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.

Biennale of Luanda: Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace 18-22 September

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An article from UNESCO

The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, will open the 5-day Biennale of Luanda that will take place from 18 to 22 September in the capital of Angola, with the participation of representatives of governments, civil society and international organizations, as well as artists and scientists from the African continent and diaspora.


© UNESCO

The Director-General will take part in the opening of the Biennale alongside João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenco, President of Angola, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, President of Mali, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, and Denis Mukwege, 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

The presidents of Republic of the Congo, and Namibia are also scheduled to attend the 1st edition of the Luanda Biennale, which will be organized around three main axes:

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(Click here for a French version of this article or here for a Spanish version of this article)

Question related to this article:

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

Will UNESCO once again play a role in the culture of peace?

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Partners’ Forum, Alliance for Africa: Created by UNESCO last year, the Alliance mobilizes donors, public and private sector companies, regional and international organizations around sustainable development projects in Africa targeting a wide range of areas in UNESCO’s mandate including heritage preservation and support for free and pluralistic media.

Forum of Ideas – Youth and Women’s Forums: three platforms of reflection on the future of Africa, focusing on the dissemination of good practices and solutions for the prevention of crises, and the resolution and attenuation of conflicts;

Festival of Cultures: showcasing the cultural diversity of African countries and the African diaspora.

Born of a partnership between Angola, the African Union and UNESCO, the Forum is designed to promote the prevention of violence and the resolution of conflicts by facilitating cultural exchanges in Africa and the African diaspora, and connect organizations and actors working on this field throughout the Continent. It is to nurture reflection and facilitate the dissemination of artistic works, ideas and knowledge pertaining to the culture of peace. It is inspired by the 2006 Charter for African Cultural Renaissance.

During her visit to Angola, the Director-General of UNESCO will also sign a partnership agreement for the establishment of national doctoral programme in science, technology and innovation, aimed at training 160 doctoral candidates by 2020. The project is part of a wider partnership to strengthen Angola’s education, science, and cultural capacities.

More about the Forum: https://en.unesco.org/biennaleluanda2019

Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, United Nations,

URI International Peacebuilding Network Joins with Worldwide Groups Calling for Peace 

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A press release from Globe News Wire

With tensions growing between people of different ethnicities and faiths across the planet, and humanitarians increasingly worried about healing the rifts, URI (United Religions Initiative) and likeminded organizations worldwide are coordinating efforts to lift up the International Day of Peace (“Peace Day”) on September 21.



Children in Sri Lanka celebrate Peace Day with “Understanding Cultural and Religious Values,” a URI grassroots member group.

The worldwide URI community, which consists of more than 1,000 grassroots interfaith groups (called Cooperation Circles) working in 108 countries, celebrates Peace Day every September 21. This occasion was established in 1981 by a unanimous United Nations resolution which provided a shared date for all humanity to commit to peace above all differences, and to contribute to building a worldwide culture of peace.

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Question(s) related to this article:

What has happened this year (2019) for the International Day of Peace?

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This year, the celebration is particularly significant: It is the 20th Anniversary of the UN Resolution on the Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace – a resolution which is needed more strongly than ever in the current political climate. The 2019 Peace Day theme is also particularly timely: “Climate Action for Peace.” The theme draws attention to the importance of combatting climate change as a way to protect and promote peace throughout the world.

Throughout September 2019, URI Cooperation Circles around the world will celebrate peace with events such as school programs, community marches, film showings, interfaith meals, silence walks, shared prayers, candle lightings, musical performances, and more. You can see a sampling of last year’s URI’s Peace Day 2018 celebrations here.

The United Nations Peace Day celebrations will take place at the UN Headquarters on Friday, 20 September 2019, beginning at 9:00am in the Peace Garden. A student observance will follow, where about 700 high school and college students will interact with UN Messengers of Peace, including young people from the United Nations Mission in Kosovo participating via videoconference. URI invites you to take part as well via webtv.un.org.

From September 11 – 21, many URI Cooperation Circles will be celebrating 11 Days of Global Unity: 11 Days to Transform Your World. This is a worldwide platform for the promotion of peace, justice, sustainability and transformation. URI invites you to take part in any or all of these September events to bring more awareness to the need for unity in the world.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global

Twenty Years of the Culture of Peace: On the Road to Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

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An article from the International Peace Institute

On September 12th, IPI together with the Al-Babtain Cultural Foundation cohosted a policy forum entitled “Twenty Years of the Culture of Peace: On the Road to Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”




video

In 1999 the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace (Resolution 53/243) calling for a transition from a culture of war to a culture of peace. Twenty years later, international actors and analysts are increasingly looking at what makes a society peaceful and how we can sustain it. The 1999 declaration identified political, economic, environmental, educational, and health-related components to the culture of peace, presaging the holistic approach agreed to in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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Question(s) related to this article:

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

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This event served as a kick-off to the 20th-anniversary celebration of the adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace. It allowed participants to reflect on and discuss the connections between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the culture of peace ahead of the forum. Speakers examined these linkages in order to advance the culture of peace at the multilateral level and, in turn, help to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs.

Opening remarks:

H.E. Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the UN General Assembly

Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Founder of the Global Movement for The Culture of Peace (GMCoP) and Former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the UN

Speakers:

H.E. Mr. Masud Bin Momen, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN

Ms. Jimena Leiva Roesch, Senior Fellow, International Peace Institute

Moderator:

Dr. Adam Lupel, Vice President, International Peace Insitute

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global, United Nations,

Campaign Nonviolence Action Week, September 14-22

. .DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. .

from Pace e Bene

NUMBER OF ACTIONS PLANNED AS OF SEPTEMBER 14: 3284

SEE THE FULL LIST OF PLANNED ACTIONS

ACTION ORGANIZERS – SEND US YOUR POST-ACTION PHOTOS AND REPORTS HERE

MARCHING, ORGANIZING AND SPEAKING OUT FOR A NEW CULTURE OF NONVIOLENCE, FOR AN END TO WAR, POVERTY, RACISM, AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION.


Every year, Campaign Nonviolence organizes a national week of action across the United States and around the world, built around the third week of September, near Sept. 21st, International Peace Day. For the last five years, we have organized an unprecedented national grassroots movements with actions in every state where people connect the dots between the issues of injustice and violence, including war, poverty, racism and environmental destruction, and hold public events, actions and marches demanding immediate positive social change.

In September, 2018, the Campaign Nonviolence National Week of Action held over 2,660 actions, events and marches across the USA and in 25 countries. This was an historic unprecedented new form of organizing in the US, and we invite you to help us build up this national week of action.

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Question for this article:

The peace movement in the United States, What are its strengths and weaknesses?

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The only way positive social change has happened in the US is from bottom up, people power, grassroots movements of nonviolence, so we invite everyone to join this Campaign Nonviolence National Week of Action Sept. 14-22, 2019, as an organizing tool, to help get the movement moving, to invite people of all walks of life to take to the streets against violence and injustice, and to carry on Dr. King’s vision of what we could become—a new culture of nonviolence. Join the growing Campaign Nonviolence national week of action movement by signing up for an action today, or join with others planning an event. See the full list of action organizers planning an event and reach out to them to join in!

To support these powerful forms of action, Campaign Nonviolence invites people everywhere to:

Take the Campaign Nonviolence Pledge

Host or attend a Nonviolence Training in preparation for your action

Start a Nonviolence Study Group

Spread the word on Facebook  and Twitter

Find tools and resources for Action Week. Get the CNV action toolkit, flyers, graphics, action ideas and more! See below.

Read the 10 Tips for Great Actions and read about some great actions ideas.

Join action organizers around the country as we come together for the next Campaign Nonviolence National Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico August 6-9, 2020 to mark the 75th anniversary or Hiroshima and Nagasaki featuring Martin Sheen, Dolores Huerta, Richard Rohr and more!

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global, North America,

UN General Assembly celebrates 20 years of promoting a culture of peace

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An article from UN News

Just as the greatest global challenges cannot be solved by a single country, peace cannot be pursued in isolation, outgoing UN General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa said on Friday [September 13].

