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.

UN-Tourism Candidate is Placing Tourism at the Heart of Peace and Reconciliation

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from eTurboNews

Mouhamed Faouzou Deme from Senegal has made headlines in Africa, wanting to become Africa’s choice in the upcoming UN Tourism election for Secretary-General.

He is the only one of the four competing candidates for the highest UNWTO post who provided feedback to eTurboNews on the role of tourism for peace. Once Secretary-General Zurab took his helm in 2018, UNWTO’s long-year relationship with the International Institute for Peace of Tourism was eliminated, forcing IIPT chairman Louis D’Amore to cancel his carefully planned summit in Montreal. IIPT never fully recovered from this disappointment after this.

Its former Secretary-General, Dr. Taleb Rifai, fostered this unique relationship between UNWTO and IIPT. Mouhamed pledged to reinstate this, should he become Secretary-General, and responded to WTN. He stated:

Tourism stakeholders, professionals, and political actors have continued to recall the importance of placing tourism at the heart of peace and reconciliation programs to enable the sector to mobilize its capacity for action.

This is often in favor of investment, development, and social inclusion.

Adherence to freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance, solidarity, cooperation, pluralism, cultural diversity, dialogue, and understanding promotes peace.

(article continued in right column)

Questions related to this article:
 
How can tourism promote a culture of peace?

(article continued from left column)

Tourism is a vector of peace, respect, openness, and dialogue.

Tourism has the value of peace because it is only built and carried out in an environment of security, stability, and conviviality.

The main idea behind the concept of peace in tourism is that peace exists when people travel freely around the world.

It helps travelers to get to know new people, cultures, and values.

This experience can increase mutual understanding between people who have lived in diverse cultural contexts.

Furthermore, peace tourism aims to reduce the root causes that create situations where violence is perceived as inevitable.

It does not replace other types of tourism practices but rather aims to facilitate their improvement.

Its impact goes far beyond economic benefits. It is interesting to look at tourism as a social force rather than an industry and see how we can use it to establish a culture of peace.

Tourism connects people and the planet. It is a vector of trust and goodwill.

Understanding culture can change behavior and consolidate peace.

Tourism’s role in supporting peace is also reflected in its contribution to the fight against poverty, the preservation of culture, and protecting the environment.
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Africa, global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, United Nations, ,

The International Institute for Peace through Tourism: A personal memoire

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

Excerpts from the reflections by Timothy Marshall, Chairman, IIPT Board of Directors

As we end this year, I have been asked to share some reflections on my journey with
our Brother Lou D’Amore. . . When launching IIPT, Brother Lou’s vision was and is to make the world’s largest industry, travel and tourism, the first global peace industry; with the belief that every traveler is potentially an ambassador for peace.


Lou D’Amore, left, and Timothy Marshall, right, with Tukwini Mandela

THE BEGINNING YEARS: LAUNCH OF SUMMITS, CONFERENCES AND CHAPTERS

As the creator and global leader of the ‘Peace Through Tourism’ movement, IIPT
launched its first global conference on Sustainable Tourism Development in Vancouver
in 1988. The theme was: “Tourism: A Vital Force for Peace”. Eight hundred persons
from sixty-eight countries were in attendance; and Pope John Paul II and U.S. President
Ronald Reagan were featured in video-taped messages. The Vancouver Conference
first introduced the concept of ‘Sustainable Tourism Development’ four years prior to the
U.N. Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The
Vancouver conference also introduced a new paradigm for a ‘Higher Purpose of
Tourism’ which incorporated the Mission of IIPT. Today, we hear this concept espoused
all over the globe. However, nearly 40 years ago when IIPT was founded, the industry’s
focus was almost exclusively on economics and finance, and these concepts were very
foreign.

Approximately 6 months after our first global conference, the first Caribbean conference
on socially and environmentally responsible tourism was held in 1989 in the Bahamas. It
featured Dr. D’Amore; along with Mr. Stanley Selingut, who established the first
Caribbean eco-tourism resort based in St. John, U.S. Virgin Island; as well as
representatives from Indonesia and the Pacific, who all gave case studies. This led to
two subsequent conferences on eco-tourism in the Caribbean, and a major new focus
on sustainable tourism by the Caribbean Tourism Organization . . .

Our first Global Summit was held in Amman, Jordan in 2000. King Abdullah II was our
Royal Patron; and Mr. Harvey Golub, Chairman of American Express, and Chairman of
WTTC, served as our first Summit Chair. I was asked to convene our first Coalition of
Partners meeting which was attended by thirty-two organizations from around the world;
each of whom committed to a Millennial Project. Many good initiatives came out of this,
and it is our hope to resurrect this body with a new gathering of like-minded NGO’s and
other organizations going forward.

Our first African Conference was held in Nelspruit, South Africa in 2002, eight years
after Mr. Mandela became President. It included a host of Ministers of Tourism
throughout the African continent. . .

PEACE WITH OUR CREATOR

IIPT has played a meaningful role in the spirituality and tourism sector— from a major
conference at the site of St. Francis of Assisi’s home in Assisi, Italy… to sacred
Himalaya travel and treks in Bhutan… to dedicating a global peace park at Bethany
Beyond the Jordan, site of Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River…to the dedication of a
global peace park at the martyrs trail in Uganda, where record crowds flocked to
Uganda for the 50th anniversary of the canonization of 32 Christian martyrs who were
burned to death for their refusal to denounce Christianity. The Uganda Martyrs Trail was
dedicated as a legacy of IIPT’s 4th African Conference and is an important tourist
attraction. This event has also been designated as a national holiday in Uganda and
has become a major event on the global catholic calendar.

(article continued in right column)

Questions related to this article:
 
How can tourism promote a culture of peace?

(article continued from left column)

Through these and other initiatives, IIPT has been fortunate to have interfaith forums at
our events around the world. These gatherings have facilitated interfaith and
intercultural dialogues. At our second global conference in Montreal, eight different
religions gathered at the top of Mount Royal overlooking the City of Montreal. That
conference profoundly demonstrated that when we focus on the importance of love,
mutual respect, and living in peace, it becomes clear that our similarities are much
greater than our differences.

PEACE WITH EACH OTHER

. . . Over the years, we have assembled a wonderful network of industry strategic partner
organizations like PATA and the Africa Travel Association who signed an historic MOU
at our 2005 Summit in Thailand. This MOU promoted travel between the African and
Asian continents. One of our closest partners, Skal International, has joined forces with
us to establish peace cities and towns in wonderful places around the world.
Under the principle of ‘healing wounds of conflict’, one of our Board members, Don
King, led an IIPT initiative to support the Al-Awon Charity in Azraq, Jordan, which
provides educational services for 160 Syrian refugee children who, along with their
families, fled the conflict in Syria. This special IIPT project is one way that we try to bring our principles to life and make a tangible impact in the lives of people who are hurting.

