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.

From pacifism to nonviolence in Berlin

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Gabriela Amaya from Pressenza (reprinted according to Creative Commons)

With the slogan “Reconciliation is the only path to peace”, on the 1st of October, the eve of the International Day of Nonviolence, hundreds of people formed a human peace symbol in Berlin that then transformed into the symbol of nonviolence, coinciding with the celebration of the day itself in numerous points of the planet.

The event took place within the World Congress of the International Peace Bureau, in Berlin’s Ernst-Reuter-Platz on the initiative of this international news agency.

Berlin
Click on photos to enlarge
(Image by Pressenza Berlin)

The wellknown form of the peace symbol was transformed at a certain moment into the nonviolence symbol representing the need to advance from the field of pacifism to the field of nonviolence, something which implies the recognition of different forms of violence, not only physical violence whose greatest expression is war, but also economic, racial, religious, generational, sexual, psychological and moral violence among others.

Nonviolence assumes a lifestyle in everyday life which is based on the universal moral principle, “Treat others as you would like them to treat you.”

The words in the mouths of persons of different ages and geographical lattitudes, and the pictures that accompany this text are a better explanation of this meaningful and inspiring act.

Tomorrow, the 2nd of October, the anniversary Gandhi’s birthday, is the International Day of Nonviolence.

We are here today to celebrate it, illuminating the darkness of this moment with the simple light of our phones and with the powerful force of our best aspirations.

There are many people like us in the world, people who have struggled for peace and who believe that violence is not natural and can be surpassed.

And that’s why we are not only in this square in Berlin because around the world, many events are taking place in these days: flash mobs, music, theatre, films, videos, photos for nonviolence, courses in schools, workshops for children and adults, and so on. These events are too many to mention them all, but we want to greet the people and organisations that are raising their voices up for a new Humanism, an historical moment of reconciliation, and a climate of peace and disarmament.

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Click here for article in French or here for article in Spanish)

Question for this article:

Can peace be guaranteed through nonviolent means?

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And now we turn our lights on!

In this moment, the living symbol of peace is illuminated by the light of our phones, while we invite you to meditate…

Today we are here to send a sign of support to the millions of people around the world who are demanding peace.

To send a sign of hope for all those who are living in war. To let them know that we haven’t forgotten them.

To send a sign of relief to those who want peace, but who are not yet here with us.

To send a sign to ourselves, so that we never forget the importance and value of what we do.

To send a warning to those who feed wars and violence, so that they know that we are not asleep.

So that they know that a new culture of peace and nonviolence is being born.

And now we are going to form the living sign of nonviolence!

We condemn dehumanisation, oppression and violence in all its forms – physical, economic, racial, religious, ecological, psychological, gender and moral.

We refuse to continue enchained to a mechanical culture of resentment, guilt and revenge, and we launch an intentional, person and social nonviolent revolution.

We will not accept a closed future for human beings and our planet.

We demand the right for all human beings to be happy and free. Free of external and internal ties, free from pain and suffering.

So, connected with what makes us human inside ourselves, let’s take a deep breath and carry it to the depths of our hearts, asking to surpass violence. And from the depths of our hearts, we commit ourselves here to give the best of ourselves to build a culture of peace and nonviolence, seeking what unites us, creating bridges between human beings and working for reconciliation with ourselves, between individuals and entire peoples.

For everyone: Peace, Force and Joy!

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe

Swedish government wants to reward citizens who repair instead of toss

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Matt Hickman for Mother Nature Network (reprinted by permission)

Last week, the always-enviable country of Sweden unveiled yet another forward-thinking maneuver geared to make all other developed nations look positively backwards in comparison. The maneuver in question, crafted by the country’s ruling Social Democrat and Green Party coalition, comes in the form of a parliamentary proposal that would usher in tax breaks that reward Swedes who opt to send off consumer goods such as bicycles, clothing and shoes for minor mending and repairs instead of chucking said items in the trash and replacing them with new ones. This would be achieved by lowering the rate of the value-added tax (VAT) applied to the professional repair of such items from 25 percent to 12 percent.

sweden

An additional incentive introduced to Swedish Parliament would offer tax refunds — half the labor cost of repairs — to those who fix bigger ticket items including home appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines and ovens. As noted by the BBC, Swedes can already recoup 50 percent of labor costs of “paid house work” such as employing a handyman or cleaning person from their annual income taxes.

“I believe there is a shift in view in Sweden at the moment. There is an increased knowledge that we need to make our things last longer in order to reduce materials’ consumption,” Per Bolund, the country’s Minister For Financial Markets and Consumer Affairs, explains to The Guardian. “We believe that this [the proposed tax breaks] could substantially lower the cost and so make it more rational economic behaviour to repair your goods.”

Bolund anticipates that by offering generous tax breaks on appliance repairs, more waste-conscious Swedes will be encouraged to fix instead of toss. This, in turn, will foster a thriving repairs industry and create new blue-collar job opportunities for the country’s immigrant population.

“Consumer are quite active in changing both what they buy and how they buy in Sweden, to change the environmental impact, so we see a huge increase in the sale of organic food, and we also see that the interest in the ‘sharing’ economy and the ‘circular’ economy is growing quite rapidly,” Bolund adds to the BBC.

Sweden, unfailingly humble one-upper that it is, has proven itself to be at the top of the game when it comes to planet-bettering schemes such as eliminating its reliance on fossil fuels and recycling, an activity that Swedes are so skilled at that it’s created a national garbage deficit — and for a country that relies on waste-to-energy incinerators to heat homes, that’s not necessarily a good thing. However, the governments of other nations have also embraced the art of repairing as an alternative to sending perfectly fixable items to the landfill.

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Question for this article:

What is the relation between the environment and peace?

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Take for example France, which, in 2015 passed a law outlawing planned obsolescence and requiring manufacturers to offer consumers free repairs or replacement parts on appliances up to two years after the date of purchase. Like the proposals in Sweden, the French law — Germany and Norway have similar laws on the books, as well — aims to curb the amount of waste entering landfills, keep money in the pockets of hand wringing-prone consumers and generate jobs in the appliance repair sector.

In other countries, the act of repairing in lieu of chucking is less about mandates and 21st century environmental do-goodery and more about upholding ages-old cultural traditions. Take Japan, for example, where broken yet still-valuable ceramics are meticulously mended in a fix-it-centric art form known as kintsugi. After undoing the traditional kintsugi process, shattered bowls and plates and the like are considered more beautiful — and valuable — than they were before the breakage occurred.

Jugaad — a Hindi word that essentially translates to “a hack” — is practiced throughout India. The idea here is to apply ingenious, duct tape-heavy fixes to broken or on-their-way items instead of trashing them.

The Netherlands is the birthplace of the Repair Café Foundation, a popular grassroots nonprofit that promotes community gathering spots where, as the New York Times describes, “neighbors pool their skills and labor for a few hours a month to mend holey clothing and revivify old coffee makers, broken lamps, vacuum cleaners and toasters, as well as at least one electric organ, a washing machine and an orange juice press.” While the movement was borne in Amsterdam and in its infancy remained largely a Dutch phenomenon, repair cafes have appeared in more than 29 countries spread out across every continent.

And then there’s Ireland.

While Dutch-style pop-up repair cafes have also appeared in Irish cities such as Dublin, the Emerald Isle’s greatest contribution to the fix-it movement will forever be Sugru, the putty-like miracle goo that can be used to repair just about everything. And I mean everything. Marketed as the “world’s first mouldable glue,” the idea for Sugru — a riff on sugradh, the Irish word for “play — was developed by Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh, a product designer hailing from Kilkenny. “I wanted to design something that was so easy and so fun to use that more people would consider fixing things again,” Ni Dhulchaointigh recently told the New York Times.

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter who sent us this article.)

Europe, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Ashland, Oregon (USA): November’s elections for peace?

. .DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION. .

An article by Jeff Golden in Ashland Daily Tidings

As you might have heard, there’s an election campaign underway right now. Tens of thousands of them, actually, many for offices that might impact our daily lives over the next few years as much or more than President Clinton or President Trump will. This is the first full election since the launch of the Ashland Culture of Peace Commission about a year ago, and it has some of us working with ACPC curious: What would an election that embodies a culture of peace look like?

Ashland

It’s a tough puzzle, because elections are anything but win-win activities. Their defining purpose is to yield a winning and, generally, one or more losing candidates — not exactly an ideal set-up for creative solutions that meet some of everyone’s needs, which is part of what a culture of peace is all about.

It’s not hard to imagine a campaign more thoughtful, respectful and tolerant than what we’re used to seeing; this year it’s really not hard. But reworking a process that’s driven by an imperative to beat the other guy into a ritual of peace — that’s a tough stretch.

Let’s take a small step. We won’t try to transform the mood and tone of this year’s presidential election, careening along as it is with a kind of darkly manic energy. What makes more sense is to start at home.

This November’s ballot will include an Ashland mayor’s race with four candidates and a total of seven candidates for three city council seats. The ACPC has invited all of them to a candidates forum from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, in Wesley Hall at First United Methodist Church, 175 N. Main Street.

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Questions for this article:

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

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Like other forums, this forum is intended to help you get to know the candidates before you mark your ballot. Unlike other forums, this one will consciously explore how the competitive dynamic of political campaigns can fit within a culture of peace, the culture into which we eventually want to fit all civic aspects of our community.

We’re aiming to make this forum one of the most encouraging and upbeat civic events Ashland’s ever had, and when you’re creating an energetically different model, it’s hard to know exactly how to pull that off. It calls for the creativity of more than just a few organizers. It calls to all of us with an affectionate concern for our city, an interest in elections, and a deep, if not wholly clear, knowing that politics can line up with our highest values much more closely than what we’re witnessing.

So we want your help. We plan to ask the candidates the very best questions you’re willing to send us. “Best,” for our purposes, are questions that (1) generate respect among opponents and a genuine curiosity about what those with different views are thinking, and (2) shed light on what candidates would work on as mayor or councilors to advance a culture of peace in Ashland.

Will you give all this a few minutes’ thought and see what comes up? What would you ask the people who want to govern Ashland in order to discover how committed they are to a culture of peace in our community and to learn what they see themselves doing with their authority if they win?

We’d like you to send one or more questions to ashlandcpc@gmail.com by Wednesday, Sept. 28. Please include your name and indicate whether we can mention your name if we use your question(s).

Whether or not you contribute questions, we’d like you to join us from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, in Wesley Hall at First United Methodist Church, to engage with the mayoral and council candidates on their visions for our community and how a culture of peace might fit into them. When it comes to changing the tone and quality of our political life, we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, North America

Vancouver, Canada: Michael Ableman’s Street Farm celebrates the transformation of asphalt into market gardens.

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

A book review from BC Book Look (abbreviated)

The Sole Food Street Farms initiative in Vancouver has been described by its innovators as North America’s largest urban farm project, boasting an annual yield of 50,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables from five paved sites, 4.5 acres in total, employing 75 people from 2009.

vegetables

It all happens amid the asphalt and squalor of the Lower Track of Canada’s most expensive city (the urban area near Main and Hastings is not called the Downtown Eastside anymore).

Dr. Gabor Maté calls it “a great antidote to pessimism.”

Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson says, “It’s an ingenious use of space that has been vacant or otherwise discarded.”

During the program’s seventh growing season, co-founder and director Michael Ableman has published Street Farm: Growing Food, Jobs, and Hope on the Urban Frontier (Chelsea Green Publishing $33.20) to celebrate an initiative that he says operates on a scale unprecedented in North America.

A book launch with high profile chefs at Main & Terminal will be held on October 6, emceed by Fred Lee. Entry is $175 per person.

According to publicity materials, Sole Food pays $300,000 in annual wages to employees including 25 individuals dealing with drug addiction and mental illness.

“If you stretch your concept of what a family is, move beyond the stereotype of Mom, Dad and the kids,” said Ableman, “and you could say that the Sole Food farms and the community of farmers and eaters that rely on us are just that—a family. And for many of our staff, this family may be the only one they have ever had.”

All crops are grown in soilfilled growing boxes. It is claimed the overall yield for this growing system is 15 to 25 times higher than conventional “open field” growing systems. . .

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

Question for this article:
North America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Papua New Guinea: Thousands march to ‘make a stand for peace’

. HUMAN RIGHTS .

An article from Nonviolent Conflict News

As many as 10-thousand people walked for peace in the Papua New Guinea capital over the weekend [of September 10-11]. The governor of Port Moresby says the Sunday morning event was planned as a stand against violence in the country following a brawl at a rugby league match which left an innocent bystander dead.

png

Powes Parkop tells Dominic Godfrey the death of Joe Pidik was a tragedy that he and others are ashamed of.