Ms. Espinosa was speaking at a high-level forum to mark the 20th anniversary of the General Assembly’s adoption of a Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace.

“Because peace is more than the absence of war, it needs constant nurturing through the pursuit of dignity and equality, of human rights and justice, of respect and understanding, and of cooperation and multilateralism”, she said.

As UN Chef de Cabinet Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti pointed out, although peace is at the heart of the work of the United Nations, it is something that must be addressed daily.

“A culture of peace is inseparable from human rights, respect for diversity, and fairer societies,” she said.

“One main challenge as we strive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals is to build more preventive and inclusive approaches that ensure the participation of women, young people and vulnerable, marginalized and non-represented groups.”

The Chef de Cabinet said working to achieve peace not only covers traditional notions of security but also challenges such as social injustice, the normalization of hate speech, terrorism, violence against women, and conflict.

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Question(s) related to this article:

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

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Leymah Gbowee from Liberia knows many of these issues first-hand. She won the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for her role in uniting Christian and Muslim women to help end her country’s 14-year civil war.

She said peace is seen as the absence of bad, rather than the presence of good. However, instead of being “a fairytale of bland happiness”, she views it as quite radical.

“If we dig a little deeper into what a culture of peace actually looks like, it pushes us beyond understanding peace as the absence of conflict and being a positive state itself”, Ms. Gbowee told the gathering.

“A culture of peace creates an environment where people thrive and have their needs met. It looks like a population of satisfied people: healthy children, educated children, a functional health system, responsive justice structure, an empowered, recognized, appreciated and fully compensated community of women; food on the table of every home, and a lot more. It is the full expression of human dignity.”

The high-level commemorative event marked Ms. Espinosa’s final session presiding over the General Assembly, where all 193 Member States have equal representation.

In her goal to bring the UN’s main deliberative and policy-making organ closer to everyday people, she chose the traditional ruler of the Ashanti people of Ghana to deliver the keynote address: a historic first.

Representing a kingdom that has existed since the 17th century, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II ascended the podium wearing kente cloth and accompanied by two praise-singers.

He highlighted some of the UN’s accomplishments in preserving global security: for example, staving off nuclear war and preventing conflict between nations. However, as he observed, the landscape today is different.

“Warfare is no longer the threat we face from states; it is now a danger we face on a daily basis from our citizens and from all quarters. This new threat comes on the heels of an unprecedented trust deficit in political leadership at the national level. The effect of this trust deficit is to erode the capacity of political leaders to rally their people to coalesce around national interests. The consequence for peace and security cannot be overstated”, he said.

The Ashanti leader called for a new partnership between elected authorities and traditional governance, in the spirit of authentic collaboration.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global, United Nations,

Colombia: University students demand implementation of the peace agreement

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An article from Caracol (translation by CPNN)

Margarita Villota, a graduatee of the Universidad del Rosario, says that the resolution of any conflict should not be through the use of weapons, but through legality and political means. “Although it is unfortunate,” the formation of a group of dissidents that have once again threatened to take up arms was to be expected in Colombia, since it has occurred historically in other conflicts, such as in Northern Ireland, Guatemala or South Africa.

Villota points out that it is necessary to build a culture of peace in which citizens can raise their voice and express themselves freely. At the same time, she explains that,their collective rejects the retaking of arms by ex-leaders, as well as all actions outside the framework of legality.

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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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David Gómez, who belongs to the group, explains that, in view of the dissidents, the agreement is not yet secured, and that is why it is necessary to defend everything agreed in the peace accords if we are to protect the victims and ensure the non-repetition of the war.

The group of the Universidad del Rosario, together with other universities such as Andes, Externado, Nacional and Tadeo, demands that the government guarantee and commit to the right to peace.

“The plan is to seek and support people who were part of the guerrillas, who believe in peace and who are in productive processes or pursuing programs in universities. These people show the country that the majority of the former guerrillas, those were previously in armed conflict, want peace today like the rest of Colombia,” explains Villota.

According to Iván Márquez and Jesús Santrich, Rosaristas Por la Paz considers it necessary for the citizens to appropriate the Peace Process and demand their constitutional right to peace.

David Gómez clarifies that, in recent days, students and graduates of different universities have hael actions, such as last Friday where they papered Bogotá asking for the war to stop, just as they are planning actions for the coming weeks.

The group was started by students and graduates of the Universidad del Rosario to promote the “Yes” in the campaign for the Plebiscite and, subsequently, with the loss of those votes, to develop actions so that an agreement will be reached.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

Nicaragua: Peace Commissions contribute to the prevention of violence against women

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article by Iliana Vásquez for TN8 (translation by CPNN)

The Reconciliation, Justice and Peace Commissions have assumed as part of the peace culture agenda to collaborate in the development of government policies and programs aimed at the prevention of violence against women, at any of its levels, as reported this Thursday by deputy Carlos Emilio López.


TN8 photo

“They are concerned with the prevention of femicides and other crimes against women, prevention of violence towards children, prevention of computer aggressions such as porno-revenge; as well as opposing other things that manipulate, deceive or destroy the dignity of women,” he said the FSLN deputy.

López said that 7,171 Reconciliation, Justice and Peace Commissions have been established and are operating throughout the country.

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(Click here for the original article in Spanish)

Questions related to this article:

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

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The deputy member of the Commission of Women, Youth, Children and Family of the National Assembly indicated that the commissions are integrating young people from different sectors to consolidate the culture of peace.

“Broken down by departments; we have in Nueva Segovia 450, in Madriz 192, in Estelí 331, in Chinandega 609, in León 542, in Managua 977, in Masaya 346, in Carazo 225, in Granada 279, in Rivas 286, in Chontales 287 , in Boaco 375,” he reported.

Organization

According to report number 12 detailing the qualitative and quantitative progress of the commission facilities; in Rio San Juan, 355 have been created, in Central Zelaya 324, in Jinotega 246, in Matagalpa 896, in the Autonomous Region of the North Caribbean 52, in the Autonomous Region of the South Caribbean 73 and in the Mining Triangle 320.

Among other concerns, the commission is calling on countries to take urgent action to stop the thousands of forest fires that have broken out in the Amazon.

“We must stop the thousands of fires that are burning the lung of the Earth. Not only to save the Plurinational State of Bolivia and its president Evo Morales; but to act in a coordinated way to protect one of the origins of life, of the planet”, emphasized the deputy.

In this way, the Reconciliation, Justice and Peace Commissions fulfill the commitment assumed with Nicaragua and the international community to raise their voices in situations that affect the world population, while fulfilling the commitments assumed for the good of Nicaraguans.

Latin America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

2nd Walk for the Culture of Peace in Cotia, Brazil, receives support from the World March for Peace and Nonviolence

. .DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. .

An article from Pressenza (available under a Creative Commons License 4.0.)

On Sunday 09/18/2019, people from the city of Cotia and neighboring municipalities attended the program of the 2nd edition of the Walk for a Culture of Peace, which took place on Sunday (18), in Cotia. The event had the participation of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, several cultural, ethnic, religious and popular movements.


The Walk is carried out by the City of Cotia, through the Secretariat of Sports, Culture and Leisure, and by the Peace Commission, composed of the Department of Culture and representatives of civil society: Casa de Airá – Tradition and Culture; Instituto Gira-Sol; Casa Olê Orixá Obá Ayrá; Lazaro de Aruanda Flight Temple and The Message from Silo – Parque de Estudos e Reflexão Caucaia.

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(Click here for the Portuguese version.)

Question for this article:

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

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The walk, the universal color of Peace, the white, was predominant and the atmosphere of fraternity hovered over the participants. “This event is the celebration of our Movement of the Culture of Peace, of resistance and defense of the rights of people, of cultural and religious diversity. Several fronts and ideologies join hands against prejudice, violence and intolerance.

We are different, we think different, we have different histories, we have different religions, but we are equal in rights. The Commission proposes this dialogue with society, a dialogue for peace through peace”, the Commission notes. For the Secretary of Sports, Culture and Leisure, Givaldo, “The Walk for a Culture of Peace is the biggest mobilization of an event that happens all year round, that holds several meetings and debates with the population”.

According to Gilmar de Almeida, Culture Manager of the city, the event is taking shape and, from now on, Cotia will act in the sense of regionalizing the Path for the Culture of Peace. “Such an important event as this cannot be limited to Cotia. We will seek to expand it, regionalize it, because the fight for peace can have no border,” he said.

In this context the 2nd World March for Peace and Nonviolence that will “march” from 02/10/2019 to 08/03/2019, traveling around the globe passing through Cotia around 12/12/19, considers very important to support and participate in local events like this held in the city of Cotia.

The Message of Silo, one of the promoters since the last edition of the journey, was also present on this journey. In addition to taking part in the organizational meetings, Silo also disseminated the values of peace and non-violence through its meetings and ceremonies that facilitate the approach to the theme. And the Park of Studies and Reflection Caucaia, through the different people applied in the investigation and promotion of Peace and Nonviolence was also present

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Latin America

Essonne, France: From Grigny to Hiroshima, the path of a high school girl for Peace

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article from Actu

Inès Lakehal, a 17-year-old Grigny high school student, has been sent by her commune to Japan for a week to raise her voice in favor of peace.

She is only 17 years old, and yet Inès Lakehal can now claim to have attended one of the most important diplomatic and solidarity gatherings of youth. During the summer, the high school girl was sent by her commune to the land of the rising sun for a week, as part of a program of actions led by the non-governmental organization Mayors for Peace.

Objectives: to represent Grigny during the Japanese commemoration ceremonies of August 6 in Hiroshima and then attend the International Youth Conference for Peace in the Future with about forty other adolescents of different nationalities. “This experience has been very rewarding,” says Inès Lakehal. It was the first time that I traveled alone, as far outside France, and that I had to use English continuously. Fortunately I had prepared well, “she continues with a laugh of relief.

Enthusiastic about peace since she was 11 years old, Inès has been very involved in her city. Being fluent in Shakespeare’s language, she had the right profile as well as motivations to be accepted for participation by Mayors for Peace.

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(Click here for the French version of this article)

Question related to this article:

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

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Workshops and cultural visits

Divided in two stages, the typical Japanese day for Inès during the week was divided between thematic workshops on peace in the morning and cultural visits of the country in the afternoon (city of Uwajima, walks with the traditional Yukata summer kimono …). The high school student told us she met during this trip people who were “really incredible, engated, all of them eager to make peace”.

“I had many exciting and constructive peace conversations. I realized that many clichés we have about certain nationalities are completely false. I am thinking in particular of this young Iranian girl who was in my group. One of the most adorable people in the world, so open and advocating peace between states, even though in Europe we have such a bad image of Iran.”

A future career in politics or diplomacy?

Now rich in her various commitments and always keen on peace, Inès does not rule out directing her future and career towards politics or diplomacy. “Since the end of my studies at the municipal council of college students in Grigny, I have worked with its students to enable them to adapt to new roles and find new ideas and projects.”

The young lady recognizes that the participation in high spheres of political decision can sometimes lead to disenchantment. “Having the chance to participate at these levels has given me a passion and desire to continue in this direction. But it is a complicated environment. I didn’t realize this before because in Grigny the setting is like a cocoon, a big family where everyone knows each other,” she says.

150 French communes within the NGO

Mayors for peace was created in 1948 by the mayors of Japanese cities bombed during the Second World War Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is a non-governmental organization with special consultancy status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

Its main lines of action concern the promotion and education of a culture of peace, support for the UN Charter and the development of multilateral security organizations, stopping wars and peaceful settlement conflicts, as well as disarmament and elimination of nuclear weapons. Involving more than 6,000 municipalities in 160 countries, Mayors for peace includes 150 communes in France. The president of the hexagonal branch turns out to be … Philippe Rio, the mayor of Grigny.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Europe

Marianne Williamson: U.S. needs Department of Peace

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

A speech by Marianne Williamson, Democratic candidate for president

Another day, another mass shooting. We grieve for Odessa, Texas, and we grieve for America.

The aftermath of every mass shooting follows a now-routine pattern: Feverish coverage will be followed by politicians and pundits engaging in a predictable conversation about gun-safety legislation. All of which we know by now. Of course, we need universal background checks; we need to close all loopholes; we need to outlaw bump stocks; and we need to outlaw assault weapons and the bullets needed to shoot them. But politicians trotting out various forms of I-will-do-this-or-that neither gets to the heart of the matter nor breaks the logjam that has made this horrific and uniquely American problem so intractable.

It is not just our gun policy but our politics that fails to free us of this insanity. Until we override the nefarious influence of money on our politics, it will not be possible to break the National Rifle Association’s chokehold on our society. It is not the will nor safety of the people but the profits of gun manufacturers that is given primacy in our gun policies. Legislation that establishes public funding for federal campaigns should be the battle cry of our generation.

But even then, Americans will have to look deeper for the causal layers of our epidemic of violence. We will have to look beyond politics. We will have to look at ourselves.

As individuals, Americans are not a violent people, but it is undeniable that we’re a violent culture. Regular mass shootings are not societally normal. And until we face this, the situation will not fundamentally improve.

Most politicians stick to a discussion of symptoms only. Politics should be the conduit for our most expanded conversation about societal issues, not the most superficial one. Conventional politics does not lend itself to a discussion of the deeper issues that plague us. Yet go deeper we must.

America does not just have a gun crisis; it has a cultural crisis. America will not stop experiencing the effects of gun violence until we’re ready to face the many ways that our culture is riddled with violence.

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Question related to this article:

Is a U.S. Department of Peace a realistic political goal?

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Our environmental policies are violent toward the Earth. Our criminal justice system is violent toward people of color. Our economic system is violent toward the poor. Our entertainment media is violent toward women. Our video games are violent in their effect on the minds of children. Our military is violent in ways and places where it doesn’t have to be. Our media is violent in its knee-jerk shaming and blaming for the sake of a better click rate. Our hearts are violent as we abandon each other constantly, breeding desperation and insanity. And our government is indirectly and directly violent in the countless ways it uses its power to help those who do not need help and to withhold support from those who do.

The darker truth that Americans must face now is this: Our society is not just steeped in violence; we are hooked on violence. And in area after area, there are those who make billions of dollars on deepening the hook. Until we see that, we will just have more violence. Our minds must awaken so we can see all this. Our hearts must awaken so we can change all this. And our politics must change so we can discuss all this.

Though gun-safety legislation should be fervently pursued, a political establishment so steeped in the ways of brute force is hardly equipped to be the purveyor of a solution to the problem of violence in this country. With a nearly $740 billion military budget but only $40 billion proposed for the State Department budget, our outsize commitment to brute force and ever-withering commitment to soul force is obvious. With the Air Force seeking 100 stealth B-21 Raiders, each with a price tag of $550 million and each equipped to carry both nuclear and conventional weapons, while 12.5 million children in the United States live in food-insecure homes – the idea of politicians who allow this to happen being the ones who are going to save us from the epidemic of violence in America is almost laughable.

We will not break free of dysfunctional realities until we are willing to embrace more functional ones. I propose a U.S. Department of Peace to coordinate and harness the powers of conflict resolution; restorative justice; violence prevention; trauma-informed education; mindfulness in the schools; child and family wrap-around services; social and emotional learning; and a world-class peace academy to train and to deploy thousands of peace-builders, plus national conferences and a presidential task force for peace creation. We will make every effort to promote a culture of peace both at home and abroad. We will address the root causes, not just the symptoms of violence in America. And in time, we will transform our culture from one of conflict to one of peace.

Nothing is going to fundamentally change until enough of us are willing to take a stand for fundamental change. And no change could be more fundamental than for the United States to transform from a culture of violence to a culture of peace. From the frequency of attack to the frequency of forgiveness. From a land of fear to a land of love.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America