The theme of our 25th Anniversary celebration at World Travel Market in London was
“Building a Culture of Peace Through Tourism”. . . .

‘PEACE WITH NATURE AND THE EARTH’

This can be seen in almost everything we have done; but can most directly be seen
through the dedication of over 450 global peace parks in Africa, Asia, Central America,
Europe, the Middle East, Australia, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, Canada, the
United States, and Mexico. This initiative was launched in Canada on its 125th Birthday
with 350 peace parks across Canada. It has now spread to six of the seven continents
around the world. In addition to Victoria Falls, a world heritage site and one of the seven
wonders of the world located on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, IIPT has
dedicated a major global peace park at the renown Puer National Park in China, along
with the dedication of a global town of peace in the Danzhai Wanda village of China,
which is an international tourism destination dedicated to poverty reduction. . . .

One of our most impactful initiatives regarding peace with nature was the hosting of one of the world’s earliest global summits on Climate Change in Lusaka, Zambia in 2011. This Summit brought together some of the top thought leaders and practitioners from every major sector around the world and led to the adoption of the Lusaka Declaration which is housed at the United Nations.

THE BUILDING OF A WONDERFUL FAMILY

During the month of September 2023, I was pleased to Chair our Global Strategic Planning Retreat in New York where members of the IIPT Family gathered to begin the process of transitioning from Lou’s presidency to Ajay Prakash becoming the newly elected President of the Institute. The weekend began on Friday evening with food and drinks in a beautiful setting on the Hudson River as family members were welcomed to New York and celebrated being together once again. . . .

As I prepare to close these reflections, it seems appropriate to return to our beginning days where the ‘CREDO OF THE PEACEFUL TRAVELER’ became our anchor:

“GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRAVEL AND EXPERIENCE THE WORLD AND BECAUSE PEACE BEGINS WITH THE INDIVIDUAL, I AFFIRM MY PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND COMMITMENT TO:
– JOURNEY WITH AN OPEN MIND AND HEART,
– ACCEPT WITH GRACE AND GRATITUDE THE DIVERSITY I ENCOUNTER,
– REVERE AND PROTECT THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT WHICH SUSTAINS ALL LIFE,
– APPRECIATE ALL CULTURES I DISCOVER,
– RESPECT AND THANK MY HOSTS FOR THEIR WELCOME,
– OFFER MY HAND IN FRIENDSHIP TO EVERYONE I MEET,
– SUPPORT TRAVEL SERVICES THAT SHARE THESE VIEWS AND ACT UPON THEM,
– AND BY MY SPIRIT, WORDS AND ACTIONS,
– ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO TRAVEL THE WORLD IN PEACE.”

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global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

For Nobel Peace Prize: Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh, Bethlehem, Palestine

DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY .

A press release from Mairead Corrigan of the Peace People

Nobel Peace Laureate, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, to-day nominated Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh for the Nobel peace prize.   Maguire said ‘I have great pleasure in nominating Prof. Mazin Qumsiyeh for the 2025 Nobel peace prize. 


Mazin Qumsiyeh

“I have met professor Mazin and have followed his inspiring peace work for many decades.    Prof. Mazin Qumsiyeh is a life scientist, teacher and activist for peace, nonviolence and the sustainability of human and natural communities over the past 50 years. 

Qumsiyeh was born in Beit Sahour, the Shepherds’ field on the outskirts of Bethlehem.  He got his formal education in Jordan and the USA in areas of biology and medical genetics.  Yet the pressures of the Israel occupation on his people and the pressure on the environment that culminated in genocide and ecocide ensured Qumsiyeh pursued a life focused on peace-making, non-violent resistance, service to people, and service to nature. 

(article continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

Presenting the Palestinian side of the Middle East, Is it important for a culture of peace?

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

(article continued from left column)

In the l990 he created peace groups like the Triangle Middle East dialogue and led the Palestinian American congress.  He activated and led a chapter of the American Arab anti-discrimination committee receiving the Raymond Jallow award for activism.  He organized a petition garnering over one million signatures supporting the right of Palestinian refugees.  He was the key founder of the Palestine right to return coalition.  (PRRC).  He organized what was at that time the largest demonstrations for Palestine in Washington DC with over 5000 attending (only in 2024 during the genocide in Gaza did larger demonstrations happen).  

He founded the Wheels of Justice bus tour promoting non-violence with justice.  Between 2000 and 2006 the tour team reached 48 states speaking at over 1200 colleges and universities over 400 schools and hundreds of community centers, churches and mosques.  (more background on prof. Qumsiyeh on;   www.//qumsiyeh.org   
 
He oversaw many conservation projects including formulating the national biodiversity strategy and action plan and creating a new protected area network and landscape for nature conservation.  But perhaps his most enduring legacy is the tens of thousands of children empowered in peacemaking and environmental stewardship including with the mobile educational unit.  More background is;   https://palestinenature.org 

(Editor’s note: Mairead Maguire is a laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize.)

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DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Mideast,

With Israel’s destruction of Kamal Adwan Hospital, UN rapporteur calls for global medical boycott

. . HUMAN RIGHTS . .

An article from Nation of Change

Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Israeli-Occupied Palestinian Territories, reacted forcefully to the complete destruction by the Israeli military of Kamal Adwan Hospital at Beit Lahia in northern Gaza and the arrest and abuse of its patients and its director. She called for a world-wide medical boycott of Israel, writing at “X” :

“I urge medical professionals worldwide to pursue the severance of all ties with Israel as a concrete way to forcefully denounce Israel’s full destruction of the palestinian healthcare system in Gaza, a critical tool of its ongoing genocide.”

She was concurring with San Francisco-based physician and author Rupa Marya.

Muhammad Muhsin Watad at the Israeli newspaper Arab 48 explained that last Friday, “the Israeli army stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital after hours of besieging it. They burned its facilities, mistreated those inside, including patients, the injured, and medical staff, before taking into custody several individuals and forcing others [including women] to strip in the severe cold and undergo forced evacuation, all while gunfire and tank shelling occurred in the surrounding area.” Some 350 staff and patients were illegally detained by Israeli forces, though most were subsequently released.

The actions were part of Israel’s strategy of forcibly displacing 400,000 Palestinians from northern Gaza and making it uninhabitable for them, as the occupying army systematically detonates buildings and destroys neighborhoods. The forced displacement of an occupied population is a war crime. Gaza Palestinians are huddling in tents or sleeping rough amid heavy downpours and frigid temperatures in which several babies are known to have died in recent days.

