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.

Peace Tournament / PAYNCoP Gabon Promotes Peace Culture and Resolution 2250

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

from Jerry Bibang

As part of the commemoration of the International Day of Peace, the National Coordination of the Panafrican Youth Network for the Culture of Peace (PAYNCoP Gabon) took part, Saturday, September 21, in the Peace Tournament, organized by the United Nations system in Gabon.

During this event, PAYNCoP Gabon spoke to young people about the attitudes, values ​​and behaviors to adopt to cultivate the “culture of peace”. These include respect for others, the rejection of all forms of violence, solidarity with the needy, living together, forgiveness and dialogue.

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

Question for this article:

How can sports promote peace?

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Also, the public was sensitized, through an illustrated guide, on resolution 2250 (youth, peace and security), which urges UN member states to put in place mechanisms that allow young people to participate actively in youth issues. peace and security at all levels of the consolidation or peacekeeping process.

Alongside this outreach, PAYNCoP Gabon also donated school supplies to the children of the Rainbow orphanage “to show them the love and solidarity that should guide all our actions,” explained Jerry Bibang, the National Coordinator of PAYNCoP Gabon. “This is an opportunity for us to thank our partners who are leading these activities, including the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) and UNESCO,” he added.

Initiated by UNOCA, the Peace Tournament is an activity that celebrates, in communion and conviviality, peace as a universal value without which it would be impossible to envisage sustainable development. This year, the competition brought together eight teams including the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Directorate General of Human Rights, the French elements in Gabon, the National Gendarmerie, the Pan-African Youth Network for the culture of peace, the United Nations System and the National Police who won the competition. Plans were made to continue the tournament next year.

Africa, DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

International Day of Peace: PAYNCoP Gabon helps protect the environment

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

from Jerry Bibang

As part of the celebration of the International Day of Peace, celebrated this year under the theme: “Climate Action, Action for Peace”, the National Coordination of the Panafrican Youth Network for the Culture of Peace (PAYNCoP GABON) took part last Friday, September 20th, in the plastic waste collection operation, organized by the United Nations system in Gabon.


Bautrin Ekouma, PAYNCoP National Coordinator Gabon and other volunteers during the activity

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

Question for this article:

Despite the vested interests of companies and governments, Can we make progress toward sustainable development?

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Indeed, aware that the global climate emergency threatens the security and stability of peoples around the world, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guteres, invited the “citizens of the world” to take measures and take concrete action to protect the environment. Following this call, PAYNCoP Gabon joined the United Nations system for a plastic bottle collection operation.

Led by Mr. Keita Ohashi, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Population Fund in Gabon (UNFPA), the volunteers crisscrossed the crossroads “behind the prison” through “the three quarters” up to the beach of the National High School Léon Mba. Approximately, more than 2000 plastic bottles have been collected and will be handed over to a young entrepreneur for recycling.

In his words of circumstance, Mr. Francis James, the UNDP Resident Coordinator Gabon encouraged young people to take ownership of climate change issues because it is the future of youth that is threatened.

This operation also registered the participation of other associations including the Citizens Movement for Good Governance in Gabon (MCB2G), the alliance for climate justice, Gabon section (PACJA GABON), Youth Students for Peace (YSP), the Federation for Universal Peace (UPF), PlasMandji and many others

Africa, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Global climate strike: When, where and how you can join and take action

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Jackson Ryan from CNET

On Sept. 20, students and adults will rally across the globe, demanding immediate action on climate change. Here’s where you can join them.


Greta Thunberg leads the Fridays for Future Rally.
Ernesto Rucio/Getty
”

The planet is in a pretty bad way. The Arctic has been burning and fires still rage in the Amazon rainforest. Iceland recently held a funeral for a 700-year-old glacier killed by climate change. One million species are threatened with extinction and some have already been lost. We are living through a crisis — and the kids are absolutely not alright with where our planet is headed. Over the coming week, students and adults will join together in global strikes to demand action on climate change.

If you want to know the what, when and where of the September Global Climate Strikes, we have you covered.

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Question for this article:
Despite the vested interests of companies and governments, Can we make progress toward sustainable development?

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What is the Climate Strike?

When Greta Thunberg, a Swedish school student, sat in front of the Swedish parliament building with her hand-painted “Skolstrejk för klimatet” sign, she kick-started a worldwide movement. It wasn’t the first time school kids had walked out of school to demand change, but Thunberg’s one-person strike on the steps of parliament drew global attention. On Fridays leading up to the 2018 Swedish election, she’d miss class to protest, sign in hand.

Thunberg has become the face of the new movement, inspiring students across the world to leave school and demand action on climate change. In March, students took to the streets in over 2,000 cities asking adults to take responsibility for the climate crisis. Smaller strikes occurred in May, June and August.

The next series of strikes are set to be the biggest yet and will see students and adults walk out of their schools and workplaces to “demand an end to the age of fossil fuels.”

When is the Climate Strike?

The upcoming strikes will take place on two successive Fridays designed to coincide with an emergency climate action summit being held at the United Nations in New York beginning on Sept. 23.

On Sept. 20 and Sept. 27, thousands of climate strikes will take place in cities across the world. Thunberg herself will be attending the climate strike in New York City on Sept. 20, but no matter where you are across the world, a climate strike is likely within your vicinity.

Where can I join a strike?

A massive number of strikes are registered on the Global Climate Strike website, so that’s a great place to start if you’re seeking a nearby climate strike to attend.    

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

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

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from UNESCO

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


© UNESCO

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

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

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

Question related to this article:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, United Nations,

URI International Peacebuilding Network Joins with Worldwide Groups Calling for Peace 

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

A press release from Globe News Wire

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



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

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

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Question(s) related to this article:

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

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

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

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

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

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global

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

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An article from the International Peace Institute

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




video

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

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Question(s) related to this article:

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

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

Opening remarks:

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

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

Speakers:

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

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

Moderator:

Dr. Adam Lupel, Vice President, International Peace Insitute

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global, United Nations,

Campaign Nonviolence Action Week, September 14-22

. .DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. .

from Pace e Bene

NUMBER OF ACTIONS PLANNED AS OF SEPTEMBER 14: 3284

SEE THE FULL LIST OF PLANNED ACTIONS

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

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


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

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

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Question for this article:

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

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

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

Take the Campaign Nonviolence Pledge

Host or attend a Nonviolence Training in preparation for your action

Start a Nonviolence Study Group

Spread the word on Facebook  and Twitter

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

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

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

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global, North America,

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

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from UN News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Question(s) related to this article:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global, United Nations,

Colombia: University students demand implementation of the peace agreement

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An article from Caracol (translation by CPNN)

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

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

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

Question related to this article:

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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

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

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

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

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

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

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

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

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

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

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


TN8 photo

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

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

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(Click here for the original article in Spanish)

Questions related to this article:

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

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

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

Organization

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

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

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

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

Latin America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY