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.

Veracruz, Mexico : General Directorate for Culture of Peace and Human Rights

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

Sources :

The facebook page of the Dirección General de Cultura de Paz y Derechos Humanos

The official gazette of the Gobierno de Veracruz

An article in El Sol de Cordoba

The latest campaign of the General Directorate for the Culture of Peace and Human Rights of Veracruz is called the Blue Heart Mexico campaign, as announced on its Facebook page:

What is the Blue Heart Mexico campaign: #AQUIESTOY against human trafficking?

* Contribute to preventing crime among those sectors identified as most vulnerable.

* Give voice to victims of human trafficking and make visible the situations in which they find themselves.

* Raise awareness among the population so that people understand how they contribute to human trafficking, even without knowing it.

* Provide specific information on crimes and what society can do for their prevention, detection and combat.

The General Directorate of Culture of Peace and Human Rights was established in the government of Veracruz in 2019 in order to contribute to institutional strengthening through the design, implementation, management, strengthening and consolidation of public policies on culture and education for peace.

As described in their program for 2019-2024, the General Directorate responds to the emergency of addressing human rights violations and the deterioration of the social fabric in a context of high rates of violence. It establishes guidelines to deal with everything related to violence prevention through culture and education programs for peace and nonviolence, and existing programs related to prevention.

The program contributes to the public policy regarding the disappearance of persons, trafficking of people, torture, attention to human rights defenders and journalists, violence against women, girls, and adolescents, with special attention to the two Declarations: the Alert on Gender Violence against Women (one for femicidal violence; and the second for Comparative Tort). It is also concerned with care for victims of human rights violations.

It is also concerned with care for all who are in vulnerable situations, such as the LGBTTTI population, the elderly, people with disabilities, indigenous peoples, persons deprived of liberty, as well as monitoring of the care and protection measures for the migrant population.

(Article continued in right column)

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

Question related to this article:

How can we develop the institutional framework for a culture of peace?

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

(Article continued from left column)

The objective on human rights includes six strategies, which refer to the following topics:

1. Coordinate search actions regarding the disappearance of persons;

2. Coordinate comprehensive care for victims of crimes and human rights violations;

3. Evaluate compliance with international recommendations, as well as those issued by the national and state human rights commissions;

4. Coordinate in Veracruz the State Zero Tolerance Strategy for Violence against Women and Girls;

5. Follow up for the fulfillment of the actions of the Work Program
of the Declarations of Alert on Gender Violence against Women
(DAVGM).

6. Implement comprehensive care in the area of ​​human rights to the population historically violated from the differential approach.

The objective on culture of peace comprises four strategies;

1. Construct a short-term community and situational intervention model, with the participation of local actors, civil society, academia and instances of the 3 levels of government in contexts of crisis of violence, to rebuild the social fabric, focused on a specific population or territory.

2. Construct with local actors education programs for peace and non-violence based on popular education and a psychosocial approach, for vulnerable groups or populations (especially in regions with indigenous populations), to enable reconciliation and / or healing, and based on empowerment of actors who contribute to the reconstruction of the community social fabric.

3. Construct programs for peace and nonviolence in educational institutions, based on a differential approach that allows a considerable reduction of different types of violence.

4. Strengthen mechanisms for security, social prevention and combating criminal acts, in order to reduce risk factors that generate violence and crime in the areas with the highest incidence of crime.

The lines of action planned for each of the strategies can be synthesized as follows: collaboration, promotion, dissemination, prevention, training, development of diagnostics, database generation, statistical analysis, design and implementation of protocols, models and mechanisms for care, monitoring and evaluation.

To sum up, this program sets an important precedent. For the first time, in the state of Veracruz an extremely complex problem is recognized and addressed: the violations of human rights in a context of structural violence that has damaged the social fabric. To face this crisis, the program proposes the construction of an original public policy, through the culture of peace and respect for human rights, based on solidly supported objectives, strategies and actions, and oriented towards a radical transformation of the guidelines of social coexistence. Likewise, and as far as we realize, this program represents a national benchmark at a time when the State’s greatest obligation for the population is precisely in matters of human rights and citizen security.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

Culture of Peace against violence in Mexico

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

Special to CPNN from Roberto Mercadillo

The principles of the culture of peace are being used to care for the victims and to prevent further occurences of the daily violence in Mexico caused by drug addiction, homelessness and attacks on journalists, human rights defenders and their families. .



Video of “Ciclo de Diálogos en Línea: Salud y Paz 2020”

(Click here for Spanish original of this article)

Question for this article

Is there a renewed movement of solidarity by the new generation?

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

Students and researchers from the National School of Anthropology and History and the Metropolitan Autonomous University formed “Psicocalle Colectivo”, an initiative that follows the premises of Manifesto 2000 for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence to approach communities of people who live in the streets and who use psychoactive substances, to create social and government interventions based on inclusion and respect for autonomy and mutual understanding.

The Seminar Interdisciplinary Looks of Violence of the National Institute of Anthropology and History opened a new area in Culture of Peace to train Postgraduate students in Physical Anthropology.

In Mexico City, the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists together with the Neuroscience Dream Center investigated the mental health of journalists, human rights defenders and / or their families who have been victims of violence in Mexico and they proposed forms of intervention based on a culture of peace and dialogue to address their mental health.

The National Strategy for the Prevention of Addictions, the National Commission against Addictions and the Chair for Peace of the Guerrero Autonomous University, have carried out the “Cycle of Online Dialogues: Health and Peace 2020” with more than ten workshops and free conferences on-line.

Latin America, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Past Virtual Events December 20-31

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Here are events and application deadlines after December 19 that were previously listed on the CPNN page for upcoming virtual events. Unless otherwise noted the events are in English.

Sunday 20 December, 23:00 UTC+01

The Venezuelan Election, a blow to US Imperialism.
Organised by the United National Antiwar Coalition et Bahman Azad
— The United Socialist Party of Venezuela, the party of Nicolas Maduro won a stunning victory in the recent election for the National Assembly. However, the US has sought to undercut this victory and to deny the will of the Venezuelan people. This webinar will give us the chance to hear voices of people who were there as election observers and independent journalists and saw a different picture than the one projected by the US government. Their talks will be followed by questions and answers. Please join us and share the information about this webinar.
— Speakers:
— Margaret Flower, Popular Resistance
— Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
— Bahman Azad, U.S. Peace Council
— Zoe PC, Peoples Dispatch
Register here
Click here to watch replay on youtube

24 December 2020, 4:00PM Eastern Daylight Time (New York)

Deadline to submit application for Online Youth Consultation on Preventing Violent Extremism through Sport
— Invitation from the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) within the framework of the UN Global Programme on Security of Major Sporting Events, and Promotion of Sport and its Values as a Tool to Prevent Violent Extremism, implemented by the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) in partnership with UNAOC, United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and the International Centre for Sport and Security (ICSS).
— The consultation aims to gather the input and guidance of young people in developing various outputs such as an awareness campaign to be launched concurrently with global sporting events next year and with the involvement of professional athletes; a policy guide; a handbook; and an app. These products will aim to advance the power of sport and its social values as a tool to prevent violent extremism, and to strengthen the engagement and cooperation of youth and Member States in using sport to promote sustainable peace and development.
— Participants must be :
* between 15 and 19 years old
* Wish to contribute to the advancement of sport in promoting social inclusion, ensuring sustainable peace and preventing radicalization and violent extremism
* Have experience with policy guides, innovative programmes, knowledge sharing tools and/or awareness raising/communication campaigns
— Further details and instructions on how to apply are available at: https://apply.unaoc.org/youth-sport

Sunday, December 27. 2:00-4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (US/Canada)

Global Town Hall
On the last Sunday of every month, Project Save the World hosts a one-hour conversation via Zoom videoconference about our various projects working to prevent one or more of these threats: war and weapons / global warming / famine / pandemics / radioactive contamination / cyberattacks.
— Video conference URL: https://zoom.us/j/9108970203

December 29

Deadline for nominations for the Peace and Climate action European Youth (PACEY) Plus Award 2021.
— Please make your nomination in one of the two categories:
1. European youth project: A project based in Europe or run by youth from Europe;
2. Beyond Europe youth project: A project based outside Europe or a Global youth project.
— Self-nominations are permitted.
— The Award is organised jointly by the Basel Peace Office and the Präsidialdepartement des Kantons Basel-Stadt, Kantons- und Stadtentwicklung (Office of Cantonal and Urban Development, Department of Presidential Affairs, Canton of Basel-Stadt, Switzerland).
— Questions to info@baselpeaceoffice.org.
— For more information please visit www.baselpeaceoffice.org
— Nomination form

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global

Nuclear deterrence gives ‘false sense of security,’ Vatican official says

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from Catholic Philly

The goal of a nuclear-free world can only be achieved through a renewed sense of unity and solidarity among nations that breaks the dynamic of mistrust, said Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican foreign minister.

Addressing a webinar Dec. 16 on nuclear disarmament, Archbishop Gallagher highlighted the Vatican’s support of political dialogue that goes “beyond the theory of fear” and of the need to “emphasize how nuclear deterrence represents a false sense of security and of stability.”


A Russian Yars RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile system drives during the Victory Day parade marking the 71st anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, at Red Square in Moscow May 9, 2016. (CNS photo/Grigory Dukor, Reuters)

“The Holy See reaffirms its unwavering commitment in this direction as demonstrated by its ratification of all the main nuclear treaties and its continuous efforts to promote a concrete culture of peace based on the dignity of the human person and on the primacy of law, fostering responsible honest and consistent cooperation with all members of the family of nations,” he said.

The webinar, titled “A world free from nuclear weapons,” was co-sponsored by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Georgetown University, Notre Dame University and the Catholic Peacebuilding Network.

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

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The event coincided with the launch of a new book that features Pope Francis’ address in November 2017 in which he spoke out against nuclear weapons, as well as “testimony from Nobel Peace Prize laureates, religious leaders, diplomats, and civil society activists,” according to Georgetown University Press.

In a Dec. 14 statement, the dicastery said the goal of the event was to stress the link between peace, disarmament and health security during a time of pandemic.

In his talk, Archbishop Gallagher cited the pope’s video message to the U.N. General Assembly in late September. In his message, the pope said the current pandemic can lead to two paths: one that shifts toward a “renewed sense of global co-responsibility” or one of “self-sufficiency, nationalism, protectionism, individualism and isolation” that “excludes the poor, the vulnerable and those dwelling on the peripheries of life.”

The Vatican foreign minister said the pope’s perspective also applies to the issue of nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence.

He also expressed concern that “nuclear powers often seem to continue turning inward away from multilateralism,” such as the uncertainty regarding the renewal of the New START treaty, a bilateral agreement between the United States and the Russian Federation that seeks to reduce and limit the use of nuclear warheads, ballistic missiles and other strategic offensive arms.

However, he also cited the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which bans the possession and use of nuclear weapons, as a step toward a “nuclear weapons-free world.”

To achieve a lasting peace, Archbishop Gallagher said the international community must look beyond nuclear deterrence.

“International peace and security cannot be founded on the threat of mutual destruction or total annihilation or maintaining a balance of power or regulating relations by substituting the rights of the power to power of right,” the archbishop said.

“Peace and security must be built on justice, integral human development, respect for fundamental human rights, the protection of creation, the building of trust among peoples, the promotion of educational and health structures, dialogue and solidarity,” he said.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global, North America,

Female victims and ex-combatants graduated as peace activists in Antioquia, Colombia

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from Infobae (translation by CPNN)

More and more women are joining peacebuilding initiatives showing that their testimonies, stories and courage are the best tools for change.

As reported by El Espectador, 91 students graduated from “Peace education activities”, a workshop coordinated by the Medellín Mayor’s Office to create spaces that promote peace building in everyday life. This workshop was made up of nine groups of less than 15 participants, including women ex-combatants of the FARC, women victims of the conflict and community leaders.


In total, 91 women participated in the workshops. Image from Facebook / UN Verification Mission in Colombia.

The participants come from ten communes in the city and were linked to this workshop through the work of government organizations such as the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN), the Truth Commission, the Convivamos Corporation, the organization Mujeres Caminando por la Verdad, among others.

(Click here for the original article in Spanish.)

Questions related to this article:

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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

According to information from El Espectador, the meetings were held between September and November, once a week, in groups made up of ex-combatants or women victims of the conflict, where they deepened their knowledge about the Peace Agreement, the Truth Commission , the generation of daily peace actions and the resolution of daily conflicts.

Juliana Martínez Londoño, secretary of the Women of Medellín, explained that these workshops were developed “to promote spaces that allow the construction of a culture of peace with a gender perspective. They considered the work that women have done in favor of the peace and, in that way, the women were considered as protagonists and promoters of reconciliation strategies and construction of the social fabric ”.

Teresa de Jesús Orozco, leader of the Association of Displaced Elders of Antioquia (ASOADEAN), stated that “these spaces have been very beautiful because they taught us to exchange anger for love and for understanding and we as leaders can work in many ways, until we reach our people,.”

Delegates from the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, the ARN and the United Nations Development Program were present at the graduation. In addition to the certification, the women will receive a kit including, among other things, a blog and a USB memory with the memories of the workshops.

“With this work we show that peace is an issue that is present in the daily newspaper and to the extent an education for peace is necessary, (…) these women are publicly recognized as social actors and as important voices”, the secretary Juliana Londoño told El Espectador.

Latin America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Mexico: The Academic of Education participates in the Conference for Peace of the Maguen David Hebrew School

. EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from Anáhuac (translation by CPNN)

A workshop “Peace transcends and summons us” was held for high school students from the Maguen David Hebrew School as part of their Conference for Peace. The workshop was taught by Prof. Susana Memun Zaga, coordinator of the Area of ​​the Degree in Organizational and Educational Pedagogy of our Faculty of Education .

During the month of November, and for the seventh consecutive year, the Maguen David Hebrew School organizes the Days for Peace to honor the memory of the Prime Minister of Israel and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, Yitzhak Rabin. The objective is to promote the concept of Peace in the young people through various speakers, including community leaders, rabbis, leaders of non-governmental organizations, universities, foundations and teachers,

(Click here for the original Spanish version).

Question for this article:

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

What is the relation between peace and education?

The young people reflected during the workshop on the natural relationship between the concept of Peace and Education, on the importance of Education for a culture of Peace and the importance of their own commitment to take actions in order to build peace.

In addition to the above, they collaborated in small groups to analyze thoughts and phrases of Martin Buber, Hanna Arendt, Paulo Freire and María Montessori, where they discussed their relationship with education from their own context as young students. Finally they presented their conclusions and interacted about their ideas and their own experiences, sharing their commitments and becaming aware of the decisions they have in their hands to build a better world.

As a Faculty of Education, it is of great importance to us to collaborate with other educational institutions in strengthening and building a culture of peace.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Costa Rica: Peace brings together parliamentarians from the world in our country

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from Diario Extra (translation by CPNN)

Congressmen from Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Honduras and El Salvador are visiting the country to promote the value of tolerance and the culture of peace, fight against discrimination, religious sectarianism and ethnocentrism and to develop the norms of international law and human rights, to strengthen the principles of tolerance and achieve peace. The meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean Group of the International Parliament for Tolerance and Peace, takes place in our country from Wednesday the 16th to Friday the 18th,.


The representatives of the parliaments gathered in front of the National Monument, in the National Park to deliver a flower arrangement. (Photo David Barrantes).

The meeting has the participation of the president of the Global Council for Tolerance and Peace, Ahmed Bin Mohmed Aljarwan (United Arab Emirates) and the president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Duarte Pacheco (Portugal).

Also, the Argentine Walberto Allende, President of the International Parliament for Tolerance and Peace.

On the part of the Legislative Assembly of our country, the hosts are the deputies David Gourzong and Jorge Fonseca of the PLN and Rodolfo Peña of the PUSC.

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(Click here for a version in Spanish.>

Questions for this article:

How can parliamentarians promote a culture of peace?

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On Thursday morning they delivered a wreath in front of the National Monument, in the National Park to celebrate the opening ceremony of the meeting.

“We are proud to work with them on issues of peace, on issues of consensus in the world such as the health crisis, and on economic problems in the countries where we have to restore normalcy and to have access to vaccines,” said Gourzong.

This is the first official meeting of Duarte Pacheco, the new President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), who was very excited about the opportunity to build an agenda for peace and tolerance in the world.

“Costa Rica is a small country, but a good example for the world with its culture of peace and building bridges between peoples. I am sure that important agreements will emerge from here to address the global challenges we now face,” said Duarte Pacheco.

For Rodolfo Peña Flores, who is also a member of the board of the fourth Permanent Commission on United Nations Affairs of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the visit of Duarte Pacheco will serve to consolidate major international agreements to promote the comprehensive recovery of the countries.

“This will be a very important and enriching space for Costa Rica, where, through a vision of solidarity and humanity, we can strengthen and establish efficient instruments for the integral recovery of the countries. I am convinced that, through effective cooperation, we can consolidate good agreements to face global challenges and tostrengthen productive ties between different nations,” said the Christian Socialist.

“The election of Costa Rica has to do with its rich history with peace, more in the current moments that we are also living as a result of the pandemic that brought about a crisis in the governments of Latin America and in the world. That is why the decision to be here. We will leave happy and enriched with the recent history of Costa Rica for the benefit of the peace of the continent,” commented the Argentine Allende.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

In bipartisan vote: US House approves record $741 billion military spending bill

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from the World Socialist Web Site

The overwhelming bipartisan vote by the House of Representatives Tuesday evening [December 8] to approve the largest military budget in American history demonstrates the reality of capitalist politics. Democrats and Republicans are supposedly at each other’s throats over an array of social and political issues, but they are entirely in agreement on funding the world’s largest and most lethal military machine.


The Pentagon in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

The House vote for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was by a massive margin, 335–78. Democrats supported passage by 195–37. Republicans supported passage by 140–40. Every leader of the House Democrats backed passage: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Majority Whip James Clyburn. They were joined by the top Republicans: Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Minority Whip Steve Scalise and the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, the co-sponsor of the massive bill, Mac Thornberry of Texas.

The margin was far more than the two-thirds required to override a threatened Trump veto, although it is not clear that Trump will actually follow up on his tweets demanding two changes in the bill, neither relevant to its basic purposes. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already said the Senate will pass the NDAA in the next few days. The margin is likely to be even more decisive than in the House.

While rubber-stamping the largest-ever Pentagon budget, the House and Senate remain locked in a protracted stalemate which has blocked the payment of a single dollar of federal supplemental unemployment insurance since the benefit expired last July 31.

The $741 billion for the Pentagon is approximately six times as much as the $121 billion in unemployment benefits paid out to 60 million workers since the coronavirus pandemic struck.

The goal of the NDAA, according to its preamble, is to achieve “irreversible momentum in the implementation of the National Defense Strategy” spelled out by the Pentagon in 2018, which identified “strategic competition” with Russia and China, not terrorism, as the “preeminent challenge” of US military policy. This includes, according to the various subdivisions of the massive bill, achieving “Superiority in the Air”, “Superiority on the Seas,” “Superiority on the Land,” and, in keeping with the demands of Trump, “Superiority in Space.”

It is not hard to imagine what the rest of the world is to think of this all-out US drive for military power “uber alles”: China, Russia and imperialist powers like Germany, Britain, France and Japan are all engaged in military build-ups to match that in America, bringing ever closer the danger of an uncontrolled military clash between great powers, most of them nuclear armed.

Well short of such an apocalypse, the arms race involves an unforgivable squandering of economic resources needed to meet social concerns such as education, health care, alleviating poverty and retirement security.

One of the largest single components of the Pentagon budget is Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), funded to the tune of $69 billion. This is the spending for ongoing military operations where US forces are deployed: primarily Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, as well as the Persian Gulf, where vast naval and air assets are arrayed against Iran. The OCO also covers active drone missile warfare operations across Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

(Article continued on the right column)

Question for this article:

Does military spending lead to economic decline and collapse?

(Article continued from the left column)

The bill puts billions into preparations to confront Russia and China, including fully funding the European Deterrence Initiative, the NATO build-up on Russia’s western borders, and the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, providing $2.2 billion for similar activity by US naval and air forces directed against China. The label “deterrence” is entirely deceptive: the Pentagon is not seeking to ward off Russian and Chinese aggression, but to prepare for US aggression against one or both countries, regarded as the main obstacles to maintaining US world domination. Another $250 million goes for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, while $500 million (and likely much more) is earmarked for Israel.

Some other major provisions of the bill include:

– Requiring the Air Force to maintain 386 operational squadrons comprising at least 3,850 combat aircraft. This includes $9.1 billion to buy an additional 93 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, 14 more than the Trump administration requested.

– Adding $108 million to the procurement of MQ-9 drones equipped to fire missiles.

– Purchasing another seven C-130J transport aircraft, used to rapidly deploy troops, tanks and artillery to new war zones.

– Procurement of additional major warships for the US Navy, including one additional Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine, cost roughly $3 billion, and additional smaller submarines, amphibious ships and P-8 anti-submarine aircraft.

– Funding to support redesign and improvement of land-based combat systems like artillery, tanks and armored vehicles for the “future of warfare against near-peer competitors” (war with Russia, China or another major power).

– Equipping the Army with an additional 116 helicopters, including 60 UH-60 Blackhawks, 50 AH-64E Apaches, and six of the giant MH-47G Chinooks.

– Continued funding for a systematic, across-the-board modernization of US nuclear weaponry, begun under Obama and continued under Trump, including submarine-fired missiles, land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles and heavy bombers capable of intercontinental flight.

The legislation incorporates a number of provisions to block military moves announced by Trump in recent months, delaying reduction of US troops stationed in Germany and South Korea, for example, until the next administration. Trump did not threaten a veto over these items, demonstrating that his threats of withdrawal were only for electoral purposes, or to extract more money from the countries being “protected” by US forces.

The veto threat came over one provision included in the bill, and one provision that the drafters left out despite Trump’s incessant demands to the contrary.

The provision Trump objects to establishes a procedure through which all US military bases named after Confederate commanders will be renamed in the course of the next three years. These include Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, and Ft. Hood, Texas, two of the largest centers of the US military, as well as Ft. Benning, Georgia, and Camp A. P. Hill in Virginia.

The provision Trump has demanded as an addition to the NDAA would repeal Section 230 of the Communications Act of 1995, which frees social media companies of liability for anything posted by their users. Because of this provision, Trump has been unable to sue Facebook and Twitter when they have placed warning messages on his tweets and postings of brazen falsehoods or incitements to violence. Both Senate and House leaders rejected Trump’s demand as extraneous to the Pentagon budget and likely to derail the legislation if included.

What is most remarkable, however, and almost unreported in the media, is the lockstep agreement between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party on this legislation. Under conditions where Trump is defying the outcome of the November election and seeking to overturn its results through unconstitutional actions, the Democrats nonetheless vote to provide the “commander in chief” with virtually a blank check.

Democratic and Republican leaders on the committees overseeing Pentagon policies and military budgets gave unanimous support to the NDAA, boasting that the military budget has passed Congress by huge majorities for 59 straight years, and the Fiscal 2021 budget will be number 60.

When it comes to the most critical institution of the capitalist state, there is not even a two-party system in America, there is only one party: the party of the military-intelligence apparatus, which is required both to assert US imperialist interests around the world and to defend the financial aristocracy against the looming threat of social disorder and class conflict at home.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America

Nairobi, Kenya : International Peace Research Association Conference 2021

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An announcement from the Global Campaign for Peace Education

Established in 1964, the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) undertakes research on issues pertaining to international peace and security. Every two years, it holds a conference to discuss findings and solutions to problems affecting peace, security and development across the world. It does so in partnership and/or collaboration with academia, policy-makers, research institutions, and various other multi-disciplinary thinktanks globally.


IPRA shall be holding its 28th Biennial General Conference themed, PEACE TECHNOLOGY; Positioning Fourth Industrial Revolution and Emerging Technologies in Fostering Global Peace’ in Nairobi -Kenya from the 11th to 15th January 2021 hosted by Multimedia University of Kenya (MMU). Since 1964, this shall be the first gathering of the Global Network of Peace Researchers in the East Africa region and the third (3rd) of this kind in Africa as a continent (1998 – Durban, South Africa ; 2016 – Freetown, Sierra Leone).

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Question for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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Part of the objectives of the 28th IPRA General Conference are inclined towards discussions and proposals surrounding plenary themes on Peace Technology in the Anthropocene, International Humanitarian & Human Rights Law, Arms Control and Technology Revolution, Information Technology and Peace, Sports Science and Peace, Climate Change and Early Warning Systems, Forensics and Counter-Terrorism, Media, Virtual Network and Education, Mental Health, Spiritual Security and Spiritual Intelligence. Other specific objectives shall be addressed under the various sub-themes represented in IPRA’s ten (10) Commissions which can be accessed at: http://iprapeace.org/index.php/commissions.

Global Trade, Corporate Surveillance and Peace

The Republic of Kenya continues to contribute to peace and security efforts across the continent and globally. The country having hosted many refugees who fled from civil conflicts in their respective countries of Somalia, South Sudan, the Great Lakes Region (Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo), continues to discharge its mandate to promote peace and security under the various regional and international conflict resolution mechanisms. Kenya also enjoys a vast expanding digital revolution with approximately 38 percent of its predominantly young population being within the age group of 15 – 35 years.

Thus, the 28th IPRA General Conference in Nairobi, Kenya is expected to highlight progress and challenges of 21st century revolutionized Information, Communication and Technology, their effects on global (dis)order and present ultimatums on viable next steps.

Africa, EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global,

San Luis Potosi, Mexico: Teachers of the Municipal Educational System Trained against Gender Violence

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from Gobierno muncipal de San Luis Potosi

– Within the framework of the Campaign for the Elimination of Violence against Women “Paint the world orange 2020”

In the framework of the Declaration of Gender Alert Against Women (DAVGM), and continuing the commitment to educate and form a vision of the world based on values ​​and principles for human rights, the Directorate of the Municipal Education Department offered training to its teaching staff for the elimination of violence against women.


Training workshops and conferences, both face-to-face and digital, were carried out for 16 consecutive days for all personnel in the educational system managed by the City Council.

(Click here for the original article in Spanish.)

Questions related to this article:

Protecting women and girls against violence, Is progress being made?

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

The head of Municipal Education, Azalea Martínez Navarro, explained that the commitment of the Capital Government is to articulate actions that promote healthy and peaceful coexistence, through strategies that help raise awareness and reduce violence.

“For more than 15 days, we worked to prevent and eradicate violence against women, where for the first time the entire teaching staff, as well as the directors of each educational entity, joined in raising the voice of no more violence against women and girls, working for a culture of peace, for equal conditions and for students to have hope for the future ”.

The official thanked all the educational staff for assuming this commitment, facing the challenges so that all girls and boys can live a life free of violence.

The closing event was also attended by the head of the Women’s Instance, Sofía Córdova Nava; the Executive Secretary of the Municipal System for the Comprehensive Protection of Girls, Boys and Adolescents – SIMPINNA -, Jesús Hernández Jiménez; as well as the Municipal Director of Social Prevention of Violence and Crime with Citizen Participation, Jassán Nieto Guerrero.

Latin America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY