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.

U.S. Conference of Mayors to Vote on Resolution to Move Money from the Military to Human and Environmental Needs

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from World Beyond War

New Haven, CT, Charlottesville, VA, Montgomery County, MD, Evanston, IL (see page 14 of linked document), New London, NH, and Ithaca, NY, have passed resolutions opposing the Trump budget’s moving of money from everything else to the military, urging that money be moved in the opposite direction.


(Click on image to enlarge)

Those passed by Ithaca and New Haven will be voted on by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Ask your mayor to contact the U.S. Conference of Mayors now to endorse resolutions #59 and #60.

Your town or city or county can also go ahead and pass its own. For more tips and sample materials from Ithaca, NY, click here.

You can also watch/listen to this webinar done with Code Pink and U.S. Peace Council.

Steps you can take:

Contact mary@worldbeyondwar.org to ask for help

Form a coalition of local groups concerned about the cuts, the military increase, or both

Find out how to speak publicly at local government meetings and how to submit a proposal or get one on the agenda for a vote; or ask council members/ aldermen / supervisors to sponsor it.

Collect organizations’ or prominent people’s or lots of people’s names on a petition

Hold rallies, press conferences

Write op-eds, letters, go on radio, tv

Use http://costofwar.com to calculate local trade-offs

(continued in right column)

Questions for this article:

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

(continued from left column)

Make use of this petition signed by many prominent people and over 20,000 people total

Revise the draft below:

Resolution Proposed for __________, ___

Whereas President Trump has proposed to move $54 billion from human and environmental spending at home and abroad to military spending[i], bringing military spending to well over 60% of federal discretionary spending[ii],

Whereas polling has found the U.S. public to favor a $41 billion reduction in military spending, a $94 billion gap away from President Trump’s proposal,

Whereas part of helping alleviate the refugee crisis should be ending, not escalating, wars that create refugees[iii],

Whereas President Trump himself admits that the enormous military spending of the past 16 years has been disastrous and made us less safe, not safer[iv],

Whereas fractions of the proposed military budget could provide free, top-quality education from pre-school through college[v], end hunger and starvation on earth[vi], convert the U.S. to clean energy[vii], provide clean drinking water everywhere it’s needed on the planet[viii], build fast trains between all major U.S. cities[ix], and double non-military U.S. foreign aid rather than cutting it[x],

Whereas even 121 retired U.S. generals have written a letter opposing cutting foreign aid[xi],

Whereas a December 2014 Gallup poll of 65 nations found that the United States was far and away the country considered the largest threat to peace in the world[xii],

Whereas a United States responsible for providing clean drinking water, schools, medicine, and solar panels to others would be more secure and face far less hostility around the world,

Whereas our environmental and human needs are desperate and urgent,

Whereas the military is itself the greatest consumer of petroleum we have[xiii],

Whereas economists at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have documented that military spending is an economic drain rather than a jobs program[xiv],

Be it therefore resolved that the ____________ of ___________, ________, urges the United States Congress to move our tax dollars in exactly the opposite direction proposed by the President, from militarism to human and environmental needs.

[i] “Trump to Seek $54 Billion Increase in Military Spending,” The New York Times, February 27, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/27/us/politics/trump-budget-military.html?_r=0

[ii] This does not include another 6% for the discretionary portion of veterans’ care. For a breakdown of discretionary spending in the 2015 budget from the National Priorities Project, see https://www.nationalpriorities.org/campaigns/military-spending-united-states

[iii] “43 Million People Kicked Out of Their Homes,” World Beyond War, http://worldbeyondwar.org/43-million-people-kicked-homes / “Europe’s Refugee Crisis Was Made in America,” The Nation, https://www.thenation.com/article/europes-refugee-crisis-was-made-in-america

[iv] On February 27, 2017, Trump said, “Almost 17 years of fighting in the Middle East . . . $6 trillion we’ve spent in the Middle East . . . and we’re nowhere, actually if you think about it we’re less than nowhere, the Middle East is far worse than it was 16, 17 years ago, there’s not even a contest . . . we have a hornet’s nest . . . .” http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/02/27/trump_we_spent_6_trillion_in_middle_east_and_we_are_less_than_nowhere_far_worse_than_16_years_ago.html

[v] “Free College: We Can Afford It,” The Washington Post, May 1, 2012, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/free-college-we-can-afford-it/2012/05/01/gIQAeFeltT_story.html?utm_term=.9cc6fea3d693

[vi] “The World Only Needs 30 Billion Dollars a Year to Eradicate the Scourge of Hunger,” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000853/index.html

[vii] “Clean Energy Transition Is A $25 Trillion Free Lunch,” Clean Technica, https://cleantechnica.com/2015/11/03/clean-energy-transition-is-a-25-trillion-free-lunch / See also: http://www.solutionaryrail.org

[viii] “Clean Water for a Healthy World,” UN Environment Program, http://www.unwater.org/wwd10/downloads/WWD2010_LOWRES_BROCHURE_EN.pdf

[ix] “Cost of High Speed Rail in China One Third Lower than in Other Countries,” The World Bank, http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2014/07/10/cost-of-high-speed-rail-in-china-one-third-lower-than-in-other-countries

[x] Non-military U.S. foreign aid is approximately $25 billion, meaning that President Trump would need to cut it by over 200% to find the $54 billion he proposes to add to military spending

[xi] Letter to Congressional leaders, February 27, 2017, http://www.usglc.org/downloads/2017/02/FY18_International_Affairs_Budget_House_Senate.pdf

[xii] See http://www.wingia.com/en/services/about_the_end_of_year_survey/global_results/7/33

[xiii] “Fight Climate Change, Not Wars,” Naomi Klein, http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2009/12/fight-climate-change-not-wars

[xiv] “The U.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities: 2011 Update,” Political Economy Research Institute, https://www.peri.umass.edu/publication/item/449-the-u-s-employment-effects-of-military-and-domestic-spending-priorities-2011-update

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, North America

U.S. Conference of Mayors to Vote on Resolution to Move Money from the Military to Human and Environmental Needs

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from World Beyond War

New Haven, CT, Charlottesville, VA, Montgomery County, MD, Evanston, IL (see page 14 of linked document), New London, NH, and Ithaca, NY, have passed resolutions opposing the Trump budget’s moving of money from everything else to the military, urging that money be moved in the opposite direction.

Those passed by Ithaca and New Haven will be voted on by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Ask your mayor to contact the U.S. Conference of Mayors now to endorse resolutions #59 and #60.

Your town or city or county can also go ahead and pass its own. For more tips and sample materials from Ithaca, NY, click here.

You can also watch/listen to this webinar done with Code Pink and U.S. Peace Council.

Steps you can take:

Contact mary@worldbeyondwar.org to ask for help

Form a coalition of local groups concerned about the cuts, the military increase, or both

Find out how to speak publicly at local government meetings and how to submit a proposal or get one on the agenda for a vote; or ask council members/ aldermen / supervisors to sponsor it.

Collect organizations’ or prominent people’s or lots of people’s names on a petition

Hold rallies, press conferences

Write op-eds, letters, go on radio, tv

Use http://costofwar.com to calculate local trade-offs

Make use of this petition signed by many prominent people and over 20,000 people total

Revise the draft below:

Resolution Proposed for __________, ___

Whereas President Trump has proposed to move $54 billion from human and environmental spending at home and abroad to military spending[i], bringing military spending to well over 60% of federal discretionary spending[ii],

Whereas polling has found the U.S. public to favor a $41 billion reduction in military spending, a $94 billion gap away from President Trump’s proposal,

Whereas part of helping alleviate the refugee crisis should be ending, not escalating, wars that create refugees[iii],

Whereas President Trump himself admits that the enormous military spending of the past 16 years has been disastrous and made us less safe, not safer[iv],

Whereas fractions of the proposed military budget could provide free, top-quality education from pre-school through college[v], end hunger and starvation on earth[vi], convert the U.S. to clean energy[vii], provide clean drinking water everywhere it’s needed on the planet[viii], build fast trains between all major U.S. cities[ix], and double non-military U.S. foreign aid rather than cutting it[x],

(continued in right column)

Questions for this article:

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

(continued from left column)

Whereas even 121 retired U.S. generals have written a letter opposing cutting foreign aid[xi],

Whereas a December 2014 Gallup poll of 65 nations found that the United States was far and away the country considered the largest threat to peace in the world[xii],

Whereas a United States responsible for providing clean drinking water, schools, medicine, and solar panels to others would be more secure and face far less hostility around the world,

Whereas our environmental and human needs are desperate and urgent,

Whereas the military is itself the greatest consumer of petroleum we have[xiii],

Whereas economists at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have documented that military spending is an economic drain rather than a jobs program[xiv],

Be it therefore resolved that the ____________ of ___________, ________, urges the United States Congress to move our tax dollars in exactly the opposite direction proposed by the President, from militarism to human and environmental needs.

[i] “Trump to Seek $54 Billion Increase in Military Spending,” The New York Times, February 27, 2017

[ii] This does not include another 6% for the discretionary portion of veterans’ care. For a breakdown of discretionary spending in the 2015 budget, see the National Priorities Project

[iii] “43 Million People Kicked Out of Their Homes,” World Beyond War, and “Europe’s Refugee Crisis Was Made in America,” The Nation

[iv] On February 27, 2017, Trump said, “Almost 17 years of fighting in the Middle East . . . $6 trillion we’ve spent in the Middle East . . . and we’re nowhere, actually if you think about it we’re less than nowhere, the Middle East is far worse than it was 16, 17 years ago, there’s not even a contest . . . we have a hornet’s nest . . . .” quoted in Realclearpolitics.

[v] “Free College: We Can Afford It,” The Washington Post, May 1, 2012

[vi] “The World Only Needs 30 Billion Dollars a Year to Eradicate the Scourge of Hunger,” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

[vii] “Clean Energy Transition Is A $25 Trillion Free Lunch,” Clean Technica. See also: solutionaryrail

[viii] “Clean Water for a Healthy World,” UN Environment Program

[ix] “Cost of High Speed Rail in China One Third Lower than in Other Countries,” The World Bank

[x] Non-military U.S. foreign aid is approximately $25 billion, meaning that President Trump would need to cut it by over 200% to find the $54 billion he proposes to add to military spending

[xi] Letter to Congressional leaders, February 27, 2017

[xii] See survey results

[xiii] “Fight Climate Change, Not Wars,” Naomi Klein

[xiv] “The U.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities: 2011 Update,” Political Economy Research Institute

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, North America

USA: A Call to Mobilize the Nation through 2018

…. HUMAN RIGHTS ….

An article by Rev. John Dear, published by Pace e Bene

While the media and the nation sit transfixed over the Trump scandals and attacks on democracy, those of us who work for justice and peace know that we have to keep working, resisting, and mobilizing people across the country if we are going to have the social, economic and political transformation we need for our survival.

In other words, we’ve only just begun. Instead of giving up, giving in, or throwing in the towel, instead of sitting glued to the tube, we’re going forward. The campaign for a new culture of nonviolence is on!

No, you may say, it’s too much, I need to take a break from the news, from the movement, from the struggle. There’s nothing we can do, anyway. We can’t make a difference. I give up.

That is not only not helpful, it’s simply not true. We have more power than we realize. If we mobilize together and resist, we can prevent injustices, wars and other horrors from occurring. Doing nothing because we are overwhelmed or too dispirited is not helpful to anyone and certainly not the poor, the victims of our wars, or Mother Earth. It’s also not helpful to ourselves. For the sake of our own humanity, our own integrity, our own sanity, we need to carry on the struggle now more than ever, with boldness, creativity and steadfast nonviolence.

To this end, my friends and I at Campaign Nonviolence have issued a new call inviting people to commit themselves to the struggle over the next eighteen months, from now through the Congressional elections of November, 2018, to building a movement of movements that connects the dots of violence and injustice for a groundswell of activism, organizing, marches, demonstrations, and political conversion we’ve not yet seen.

“The time has come for us to pool our nonviolent power to resist the tragedy we face and to signal, once and for all, our determination to build a world of peace, racial justice, economic equality, and a healthy planet for all,” the statement begins. “We call on you—and all people everywhere—to join us in training for nonviolent action, in creating community for nonviolent action, and in taking nonviolent action in this challenging time.”

This call to mobilize over the next eighteen months is not just an electoral strategy, we insist. What we want is “a referendum for a nonviolent future.”

Campaign Nonviolence proposes the following concrete steps:

First, join the September 16-24, 2017 national week of action, where over 1000 marches and rallies calling for an end to war, racism, poverty and environmental destruction and for a new culture of peace and nonviolence will take place across the nation covering all fifty states. (Register your event here!)

Second, take a nonviolence training and then organize nonviolence trainings in your community. We all need to brush up on our nonviolence, and these trainings offer principles and methods for nonviolent strategies and guidance and the hand’s on help of role-playing and practicing your nonviolent response. (Look for trainings and trainers on the Nonviolence Training Hub co-sponsored by Campaign Nonviolence and Pace e Bene at www.nonviolencetraininghub.org

(Article continued in the right column)

Questions related to this article:

The post-election fightback for human rights, is it gathering force in the USA?

(Article continued from the left column)

Third, form and join an affinity group. We are in deep water these days, and we cannot sustain our nonviolent resistance or build a movement on our own; we need one another. We encourage everyone to form or join an affinity group of just 5 to 10 people where you can support one another for public action, study nonviolence, reflect on the current situation and envision a way forward. Affinity groups have long played a part in our movements. In Latin America, where they are called “base communities,” they are practically a requirement for survival.

Fourth, join the Nonviolent Cities project and announce your city as a “Nonviolent City.” Based on the ground-breaking work of “Nonviolent Carbondale,” Illinois, the Nonviolent Cities project supports local leaders around the country who are envisioning their community as a city of nonviolence. With over forty cities currently exploring this vision, Campaign Nonviolence calls upon activists, organizers, students and religious and political leaders to use this tool as a way to organize locally, resist injustice, end violence, and set a new path for your community to one day become a culture of peace and nonviolence.

Fifth, plan a local or regional gathering or conference in the Spring, 2018, to build for the fall convergence, help spread the word, and mobilize the groundswell of public action. We encourage everyone everywhere to organize your own day-long planning sessions or retreats next spring so that we can stay focused on the task of movement building.

Sixth, mobilize thousands of local public actions across the nation during the Campaign Nonviolence national week of action next September 15-23, 2018, as well as come to Washington, D.C. for the Campaign Nonviolence Convergence, where we will cover nonviolence training, a day of lobbying for justice and disarmament on Capitol Hill, and a silent march from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial to the White House. With the impending mid-term Congressional elections, we will call for a referendum for a nonviolent future.

“We are in new territory, and things will likely get worse before they get better,” our call declares. But they will definitely get worse if we all do not think big, take bold action, envision a new future, and join together across every divide in an unprecedented historic movement. We need to commit ourselves now to redoubling our efforts over these next eighteen months, to mobilize like never before. In the past, if we were peaceful people, we now also have to become activists. If we were activists, now we have to become organizers. We all have to step up to the plate in new mature ways and meet this time head on with boldness, love and determination.

Through the brilliant work of Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan in their book, Why Civil Resistance Works, we know that nonviolent strategies for social change are twice as effective as violent ones, that when people gather together to do the impossible through nonviolent movements, positive change usually occurs.

But we also know this: movements which activate 3.5% of the population are very likely to succeed. For us, that means 12 million people. I believe we can do that. Over the course of the next eighteen months, we can build an unprecedented movement of movements to challenge the violence of our country and lay new groundwork for a culture of peace and nonviolence.

“A culture of nonviolence is not an unattainable dream,” Pope Francis wrote last month in his open letter to Chicago, “but a path that has produced decisive results. The consistent practice of nonviolence has broken barriers, bound wounds, healed nations.”

I hope we can all spread the vision, continue to build up our grassroots movement of nonviolence, and mobilize the nation not just for steadfast resistance but the long haul transformation into a new culture of nonviolence.

To read the full text of the call click here!

HUMAN RIGHTS, North America

Morocco: The International Festival of Amazigh Culture from 14 to 16 July in Fez

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from Atlas Info

The 13th edition of the international festival of Amazigh culture will take place from 14 to 16 July in Fez under the theme “Amazighity and cultural diversity in the face of extremism”.

Initiated by the Fès-Saiss Association and the Center Sud Nord in partnership with the Esprit Foundation of Fez, the Fès-Meknes region, the BMCE Foundation and the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT), this event promotes coherent strategies for the consolidation of intercultural dialogue, social cohesion and the strengthening of democratic culture.

This international festival, which has become an unmissable event, is part of actions and efforts to promote Amazigh culture through the enhancement of Amazigh intangible heritage, cultural diversity and their contributions to the culture of peace.

The festival features a multitude of activities including artistic evenings with the participation of Abdelhafid Douzi, Aicha Tachinwite, Hadda Ouakki, Said Senhaji, Ibtissam Tisket and Hassan El Berkani, Italian Laura Conti, besides the Ahidous dance of Tahla and Flamenco, and many other stars of the Amazigh and Mediterranean song.

The 12th edition of the International Festival of Amazigh Culture was initiated under the theme “Amazighité and the Mediterranean cultures: Living together”.

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

Question for this article:
EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Mideast

Northern Ireland School Receives Evens Prize for Peace Education 2017

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

A press release from the Evens Foundation

New-Bridge Integrated College in Loughbrickland, Northern Ireland, is the laureate of the Evens Prize for Peace Education 2017. For this year’s biennial European prize, the Evens Foundation looked for strategies implemented in secondary schools for dealing with ‘hot topics’ in a constructive way. 13 high quality projects from all over Europe were selected for the shortlist.

According to the international jury of experts, New-Bridge Integrated College developed an impressive and strongly embedded project that continues to break new ground in relation to integrated education in Northern Ireland, and of which the approach is very transferable to other EU countries and contexts. The project arose in the polarized education system in Northern Ireland, but also integrates more recent problematics (social and cultural mix, mixed-ability students). It helps teachers to respond to everyday diversity as well as to transform controversial subjects into a learning opportunity.

The project is steered by the school and has strong leadership, both from the Senior Leadership Team and the Community Relations, Equality and Diversity team. It also has a solid peer-learning dimension: the project was developed by teachers for their colleagues. It focuses on both knowledge and skills development, and works with teachers, pupils and families. The cross-curricular approach to controversial issues is being mainstreamed into formal education processes across the school, and is accepted by all stakeholders.

To ensure a consistent approach to teaching controversial issues, the project offers teachers specific training, ideas, tools and activities to work positively with controversial or sensitive issues when they arise, as well as material to prepare lessons on controversial subjects. It does not expect teachers to follow extensive training courses but rather to start working and build their competences and confidence to deal with such topics step by step, at their own pace.

(continued in right column)

Question for this article:

Peace Studies in School Curricula, What would it take to make it happen around the world?

(continued from left column)

The laureate will receive a cash award of €25,000, of which some is to be used to share their vision and good practices with colleagues in other European countries.

The prize‐giving ceremony will take place on 9 November 2017 in London in the framework of the next Conflict Matters conference. On this occasion, all shortlisted candidates will also be invited for an exchange seminar in order to share experiences and good practices.

Jury members for Evens Prize for Peace Education 2017

Tomas Baum (BE), Director of the Flemish Peace Institute

Maria Carme Boqué Torremorell (ES), Head of Teaching, Department of Education, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona

Christel De Jonge (BE), DG Education and Culture, European Commission

Jonathan Even-Zohar (NL), Director of Euroclio (European Association for History Educators)

Joanna Grzymała-Moszczyńska (PL), researcher and PhD. student, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow

David Kerr (UK), Head of Initial Teacher Training, University of Reading; Consultant Director of Education, Citizenship Foundation

Claudia Ruitenberg (CA/NL), Associate Professor, Philosophy of Education, Department of Educational Studies, University of British Columbia

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe

The Gambia: African youth calls for intergenerational bridges

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from UNESCO

100 young leaders coming from 22 African countries gathered in Banjul, the capital of The Gambia from 9 to 10 May 2017 to develop new strategies for peacebuilding and regional solidarity in Africa. This international conference was an opportunity to celebrate the contribution of youth to the democratic transition in The Gambia and to reflect on the role of youth movements in the transition and consolidation of democracy on the African continent.

Organized under the theme “Youth, Peacebuilding and Regional Solidarity: Lessons from Africa”, the conference provided a platform to reflect on the opportunities and challenges for the development of the continent’s youth and find consensus on how to address them collectively. The forum was organized with the support of the Government of The Gambia, UNESCO, and the African Council for the Development of Social Science Research (CODESRIA).

Participants and various speakers called for more openness and interaction between generations in Africa in order to promote peace and reduce conflicts on the continent. “We need to bridge the generation gap to prevent violence and resolve conflicts in Africa,” said Ibrahim Ceesay, Executive Director of the African Artists Peace Initiative, adding that “it is important in this context to reflect on exclusion, on migratory phenomena linked to the hostile political environment and on the “mutilated promises that impede development”.

Several youth organizations and movements made this event unique by their contribution to the discussions, including the Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace (PAYNCOP), set up with the support of UNESCO, the Y’en a Marre (Senegal) movement, GambiaHasDecided, the Balai Citoyen du Burkina Faso and the Malawi Students Movement Association. Panafrican leaders also attended the forum, such as Professor Abdoulaye Bathily and the Honorable Halifa Salla, member of the Gambian parliament and outgoing Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for Central Africa.

(continued in right column)

(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?

(continued from left column)

Despite the measures taken to place youth issues at the heart of the development agenda and strengthen their participation in the process of governance, peace and development in the region, the social commitment of young people is still limited by challenges and weaknesses in existing networks and interventions. These challenges and weaknesses include participation without representation, limited allocation of resources for youth development, economic marginality and skill gaps.

The UNESCO Multi-Sectoral Office for the Sahel, under the leadership of Dr Maréma Thiam Touré, Head of Social Sciences, made an effective contribution to the organization of this important international initiative as part of its agenda for youth development and civic education. The Social and Human Sciences Sector of the Dakar Regional Office has set itself the task of providing young people with skills and assisting them, in collaboration with the education and culture sectors, in the promotion of Social innovation and effective participation in the development of their societies, to eradicate poverty and inequality, to consolidate a culture of peace, gender equality and intercultural dialogue. This involves information and communication sciences and technologies, in the realization of the Sustainable Development Objectives.

Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, United Nations

Africa: In a World of Turbulence, Writers Reaffirm Their Role for Enlightenment and Information

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from the Senegalese News Agency

Members of the Writers’ Union of Africa, Asia and Latin America (AAAWU) can play the role of “literary enlightenment and information” in a turbulent world . “Literature can play a very important role not only by interpreting but also by information,” said Lamine Kamara, president of the Writers’ Association of Guinea, at the opening on Monday in Dakar of the meeting of the AAAWU.

Former Guinean Foreign Minister, Kamara stressed the need “to open a space of debate through writing, so that the different points of view can confront each other.” According to him, we must “invite the reader and especially the general public to have more tolerance and intercomprehension and to avoid the spirit of violence, hatred and intolerance”.

“Facing this world of turbulence and particularly in Africa, writers have much to say,” adds Chadian poet Samafou Diguilou, president of the Association of Friends of Literature in Chad.

“I come from Chad (where), we have a very dramatic situation with the Boko Haram, a group of terrorists that is rampant in Chad and in neighboring countries such as Cameroon and Mali … the Chadian or African writer must take his pen to denounce this injustice, “continued Mr. Diguilou. The Chadian writer says he still finds it hard to understand the rationality of the members of this group. “You attack people who did not do anything to you, you come, you kill, you explode bombs, you take lives away from innocent people,” he criticized. In the face of this, “the writer, whether Chadian, Senegalese or even African is called upon to intervene.”

(continued in right column)

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

Question for this article:

Do the arts create a basis for a culture of peace?, What is, or should be, their role in our movement?

(continued from left column)

“We do not have weapons or explosive devices like them, but we have our pen, and with this we can appeal to major international organizations like the UN, the African Union to support the actions of our countries that are concerned,’ explains the Chadian poet.

Taking as an example the role played by the first African poets in the struggle against slavery and colonization or the march towards independence, Chadian Samafou Diguilou considers that the author can use all literary genres to be hear.

Aware of the fact that literacy has been an obstacle to access to books in African countries, he proposed that we privilege works translated into local languages ​​or interpreted by artists.

The Senegalese writer Aissatou Cissé advocates “readings of peace in this world context of turbulence, verbal and physical violence”. “Every morning, when we get up, we read on the Internet, or through a newspaper or a book, and what we read does not promote the culture of peace, it disrupts even more and creates zizanie [discord], “she said.

“Children, adolescents and adults who read us need to read positive things that can boost their creativity, and it is in peace that we can create,” said the Special Advisor to the President of the Republic, Macky Sall.

The president of the club “Poetists, essayists and novelists” (PEN), Colonel Moumar Guèye invites “writers and journalists to have a responsible pen, to ensure to safeguard national cohesion and social peace”.

Africa, EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Senegal: A regional seminar on “The role of journalists and the media in preventing violence”

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from Abidjan.net

The United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs ( DFAE) of Switzerland is organizing a seminar on “The role of journalists and the media in preventing violence and violent extremism in West Africa and the Sahel” from 12 to 14 June 2017 in Dakar .

The seminar’s main objective is to help improve the capacity of journalists and the media to better contribute to the prevention of violence, including violent extremism in West Africa and the Sahel. It will bring together some thirty journalists and experts from the countries of West Africa and the Sahel.

This meeting follows the recommendations of the conference organized by UNOWAS in partnership with the International Institute for Peace (IPI) and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAE) in Dakar on 27 and 28 June 2016, on the theme : “Investing in peace and preventing violence in West Africa and the Sahel: Conversation around the UN Secretary-General’s Plan of Action”. It also draws on UNESCO’s existing initiatives to promote journalism education and a culture of peace.

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

Question(s) related to this article:
Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, United Nations,

Ecuador: Students from schools commit to fostering a culture of peace

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by El Universo – Guayaquil

Officials and teachers of the Movement for Integral Popular Education and Social Promotion “Fe y Alegría”, from the coast region, have pledged to resolve conflicts based on honesty, peace and equality and promote respect for human rights and harmonious coexistence. This is part of the Semilleros de Convivencia program, promoted by the Council of the Judiciary.

The managers of eight establishments held on Monday May 22 took part in a symbolic planting of the first seed, through which they commit to implement this methodology in the educational community of 3,641 students.

Authorities and teachers committed themselves to provide tools for students and parents to resolve conflicts peacefully, through dialogue and consultation.

Iván Machado, deputy director of Centers for Mediation and Justice for Peace, said that the project “is a way of involving a whole society, schools, colleges, social groups, to forge a culture of peace.”

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

Question for this article:

Peace Studies in School Curricula, What would it take to make it happen around the world?

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For the implementation of this methodology in educational establishments, motivational workshops will be held for teachers and student advisors, in topics such as harmonious coexistence, respect for the environment, teamwork, non-violence, and respect for oneself and for others..

Iván Pinchevsky, rector of the Father Francisco García Jiménez Educational Unit, stressed that this program seeks to educate children and adolescents in values ​​to promote cultural change and achieve social transformation.

In Guayaquil, the following institutions will participate in the Semilleros de Convivencia: the Francisco Garcia Jiménez Educational Unit, the José Antonio González de Durana School, the Fe y Alegría “40 y la C” Education Unit, the Francisco Gárate Elementary School. the Fiscomisional María Reina Basic School of Education, the Our Lady of Health Basic School of Education, the Esteban Cordero Borrero School, and the San Pablo Educational Unit.

The Council of the Judiciary indicated that ten other establishments of “Fe y Alegría” – costa region, will also join the project.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Côte d’Ivoire: Preservation of the peace in Port-Bouët: Communal youth give their recipes

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

An article from Unité.ci

The Union of Youth of the commune of Port-Bouët, in collaboration with the NGO “Acting for peace and well-being” (ONGAPBE), organized on Saturday 10 June 2017 at the Hotel Communal, a seminar on “How can youth develop the culture of peace in the commune of Port-Bouët? “.


Photo legend : Seminar participants sit in a circle

Samuel Kouassi, President of the Youth Union, gave the reasons for holding such a seminar. According to him, it is the young people who in times of acute crisis are instrumentalized to commit acts of violence. “Youth can become the armed fist of people with troubled and selfish purposes. We must therefore work to ensure that this important segment of the population in our commune in particular and in the country in general find ways to protect themselves in case of crisis, disorder or disorder.” That is why he invited the leaders of young people from all parts of the commune to listen carefully to the message delivered today and put it into practice if necessary.

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(Click here for the original French version)

Question for 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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Mr Koffi Amani, President of ONGAPBE, gave some suggestions for young people to be peace actors in their families, neighborhoods, communities and, in turn, in Côte d’Ivoire. According to him, the seminar establishes an interactive methodology, “Collective intelligence, listening to others and networking among all the youth groups makes it possible to involve young people in the search for peace,” he said. For him, it is essential to avoid suspicions and dissension. Young people should think together by listening to each one, giving positions and listening to those of others. “The culture of peace must not be an isolated action, since it concerns everyone. With us 1 + 1 is not equal to 2, but to 11. For 11 is the figure of force, while 2 is division. Our methodology is to bring everyone together to produce the desired results, “said Koffi Amani.

He recalled that the NGO he runs has been functioning since December 2012. In January 2013, the NGO trained its facilitators who are people who publicly animate seminars, meetings or training sessions. The facilitator is called the “host.” Their methodology consists in having the participants set up in a circle. “The circle has a specificity in the sense that it allows everyone to see each other during the exchanges. Each point of the circle constituted by each participant has equal value. That is, each participant has the same importance as the others in the debate. There is no leader and everyone has the right to speak. Each one can not speak more than another and each participant can not see the right to speak back. He who has not the word should listen attentively to the one who is speaking. These are the rules we have set ourselves to inculcate certain values ​​to all those who take part in our trainings, “said the president of the NGO.

Participants talked about their experience of peace and how they once worked in their lives to bring harmony into the family, neighborhood, school, etc. It is this experience that they have been asked to remember, the day when they will be faced with a situation that requires them to commit themselves to peace.

Africa, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY