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.

Rigoberta Menchú speaks at the UN about obstacles to the culture of peace

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from Prensa Latina

The goodwill ambassador of Unesco, Rigoberta Menchú, highlighted today [5 Sep] in the high level forum of the UN General Assembly the obstacles that prevent the development of a culture of peace.


(click on photo to enlarge)

29 years have passed since the concept of a culture of peace was proposed at a Unesco event, and on October 6 next year will be two decades after the adoption of the Declaration and Program of Action for a Culture of Peace, recalled the indigenous leader and Nobel Peace laureate.

Currently, the legitimacy and fairness of that declaration and of the action program – as international legal norms and instruments – are unquestionable decisions that have irrefutable validity, she said.

But the good wishes tthat the culture of peace should become positive law are opposed by the historical tendencies of a culture of violence and war, she added. The culture of peace is a utopia with great obstacles and enemies.

Instead of decreasing, threats increase and multiply, she warned.

Only a hundred rich individuals concentrate the world’s wealth, while malnutrition and extreme poverty directly affect 60 percent of the world population, lamented the goodwill ambassador of Unesco.

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

Questions related to this article:

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

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According to this calculation, four billion 408 million people are direct victims of inequalities and global exclusions, she explained.

“The arms race is a manifestation of the nuclear, chemical and bacteriological war industry and who knows what other lethal methods are being tried to annihilate human life in a massive and rapid way.”

Menchú also warned about global warming, its irreversible damage to the planet and the little that has been achieved on this issue, despite the international agreements that have been adopted.

In the same way, she spoke about the tragedy that corruption and impunity represent in the world. They violate democracy, impede sustainable development, and put the peoples at risk.

‘Once again the most horrendous practices of racism and discrimination, xenophobia and homophobia offend conscience and annihilate human dignity’.

She also called for a halt to hate-filled speeches and ttitudes that are on the increase in different corners of the planet and she gave as an example the recent actions against migrants at the borders of the United States. Confining migrant children in concentration camps reminds us of the horrors of the holocaust of World War II, she said, and she criticized the dehumanization behind practices that are assumed as a normal fact.

Menchú regretted that the Declaration and Program of Action for a Culture of Peace has suffered the same fate as other international instruments and initiatives, due to the lack of political will, especially from States, economic and political sectors.

She also highlighted the peaceful worldview of the indigenous peoples of the world and how the culture of peace should be understood again as a transversal theme.

However, this is not possible when the economic, political and social machinery goes in the opposite direction and its effects disrupt any institutional mechanism, any individual and collective will to live in peace, she concluded.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global, United Nations,

Argentina: XIV World Congress of Mediation and Culture of Peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article by Alexis Rafael Peña Céspedes in El Dia

Every year the world announces a World Mediation Congress, where hundreds of mediators from the five continents of the planet meet and share experiences. This time it will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

All citizens and professional people interested in knowing the mechanisms, of conflicts and mediations are invited to participate in this event that will interest those who want to train as mediators, conciliators, arbitrators and resolvers of conflicts.

According to the organizer of the event, Dr. Jorge Pesqueira Leal, “in the course of this century, we have met in Africa, the European Union and the American Continent, always with the commitment to contribute our knowledge and experience to open spaces for the harmonious and peaceful solution of conflicts.”

He adds that the world mediation congresses “have become the place where brilliant minds converge, bringing the latest advances in the most valuable methodology so that the protagonists of conflicts can unleash their creative potential and solve their disagreements.”

On this occasion, Argentina will host the XIV World Congress of Mediation and Culture of Peace, where citizens of the world will be promoters of peace in family spaces, neighborhood, work, sports, religion and others.

The organizing team of this event, highlighting Alternative Methods of Conflict and Dispute Resolution, indicate that “the XXI century opens space to fraternal, solidary and cooperative societies with peaceful coexistence, social justice and the common good. However, these have been weakened over time, so it is necessary to strengthen spaces designed to promote the culture of being, among which are new strategies of dialogue, mediation and conciliation at the intrapersonal interpersonal and group levels”.

They emphasize that “A person is violent or is peaceful depending on how she relates to herself. The family, the school or the community, are violent or peaceful depending, also, on how their protagonists are related, and the same thing happens with society in general. ”

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(click here for the Spanish version)

Question for this article:

Mediation as a tool for nonviolence and culture of peace

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What is needed are commitments from states, international organizations, local governments and civil society, so that together they can make commitments aimed at fostering other mechanisms for resolving conflicts.

The organizers propose that, from this perspective, it is “urgent to change the way we relate, for which, mediation, in principle, but also dialogue, conciliation and restorative practices, are ideal mechanisms. They can deactivate the social construction of personalities prone to solve conflicts through force.” Force, as a mechanism, generates negative consequences for people and societies.

Therefore, “it is urgent to redouble efforts through the mediation world congresses, to contribute to society” in all continents “viable alternatives so that violence in the family, in the school and in the community, and conflicts are deactivated in all areas, including those that harm the life and evolution of nations and that place global security at risk ”

General objective

The general objective of the XIV World Congress of Mediation and Culture of Peace is to “Contribute to generate reflection spaces, promote initiatives in the private and public sphere and promote public policies that allow the prevention, management and transformation of situations and conflict spaces in Argentina, Latin America and the rest of the world, favoring the construction of more dialogue, tolerance and inclusive, equitable societies “.

Specific objectives

In addition the Congress has very clear and precise specific objectives to promote alternative methods of conflict resolution, as well as mechanisms of mediation, arbitration, conciliation, restorative justice or other viable methods.

These specific objectives, as described below, are proposed by the organizers ” to promote the exchange of experiences in mediation, conciliation, restorative practices and conflict transformation, which serve as input for the improvement of the different practices of dealing with conflicts.” These include the following:

Expand the fields of application of mediation, conciliation and restorative practices based on the experiences acquired in different countries of the world.

* Identify good practices for the prevention of violence, for social dialogue and for the transformation of conflicts on our planet.

* Analyze the achievements of state initiatives to strengthen alternative dispute resolution or self-regulatory justice mechanisms.

* Generate public policy guidelines that allow a more comprehensive and sustained management of conflicts by states.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Spain: Toledo seeks to become an international reference for the “culture of peace”

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article published by El Diario (translated by CPNN)

A reference for tolerance and dialogue to eradicate violence in society: This is the objective that the Toledo City Council has proposed in the organization of the First International Forum of Migrations and Citizen Coexistence ‘Toledo Culture of Peace’. The Forum will be held on September 5, 6 and 7 at the Palacio de Congresos in the city of Toledo.

According to the Councilor for Youth, Cooperation and Education for Development, Diego Mejías, this theme should become a permanent vocation of the city. This has been advanced in a press conference with the president of COPRODELI, Meik Garay; the spokesperson for the 365 + 1 campaign, Esmeralda Pérez, and the provincial secretary of CCOO, José Luis Arroyo.

In the organization of this international event, the City Council has worked hand in hand with the local Cooperation Council, the NGOs of the city, the 365 + 1 Solidarity campaign and many other organizations, as well as the promotion of the Voix Vives Poetry Festival and the newspaper Castilla-La Mancha as ‘media partner’. According to councilor Mejías, they want to create “a space for collective reflection that turns Toledo into a benchmark of work in the pursuit of peace, social justice and interculturality.”

During the three days of the Forum there will be plenary sessions, debates, reflections, exhibitions and activities that fight against different forms of violence suffered by disadvantaged groups. “A debate and reflection that does not remain within these walls. We want it to be transferred to society as a whole, through the media, social networks and participating organizations to achieve an awareness effect that promotes changes and transformations in society, and to combat dehumanization and promote human rights,” said Mejías.

The Forum will recognize people and organizations for their solidarity efforts with the Toledo Culture of Peace Award. Its first edition will recognize the mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, for her work in favor of “coexistence and peace”; the television presenter Jesús Vázquez, for his work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); Father Ángel, for his well-known solidary work in several areas; the newspaper Castilla-La Mancha, for its commitment to social justice and for making visible realities related to tolerance and non-violence; the Union of Iberoamerican Capital Cities (UCCI), for promoting neighborhood rights and citizen participation; and the Book-Tavern El Internacional de Toledo, for making interculturality a reality and being a meeting space always open to all activities that foster a culture of solidarity of peace and critical reflection.

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(Click here for the Spanish original of this article)

Questions for this article:

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

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Mejías has indicated that during these days there will be debates, reflections, exhibitions and cultural activities to raise awareness about the different forms of violence suffered by the most disadvantaged groups. The mayor stressed that during the plenary sessions, the congress will have three moderators of media Toledo as the journalist of El Diario Alicia Avilés; the journalist of La Tribuna Marta García and the journalist of SER Toledo Juncal Roldán.

In addition, according to Garay, the forum will have academic, cultural, awareness and participation spaces; as well as artists such as Carlos Ávila or Manuel Maestro, as well as the collaboration of Voix Vives or the ETR Theater Company. Diego Mejías has assured that, to date, the 1st International Forum on Migrations and Citizen Coexistence ‘Toledo Culture of Peace’, has around 200 entries, which can be done through social networks or on the website of the City of Toledo.

For its part, the provincial secretary of CCOO Toledo, José Luis Arroyo, stressed that the phenomenon of migration “shoulc be considered as an opportunity that society has, “as social groups and municipalities are those who are taking charge of coexistence that so enriches society “.

A program “very well worked out”

The programming on September 5 will start at 11.15 with a plenary session in the Toledo Room of the Palace of Congress in which Andres Amayuelas, Jira Bulahi, Hector Ramos and Juan Miguel Ortega Terol will participate. From 2:30 p.m. there will be cultural activities in the multipurpose space Zocodover. At 5:00 pm it will be the turn of an experience table in the Toledo Room with the participation of Rosa López Sánchez, Braulio Freyre and José Taboada. The program of this first day will be closed with cultural activities such as the concert of Manuel Maestro or that of Carlos Ávila and his guitarist Ariel Acevedo, starting at 20:45.

On September 6, the day will begin, at 10.00 am in the Toledo Room, with a plenary session in which Fernando Perez del Olmo, Alfonso Iglesias or Khadija Afkir will participate. This activity will give way, at 12.15, to an experience table with Amparo Herreros, Helia del Rosario, Vanesa Lopez, Nacho Peinado, Nicolás Ost, Alicia Es Martínez Juan or José Antonio Orihuela.

Throughout the day there will be workshops and cultural activities. An experience table with Carolina Elías and Jaldía Abubakra will be held from 4:30 p.m. While at 18.10, it will be the turn of a new plenary session with the participation of Manuela Mesa, Idoia Urgarte or Pilar Gutiérrez.

As of 20.20 there will be cultural activities in the Zocodover multipurpose space, including the screening of the film ‘Mujeres extranjeros’ or the flamenco concert by Diego Mejías and Juan Ignacio González. Finally, the 7th will begin with a plenary session, at 10:00 am, with the participation of José Manuel Álamo, Beatriz Plaza, Antonio Zurita or Alejandro Alder. After 12.15 hours, an experience table will be opened with Ricardo Gayol and Pablo Martínez.

During the afternoon of this day there will be workshops and cultural activities, among which the presentation of the book ‘Territories in democracy’ or the Voix Vives recital with Ágel Calle, Antonio Orihuela, Eddi and Alicia Es. Martínez stand out. From 8:00 pm there will be the closing ceremony where there will be an artistic intervention of the company ETR, the delivery of the ‘Toledo Culture of Peace’ awards, a cocktail and the show ‘Luz Toledo’.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Europe

Togo: Catholic Church urges media to serve dialogue, peace and reconciliation

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from Togo Presse (translated by CPNN)

Some 50 journalists from Catholic media and secular media from the seven dioceses of Togo took part, on Tuesday and Wednesday (21-22 August), in CESAL, in Lomé-Tokoin, in a training workshop on the theme: “The media at the service of dialogue, reconciliation and peace”. The project is in the hands of the Catholic Episcopal Council for Social Communications (CENCCS), in partnership with the World Catholic Association for Communication (SIGNIS), the Propaganda Fide, with the sponsorship of the Conference of Bishops of Togo (CET) ). It aims to strengthen the capacity of media professionals to contribute to the success of inter-Togolese dialogue, national reconciliation and the consolidation of social peace.


Emmanuel Mawusi, clarifies the objectives of the workshop

The essential functions of a media is to inform, educate and entertain. As such, in a process of dialogue and reconciliation, as is the case in Togo, which is going through a momentous moment in its history, the media must be mediators between the protagonists of the crisis. But it is clear that the Togolese press, for the most part, ignores this role, preferring to play the game of politics. It is therefore to remind them of this role of awakeners of conscience that the Catholic Episcopal Council for Social Communications (CENCCS) initiated, for the pastoral agents of the sector of Catholic media and secular media of the seven dioceses of Togo , a workshop on the theme: “Media for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Peace”.

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Click here for the original version in French)

Question(s) related to this article:

African journalism and the Culture of Peace, A model for the rest of the world?

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For two days, seasoned speakers spoke on several sub-themes namely “Dialogue in the management of a political crisis: the case of Togo”, “Reconciliation in traditional and contemporary societies”, “Promotion of culture of peace: the role of the media professionals “, “The role of the media in a process of dialogue and reconciliation”and “Exchanges on the use of traditional and contemporary techniques of production of media content in favor of ‘peace journalism”.

“We want that, starting from here, we can act as we should with great circumspection by using the words and doing the right thing to really help the Togolese to reconcile, to know how to manage the moments of crisis. Words have strength. By speech or a statement, people can be manipulated based on what is said. So, as media professionals, we hold the very crux of the crisis in this country. When there is a crisis without dialogue, we go to the impasse. We are here to teach Togolese to stay together while being on various sides,” said Rev. Emmanuel Mawusi, Secretary General of CENCCS.

For Daniel Lawson Drakey, one of the communicators, the journalist, as an educator and awakener of conscience, must make a difference. The journalist should be at the disposal of the population wherever there is an issue without taking a stand. “It’s about not throwing oil on the fire. Today we have the impression that journalists have become political actors. They speak in the place of the politician. This makes us no longer understand the role of the media within the populations. Combat journalism has had its day. Today, everyone is talking about the development of our states. When a journalist engages politically, he loses credibility. But if it becomes independent, the people find in it a credibility and they listen to it,

Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Morocco and Senegal promote gender equality through media

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from Devdiscourse

The first traveling workshop of the project ” Prevent violence and promote gender equality through the media in Morocco and Senegal ” was held from 16 to 18 August 2018 in Thiès (Dakar-Senegal). An activity that allowed the various participating journalists to build their capacity in the mastery of the concept of gender, human rights issues and their consideration in the collection and processing of information.


©UNESCO/Théodora Samba Taliane

The project “Preventing violence and promoting gender equality through the media in Morocco and Senegal”, funded by Spain under the International Program for the Development of Communication (IPDC), has as its main objective to empower beneficiaries to promote gender equality and combat the reporting and spread of hate speech in the media while promoting a better strategic approach to the use of digital.

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Click here for the version in French)

Question related to this article:

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

African journalism and the Culture of Peace, A model for the rest of the world?

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The project is implemented in Senegal with the support of partners at the national level such as the Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications, Posts and the Digital Economy, the Senegalese National Commission for UNESCO (COMNAT), the Union of Associative and Community Radios of Senegal (URAC), 

A series of four itinerant workshops are planned to be held throughout Senegal. It is in this context that the first event was organized. The workshop, which was held on August 16, 17, 18, welcomed nearly 40 participants, members of the community radios as well as the online press, located in the region of Dakar and Thiès.

For three days they were trained on the concepts of human rights, gender and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); and in journalistic techniques, on the notions of ethics and deontology in the treatment of information. 

At the end of the training sessions, the participants were asked to make radio and written productions, respecting the notions of gender, ethical and ethical according to the knowledge acquired. These productions will be monitored throughout the implementation of the project for dissemination to local communities. 

This workshop was an opportunity, especially for members of the online press, to participate for the first time in an activity dealing with gender issues, demonstrating clearly that the need for strengthening on these themes is essential, and this at all scales. The next traveling workshops will be held in Kaolack (September), St. Louis (October) and Kolda (November).

Promoting a culture of peace and gender equality is central to UNESCO’s mission. This project is part of the Organization’s drive to strengthen peace and non-violence through the media with a focus on building their capacity to advance ethical, objective and quality journalism.

Africa, Uncategorized, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Algeria: Ooredoo hosts the 32nd Arab Scout Camp

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

An article by Mouloud Ahmed in Algerie Patriotique (translated by CPNN)

The telecommunications company Ooredoo is hosting the 32nd edition of the Arab Scout Camp, which is held in Algiers from August 25 to September 5, 2018 under the slogan “The Arab Dream”.

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

Question for this article

Two movements: scouting and culture of peace, Are they related?

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Placed under the patronage of His Excellency the President of the Republic, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, this pan-Arab demonstration, organized by the Algerian Muslim Scouts (SMA), gathers more than 1200 participants representing about twenty Arab countries.

The camp, hosted by Algeria for the third time, aims to promote living together, the culture of peace and solidarity and fraternity between peoples. A rich program has been planned by the Organizing Committee for the benefit of the participants, including cultural and educational activities, sightseeing tours, water activities, entertainment games and thematic conferences.

By hosting this 32nd Arab Scout Camp, Ooredoo confirms its status as a civil organization resolutely involved in supporting events that contribute to the influence of Algeria.

d-tolerance

Why India’s Solar Water-Drawing ATMs and Irrigation Pumping Systems Offer Replicable Strategies

…. HUMAN RIGHTS ….

An article from The Inter Press Service News Agency (reprinted by permission)

At New Delhi’s Savda Ghevra slum settlement, waterborne diseases have become less frequent thanks to solar-powered water ATMs that were installed here as a social enterprise venture three years ago.

“The water is cheap, reliable and fresh-tasting,” Saeeda, a mother of three who lives close to an ATM, tells IPS. Each day, Saeeda collects up to 15 litres of water from the ATM, paying 30 paisa per litre for the water with a rechargeable card. It means she pays 4.5 Rupees (about 6 US cents) for 15 litres of pure drinking water. It is convenient and cheap as bottled drinking water costs about 20 Rupees (about 30 US cents).


A man draws water from a solar-powered water ATM in New Delhi’s Savda Ghevra slum settlement. Thanks to these machines, which allow users to withdraw water with a rechargeable card, waterborne diseases have become less frequent here. Credit: Ranjit Devraj/IPS

Installed by Piramal Sarvajal, as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility, the decentralised drinking water project for urban slums now provides access to clean water to some 10,000 families in six slum clusters, Amit Mishra, the project’s operations manager, tells IPS.

Mishra says that each water ATM, though locally operated through a franchise system and powered using solar panels, is centrally controlled through cloud technology that integrates 1,100 touch points in 16 states. The result is reduced costs that allow round-the-clock provision of pure drinking water to underserved communities.
Sarvajal Piramal is not the only group that has set up solar-powered water ATMs in New Delhi or other parts of Delhi. Solar-powered water ATMs are part of a plan to use solar power to supply water for India’s vast 1.3 billion people, not only for drinking, but also for agricultural use.

“This is the kind of decentralised, neighbourhood solutions that the Global Green Growth Initiative (GGGI) is interested in,” the Netherlands-based group’s deputy director and water sector lead, Peter Vos, tells IPS. “However, solutions of this type may not be ideal in all situations, since the networks may require a lot of maintenance and can be costly.”

GGGI, says Vos, is interested in promoting policies that allow efficient use of limited water resources sustainably and at reasonable cost. “We do this by embedding ourselves in key ministries concerned with renewable energy, rural development as well as water and sanitation.”

Currently, GGGI has an approved budget of USD 1.37 million dollars for knowledge sharing, transfer of green technologies and capacity building in order to meet global commitments towards implementation of India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris agreement. “Facilitating the flow of domestic and international climate finance and investment would be a key contribution to support India’s NDC implementation,” Vos says.

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Questions related to this article:

Is the right to water a basic human right?

Are we making progress in renewable energy?

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India’s setting up of the International Solar Alliance, an alliance that facilitates cooperation among sun-rich countries, provides GGGI an opportunity to disseminate renewable energy best practices with 18 GGGI member countries and seven partner countries—India and China are partner countries and prospective members.

As a predominantly agricultural country, with the world’s largest irrigated area serviced by some 26 million groundwater pumps mostly run on diesel or electricity, GGGI is keenly interested in India’s plans to switch to the use of solar power for irrigation.

Electric pumps are considered unreliable and diesel is costly. To keep them running, India spends about USD 6 million in annual subsidies that create their own distortions. Farmers tend to waste electricity as well as water thanks to the subsidies, Vos explains.

Under India’s National Solar Mission programme, farmers are now supported with capital cost subsidies for solar pump systems. A credit-linked subsidy scheme invites local institutions across the country to provide loans to reduce the subsidy burden on the government and make the system affordable for farmers.

According to a GGGI study released in 2017, the ‘context-specific delivery models’ used in the solar pump programme have resulted in noteworthy initial successes in terms of economic and social benefits, emission reductions, reduced reliance on subsides, increased agricultural output, development of new businesses, job-creation and improved incomes and livelihoods in rural areas.

India’s models offer replicable strategies to support solar irrigation pumping systems in other countries where GGGI has a presence, says Vos. In fact, the Indian government has plans to export solar pumping systems and expertise to countries interested in greener alternatives for irrigation.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), irrigation is becoming an important part of global agricultural production, consuming about 70 percent of global freshwater resources and reliable irrigation. However, using solar-powered systems can increase crop yields four-fold and can be key to national objectives like achieving food security.

Over the last 25 years India’s ministry of new and renewable energy, a GGGI partner, has developed specialised programmes for both drinking water as well as irrigation systems using solar water pumping systems of which there are now an estimated 15,000 units.

The progress has not been entirely without a hitch and, so far, the solar water-pumping market has remained relatively small primarily due to high up-front capital costs and low awareness among farmers as well as users of drinking water provided through ATMs.

A study of the Savda Ghevra slum showed that it took 18 months before the first ATM could be provided to Piramal Sarvajal. And then only 37 percent of the residents were using the ATMs as a primary or secondary source of potable water.

The study found that the ATMs were more than covering operating costs and generating revenue for Piramal Sarvajal, and could reach a wider population with government or other support, especially in the rural areas. The monies generated by Piramal Sarvajal are used to pay salaries and to maintain the machines.

According to the government’s own figures, presented in parliament in 2017; out of 167.8 million households in rural India only 2.9 million or 16 percent have access to safe drinking water. GGGI with its  considerable experience and expertise around the world is well-placed to step in, says Vos.

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

HUMAN RIGHTS, South Asia, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Isabelle Bourgeois: Your joy is my destination

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article by Tony Robinson from Pressenza

Early readers from the first days of Pressenza will remember Isabelle Bourgeois as a passionate journalist who joined the Base Team of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence.  Almost every day, Isabelle would upload a video summary of the day’s events, telling both the serious and humorous sides of the journey.

In fact, Isabelle is a professionally trained journalist who has worked in war zones such as Iraq, Ethiopia and Kosovo for the Red Cross, but despairing of the one-sided stories portrayed in the media, Isabelle abandoned mainstream journalism and has set off to follow her own dream, driven by a profound purpose: to seek out joy in the world and to transmit it to as many people as possible.

As I know Isabelle very well from the time we shared on the World March, she called me a few weeks ago to say she was on her tour called “Joy for the Planet” and wanted to come and see what inspiring people she could find in Hungary.  I realised that after 6 months’ sleeping in her camper van, she’d probably welcome the spare bed and hot shower I could offer her!  So to Budapest she came and I helped out while she met up with a young Japanese ballet dancer who she was in contact with and who offered to be a subject in a video to spread joy through dance.  We spoke a lot about her project, her purpose and the future.


Isabelle decorates her beloved vehicle and home for 2018 (Image by Joy for the Planet)

One has the impression with Isabelle that she is being guided by a great force.  What seems to be a coincidence at first, later on always feels like it was meant to be.  As she says herself, “I’m the right person at the right place, at the right time with the right people.”
I took the opportunity to interview her for Pressenza and offer her her old role back!

Pressenza: What is Joy for the Planet? Tell us about this project.

Isabelle Bourgeois: Joy for the planet is a journey around the world but starting with a tour through Europe, with my camper van that I’ve called Begoodee, in order to promote and share joy, enthusiasm and passion through meeting inspiring people.  I’m a journalist and all my life I’ve been dedicated to promoting and sharing positive news, inspiring news, through the media and I wanted to bring my own contribution to improve humankind, somehow, on a very humble level.  So the idea is to travel throughout Europe for one year with the gift that I’m born with and with my experience as a journalist, with my camera, with my microphone and pencil and some drawings.  I’m bringing joy and sharing joy as a volunteer through videos, articles and interviews.

PZ: I see that as part of the project, in every place you go, you look for inspiring people who you award with the title nominee of joy and give them a solar lamp. What’s that about?

IB: The idea again is to bring trust and faith, but faith not in a religious sense, faith in yourself, faith in your life’s mission, faith in the purpose that you are living on Earth.  So the idea is to build bridges instead of fear, instead of walls, to show how much beauty there is in the world and how many great and inspiring people there are.  And on the road, in order to show the light that goes from person to person helping each other and being passionate about their lives, I found a concrete way to symbolize this transmission of love and passion with a little solar lamp.

So on the road, in a way which is not at all planned or controlled, something totally spontaneous, I might meet some people; adults, disabled people, children who are willing to build solar lamps with me.  So they add their light to this project, they add their love, they add their hopes, by building these little lamps.  And on the road I offer these lamps to inspiring people who dedicate their lives to others, or who bring better living conditions for us.

PZ: What led you to take on this great adventure?

IB: For the last 25 years, I’ve been a journalist and at the beginning I was a regular journalist, writing about gossip, violence and scandals; nothing that actually helps anyone to evolve and I was also working as a humanitarian delegate in war-torn countries.  And being in war zones I was surprised to see so much love, solidarity, great behaviour and forgiveness from all parties involved in the conflict.  But in the evening when I came back home and switched on the TV, the media were only talking about terrorism, bomb attacks, violence and blood, and I said that there’s something here which isn’t right, because I’m in the middle of the war and I see so much beauty also, so much love, so much peace and I thought, “Oh, there’s a kind of conscious manipulation by omitting what makes people human beings.”  And I didn’t want to take part in that lie anymore because this war and violence is a reality but it’s not the reality.  And I witnessed also another reality which is solidarity, helping each other, forgiving and so 15 years ago I decided to create a good news website – somehow similar to Pressenza – on a voluntary basis and I decided to quit mainstream journalism for good, because it contributes much more to increasing fear, hate and judgment among people than to bringing trust and inspiring solutions.  So this was the first thing I did.

And then I tried as a freelance journalist to publish good news, inspiring news, but most of the media said, “Good news is not news, Isabelle,” and, “You’re too idealistic, you’re too naïve.” Really, I was hitting my head against a brick wall for many years, wanting to show that other side of reality.

So in the mean time I created other projects like, for instance, Planet Positive Action which is a travel company that organises solidarity tours. 

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It’s about travellers who visit a country while at the same time helping and giving a meaning to the trip. So I did that while taking a bit more distance from journalism but I never gave up on the idea of really bringing my journalistic faculties to others because I love my job.

I think journalism is one of the most beautiful jobs in the world.  So two years ago I said I will not give up on inspiring journalism or humanist journalism and I said, “But how can I bring my reportage, my features, my articles, if mainstream media are not that interested in publishing what I see and who I meet?”  And so I said, “I’ll do it on my own, I’ll just find some money to buy a vehicle and I’ll jump into the world with my camera, my microphone, my pencil and I’ll just do it on my own. I will not wait any more for people to follow me in this. I’ll just do it.”

And I did some crowdfunding last November and I succeeded to collect eighteen thousand euros which was beyond my expectations because I was asking for fifteen thousand.  And then I bought my second-hand old camper van and that’s it.  I started my journey from Switzerland six months ago and this is how it happened, to make a long story short. Although the project only took shape two years ago, it’s really a life-time commitment.

PZ: On your journey so far from Switzerland with Begoodee, where have you been? And could you give us a couple of highlights for you?

IB:  Yes.  So I started in Switzerland then I went down to Sardinia, Corsica, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland and then I went through all the Baltic countries to Poland, and I landed now a few days ago in Budapest.

Highlights?  Actually every day of that journey has been a highlight because I’ve met such unbelievable people, extraordinary people.

So for instance in Finland, I met Villé, a 25 years old young man who tried to kill himself when he was 16 years old because he couldn’t fit with that world.  It was like he was parachuted on to a terrible planet he didn’t want to belong to. So he jumped off a cliff, and he told me, “I jumped from the cliff. I’ve lost two legs, but I found my joy.”  And he was sharing with me what made him so joyful today and he said that it was this path that has nothing to do with what is visible, with materialistic issues; it’s about finding peace and loving everything whatever it is, beyond shape and form, beyond the physical.  So he was really a fantastic person.

Also in Finland, I participated in the world championships of boot-throwing. This also I loved so much because it was kind of, when you’re going through a hard time and you have this total nonsense sport which helps you also to give a meaning to your life, because it helps you to take distance from drama and from seriousness.  So I found it actually very therapeutic.

Also in the South of France I met a guy whose dream, he is 75 years old, was to cross the Atlantic inside a barrel.

I’ve met Buddhists, I’ve met Jewish people who are committed to bringing peace to the Middle East.  I’ve met dancers who were dancing to bring all the nations together.

And I have rewarded – it’s not me actually it’s the project, because there is a big difference between me and the project – so the project has rewarded so far 36 or 37 nominees of Joy.

PZ: What’s the future for this project?  Where are you seeing it in the future?

IB:  Of course, the idea now is to build something that will remain, that will be useful for everyone.  So this year’s journey is just for me a calling card to show to everyone that I want to give an example.  So, I did it with all my love, with all my convictions.  I did it and then I will write a book about this journey and I would like to make a movie because so far I’ve edited more than 60 videos but very short so I’d like to make a movie. And then with this movie, the journey (the experience), the writing and the film, I would like to create a kind of a place, a physical location, where people can experience joy: joy through art, joy through science (with quantum physics, for instance, how your thoughts are influencing your destiny), joy with music, joy and education, and so on.  So, it will be a place where people can experience, in an interactive way, how to find the key to joy in life and how to live a dream, how to align your values with your actions.

PZ:  What have you learned in these last six months?

IB: [Laughter] That I was right! I’ve learned somehow very deep, but I’ve learned that I was right to trust human beings.  I was right all my life to trust human beings, and to see jewels within them. And people who behave badly, it’s not that they’re bad, it’s just that they didn’t have the chance to be loved enough to follow their dreams.  So all the harm and the bad is coming from ignorance.  It’s not coming from reality, rather from a source of negativity.  It’s really an accident in a loving process in an individual’s path.  So, I’ve learned that actually everyone is good and has a very beautiful ground but education factors have stopped them from remaining loving or a loved person.  I’ve learned that I shouldn’t judge anymore what is right and what is wrong, because if you decide what’s right, what’s wrong, then you will feed the notion of duality and this is not at all what I would like to contribute.  So by accepting light and dark, good and bad in a compassionate way, I believe that I contribute more to building this sense of oneness on earth.

PZ: And finally, what brings you joy?

IB: Of course, this project actually.  There is joy in finding joy actually.  So because all my life, I really felt joy despite the burdens, difficulties and troubles in my life, I never quit that deep feeling that everything has a purpose and that we’re not alone and that there’s a reason for all the turbulence in your life.  So I never quit that underground stream of joy, but it was of course up and down, up and down, like as if I was going out of the flow and then back into the flow, and out of the flow and back again.  But now, through this project I feel really that I’m non-stop in the flow of joy, non-stop, because I feel that I’m the right person at the right place, at the right time with the right people and that I’m really doing what I was born for, that I’m in my life’s mission.

PZ: Very good. Thank you and good luck!

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe

Peoples Climate Movement Launches Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice September 8th

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

A press release from 350.org

On September 8th, four days before the start of the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, California, and two months before the U.S. midterm elections, people from across the country and around the world will take to the streets to demand bold action on climate change. Globally the mobilization is called “Rise for Climate,” where advocates plan to send a clear message to governments through distributed actions in towns, institutions, cities to push forward real climate action. 

 At GCAS, mayors, governors, and CEOs from the US and beyond are expected to announce plans to make further emissions cuts a part of global efforts to combat climate change. Communities are calling on these leaders to ramp up their ambitions.

The Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice September 8th mobilization builds upon a year of strategic movement building in a set of states that will energize local, state, and national efforts and lay the foundation for a long-lasting, sustainable climate movement.

Last year, as the Trump Administration rolled back climate and health policies, along with many others, more than 200,000 people marched in the streets of Washington D.C. in resistance. At the same time, we saw hundreds of local and global elected officials make verbal commitments to climate action. This year, the Peoples Climate Movement aims to transform the energy of resistance into action by calling on leaders and elected officials to invest in real solutions to the climate crisis that prioritize the most impacted and vulnerable of our communities, like a massive, just transition to a 100% renewable economy that ensures safe and healthy communities, the right to organize for all workers, and millions of family-sustaining jobs.

Speaking towards the global day of action, Estrella Sainburg, Circle Organizer, GreenFaith said, “September 8th marks a global day of action because simply put, stopping the climate crisis is going to take all of us. Across the world, communities will rise up to demand that elected officials raise the bar and step up their commitments. “Real climate action” doesn’t mean hollow words. It means a fast, fair, and just transition away from fossil fuels to a 100% renewable energy economy, that protects the most vulnerable communities already impacted by climate change and creates good paying jobs and opportunities for all. These are some of the real solutions that our communities need and deserve. We will use the Global Climate Action Summit as a key moment to put ourselves on the right path of action and implementation. This is the moral obligation at hand for our leaders and we are calling on them to step up to the plate.”

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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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Paul Getsos, National Director, Peoples Climate Movement said, “PCM’s work to lift up Climate, Jobs, and Justice now, prior to GCAS, and in November is not only critical in this political moment, but supports our overall goal of building out a climate movement that is long lasting and sustainable. We are creating the space for our partners to amplify, and be led by, the often overlooked voices of their constituents. Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice September 8th is a mobilization of these voices across the country and around the world, building power to bring about a new, clean energy economy.”

Branden Snyder, Executive Director, Good Jobs Now! said, “The role of Good Jobs Now in Detroit is to raise the issue of environmental racism, educate on the impact Climate Change is having in our city and connect it to the everyday economic justice issues that Detroiters know very well to this fight. The effects of oil and gas pollution are disproportionately afflicting African-Americans, particularly with higher cancer and respiratory issues affecting Detroiters who live near incinerators and refineries. We see environmental racism in the rising heating cost and the damage that occurs after heavy rains because of our old and “grey” infrastructural system. Our work with the PCM is to build a people powered movement to fight against it.”

Miya Yoshitani, Executive Director, Asian Pacific Environmental Network said,  Leaders around the world should be looking at solutions through the lens of people that have been most impacted and who will be most impacted by climate change. This means going beyond increasing temperatures, droughts, and rising sea levels; and recognizing that climate change is a threat multiplier for working families everywhere. For families facing housing insecurity and rising food and energy costs, people who need jobs where you don’t have to trade your health for a living wage. Our communities are at the forefront of creating solutions to the climate crisis. And elected officials should follow their lead.”

Lenore Friedlaender, Assistant to the President of SEIU Local 32BJ said, “Working people are being devastated by climate change.  Extreme weather, rising sea levels, chronic diseases like asthma that are made worse by pollution, the lack of clean drinking water in our schools and communities all take a toll on working class, people of color and poor communities.  Climate change at a time of increasing economic inequality is a toxic combination for the majority of americans. We have the opportunity to create good jobs in wind, solar and the renewable energy sector that move us to a healthier future and a more just society. The time to act is now.”

Reverend Leo Woodberry, Pastor of Kingdom Living Temple and Executive Director of New Alpha Community Development Corporation said, “Only when we put Justice First, Can we ensure that we have a just transition that addresses Climate Change, Jobs with a living wage, and to improve the lives of the least among us.”

For more information please go to:

www.riseforclimate.org

www.peoplesclimate.org

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

North America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Brazil: Cotia organizes the 1st Walk for the Culture of Peace

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from Visão oeste

The first Walk for the Culture of Peace, organized by the Sports, Culture and Leisure Secretariat of Cotia, is scheduled for Sunday (26/08) in partnership with a commission of representatives from different religious groups in the city.

The objective of the event is to spread peace, respect and interreligious dialogue, bringing, through culture, respect for the other, showing that intolerance has generated daily suffering around the world.

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(Click here for a Portuguese version of this article)

Questions for this article:

Can festivals help create peace at the community level?

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The event will begin at 9:30 am in Praça da Matriz, with departure scheduled at 10:00 am. The course will feature music, poetry and dances. The arrival point will be at Joaquim Nunes Square and participants will be welcomed by a cultural feast with food stalls, handicraft exhibitions, open microphone, dance performances, capoeira wheel, samba wheel, among other attractions.

“The proposal is to pave the way for the promotion of respect for cultures. The involvement of different religions in a single event is a way to combat prejudices with expression, fight against segregation, and combat prejudice in a general way, “said Gilmar de Almeida, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Culture.

Still according to him, the goal is that this is a movement that perpetuates in Cotia.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America