the Philippine Government especially in the conduct of the plebiscite that will be held around November.”

Four years of lobbying for the inclusion of peace education in the BOL was crowned with success. Under Article IX, the Education provision of the BOL, second paragraph says: “The Bangsamoro government shall institutionalize peace education in all levels of education” Some 6,000 new teachers are deployed in five southern provinces and they are now actively helping propagate interfaith solidarity among schoolchildren in support of the government’s Mindanao peace efforts.

Putting the new law into practice, in an historic solidarity event, the Philippine military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) gathered together to celebrate the muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha.

Following two decades of hostile relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea, a joint peace and friendship agreement was signed by the two countries on 9 July in Asmara. At a rally that was organized by the communities of Eritrea and Ethiopia on 3 August, thousands of citizens of both countries expressed support to the historic agreement reached between President Isaias Afwerki and Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed to normalize relation. As a result of the agreement, there have been a series of reconciliation agreements with various armed groups, including the Oromo Liberation Front, the Amhara Democratic Forces Movement, and most recently reconciliation talks with the Tigray People’s Democratic Movement.

For years, the strife between Ethiopia and Eritrea weakened the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), in the region. Now, it is hoped that IGAD can play its role for for peace and cooperation, similar to that of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which are relatively successful in reinforcing peace and stability as well as cooperation among their members.

For years now, we have followed the peace process in Colombia. Although the newly elected government in Colombia has opposed part of the peace accords at a national level, outoing President Santos considers that the “peace is irreversible” and there continues to be progress towards peace at the departmental level. In the Department of Bolivar, the project Ruta de la Paz, is promoting tourism and cultural development in regions and municipalities that were affected by the Colombian armed conflict. And in the Department of Caldas, teachers of public educational institutions, cultural managers, librarians, social leaders, police, members of the Red Cross and members of the municipal councils have become peace promoters through the diploma “Rural education as a scenario in peace building.”

Although Afro-Colombians have become disenchanted with the implementation of the accords in their region on the West Coast, they have continued to build peace in their own ways. Residents are creating local peace-building initiatives, and last year, the residents of Buenaventura and the surrounding area shut down the city in a civil strike, demanding a recognition of their rights.

This year we have followed the progress towards an eventual peace agreement and reconciliation between North and South Korea. Progress has been slow in recent months, but a peace summit is planned for the North’s capital of Pyongyang this month. It will mark the third meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Finally, we consider the long-standng conflict between Palestine and Israel which periodically erupts into open warfare. In the latest development, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proposed a United Nations-led armed international mission to defend Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza from the Israeli army. Unfortunately, it seems that this cannot be achieved because of the veto power of the United States in the Security Council.

      

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DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION



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WOMEN’S EQUALITY


Historic leap in Tunisia: Women make up 47 per cent of local government

HUMAN RIGHTS



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TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY



UN Chief Proposes Armed Peacekeeping Force to Protect Palestinians

EDUCATION FOR PEACE



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d-disarmament

Historic leap in Tunisia: Women make up 47 per cent of local government

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from UN Women

Seven years after the 2011 Revolution and four years after the adoption of the Constitution, women now make up 47 per cent of the local council positions in Tunisia following the May 2018 elections. The dramatic increase in women members is the result of a 2016 electoral law that includes the principles of parity and alternation between men and women on candidate lists for all elections.


Ichrak Rhouma participated in the Political Academy Project. She was elected on May 6th, 2018 in Sidi Hassine council, Tunis. Photo: Aswat Nissa

In May, Ichrak Rhouma was elected to the Sidi Hassine Council in Tunis, the capital city. Prior to being elected, Rhouma participated in the Women’s Political Academy, a joint project by UN Women and the Tunisian women’s rights organization, Aswat Nissa (Women’s Voices). The Academy trained women candidates on local governance, missions and roles of municipal councils, as well as media relations. Rhouma says that the Women’s Political Academy “allowed us to deepen our knowledge on women’s rights in general, but also to learn new concepts such as gender-sensitive budgeting.”

In addition to the Academy, the project has conducted research on women’s expectations of municipal council’s activities in five regions across the country. The study’s results informed candidates’ electoral campaigns and shaped regional development planning.

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Question for this article

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

What is the United Nations doing for a culture of peace?

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Prior to the 2018 elections in Tunisia, UN Women and its civil society partners conducted capacity building sessions and supported the updating of the gender-sensitive election observation manual. UN Women also provided capacity building to 75 election observers who were trained on the importance of women’s participation in elections and how to observe gender-related issues during the voting stages.

UN Women also supported the Tunisian League of Women Voters (LET) to run awareness-raising campaigns to increase voter participation, especially in the regions of Sousse, Bizerte and Nabeul, which had registered the lowest rates in 2012 elections.

“The objective was to invigorate a participatory democracy and political culture within women and youth. Our awareness campaigns trained and engaged young men and women who went door to door explaining the importance of women’s participation in the political scene,” explains Nejma Ben Kheher, Project Officer at LET.

Khedher added, “Now that we have this high number of elected women in local and regional councils, we hope to continue supporting them with targeted training, such as access to information or gender-responsive budgeting to help them succeed in their mission.”

“The increased women’s representation in the municipal councils offers an opportunity to impact territorial policies in Tunisia,” said Leila Rhiwi, UN Women Representative in Maghreb. “UN Women will continue supporting the councils to integrate gender concerns into their communal development plans that foster good governance and women’s leadership.”

Tunisia is one of the few countries in the world to establish the principle and practice of equal representation of men and women across candidate lists (horizontal parity – where women should head 50 per cent of candidate lists), as well as down the candidate lists (vertical parity – alternating men and women through the list), in its electoral law. While gender parity has been achieved regarding the municipal lists, according to the High Authority for Independent Elections, more work is needed to support horizontal parity, since women only made up 29.6 per cent of positions at the head of party lists.

Tunisia will hold its parliamentary and presidential elections in 2019.

Mideast, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Colombia: Where there once was war is now the Route of Peace

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article for El Tiempo

A family weekend to the beat of drums in San Basilio of Palenque, or to the rhythm of porro by the composer Lucho Bermúdez in El Carmen de Bolivar, and do not return home without bringing a hammock from San Jacinto.

These towns are part of the Ruta de la Paz, a strategy promoted by the the Ministry of Culture and the departmental government of Bolivar as part of the project ‘Bolívar si avanza’. The project promotes tourism and cultural development in regions and municipalities that were affected by the Colombian armed conflict. Today they are areas full of life, progress and courage, where the inhabitants show their natural beauty, share their cultural wealth and generate economic development.

The Route of Peace includes the municipalities of Santa Catalina de Alejandría, Turbaco, Arjona, San Basilio de Palenque (Mahates), María la Baja, San Juan Nepomuceno, San Jacinto, El Carmen de Bolívar, Magangué and Mompox. Here the traveler will find natural beauty and cultural wealth, such as the filigree artisans in Mompox, the magical port on the Magdalena River, whose renowned colonial architecture still breathes the spirit called Macondo by Gabriel García Márquez.

The route, as a tourist product, is articulated with the Caribbean Corridor that has been designed by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism to strengthen employment, productivity, competitiveness, sustainability, formalization, safety and education through the schools for tourism.

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

Question related to this article:

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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In Magangué, for example, work has started at the José Francisco Chico Cervantes Cultural Center, under the project ‘Bolívar si avanza’ and Icultur. Here, 343 young people have begun their studies in different cultural programs, among which are vocal technique, piano, guitar, percussion, dance, theatrical performance and communication. All this with teachers hired by the Office of the Mayor.

Julio Rojas Cultural Center

One of the jewels of the Montes de María, a land full of folklore and traditional costumes, is San Juan Nepomuceno. It already has a cultural center named Julio Rojas Buendía, in honor of the famous musician and lawyer who was born in those lands on July 9, 1959 and died in Barranquilla on June 20, 2016, accordionist and twice the king of the Festival of La Leyenda Vallenata, in 1983 and 1994. The center was inaugurated two months ago by the Government of Bolivar and Icultur in an event attended by the director of the National Planning Department, Luis Fernando Mejía; the director of the National Federation of Departments, Carlos Felipe Córdoba, the mayor and other personalities.

As explained by the general director of Icultur, Lucy Espinosa Díaz, “this inauguration consolidates the Departmental Network of Music Schools in Bolívar, It was made with resources of the General System of Royalties (SGR), In general, there will be six cultural centers in Bolívar, of which four have already been established by the the departmental government and Icultur. The Municipalities of Santa Rosa de Lima, Magangué, Cicuco and now San Juan Nepomuceno already have a cultural center. Those of Regidor and Tiquisio remain to be established. Thus we have cultural infrastructure at the service of all in Bolivar, above all for children, who are the ones who hope to take advantage of these spaces for culture.”

Now the people of San Juan will be able to advance artistic vocational training in the programs of band music, accordion music, acoustic guitar, bagpipes, whistles and drums, folk dance and plastic arts.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

Philippine troops, Muslim rebels mark Eid Al-Adha

. .DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. .

An article by Maecy Alviar for the Andalou Agency

In a historic solidarity event, the Philippine military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) gathered on Saturday [25 August] to celebrate a Muslim holiday in the southern Philippines.  


Moro Muslims perform the Eid Al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) prayer at the orphanage opened by Turkey’s IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation in Cotabato, Philippines on August 21, 2018. ( Ahmet Furkan Mercan – Anadolu Agency )

Maminta Dimakuta, the mayor of Tagoloan Lanao, welcomed the government troops and the country’s largest Moro separatist group to the del Norte province, touting the harmonious relationship of Christians and Muslims in the town despite cultural and religious differences.

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Question for this article:

Can peace be achieved in the Philippines?

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Brig. Gen. Ramiro Manuel Rey and Col.Thomas Sedano, representatives from the soldiers’ side, expressed their gratitude to the town officials for organizing the celebration of the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha.

“I’ve long been dreaming of joining with MILF fighters in an event like this,” Sedano said, as quoted by GMA News.

The joint celebration also served to pay thanks for the milestone in the peace process in the southern Philippines, said Dimakuta.

The Bangsamoro Organic Law, the fulfillment of the 2014 peace deal between the national government and the MILF, was signed in June by President Rodrigo Duterte.

The measure for greater autonomy creates the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, a region with more political and fiscal powers including a bigger annual block grant equivalent to 5 percent of the total national internal revenue collection.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, East Asia