Also on Friday, having emptied and burned the hospital, the Israelis detained its director and other medical staff.

(continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

How can war crimes be documented, stopped, punished and prevented?

How can a culture of peace be established in the Middle East?

(continued from left column)

Watad at Arab 48 says that the Government Media Office in Gaza is alleging that Abu Safieh was subjected to physical and psychological abuse. He was forced to strip out of his medical coat and clothing and was used as a human shield. His children called on the international community to pressure Israel to release their father, whose fate remains unknown.

He was last seen walking outside the ruined hospital toward the turret of an Israeli tank.
When dissidents in other countries have faced tanks, they have been celebrated widely in U.S. media. American mass media “news” for the most part have ignored Abu Safieh and his fate.

Medical boycotts are not unprecedented. Physicians in the allied victor states of WW I boycotted  the German scientific and medical establishment on the grounds that German researchers and physicians were guilty of praising German militarism and denying German war guilt. They even founded alternative associations, such as the one to fight tuberculosis set up in Berlin, and held international congresses only in French and English, excluding German-speakers.

Medical boycotts of Israel have also been proposed  previously, as with the 2007 call of some British physicians for non-cooperation with the Israeli Medical Association for failing to uphold ethical standards in their treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. They urged that the IMA be kicked out of the World Medical Association.

As I have noted before, the Rome Statute  underpinning the International Criminal Court, which went into effect in 2002, lists among “War Crimes” “ix) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives.” The Israeli army’s allegations that hospitals in Gaza are armed camps and weapons depots is ridiculous, and such assertions have been disproven whenever newspapers of record such as the Washington Post have investigated them.

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global, HUMAN RIGHTS, Mideast, United Nations, ,

English bulletin January 1, 2025

PEACE ADVANCES IN AFRICA, LATIN AMERICA

While Europe and North America, exhaust themselves with the culture of war, Africa and Latin America continue to advance toward a culture of peace.

Last month, the bulletin described the leadership from the heads of state in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.

This month, we have published articles advancing the culture of peace at at regional and local levels in Colombia (2), Mexico (2), Ecuador and Chile.

The anthropologist and peace activist Angela Lederach describes the process of “slow peace” in the Colombian territory of Montes de María. She draws three conclusions: first, slow peace is a multigenerational process; second, slow peace centers social-environmental relations; and finally, slow peace demands a shift from technical projects to social movements.

The city government of Cúcuta in Colombia has carried out workshops for youth on historical memory and culture of peace. The workshops, using Hip Hop culture as an educational and transformative tool, contributed to the process of reparation and reconciliation of the victims of the armed conflict.

The National Union of Education Workers and the National Commission for Human Rights of Mexico held a “Peaceful School Coexistence” Drawing Contest as part of the campaign “Arm yourself with courage for a Culture of Peace!”, which promotes respectful and reflective relationships in schools. The winning paintings are presented in the CPNN article.

Also in Mexico, the state government of Jalisco, through the Secretariat of Planning and Citizen Participation, has began the training process in Culture of Peace for the reconstruction of the social fabric, in order to promote communities of care in the municipalities of the State.

In Ecuador, the project “Promoting a culture of Peace and Democracy through the strengthening of Indigenous Justice” has achieved great successes, as more than a thousand people from indigenous organizations have been trained in Indigenous Justice, Gender and New Masculinities and Community Communication, with a high participation of women.

In Chile, the Universidad San Sebastián has launched the innovative Collaborative Project of Vinculación con el Medio Transforming conflicts . Its objective is to strengthen the virtues and skills necessary to resolve disputes peacefully in the school community. Through this initiative, law students actively participate in mediation workshops at Colegio Providencia, promoting a culture of peace that transcends the classroom.

In Africa, the culture of peace is being promoted at the continental, regional and national levels.

The African Union has held its third edition of the youth, peace and security in Africa dialogue Bujumbura, Burundi. Over 1,200 participants, including policymakers, young leaders, and representatives of international institutions are attending and reflecting on effective ways to promote peace education in Africa.

The final report of the 2023 Biennale of Luanda, “Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace”, has just been published. The Biennale is a joint initiative of the Government of the Republic of Angola, UNESCO and the African Union that aims to promote conflict resolution and prevention of violence, encouraging cultural exchange and intergenerational dialogue in Africa. The next edition is scheduled for next year.

In Cameroon, students from over 20 countries on the continent, gathered at the Pan African University Institute of Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences,, the African Union’s premiere institution of higher learning, for a strategic discussion on how to promote a culture of peace on the continent. Besides masterclasses and panel discussions with experts from UN agencies, development partners, diplomatic corps, government, and academia, the young scholars also shared experiences of what peace means to them.

The Sougourounoma Initiative for Education, Peace and Health, based in Burkina Faso, has organized the second edition of the International Youth Forum on the Culture of Peace. The meeting, under the theme “Youth, Religion, Mediation and Climate Change in the Sahel and West Africa”, brings together young people from Benin, Mali, Niger, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. It allows participants to discuss issues related to peace, including the link between peace and climate change, conflict analysis and interreligious dialogue.

More than 300 young people from across Niger gathered in Maradi recently to explore the part they can play in building peaceful communities, as published by the Bahá’í World News Service. A young participant explained, “The conference helped us understand that we cannot be mere observers of harmful social forces affecting our neighborhoods and villages—we must be active participants in building peace.”

In Abidjan, the Caucus of Women of Côte d’Ivoire for Peace planned a meeting for peace with an expected attendance of more than 5,000 women, including women from the institutions of the Republic, elected officials, women from public and private administration and women economic operators around the theme of peace”.

Last month we concluded: “while leaders from Europe and North America continue to aggravate global warming and threaten World War III, Lula, Petro and Sheinbaum give us hope and vision to help us overcome these crises, which, as Petro says, threaten the extinction of humanity.

This month we can conclude that their hope and vision is shared at the local and regional levels throughout Africa and Latin America.

“Let us listen to them and take action with them!”

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Slow Peace: Three Lessons from Grassroots Peacebuilders in Colombia

HUMAN RIGHTS

Activists Occupy Canadian Parliament Building to Protest Gaza War & Arming of Israel

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Personal Souvenirs of Federico Mayor

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

Women of Côte d’Ivoire commit to the Culture of Peace: more than 5,000 women expected at the Palais des Sports on December 21
  

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

2nd International Youth Forum on the Culture of Peace: Religion, Mediation and Climate Change in the Sahel

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Chile: Transforming conflicts: USS promotes a culture of peace

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

Colombia: Cúcuta Mayor’s Office Successfully Concludes Workshops on Historical Memory and Culture of Peace

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Third edition of dialogue on youth, peace, security in Africa opens in Bujumbura, Burundi
global,

Nonviolence News Special Report: 366+ Success Stories in 2024

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from Nonviolence News

In the sweep and bustle of the year’s struggles, it’s sometimes hard to see past the disaster headlines. Yet, remarkable progress was made by nonviolent movements worldwide. In this special report, Nonviolence News has gone into our archives and pulled out the gains, victories, and successful solutions that occurred in 2024. We counted 366+ stories – this article highlights many of them and you’ll find the others in the complete list in our Research Archives.

Let’s start with the big ones. Mass protests erupted many times this year from Argentina to France, Indonesia to Georgia. Some of them rose up against tyrants and autocrats and won. South Koreans, for example, held immense mass protests to prevent the president from implementing martial law and stealing power. Even after they succeeded, over 1 million people returned to the streets to force their politicians to impeach the president. In Bangladesh, students launched demonstrations to end unfair job quotas … and wound up ousting the prime minister, forcing the chief justice to resign, and bringing back exiled Nobel Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunis to lead the new government.

It was a remarkable year for people-powered democracy. Bolivians thwarted a coup attempt. Mexico elected its first female president. Indigenous Guatemalans held a 100-day sit-in to ensure the landslide-winning presidential candidate could take office. Indonesian protesters compelled their parliament to halt an election bill they felt would weaken the chances of opposition candidates. Kenyan protesters got President Ruto to withdraw a finance bill with tax hikes. Senegalese students and poor people kept their elections on track amidst the president’s repeated attempts to delay them.

When we organize, we win. 

That major lesson is becoming more obvious with each new study. In 2011, researchers Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan unequivocally proved that nonviolent action works twice as often as violence. This year, several new studies grabbed headlines touting the effectiveness of nonviolent action. The Climate Emergency Fund demonstrated that disruptive actions are having notable impacts and lowering carbon emissions. Another report found that protest movements are 6 to 12 times more cost effective than charities at making change. And you know where the best movement organizers in the world are located? Africa. That continent has hosted more mass movements than any other region in the world and boasts the highest rates of success.

Looking at labor struggles, a study on 2023 worker strikes showed that the uptick in organizing has led to wage increases that haven’t been seen in 35 years. When workers organize, it pays off – literally. Being in a union means you’ll make $1.3 million more over your lifetime than if you’re non-unionized. In 2024, workers showed that strikes, boycotts, and protests are effective. Argentina’s labor unions mobilized 1.5 million workers in a general strike that halted President Melei’s ‘mega-degree’ of austerity measures. The French Farmer Protests used tractor roadblocks around Paris to secure promises of cash, eased regulations, and protection from unfair competition among other demands.

Across the US, strikes and other actions won wage increases for workers at Waffle House, Kroger warehouses, Cornell University, Apple, American Airlines, Boston University, Northern New Mexico College, Boeing, Daimler Truck, US Foods, Washington State University, and General Motors. Strikes also worked for automotive technicians, dockworkers, nurses, and steelworkers. In addition, labor organizing made important gains around remote work, contract tiers, back pay and reinstatement, collective bargaining, labor laws for domestic workers, unionization, the right to disconnect from work-related calls, union-busting, healthcare plans, retaliatory license revocations, workplace safety, and farmworker protections.

Other campaigns for economic justice made gains, too. Massachusetts passed a “Tax The Rich” law in 2022, which not only supplied $1.5 billion for the free school lunch program, it also provided much-needed improvements to their public transportation system and tuition-free education for community college students. Its success prompted 10 other states to try to do the same. Connecticut’s Baby Bonds Program to bridge the racial wealth gap has inspired other states to explore the strategy. Twenty-two states raised their minimum wages this year. 

In the United States, debt relief measures – once considered an impossible dream – are growing with Los Angeles abolishing medical debt for 150,000 people, St. Paul, Minnesota, erasing $100 million in medical debt, Arizona abolishing $2 billion, New York City pledging another $2 billion, and a grassroots group in Maine fundraising to eliminate medical debt for 1,500 people.

Swiss retirees campaigned for a pension boost and rejected later retirement ages. South Africa and Iceland both report that their 4-day work week programs were a huge success. Cuban protesters forced food rations from their government during widespread shortages. Mexico’s first female president is de-privatizing oil and gas, electricity and internet companies. And a strategic, determined campaign by US diabetes patients used picketing and protests to get some of the insulin production industry to lower prices on the life-saving drug.

Seeing these stories makes you wonder what our world would be like if these policies were the norm, not the exception. Imagine what your city or town would feel like if medical debt was abolished, babies received investments in their futures, the 4-day work week was standard, and the rich were taxed to make society safer and healthier for everyone.

Keep envisioning this world … and add in these successful programs from 2024. Imagine if you lived in a city where doctors prescribed ‘culture vitamins’, nature, and ‘walking therapy’ for mental health and social connection, acclimatization programs forged deep friendships between locals and new arrivals, the library had no late fees, and city-wide rent reductions took place regularly. Imagine if, in all cities nationwide, Housing First policies ended homelessness, low-income residents got free passes on public transit, teen courts used peer-to-peer strategies to keep youth out of jail, and school lunches came from local farms and cooks. Every city in the nation could have free or affordable electric car shares that make vehicles accessible to everyone, free childcare, and bike give-away programs that equalize pedal power for all. If one community can use these tools, they can be implemented in many more. We could have gender equity in transit drivers, speed cameras, and lower speed limits leading to fewer accidents; anti-overdose vending machines saving lives, and agrihoods providing local food and green spaces. Clean air laws could ban high polluting cars and increase kids walking to school. Community investments could replace over-policing on subways. Unarmed mental health crisis responders could be used instead of police with guns. And empathy programs could not only stop school bullying, they could transform bullies into changemakers.

(continued in right column)

Question(s) related to this article:

Can peace be guaranteed through nonviolent means?

(continued from left column)

These kinds of nonviolent solutions reduce harm and save lives through economic and social justice. And when it comes to saving lives, there’s another set of stories worth lifting up, too: the remarkable work of peace teams, violence prevention programs, and unarmed protective accompaniment. These programs are stopping violence in Sudan, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Colombia. Women’s Protection Teams are offering physical safety and gender-based empowerment in Iraq. They’re working to prevent Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women/People and racist murders from claiming more lives in Winnipeg, Canada. They’re stopping political violence during the lead-up to the United States’ elections. They’re also providing protective presences after hate crimes and training targeted Asian communities in how to increase community safety. Violence prevention programs are at work in dozens of cities across the United States, addressing gun violence. The use of large anti-racist demonstrations in the United Kingdom also prevented right-wing attacks on mosques and Muslim community members in the wake of mass shooting.

When it comes to racial justice, the clear super-stars of organizing in 2024 were Indigenous Peoples. Land Back efforts regained a wilderness lodge in Alaska, 31,000 acres in Penobscot territory in Maine, and 1,000 acres of the Onondaga Nation’s ancestral lands in New York. The Winnebago Tribe in Nebraska regained 1,600 acres that was seized illegally 50 years ago. Shasta Indian Nation in California won back 2,800 acres. Year after year, the Prairie Band Potawatomi have bought back land to re-establish their reservation in Illinois. British Columbia formally affirmed Indigenous ownership of 200 islands by the Haida Gwaii. The 5,700-year-old sacred site of Shellmound was returned to the Ohlone through the Sogorea Te’ Community Land Trust. The University of Minnesota returned 3,400 acres to the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

On top of all those impressive victories, there’s a growing trend to put national parks and wilderness areas into Indigenous stewardship, either directly or in co-management agreements. Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations will care for Clayquot Sound’s forests. The Chumash Tribe will oversee a 4,500 acre marine sanctuary. The Miccosukee Tribe will costeward the Everglades National Park. The Kitasoo Xai’xais First Nation’s marine protected area recently became Canada’s first certified “blue park”. The Yurok Tribe will co-manage the ‘O Rew Redwoods Gateway.

LGBTQ+ issues have been in the crosshairs of conservative kickback, but some major victories were also achieved this year. Thailand became the first Southeast Asian country with equal marriage laws for same-sex couples. Hong Kong’s top court affirmed same-sex marriage rights, particularly LGBTQ+ housing and inheritance rights. Mexico made trans-femicide a crime. The US reinstated protections for LGBTQ+ persons under Title IX. Washington State now requires LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculums.

While the pro-Palestinian movement has not yet achieved a ceasefire in Gaza, they did achieve an extensive number of strategic objectives in the longer effort to halt the genocide. The International Court of Justice found that BDS – Boycott, Divest, Sanction – is not only legal, it’s obligatory. Boycotts in Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, parts of Turkey, and other regional nations led to a 48.2% drop in profits for US-brands like KFC, Pizza Hut, Baskin Robbins, Costa Coffee, and Krispy Kreme. BDS also forced Pret a Manger to drop plans to open 40 stores in Israel.

Cities, businesses, pension funds, and universities divested from either some or all of Israel companies or weapons makers, including Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and pension fund, APCO Worldwide, Itochu Corporation, MIT, the Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Union Theological Seminary, Sacramento State University, Trinity College, Evergreen College, Portland State University, UC Davis, Hamtramck, MI; Richmond and Hayward, CA; Portland, Maine; and a host of others.

In addition, Germany, Spain, and Belgium Wallonia Region halted weapons shipments to Israel. Canada suspended 30 weapons shipments. Activists in Morocco, Spain, and Gibraltar worked together to halt 300,000 barrels of military-grade fuel from reaching Israel. Bogota, Colombia, blocked coal exports to Israel. The US even withheld a token military shipment (a pittance compared to its massive funds and weapons handouts to Israel). The movement also pushed Australia, Canada, Sweden, and other countries to restore UNRWA funds.

When we look back at 2024, we should remember the gains that were hard-won and significant, even if the final victory has not yet come. The climate movement is confronting this same challenge, winning over and over again, yet losing so much as continued inaction hurtles the planet into collapse. In the face of genocide and ecocide, it is understandable to feel despair and futility. But a closer look at the progress on climate issues should remind us to keep going.

Renewables now power 45% of the European Union’s energy, and it’s contributed to the EU’s record 8.3% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions. In the US, 80% of new electricity generation came from solar. The US put $64 million of housing funds into energy efficiency, solar panels, and heat pumps. Solar power at US K-12 schools has quadrupled this decade. Electric vehicles outnumber gas cars in Norway. Tajikistan required all new buildings to install solar panels. One month after the last dam was removed from the Klamath River, salmon were already spawning in traditional egg-laying grounds. An impressive 77% of universities in the United Kingdom have divested (or committed to divest) from fossil fuels.

Thanks to the relentless disruptions of Just Stop Oil, the United Kingdom committed to ending all new fossil fuel permits for exploration and extraction. The UK also blocked a major coal mine and is forcing all mining projects to be weighed against the climate crisis. Norway halted plans for deep-sea mining, as did Hawai’i. Minneapolis, MN, organizers shut down a polluting foundry. Courts blocked three harmful methane gas projects in South Texas. The KXL Pipeline’s cancellation appeal got thrown out of court. Amazon dropped a plan to tap into a gas pipeline to power its data center. Greenpeace activists’ drilling rig occupation halted a gas project in the North Sea. Earthjustice blocked a toxic copper mine in the Minnesota Boundary Waters Area. Portuguese activists halted an ‘ecocidal’ airport. India’s climate movement blocked an Adani coal mine. Tree-sitters saved a stand of old growth forest from logging in Oregon. New England activists closed the region’s last coal plant. A US federal court invalidated Wyoming oil and gas leases for failing to consider climate impacts. California towns are banning new gas stations. Rural Maine communities stopped a mine near their iconic Mt. Katahdin. The Dutch pension fund divested $3 billion from oil and gas. Hawai’i replaced its last coal plant with a battery for solar and wind. The US funded 60 new solar projects to install 1 million new systems for low-income families. The ozone layer is expected to be fully recovered from human-caused damages by 2064.

Each of these wins came about because of relentless, bold, creative nonviolent action that grabbed headlines, halted destructive industries, built solutions, pressured political leaders and decision makers, and persevered despite the odds being stacked against them.

Upon reflection, 2024 was not just a year of disaster and political upheaval. It was also the year that Julian Assange was finally freed. It was the year Net Neutrality was restored. It was the year that corrupt leaders fell from power in South Korea and Bangladesh. When we remember all of these, we also remember the most important thing of all: nonviolent action achieved all this. 

What will we use nonviolence to accomplish in 2025? 

_______

Note: as impressive as this article is, it’s only a fraction of what was achieved in 2024. You can explore all 366+ stories in our 56-page Research Archive where we’ve sorted them by issue. 

Image: Bangladesh victory march, 2024. Photo by Rayhan9d, CC BY-SA 4.0

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EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global

The Elders mourn the loss of President Jimmy Carter

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION .

A press release from The Elders

The Elders are deeply saddened at the passing of their dear friend and colleague Jimmy Carter, who was a hugely admired and respected member of the group from its founding in 2007 until he chose to step down as an active member in 2016 on health grounds.

As a former President of the United States who went on to build a global reputation for his work with The Carter Center in monitoring elections and championing public health issues, he brought immense experience and expertise to the Elders’ work, combined with passionate advocacy for social justice and human rights. In 2002 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

(Article continued in the column on the right)

Questions related to this article:

How can we carry forward the work of the great peace and justice activists who went before us?

(Article continued from the column on the left)

Both as President and in his later work, Jimmy Carter was a tireless supporter of peace in the Middle East. He played a key role in Elders’ visits to the region, commanding great respect for his forthright honesty and ability to deal on equal terms with all those he met, from presidents to the humblest grassroots activists. His deep Christian faith and his 77-year-long marriage to his beloved wife Rosalynn (1926-2023) were among the driving forces in his long and active life.

Juan Manuel Santos, Chair of The Elders, said:

“We are all devastated at the loss of our dear friend Jimmy Carter. Jimmy brought the gravitas of the Presidential office as well as the passion of an activist to The Elders. Even into his 90s, and after his cancer was diagnosed, he inspired us all with his boundless energy and enthusiasm for working to make the world a better place. While we mourn his death today, we also affirm our determination as Elders to continue to uphold his values and beliefs into the future. The world needs more leaders like him.”

All of the Elders, their Advisory Council, and staff team members send their heartfelt condolences to Jimmy’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. They have lost a devoted father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.

The world has lost an inspirational figure – but one whose achievements will not be forgotten and whose commitment to peace, democracy, and human rights will endure to inspire future generations.

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FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global

2nd International Youth Forum on the Culture of Peace: Religion, Mediation and Climate Change in the Sahel

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article from Le Faso (translation by CPNN)

The Sougourounoma Initiative for Education, Peace and Health (ISEPS) is organizing the second edition of the International Youth Forum on the Culture of Peace from December 17 to 19, 2024. The meeting, under the theme “Youth, Religion, Mediation and Climate Change in the Sahel and West Africa”, brings together young people from Benin, Mali, Niger, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. It will allow participants to discuss issues related to peace, including the link between peace and climate change, conflict analysis and interreligious dialogue.


Serge Aimé Zabié from the NGO Indigo, Côte d’Ivoire

Faced with the security crisis currently facing Burkina Faso and other Sahel countries, the contribution of young people in the response to this crisis is more than necessary. This explains the holding of this international forum, which advocates the inclusion of young people and their initiatives in the peace process. During the meeting, young people will be equipped with conflict analysis, interreligious dialogue, as well as mediation of environmental conflicts. “The aim will be to mobilize young people to discuss the link between peace and climate change, to prevent violent extremism and ensure that conflicts related to climate change are not exploited by armed terrorist groups to recruit young people and carry out acts of violence,” said Dr. Sougourounoma Henri Kaboré, Chairman and Executive Director of ISEPS.

The 72 hours of work will be filled with sessions on strategic analysis of conflicts and the Sahelian and West African context and sessions on mediation of environmental conflicts, whether by civil society, religious and customary actors. The involvement of young people in adaptation to climate change and in peacebuilding will also be highlighted during this forum. “We hope that participants will acquire specific skills in conflict analysis, environmental mediation, and interreligious dialogue. We also hope that they will build relationships of friendship and partnership among themselves, beyond religious and cultural barriers, so that once they return to their communities they can engage more meaningfully in their communities to transform things,” says Dr. Sougourounoma Henri Kaboré.

(Click here for the original article in French.)

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Question 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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The international youth forum is being held within the framework of the project “Youth in Interreligious Dialogue and Interreligious Mediation for Peaceful Communities in Burkina Faso”, which is being implemented in Fara in the Balé province. It is funded by the German Robert Bosche Foundation to the tune of 80,000 euros. Annie Höhne, representative of the German Ambassador, sponsor of the forum, welcomed the organization of the forum, and suggested that such initiatives are crucial to address current challenges.

“This support reflects our shared commitment to promoting peace and resilience in a region facing multidimensional challenges related to conflicts, humanitarian crises and climate change…In the current context of Burkina Faso, the role of young people is more crucial than ever. Their engagement in peaceful conflict resolution, environmental protection and interfaith dialogue is a cornerstone for building harmonious and sustainable communities,” she said.

During the forum, religious and customary leaders will speak with young people through presentations. Naaba Boalga, traditional chief of the village of Dawelgué, will lead a presentation focusing on traditional African religions in relation to nature. He will explore the relationships that existed between traditional African religions and the environment. “Our traditional societies are societies that practiced subsistence agriculture, that is to say that you mainly produced cereals and you consumed them. So you produce what you consume and you consume what you produce. And this mode of production, for example, means that traditional societies did not exert as much pressure on natural resources. Today, there are cash crops, such as sesame, cotton, which are practiced. Which is not a bad thing, but I am only placing myself in the traditional context to explain that at the time, there was a dialectical relationship with nature that did not pose any particular problem to this nature that managed to regenerate itself. We must now know how, in this context, we can at the same time benefit from cash crops and the advantages linked to the monetary economy, but while being respectful of nature,” he says.

For Alidou Ilboudo, coordinator of the Interreligious Council for Peace in Burkina, the emphasis on interreligious dialogue is a very important aspect of the forum. “We have a duty to connect and bring together young people of all faiths. Our mission is to tell them that indeed, each of us can have a faith, a belief, a dogma, but this dogma must nourish him with very strong convictions that remind him that we have a common origin that comes from God. And we are all brothers in humanity. So it is in dialogue that we learn this,” he maintains.

Having come from Côte d’Ivoire to take part in the forum, Serge Aimé Zabié of the NGO Indigo, which works in the field of social cohesion and peacekeeping, welcomes the initiative that includes young people in the search for peace. He hopes to come out of the meeting better equipped in peacebuilding. “My main expectation is that this forum can really change the mentality of young people so that they are no longer in a passive positionwhere they expect everything from the State, or think that peace comes from others. Peace must come from us young people, in our communities and families,” he said.

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Africa, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Personal Souvenirs of Federico Mayor

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Special for CPNN by David Adams, CPNN coordinator

In the words of Margaret Mead, “”Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

I was privileged to know and work with Federico Mayor who was one of these “thoughtful committed individuals” who changed the world. He was nominated many times for the Nobel Peace Prize, and as Frederik Heffermehl wrote in his book, “The Real Nobel Prize”, he should have received it.

Here are some of my personal souvenirs of working with him.


Mayor at the meeting of the Culture of Peace Advisory Group in February 1999, with Anaisabel Prera Flores (left) and Enzo Fazzino (behind)

In 1986, when I went to Seville to join scientists from around the world to discuss whether war is part of human nature, I was introduced to a scientist from Spain, Federico Mayor Zaragoza. I was told, “He is the John F Kennedy of Spain.” Like Kennedy, he was very handsome with deep blue eyes and black hair and very much a “ladies’man.” In addition to his university professorship, he was also involved with government administration, including having served as the Education Minister in the Spanish government.

Mayor signed the Seville Statement as a scientist.. In 1956 At the age of 22, he had obtained his doctorate in pharmacy and in 1966 at the age of 32, he had gone to work for two years as a researcher in the laboratory of Nobel laureate Hans Krebs in Oxford, best known to physiologists like myself for having discovered and described the Krebs cycle. This is the chemical reactions occurring in the mitochondria, by which almost all living cells produce energy. Krebs told him, “Don’t forget that research consists in seeing what anybody can see and in thinking what nobody has ever thought,” which Mayor said was an inspiration to him.

After Seville, when I undertook the dissemination of the Statement on Violence, Mayor was a big help. He wrote me in September of 1986: “0ur snowball is growing fast…If all the snowballs starting their way would have such strength, all the world would be covered with snow. I hope that we will succeed to cover it with peace.”

It was no accident that his words to me were poetic. Like me, he wrote poetry. Over the years we would exchange our poems. He sent me his published books of poetry, and I started my UNESCO mission reports to him with a poem. I remember once that he distributed one of these mission reports to the Executive Board of UNESCO over the objections of his chief of staff who complained, “I will not send a poem to the Executive Board!”

In 1987, Mayor was elected the Director-General of UNESCO. He had previously served at UNESCO in 1978-1981 as Deputy Director-General.

In 1988, responding to the invitation of Felix Houghouet-Boigny of Côte d’Ivoire to hold an international conference in Yamoussoukro on “Peace in the Minds of Men,” Mayor convened a team to plan the conference. He invited me to be part of this team in order to promote the Seville Statement on Violence. In fact, he put me as the first speaker in the conference to introduce it.

It was during the planning meetings for Yamoussoukro that I got to know Felipe MacGregor from Peru who introduced the concept of the culture of peace, which became the theme of the Conference.

Responding to the recommendations of Yamoussoukro in 1989, UNESCO formally adopted both the Seville Statement on Violence and the Culture of Peace as official policies. And in 1992, Mayor invited me to take my sabbatical from Wesleyan University to come to UNESCO to work for dissemination of the Seville Statement. The 47-page UNESCO brochure on the Statement is one of the fruits of that year.

1992 was the year that the UN Security Council adopted the proposal of Secretary-General Boutros Ghali, prepared at Yale University, to establish a UN military force that could be used by the Council to enforce its decisions. It proposed to establish on a permanent basis the Blue Helmets previously decided on a temporary basis to intervene after civil wars in countries like El Salvador and Mozambique

I was horrified by the the vision of a global tyranny that such a plan could bring about. The US had gained total control of the Security Council at that time due to the fall of the Soviet Union. At UNESCO, working with Georges Kutukdjian, who had led the planning for Yamoussoukro, I developed a proposal for a Culture of Peace Program that would bring peace through joint projects by former enemies rather than through the imposition of armed force.

On my birthday, May 13, 1992, Mayor invited me to have breakfast with him on the top floor of UNESCO headquarters. He was drinking milk to control an ulcer caused by the stress of his his job as Director-General. I presented the 3-page plan for a Culture of Peace Program, and he said simply, “We’ll do it.” “But”, he said, “it cannot be presented by you because the United States is not a member of UNESCO;” The US had withdrawn a few years earlier to protest UNESCO’s siupport for Palestine and UNESCO’s proposal to aid the Global South to develop their own news agencies. So, instead, Mayor sent me to Ahmed Sayyad, President of the Executive Board, who agreed to present the proposal. The Sayyad proposal was adopted by a standing ovation of the UNESCO Executive Board in November, 1992. Sayyad went on to devote his life to the culture of peace, including as the Assistant-Director General for External Relations.

In 1993, Mayor invited me to take a leave of absence from my university to come to Paris and to prepare the culture of peace program. Again, since the United States was not a member of UNESCO, I could not head up the program, but I should work under a new director. Mayor chose Leslie Atherley from Barbados to head the program along with Edouard Matoko from the Congo. The two of them had taken the courageous action to work for education in Iraq despite the war and the objections of the United States.

But I needed a post. My university had told me that if I did not return immediately, I would lose my job as professor. And by the rules of UNESCO they should not give a post to someone from a country that was not a member state. Years later, I was told by the staff member concerned, that Mayor told him to ignore the rules and to give me a post without going through the necessary procedures.

This was a quality of Federico Mayor that made him great, and that infuriated the rich Member States of UNESCO. Mayor did not follow the rules if they stood in the way of important policy decisions.

In 1993, Mayor was re-elected as Director-General of UNESCO. He concluded his acceptance speech with the following words: “From everything I have just said you will have gathered that I intend to devote myself personally, in the coming years, to the culture of peace, the peace of peoples and the peace of individuals, peace that is the prime condition for discharging our duties as men and women to the full, our mission as human beings.”

At UNESCO, Mayor personally lobbied to achieve more than 50 declarations for a culture of peace from important international bodies, as listed here. These, and many others, are also listed in Mayor’s own publication, “History of the Culture of Peace”, that he updated as recently as 2019.

(Article continued in the column on the right)

Questions related to this article:

How can we carry forward the work of the great peace and justice activists who went before us?

(Article continued from the column on the left)

In those years, under Mayor’s leadership, at the Culture of Peace Program, we established national culture of peace programs, beginning with El Salvador and Mozambique and including later, a national program in the Russian Federation.

On a few occasions Mayor and I published together. The first was in 1993 with the article, “How Psychology Can Contribute to a Culture of Peace” that was given the place of honor as the first article in a new journal, Peace and Conflict Journal of Peace Psychology, appearing only under his name. This article was my way of explaining to Mayor, (and to the journal’s audience, how the approach of the Culture of Peace Program was based on the findings of the Robbers Cave experiment of the psychologist Muzafer Sherif. This was the principle of cross-conflict participation which we used in El Salvador and Mozambique, getting the former enemies to work for peace by planning together projects of social projects.

Unfortunately, rich member states of UNESCO refused Mayor’s request to fund the 50 or so projects drafted by the former enemies in El Salvador and Mozambique. The one exception, a project for rural women in El Salvador, funded by the German Development Agency, was a great success, proving that the method was successful. If the other projects had been funded, we can imagine that El Salvador and Mozambique could have escaped from the culture of war which has once again descended upon them. And perhaps the rest of the world would have turned away from its domination by the military-industrial complex.

The opposition to Mayor’s work for the culture of peace by of the rich Member States and their military-industrial complex would only increase over the years.

The failure of our national programs led to conflict in our unit at headquarters. I took the position that the approach of national programs had failed and that we should turn to working primarily with the civil society by establishing a news network for their actions that promoted a culture of peace. The rest of the unit disagreed. Like the rest of the United Nations founded on a military model in 1945, UNESCO has no effective means for conflict resolution within the organization. Unlike many large corporations, that have come to establish conflict resolution methods, the UN and UNESCO have resisted reform. In our case, we tried to resolve our conflict with the use of outside mediators. When this failed, I went personally to Mayor, breaking the old military rules of UNESCO by going over the head of my director, and I told him that I could no longer work in the organization.

Mayor’s response was to ask me to be patient and he would give me a new responsibility. First, using funds gained by the return of the UK to UNESCO, he gave me resources for contracts for a culture of peace news network in the six languages of the organization. Then, a few months later he put me in charge of a new unit to manage the International Year for the Culture of Peace (IYCP) that had been voted by the UN in New York.

The contracts for a culture of peace news network were awarded, but without exception, they eventually failed. After leaving UNESCO, I carried on the work without any money.

But the International Year for the Culture of Peace was a success, thanks to Mayor’s support including two of his management decisions. He put Anaisabel Prera Flores in charge of mobilizing the sectors of UNESCO, and assigned Enzo Fazzino to work with me in the IYCP unit. I took on the task of preparing, along with Sema Tanguiane, the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace that was eventually adopted by the UN General Assembly. And Enzo took charge of the Manifesto 2000 that translated the UN resolution into everyday language by which individuals could sign and promise to promote a culture of peace in their everyday lives. Thanks to the engagement of UNESCO’s global network of national and civil-society organizations, the Manifesto 2000 was signed by 75 million people, including more than a million in India, Nepal, Colombia, Brazil, Korea and Japan. The first 700,000 signatures came from Algeria where it was sung from the mosques and distributed on the streets by the Scout Movement.

The success of the IYCP was achieved despite the fact that our attempts with Mayor’s help to raise funds were not supported by the rich Member States or by the UN foundation. To support our efforts, Mayor diverted funds from the budgets of pet projects of Member States at UNESCO. This did not make us popular with our colleagues, and it increased Mayor’s conflict with these states.

Mayor’s tenure ended at UNESCO in 1999, so he was no longer the Director-General of UNESCO when the IYCP achieved its full success. Instead, he founded a Culture of Peace Foundation in Spain.

Without Mayor’s leadership, the work of the culture of peace at UNESCO came to a halt. The organization did little to support the International Decade for a Culture of Peace that had been voted by the UN for 2001-2010.

But Mayor did not stop. He obtained funding from Catalonia and hired me and a team of youth to mobilize support for the Culture of Peace Decade in the civil society. This was successful for almost a thousand civil society organizations, as shown in the reports that we prepared in 2005 and 2010.

The member states of the UN failed to publish our reports, despite effective face-to-face lobbying by teams of youth in 2005 and 2006, so Mayor published the 2010 report as a glossy brochure, and we distributed the copies by hand to UN delegates attending the General Assembly meeting about the Decade.

During the Decade, Mayor was named to head up the new United Nations initiative for an Alliance of Civilizations. In this capacity, he once again hired me and our team of youth, to contact youth organizations around the world and ask them what kind of support they needed to promote a culture of peace. In 2006, we published our report based on responses from 475 organizations in 125 countries, and this became the basis for the Alliance youth program which continues to the present day.

After the Decade, Mayor was frustrated by lack of financial support for the culture of peace work of his foundation. At one point, he flew me from the US to discuss this, but he was so frustrated that he spent our half-hour appointment on the telephone with someone else, and I went back to the States with no new project possible.

Had Mayor received the Nobel Peace Prize, as mentioned above, no doubt he would have received the financial support that was needed to further develop the culture of peace.

But we still live in an era when there is no financial support for peace, only for war. Will this ever change?

In his “History of the Culture of Peace“, Mayor leaves us with hope, like the inspiration that he had with Hans Krebs:

“And there lies our faith, because all living beings are predictable and measurable, with the sole exception of the human being. And the fact is that all of us have an exclusive and wonderful ability, which is the ability to create. For this reason, the human being is unpredictable and immeasurable, always capable of the unexpected. The human being is not predestined; he is free and the master of his own destiny. This is the great hope of humanity: in times of greatest tension and crisis, the humans are capable of bringing out the best of themselves.”

“Yes, peace is possible. It is possible to transform an economy of war into an economy of generalised development, in which investments are reduced in arms and increased in new sources of renewable energy; in the production of food and water; in health; in the protection of the environment; in eco-friendly housing; in electric transport; in education… The human race is capable of inventing its own future.”

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FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global, United Nations,

Search for Common Ground supports midwife care in Afghanistan

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

Received at CPNN by email from Search for Common Ground

The Taliban recently decreed that women and girls are no longer permitted to receive technical medical education (previously an exception to the standing ban on girls’ schooling), which includes midwifery, nursing, dentistry, and other medical professions. This shift will have significant impacts on women’s access to healthcare and means that there is now zero access to higher education for Afghan women.

In light of these changes, women trained as midwives are now more essential than ever. To address a growing need, our team in Afghanistan worked with experienced midwives to establish 10 midwife-led units in November 2024.


Frame from Search for Common Ground video

These brave and talented women are carrying the responsibility to protect maternal and reproductive health in a country where women often have few options.

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Question related to this article:

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

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Key highlights of the units include:

° Fully equipped facilities providing all medical tools and resources for comprehensive midwifery services
° Educational materials to guide women on family planning and maternal health
° Knowledgeable, professional staff of midwives offering expert advice and quality care
° Community outreach to engage local leaders and residents, raising awareness of services.

Afghan women often carry invisible burdens—fear, isolation, and uncertainty about the future. Yet, even in the face of these challenges, they are finding ways to bring hope to each other.

But the journey is far from over. Afghanistan has the highest rate of infant mortality in the world, and the eighth-highest rate of maternal mortality. Women’s access to healthcare remains dire, and with escalating challenges, the need for support is greater than ever.

Every donation carries the potential to save lives and offer a future where Afghan women and their families are not left behind.

In Afghanistan, our team is courageously carrying hope for a healthier tomorrow. Will you carry that hope with us?

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South Asia, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY