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.

Chad: Women’s Ministry salutes community peace initiatives

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from Al Wihda (translated by CPNN)

The Minister of Women, Early Childhood Protection and National Solidarity, Dr. Djallal Ardjoune Khalil, received in audience on Monday, the delegation of the National Union of Young Professionals for Consultation and Peaceful Coexistence (UNJCP), led by its secretary-general, Sidick Sougui Lony.

The exchange between the minister and the delegation focused on peace, the disarmament of the civilian population and peaceful relations between the different communities of the province of Ouaddaï.

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

Question(s) related to this article:

Youth initiatives for a culture of peace, How can we ensure they get the attention and funding they deserve?

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UNJCP Secretary General Sidick Sougui Lony briefly explained to the Minister the merits of the UNJCP mission in Ouaddaï province.

“We are working in Abeche to promote the culture of peace. We call on our civilian brothers to lay down their arms because it is useless for a civilian to own a weapon, “said Sidick Sougui Lony.

The minister congratulated UNJCP for this noble and patriotic initiative. She went on to point out that peace is an inestimable wealth. According to the minister, without peace, no society can evolve.

In addition, the Minister of Women, Child Protection and National Solidarity, Dr. Djallal Ardjoune Khalil urged the UNJCP to move forward in its quest for a united, strong and prosperous Chad . The ministry undertakes to accompany the National Union of Young Professionals for consultation and peaceful coexistence in all its actions.

The two sides agreed to combine joint efforts to intensify advocacy for peace and peaceful coexistence.

Guinea: Wanep and partners promote peace and development

. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION .

An article from Guinee 360 (translation by CPNN)

“Peace at the center of development in the Republic of Guinea” is the theme of a press conference held this Saturday, October 19, 2019 in Conakry.

This is an initiative of the Catholic Organization for Human Advancement (OCPH), in collaboration with Wanep-Guinea, funded by USAID, for a period of two years, a project entitled: “Cultural Cohesion Project for Peace and Prosperity”.

The objective of this project, according to its coordinator, is to enable communities in Conakry and the interior of the country to develop a culture of peace and to achieve greater prosperity.

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Click here for the version in French)

Question(s) related to this article:

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

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“It is designed for citizens to strengthen social cohesion within and between ethnic groups,” said Moïse Bangoura.

The Wanep-Guinea representative at the meeting listed some of the flagship actions carried out by this project: “Through this project we have achieved some results. We conducted capacity building activities for multi-actor platforms. We also strengthen the capacity of local elected and appointed authorities. Because one of the observations we have made in our country it takes the state a lot of time to manage conflicts that impede development,” said Boubacar Mansaré

The PM of the cultural cohesion project for peace and prosperity has focused his intervention on the socio-political crisis that Guinea is going through: Jonas Mamadi Kamano recalls that OCPH, CRS and Wanep are not activist organizations, but they tackle the root causes of conflict by doing analysis, research and proposing solutions.

“Before there is a crisis, from the signals we try to do some in-depth analysis and we make recommendations. We tell the different actors what to do so that the conflict does not blow up,” he explains.

Outreach and training are also strategies provided by this project to limit the damage in Guinea.

Protection of human rights and peace in Cameroon: The international association Kofi Annan is engaged

. HUMAN RIGHTS .

An article by Marcel Ndi from Agence Cameroun Presse (translation by CPNN)

The Kofi Annan International Association has just presented the project to the press in Bafoussam, an activity that will be launched in the next few days.

Indeed, the Project “237- Peace and Good Governance”, is a new concept of the International Kofi Annan Association for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Peace. It is a Support Program for Restoration, Peacebuilding and Improvement of Local Governance in Cameroon.

According to Dr Serges Mboumegne, president of this association, speaking to the media in Bafoussam, the project will extend over 12 months with two components: support for the contribution of households to the construction of sustainable families in Cameroon, and capacity building for local elected representatives and local populations for effective participation in local governance.

With the support of the Civil and Political Rights Network of Cameroon, the program will be implemented in the regions of the West, North-West and South-West Cameroon with the relocation of certain programmed activities in the English-speaking areas in Bafoussam region of West in case of high security risk.

As a reminder, the International Kofi Annan Association’s mission is to work for the promotion and protection of human rights and peace with a view to contributing to the construction of a sustainable rule of law and respectful of the full respect of human values.

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Click here for the version in French)

Question(s) related to this article:

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

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• NATIONAL

Contribute to the eradication of violence against children and women;

Disseminate international and national instruments in the field of human rights and peace;

Reduce cases of human rights violations;

Contribute to the respect of the rights of the elderly and to the integration of disabled people;

Promote the culture of peace

Advocate for youth participation in public policy development;

Reduce individual and collective conflicts at work;

Contribute to the improvement of the situation of detained persons;

Support sustainable development policies;

Denounce cases of flagrant violations of human rights;

Provide legal advice and legal assistance;

Contribute to the fight against corruption;

Contribute to the promotion of democratic practices.

• ON AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

Support peace initiatives

Encourage actions for integration

Encourage mediation

Call for compliance with international commitments on Human Rights and Peace.
 

Extinction Rebellion, not political? “We occupied the center of Paris for five days! “

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from Reporterre (translation by CPNN)

In response to those who criticize the political weakness of Extinction Rebellion, the authors of this platform claim that their “political message is in the action itself: another organization of society is possible.” And they repeat that strict nonviolence is a “calculated and determined” choice.

The week of action of Extinction Rebellion has elicited many comments: some purely anecdotal and others that are more political. Both sides miss what makes the reason for Extinction Rebellion. Here’s our explanations …

We will not go back to the many anecdotal comments that only serve to hide the important issues. We will try to focus on critics of the nature and methods of Extinction Rebellion.

“We are not a political movement in the classical sense.”

Some would like to find in Extinction Rebellion the slogans and the partisan positions against this or that political or economic power. These commentators reproduce the classic schemas of the political game and would like to bring back Extinction Rebellion into their usual framework of analysis. They make hasty – and often contradictory – conclusions about a movement that refuses rhetoric and incantation to choose action in a very specific context: civil disobedience.

(Click here for the original article in French.)

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Question for this article:

Can peace be guaranteed through nonviolent means?

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A concrete example of our approach is the occupation of the center of Paris from 7 to 11 October. Some have criticized this occupation for being light in political content. Really ? For five days, in the heart of the capital, we have removed a strategic public space from the public authorities. We made live a direct democracy (three general meetings held daily), places of exchange and training, collective kitchens open to all … We have maintained and cleaned the public space instead of the services of the City Hall . We helped the traders in their supplies and the cleaning services to ensure the collection of waste. All this only 100 meters from the police headquarters. Our political message is in the action itself: another organization of society is possible. It was discussed at “Nuit Debout.” We did it at Chatelet.

Our approach goes beyond the usual political framework. We do not dispute a particular regime, we question a system of values ​​that leads to the destruction of the living. And our proposition is that the citizens should seize the debate and make the choices themselves. We defend a direct democracy, because it alone will allow us to be resilient in the face of future crises.

“It would be naive, would not disturb the powers in place and especially would not take into account institutional violence,”

Here is a criticism that often comes up about the non-violent civil disobedience. It’s a complete counter-sense! Martin Luther King, apostle of non-violence, would not have seen or taken into account institutional violence? What is called non-violence is precisely a strategy that aims to reveal institutional violence. As in the martial arts, it is a question of returning the violence of the attacker (here the State) against himself.

When the police forced our non-violent activists at close range on the bridge of Sully in Paris, the images circumnavigated the world, and the condemnation was unanimous. Faced with force, the non-violent action is to divert the violence of the State to place it in front of its contradictions. It’s not being naïve, it’s a calculated choice. Purposeful. And we assume it in each of our actions. The state can dodge this confrontation just as it has done, but it is an unsustainable tactic in the medium term for power.

Some groups are calling for more radical actions, which they say will have a greater impact. They say that they will mount these actions themselves! Their galleries and open letters are only rhetoric. The incantation is without limits, the action will frame them. For Extinction Rebellion, nonviolent civil disobedience is both an ethic and a long-term strategy. Strict non-violence is the only inclusive strategy!

Gandhi 150: The Legacy of Peace

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION .      

An event from Choose Chicago. For followup, see WBEZ

18th October 2019 – The Field Museum [Chicago] 6:30-9:00 PM
bringing the descendants of history’s greatest peace leaders to celebrate the 150the annivesry of Mahatma Gandhi

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Questions related to this article:

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

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2019 is a once in a lifetime opportunity to celebrate 150 years since the birth of “Mahatma” (great soul) Gandhi. Gandhi changed the course of human history. His non-violent protest for freedom inspired civil-rights movements across the globe. The Gandhian philosophy influenced and changed the course of movements led by civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in the United States of America, Nelson Mandela in South Africa and that of Cesar Chavez, a labor leader and Latino American civil rights activist who founded the United Farm Workers Union.

WBEZ’s Worldview, along with Gandhi Commemorative Stamp Initiative, India Development Service (IDS) and United for Peace (U4P) will bring together academicians and descendants of some of history’s greatest peace leaders who acknowledged Gandhi’s influence on their lives and social actions. Chicago welcomes Ela Gandhi granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, Anthony Chavez grandson of Cesar Chavez, MLK III son of Martin Luther King Jr.,  Maki Mandela daughter of Nelson Mandela, Prof. Carlson, and Dr. Prasad. For the first time in history, these individuals will be sharing the same platform to talk about non-violence, the need for peace, collaboration and how it influenced their parents’ fight for a just society.

Ashland peace conference affirms “city of peace” kinesis

. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION .

An article from the Ashland Tidings

The Sept. 21, 2019, “Ashland Global Peace Conference” was, in this writer’s mind, one that embodied not only the value and legitimacy of the culture of Ashland, but indeed, the more expansive and even global urgency of the message that was expressed. As a Rotarian (who happens to reside in the northern part of the state), I was quite moved by the commonalities of Rotary International and the City of Ashland that became so evident as the conference progressed throughout the day.

During the year (2011-2012) that I served as Rotary District Governor for the northern part of Oregon, our Rotary International President Kalyan Banerjee hailed from the state of Gujarat in India. I found it both very interesting as well as comforting that there was such a similar message that was given by the keynote speaker Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, Former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations and founder of the Global Movement of the Culture of Peace, who also happens to hail from India. That message was three-fold:

* First, to really be a disciple of peace, it is necessary to develop a culture of peace within one’s self. Then and only then can a person effectively build on this culture with his or her family, neighborhood, community, region and in the world

* Second, it is critical that this culture be introduced and nurtured in our youth, as it is so important to inculcate it into those who will ultimately be the generation to bring this culture to fruition

* Third, we need to work toward empowering women and bring them to the forefront of this movement if we truly hope to realize a true expansion of a culture of peace

The Ashland Global Peace Conference not only had this message throughout the day, but the participants they chose to engage the attendees were indeed a microcosm of this message.

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Questions for this article:

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

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Ambassador Chowdhury eloquently spoke of how we need to first discover Peace within ourselves. This message was further emphasized in a presentation by Dr. David Yang, a Vice President at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington D.C.

Finally, Ashland High School freshman Finley Taylor, completed the circle when talking about his role the previous year in middle school when he and his classmates were chosen to be “Flame Keepers for the Peace Flame,” which resides in Ashland on the campus of Southern Oregon University.

Taylor stated that perhaps the biggest impression made on him during this year was at an encounter with Ashland Culture of Peace Commission members David Wick and Irene Kai who told him that “peace starts with me.”

The entire conference and its overriding message flowed naturally and seemingly effortlessly and, as a Rotarian, the clarity of this overriding message followed closely and intimately with Rotary International’s message of “Service Above Self.” It also mirrors its new strategic plan which states: “Together we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves.”

Normally, daylong conferences tend to somewhat drag out as the day progresses and the afternoon wanes. The Ashland Global Peace Conference, however, strongly defied this tradition.

The afternoon sessions strengthened and built upon what was introduced in the morning by bringing in leaders from religious communities, the Oregon Shakespearean Festival, the media, law enforcement, educators, medical personnel and community support members who shared their visions of peace and gave examples of how their own lives have been enriched by their participation in their organizations as well as by members of their local communities and beyond.

In short, the conference was inspirational, educational, and provided many practical examples of how building a Culture of Peace continues to transform the community of Ashland and its environs into a more livable, cooperative, thriving and peaceful community.

Hopefully, several other communities in Oregon, around the country and around the world will learn from those dedicated leaders in the Southern Oregon communities who continue to point out the great benefits to be derived from developing a Culture of Peace.

Mike Caruso is a member of The Rotary Club of Newberg, Oregon, and served as Rotary District Governor for District 5100 during the 2011-12 Rotary year and is the founder of Rotary Peacebuilder Clubs. He and his wife Amy live in Dundee, Oregon.

2019 Tomorrow’s Peacebuilders Award winners announced

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from Peace Direct

Now in its seventh year, the Tomorrow’s Peacebuilders Awards celebrate some of the world’s most innovative local peacebuilders. This year, the three focus areas for the awards were: women-led peacebuilding, youth-led peacebuilding, and music and the performing arts. A panel of international experts selected the winners from 406 applicants, the highest number we have received to date.


Video of award-winning initiatives

The winners — from Syria, Yemen and the Democratic Republic of Congo — were announced at the Alliance for Peacebuilding annual conference, PeaceCon, on 3 October in Washington, D.C. Each received a $10,000 grant to contribute to their work.

“We’re happy to highlight and support the work of these local peacebuilders, because they know best how to tackle problems in their communities. The leaders of these three organizations are providing practical and creative solutions, and directly improving people’s lives,” said Peace Direct CEO Dylan Mathews.

Youth-led peacebuilding: Youth for Homeland in Yemen

Youth for Homeland, founded in 2014, works in rural areas of Yemen to engage communities in peacebuilding efforts, working mainly with young people to develop skills and find alternatives to violence. For example, when one community was fighting over limited water resources, the organization helped establish reservoirs to contain water over longer periods.

The organization plans to use the award to train more peacebuilders. “The main objective is to rehabilitate young people to become peace ambassadors and urge their colleagues and friends to not participate in the war anymore, so that we can contribute to the end of the war in Yemen,” said Abdullah al-Suraihi, founder of Youth for Homeland.

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Questions for this article:

How important is community development for a culture of peace?

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

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Women-led peacebuilding: Open Art Space in Syria

Many children in Syria have known nothing but war. Three women, two of whom are artists, founded Open Art Space in the Syrian capital of Damascus in 2016. Their work connects children and young people inside and outside of Syria through peacebuilding.

Children participate in free weekly workshops, which offer a safe space to play and connect with one another, a chance to express themselves, and a way to learn about peace through art. To reach children more widely, the women created a website where children anywhere in Syria can practice drawing and art exercises to help process the violence they have experienced.

For co-founder Roula al-Khatib, this award enables the organization to “reach out to more Syrian children affected by the war in remote places to implement art and peace in their daily life. This is an opportunity for us to tell the world that despite the sad war in Syria, there are many people who are working very hard to retain peace back.”

Music and the performing arts: Amani Institute in DR Congo

The Amani Institute, founded in 2016 in North Kivu, DR Congo, uses theater to help young ex-combatants process trauma they have experienced and reintegrate into their communities. The technique of theater enables former fighters to interact with others, and acts as a springboard for dialogue, reconciliation and tolerance.

“This is an acknowledgement that our effort in the Democratic Republic of Congo is being recognized internationally,” said Joseph Tsongo, founder of the Amani Institute. “It will help us continue our work for the next generation and bring peace to the country.”

We celebrate this year’s winners, and all peacebuilding efforts taking place around the world.

We thank our sponsors: the Alliance for Peacebuilding, Away, the Bluegrass Ambassadors, the Pickwell Foundation and Humanity United for supporting this year’s awards and award ceremony.

For more information: contact@peacedirect.org

Asian church leaders call for greater interfaith cooperation

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article from Lutheran World

The Asia Church Leadership Conference (ACLC) has concluded in Indonesia with a call to all churches to work more closely together with other faith communities to promote urgent issues such as gender justice, environmental protection and care for the poor and needy.


Indonesian church leaders meet with the President of the Republic’s special envoy on interfaith relations and intercultural dialogue, Professor Syafiq Mughni (center). Photo: LWF/Isaac Henry

Pastors and lay people from across the region have been meeting with local Lutheran leaders in the North Sumatra town of Pematang Siantar to discuss the theme ‘Pursuing peace through interfaith relations in Asia’. It was preceded by an encounter of Asian women leaders and a meeting of the Global Young Reformers Network, which focused on ways of ensuring more meaningful participation of young people in the life of the churches.

The five-day gathering was hosted by three of Indonesia’s member churches of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the Simalungun Protestant Christian Church (GKPS), the Christian Protestant Church in Indonesia (GKPI) and The Indonesian Christian Church (HKI).

Peace can never be taken for granted

On the final day, delegates heard from Indonesia’s special envoy for interfaith relations and intercultural dialogue, Professor Syafiq Mughni, about ways in which his country seeks to promote peaceful cooperation among followers of the six officially recognized faith groups. Local leaders from some of those groups attended the session that focused on the five principles, known as Pancasila, upon which the nation was founded following independence in 1945.

Noting the huge diversity of ethnicities, languages and religions in his country, Mughni stressed that “peace can never be taken for granted”. Since he took up the post last year, he has organized conferences to foster good relations between the different faiths and to promote “a culture of peace” in schools and universities. As a Muslim leader, he has also met with Islamic leaders around the world to promote ‘Wasatiyya’, a term meaning the ‘middle way’ or moderate Islam, as the nation’s majority religion

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Question related to this article:
 
How can different faiths work together for understanding and harmony?

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LWF partnership with Islamic Relief Worldwide

Engaging in interfaith dialogue and cooperation was identified as a key point of the LWF’s strategic priorities  for the coming years and is particularly relevant to the Asian context where Christians form just a small minority in most countries. From India, where growing Hindu nationalism has led to attacks on Christian and Muslim communities, to Myanmar, where hard line Buddhism has fed persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority, to Malaysia where the ongoing Allah controversy continues to cause problems for Christian media, religious tensions are never far away from the news headlines.

Highlighting the importance of interreligious cooperation as a way of increasing understanding between different faith communities, LWF Area Secretary for Asia, Rev. Dr Philip Lok noted that the LWF partners with Islamic Relief Worldwide and last year launched a manual on faith sensitivity in humanitarian responses to disasters and refugee crises. The guidelines, which were piloted in field work in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, cover medical, psychological and social issues, as well as practical aspects such as food, shelter and meeting places. Rev. Lok said the LWF “hopes that this kind of cooperation with other faith communities can help promote peace in the world.”

Dialogue at leadership and grassroots level

The Asia region of the LWF includes 55 member and associate member churches in 17 countries, from the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) in the South Pacific to The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). Delegates at the meeting heard about efforts of churches in many of those countries to promote dialogue at both leadership and grassroots level, despite many challenges stemming from the politicization of religion, as well as colonial histories and ongoing attempts at conversions by some Charismatic groups.

Speaking on the opening day  of the conference, LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Martin Junge praised the commitment of churches in Asia to peace building, despite the difficulties they face. “The task of peace-making,” he said, “begins within ourselves, within our own churches, seeking to live in peace with each other.”

Participants also heard about the current political unrest in Hong Kong and efforts by churches there to provide a space for rest, counselling and reconciliation within a deeply divided society. Hong Kong delegates noted how Protestant and Catholic churches are supporting each other in this work and they urged people around the world to continue to pray for peace in their country.

Inconsapevole Records releases “Punk Rock Against War Vol. 2” compilation

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An announcement from Dying Scene

Italian label Inconsapevole Records  have released the second installment of their “Punk Rock Against War” compilation series. 


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Question for this article:

What place does music have in the peace movement?

All the proceeds go to Emergency, an independent and neutral international organisation founded in 1994 to provide free, high-quality medical and surgical care to victims of wars, anti-personnel mines and poverty. It promotes a culture of peace, solidarity and respect for human rights.

The compilation has an incredible 111 bands on it, including many you’ll know and love. Check it out below.

Launch of the Second World March for Peace and Nonviolence

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Excerpts from an article in Pressenza

At the launch of the 2nd World March for Peace and Nonviolence in Madrid, on October 2nd, International Nonviolence Day that commemorates Gandhi’s birth, Rafael de la Rubia said:

“It should be said that this is not just a peripheral journey through the surface of the planet, through the surface of the earth. To this walking along roads, places, countries… you can add an internal journey, going through the depths of our existence, trying to match what we think with what we feel and with what we do, in order to be more coherent, gain more meaning in our lives and eliminate internal violence.” . . .


In Chile, with Parliamentarian Tomas Hirsch: “Active Nonviolence is the Force that will transform the world”

The beginning of the March was celebrated in different points of the world

From Antonio Gancedo’s blog:

Chile: the beginning of the 2 World March was announced in the National Parliament By the humanist parliamentarian Tomás Hirsch. And Santiago de Chile stretched with a “Hug for Nonviolence” as a dissemination of the 2 World March for Peace and Nonviolence.

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Question for this article:

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

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From Seville and the Port of Santa Maria, in Spain to embark on the ferry journey to Tangier, Morocco the entry point of the WM in Africa where A Humanist Forum took place. In the Spanish cities of Seville and A Coruña, where the March was launched during a session in the Town Hall, different activities expressed the commitment to Peace and Nonviolence.

The World March in the Italian Parliament: The World March has among its objectives the dissemination of the culture of Peace and Non-Violence, disarmament – especially nuclear disarmament -, the defence of the environment and the enhancement of diversity. During the event “The beginning of the end of nuclear weapons” was projected, a work produced by the international press agency Pressenza on the occasion of the second anniversary of the approval of the UN Nuclear Disarmament Treaty (ICAN campaign, Nobel Prize of the Peace 2017). The documentary aims to contribute to the goal of reaching the end of the World March with the ratification of the TPAN  by 50 countries to make it binding.

Brazil: From Pernambuco, Brazil, accompanying the launch of the 2ª World March the first “Live EAD”Live from Nonviolence in schools  with 474 enrolled, 10 tutors in 20 states of Brazil, which connect on the website of the UFRPE (Federal Rural University of Pernambuco). A talk by Gunther Aleksander, of the Pressenza Agency, and Vinicius Pereira, of the Nonviolence in Schools Project, about the launch of the 2 World March for Peace and Nonviolence, giving the appropriate explanations on the free course of distance education for the formation of non-violence Centres in schools. Londrina also in Brazil connected with Peace and Nonviolence symbols.

Argentina: the documentary “The Beginning of the End of Nuclear Weapons” by director Alvaro Orus and producer Tony Robinson from Pressenza was shown in Cordoba. The film produced in the participants a very particular sensitivity that was expressed in the subsequent exchange. A campaign to collect signatures began to demand that the government of Argentina sign the treaty banning nuclear weapons and then ratify it.