POWES PARKOP: We don’t condone this type of activity and we want to make a statement. It is not something that we accept and we want the public to come out to make that statement, to ourselves more particularly. Also, it’s leading up to our anniversary of our 41st year’s independence. We want to also make a statement for peace and unity in our country.

DOMINIC GODFREY: Next year of course PNG is co-hosting the Rugby League World Cup. Has there been any reaction to this outbreak of violence from your co-host countries?

PP: Yes. We had a grave concern expressed, especially by the Rugby League World Cup secretariat down in Australia. They rightfully expressed to us concerns that the games that we are going to host might be addressed. But we have given them the assurance that this is only a minority activity. This doesn’t represent all our people in Papua New Guinea and especially in Pt Moresby and so I hope they put their fears to rest and we are looking forward to hosting the three games for the Rugby League World Cup.

We will be hosting the Under 20 FIFA Women’s World Cup too in November and December of this year. That’s 16 countries coming from five continents of the world. Young leaders of tomorrow will be coming to our city and our country and it’s also important that we send that message loud and clear to the participating countries in particular but to the world generally that this type of behaviour is not acceptable, not tolerated. It’s why we came out in big numbers on Sunday with our minister for sport and rugby league board and chairman, and some of our rugby league teams and other sport teams.

Everybody came out in a very strong powerful way to send a message, especially going to our own people. It’s a problem that we have with our own people and we need to get our people to change their behaviour, change their habits and that’s essentially the main purpose we marched for yesterday. We need our people, the majority of whom reject violence, and if many more of people come out and make these type of statements, then it will get this minority to change their behaviour and attitudes so I’m very pleased with the outcome yesterday.

DG: What would the message be to the people of Papua New Guinea and Pt Moresby?

PP: Violence is an impediment to prosperity and development of our people.

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

Questions related to this article:
East Asia, HUMAN RIGHTS

South America: A ‘sweeping’ win for the oceans that you didn’t hear about

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

A blog by Scott Henderson on the Conservation Blog

Today [September 15] is the first day of the Our Ocean conference, an annual event hosted by the United States to seek commitments for protecting the ocean. The conference comes on the heels of historic commitments made last week from the presidents of Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador, who declared their intention to expand their countries’ pledges to ocean protection. Human Nature sat down with Scott Henderson, vice president of Conservation International (CI)’s Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape program, to discuss the significance of these commitments, which have largely avoided widespread attention so far.

oceans
The presidents of Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica make their historic announcement. (© Conservation International/photo by Scott Henderson)

Question: What did the presidents of Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica announce?

Answer: Ecuador reiterated its commitment to rezoning the Galápagos Marine Reserve, beginning with the creation of a 36,000-square-kilometer (13,900-square-mile) fully protected sanctuary in the northwest of the reserve. Colombia stated their intention to quadruple the size (to more than 27,000 square kilometers, or 10,425 square miles) of the fully protected Malpelo Flora and Fauna Sanctuary. Costa Rica announced their intention to create a 10,000-square-kilometer (3,861-square-mile) fully protected area around Cocos National Park.

Here’s why it matters: These three presidents made sweeping commitments that could transform the way their ocean resources are managed, generating incredible benefits for their people. These commitments were made during a ceremony to celebrate the culmination of nearly 30 years of negotiations to agree on the definitive maritime borders between the three countries. Sitting behind these commitments is the growing recognition that creating marine reserves is not a wasted economic opportunity, but just the opposite: President Rafael Correa of Ecuador emphasized that industrial fishermen have told him they are one of the main beneficiaries of the Galápagos Marine Reserve. Effectively, the reserve has served as a massive fish “bank” that pays out “interest” to those that scoop up the abundant spillover on the reserve boundaries.

Q: What do these announcements mean for ocean conservation and ocean health?

A: President Correa was quick to note the strong ecological connections — uncovered over the past decade through the work of CI and partners — between Galápagos, Malpelo and Cocos Island. Together they make up the world’s densest cluster of UNESCO Marine World Heritage Sites along with Panama’s Coiba National Park. He emphasized three critical factors that national leaders have often failed to heed and act on. First, small areas provide protection for highly mobile species, especially large pelagic species such as sharks, turtles, rays, whales, seabirds, tuna and billfish. Second, strong protection in just one big area is not enough because these species spend different parts of their life cycles in different places. Third, big reserves in the middle of the ocean don’t do enough — these species often breed, feed or rest in coastal areas that are being lost to development or degraded by pollution.

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Question for this article:

If we can connect up the planet through Internet, can’t we agree to preserve the planet?

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To give you a sense of the import of this announcement: President Luis Solís of Costa Rica called it “transcendental,” and President Correa emphasized that it is one of the best moments in history for these three nations to cooperate to achieve shared goals. This historic announcement is nothing less than the declaration of a new sustainable development model that puts ocean management at the forefront of national strategies to improve the livelihoods of millions of people. These Latin American leaders have risen to the front of the global pack to act on their belief that marine conservation is a wise investment, not an economic drain.

Q: Describe the biodiversity of this region.

A: The Galápagos Marine Reserve, Malpelo Sanctuary, Cocos Island National Park and Coiba National Park are the crown jewels of the ETPS — the marine version of Africa’s Serengeti. As in the case of the Serengeti where vast herds of large migratory mammals and dependent predators follow seasonal changes, in the ETPS vast populations of iconic migratory marine species — sharks, turtles, rays, whales, seabirds, tuna and billfish — surge back and forth in response to seasonal changes in water temperature and food availability. In fact, these protected areas have registered the highest density of sharks recorded anywhere on Earth and some of the highest fish biomass (total weight per unit area) ever recorded. Cocos is world-renowned for its massive groups of hammerhead sharks and tiger sharks. Coiba is home to the region’s largest coral formations and numerous turtle nesting beaches. Malpelo’s large schools of silky sharks are a major attraction for divers and underwater photographers. Galápagos is home to rare and endemic marine species such as Galápagos penguins and sea lions, as well as more than a third of the world’s whales and dolphin species.

The marine “highways” that connect these sites are some of the world’s great tuna fishing grounds. The coasts that border the ETPS are covered with mangroves, which serve as nurseries for many of these iconic species, and the beaches are nesting grounds for sea turtles.

Q: What are the challenges to making these new protections happen?

A: To make the most of this opportunity three key things must happen. First, the three leaders need to garner support from key constituencies in their countries, especially industrial fishermen and related businesses. Second, these leaders and the full range of ministries that create and implement marine policy in these countries — Environment, Fisheries, Defense, Foreign Relations, Finance and Tourism — will have to all pull in the same direction towards a shared vision of building prosperity around marine conservation and management. Third, the international community will have to be prepared to respond with funding to help overcome the barriers that currently stand in the way of the ETPS becoming an outstanding example of ocean-based development.

There has never been a more promising moment in this region’s marine history.

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

Latin America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

India: Buddhist nuns bike Himalayas to oppose human trafficking

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article by Nita Bhalla for Nonviolent Conflict News with credit to Thomson Reuters Foundation,

– Clad in black sweatpants, red jackets and white helmets, the hundreds of cyclists pedaling the treacherously steep, narrow mountain passes to India from Nepal could be mistaken for a Himalayan version of the Tour de France. The similarity, however, ends there. This journey is longer and tougher, the prize has no financial value or global recognition and the participants are not professional cyclists but Buddhist nuns from India, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet.

Five hundred nuns from the Buddhist sect known as the Drukpa Order, on Saturday complete a 4,000-km (2,485 mile) bicycle trek from Nepal’s Kathmandu to the northern city of Leh in India to raise awareness about human trafficking in the remote region.

nepal
Photo Credit: Live To Love International / Handout via Reuters

“When we were doing relief work in Nepal after the earthquakes last year, we heard how girls from poor families were being sold because their parents could not afford to keep them anymore,” 22-year-old nun Jigme Konchok Lhamo told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“We wanted to do something to change this attitude that girls are less than boys and that it’s okay to sell them,” she said, adding that the bicycle trek shows “women have power and strength like men.”

South Asia may boast women leaders and be home to cultures that revere motherhood and worship female deities, but many girls and women live with the threat of violence and without many basic rights.

From honor killings in Pakistan to foeticide in India and child marriage in Nepal, women face a barrage of threats, although growing awareness, better laws and economic empowerment are bringing a slow change in attitudes.

“KUNG FU” NUNS

The bicycle trek, from Nepal into India, is nothing new for the Drukpa nuns.

This is the fourth such journey they have made, meeting local people, government officials and religious leaders to spread messages of gender equality, peaceful co-existence and respect for the environment.

They also deliver food to the poor, help villagers get medical care and are dubbed the “Kung Fu nuns” due to their training in martial arts.

Led by the Gyalwang Drukpa, head of the Drukpa Order, the nuns raise eyebrows, especially among Buddhists for their unorthodox activities.

“Traditionally Buddhist nuns are treated very differently from monks. They cook and clean and are not allowed to exercise. But his Holiness thought this was nonsense and decided to buck the trend,” said Carrie Lee, president of Live to Love International, a charity which works with the Drukpa nuns to support marginalised Himalayan communities.

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Question related to this article:

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

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“Among other things, he gave them leadership roles and even introduced Kung Fu classes for the nuns after they faced harassment and violence from the general public who were disturbed by the growing shift of power dynamics,” she said.

Over the last 12 years, the number of Drukpa nuns has grown to 500 from 30, said Lee, largely due to the progressive attitudes of the 53-year-old Gyalwang Drukpa, who was inspired by his mother to become an advocate for gender equality.

The Gyalwang Drukpa also participates in the bicycle journeys, riding with the nuns as they pedal through treacherous terrain and hostile weather and camp out in the open.

“PRAYING IS NOT ENOUGH”

The Drukpa nuns say they believe they are helping to change attitudes.

“Most of the people, when they see us on our bikes, think we are boys,” said 18-year-old nun Jigme Wangchuk Lhamo.

“Then they get shocked when we stop and tell them that not only are we girls, but we are also Buddhist nuns,” she said. “I think this helps change their attitudes about women and maybe value them as equals.”

South Asia, with India at its centre, is also one of the fastest growing regions for human trafficking in the world.

Gangs dupe impoverished villagers into bonded labour or rent them to work as slaves in urban homes, restaurants, shops and hotels. Many girls and women are sold into brothels.

Experts say post-disaster trafficking has become common in South Asia as an increase in extreme events caused by global warming, as well as earthquakes, leave the poor more vulnerable.

The breakdown of social institutions in devastated areas creates difficulties securing food and supplies, leaving women and children at risk of kidnapping, sexual exploitation and trafficking.

Twin earthquakes that struck Nepal in April and May 2015, which killed almost 9,000 people, left hundreds of thousands of families homeless and many without any means of income, led to an increase in children and women being trafficked.

More than 40,000 children lost their parents, were injured or were placed in precarious situations following the disaster, according to Nepali officials.

The Drukpa nuns said the earthquakes were a turning point in their understanding of human trafficking and that they felt a need to do more than travel to disaster-hit mountain villages with rice on their backs.

“People think that because we are nuns, we are supposed to stay in the temples and pray all the time. But praying is not enough,” said Jigme Konchok Lhamo.

“His Holiness teaches us that we have go out and act on the words that we pray. After all, actions speak louder than words,” she said.

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

East Asia, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Asia-Pacific Youth Dialogue sparks ‘young energy’

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from China.org

Twenty-three years after Samuel Huntington’s popular book “The Clash of Civilizations” was published and aroused calls for dialogue between different civilizations, it is still as relevant as ever in the current era of regional confrontations and inter-religious mistrust. In this context, and through an initiative with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Chinese Ministry of Education, the first Asia-Pacific Youth Dialogue opened on Sept. 21, the International Day of Peace, in the southwestern city of Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

Dialogue

Around 200 young delegates from 46 countries of the Asia-Pacific region gathered to discuss how to build a nexus between Asia Pacific civilizations, cultures, social cohesion, respect for diversity and peace building, as well as engaging with the youth as agents of change and custodians of the future regionally and internationally.

The initiative coincides with the call of the country’s policymakers to boost regional cooperation and development as President Xi Jinping proposed in a speech last year at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA). This, he said, could act as a platform to enhance interactions among young people, local communities and the media and to form a network of cooperation.

Dr. Marielza Oliveira, director and UNESCO representative to the People’s Republic of China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan, Mongolia and the Republic of Korea, said at the opening ceremony, “The youth delegates here are chosen from thousands of applicants and represent the best, the brightest and the most committed who come together to discuss what needs to be done to defend the dignity of all human beings.”

She called for young people to act on the domestic and international problems they face, citing the fact that British youth might be the hardest hit by the Brexit scenario due to their inaction before and during the referendum.

Robert H. Xiao, CEO of Perfect World Co., Ltd., China’s online gaming giant and sponsor of the event, highlighted three keywords, i.e. communication, hope and responsibility, as his expectations for the young people.

“Communication is the foundation on which Asian young people can build mutual understanding, find mutual benefits and grow together,” said Xiao. “Communication among Asian countries and among young people in particular, is an important source of confidence and recognition of Asian civilization.”

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Question for this article

What has happened this year (2016) for the International Day of Peace?

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“It is also the basis for Asian people to build mutual understanding and benefits, and achieve joint development.”

When asked about his expectation for the event, Andrew Lesa, a youth delegate and also a diplomat from New Zealand told China.org.cn he wanted to see actions in earnest following the event.

“At a lot of meetings, all we do is talk.” He hoped that after the meeting and when everyone had returned home, there could be tangible projects and activities staged in their respective countries on the important agenda items of the event so as to “make a difference on the ground.”

Hoe Wee Kiat, a youth delegate from Singapore, told China.org.cn the event could enable them to learn about each other’s culture and civilization. “Youth can be agents of change, and they should be more proactive and take the initiative in making a positive difference.”

The three-day event is envisioned as a dynamic and participatory event utilizing a combination of plenary lectures and workshops organized both thematically and sub-regionally, and fun activities to provide learning and networking opportunities for the youth.

According to the organizer, the initiative is a follow-up to discussions on Young Global Citizens for a Sustainable Planet in 2015 and leads up to the 2017 Asian Civilization Dialogue Forum in China.





East Asia, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

English bulletin October 1, 2016

. . . PEACE DAY 2016 . . .

There are indications that millions of people took part in this year’s International Day of Peace. For example, in the United States, Campaign Nonviolence mobilized more than 600 actions in all 50 states. Last year, according to Peace One Day “an estimated 1.5 billion people were exposed to Peace Day messages through activities ranging from dances to media campaigns.”

These mobilizations carry on an important tradition. At the beginning of this century, UNESCO and the United Nations mobilized 75 million people to sign the “Manifesto 2000” as part of the International Year for the Culture of Peace with the greatest number of signatures in India, Brazil, Colombia and South Korea. In 2005 and again in 2010, there was a mobilization for the UN International Decade for a Culture of Peace and we published reports from a thousand civil society organizations around the globe.

In recent years, the most universal mobilization for peace has been carried out at the local and national level for the International Day of Peace, September 21. During the International Peace Decade, detailed reports were gathered and published by the NGO Pathways to Peace. Their annual report in 2009 described 700+ events. However, in recent years, we have complained that there has not been an adequate survey of its global scope. of Peace Day events.

Therefore, this year CPNN has undertaken such a survey, using the International Day of Peace as the key word for a search in Google News during the week before and after 21 September, and by searching in a wide range of languages, including English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Italian, and German. We have come up with 182 events in 85 countries.

Looking at the maps generated by this survey, we may remark the following:

1) The celebration is universal. The maps are filled from every region: USA/Canada, Latin America/Caribbean, Western Europe, Africa, Arab States, Russia/Ukraine, and Asia/Pacific. Gaps, such as Scandinavia and Eastern Europe can be explained by our failure to enlarge the search to include all of the national languages in these regions, not to mention the many national languages in Asia.

2) The celebration is especially intense in some of most conflictual regions of the world, such as the Ukraine, Kashmir/India/Pakistan, and Colombia/Venezuela. To this list we may add the United States.

Looking at the events listed from the Ukraine, one is struck by the fact that there is a more or less equal number of celebrations reported in the national language (from the western part of the country) and in Russian (from the eastern part of the country). Many of the articles describe a longing for the shared peace that they had in the past and have lost following the installation of a right-wing government in recent years. For example, from the Lutsk gymnasium №4z in the West Ukraine: “Previously, the streets of our country were peaceful, but the events today in the east of our country are effecting everyone, including students and teachers.” From Kovelchany “Now the concept of peace is more than ever important for our country.” And from Dnipropetrovsk in the East Ukraine: “Every day we help peaceful people affected by the war – displaced and wounded. This is the reality of peace and unity in our country today”

Looking at the events listed for Peace Day from India and Pakistan concerning Kashmir, we find references to recent bloodshed. From Mirpur, Pakistan : “The participants strongly condemned the increased human rights abuses by the Indian occupational forces in occupied Jammu & Kashmir.” And from Doraha, India “The volunteers condemned the attack on Indian soldiers at Uri Brigade Headquarters.”

The news is good from Colombia. . So it is not surprising that there are many positive celebrations of the Day of Peace associated in this country that is emerging from a half century of civil war. For example, in Tunja, Boyaca, Colombia : “To commemorate the international day of peace, the biggest event took place in San Pablo de Borbur where at least 300 young leaders from 14 to 28 years old met to share experiences during the First Meeting of Youth for Peace of Western Boyaca. They are young leaders from the municipalities of Chiquinquirá, Buenavista, Coper, La Victoria, San Miguel de Sema, Pauna, Quípama, Muzo, Briceño, Caldas, Maripí, Otanche, Tununguá, San Pablo de Borbur y Saboya.”

On the other hand, the articles from their neighbor, Venezuela, are divided along the conflict lines. Here is another country which, like the Ukraine, has suffered from America/European support to overthrow a left-wing government. For example, from Maiquetia, Vargas, Venezuela : “The people of Vargas . . . marked the beginning of activities of the International Week of Peace, in response to the guidelines of the President of the Republic, Nicolas Maduro, to reject the intentions of those who, from the right, want to promote the culture of violence to destabilize the country.”

The most extensive mobilization we could find was in the United States. The remarkable mobilization of Campaign Nonviolence is possible because of a growing awareness in that country of what they call an “epidemic of violence ” Participants in one of the day’s events protest the “ongoing US wars, proxy wars and military occupations, armed drones, US war crimes, and the increasing Pentagon budget,”

3) The largest number of events involve children, especially schoolchildren, in every part of the globe. A particularly moving example comes from Colombia where adults will soon vote in a referendum to ratify the peace accords. The rector of one of the schools sponsoring a mobilization of school children for Peace Day in Cartegana explained that ““Adults talk of ‘Yes or No’ because they are the ones who can vote in the plebiscite, but the children were not asked about this although it is they who will inherit a country at war or at peace.” She added that “what we say on this day is that children can also decide about peace.”

In the year 2000, 40% of the population of Colombia signed the Manifesto 2000, promising to promote a culture of peace in their daily lives. Now the people of Colombia are voting to ratify the peace accords and mobilizing their children to decide for peace. May they serve as our example in the gathering struggle to replace the culture of war by a culture of peace.

      

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world map idp

Celebration of the International Day of Peace around the world

WOMEN’S EQUALITY



Africa: CEDEAO: Women are called on to establish a durable peace

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION



Mexico: Mancera opens the International Forum of ‘Mayors for Peace’

 HUMAN RIGHTS



The Elders welcome Myanmar peace conference

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY



United Nations: Inauguration of the Parliamentary Multi Track Initiative Council for the SDG’s and the Culture of Peace

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT



USA: Standoff at Standing Rock: Even Attack Dogs Can’t Stop the Native American Resistance

DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY



600+ Campaign Nonviolence Events Across USA Next Week!

EDUCATION FOR PEACE


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Celebration of the International Day of Peace around the world

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A survey by CPNN

We found 182 events in 85 counties for the International Day of Peace listed in “Google News” during the week of September 17-24 under the key words for the International Day of Peace in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian and Arabic. We may assume that that there were articles in other national languages that are not listed here. For details, click on one of the following seven regions listed after the map.

world map idp
For details of the map, click here and then enlarge by repeatedly clicking on the “+” sign of the map enlargements.

As you can see from the preceding map, the events were rather evenly spread around the world. For maps by region and details about events, see the following.

From Canada and the United States there were articles about 38 events in 6 Canadian provinces and 30 US states in addition to over 600 actions organized by the Campaign Nonviolence.

From Africa there were articles about 16 events in 15 countries.

From the Arab states there were articles about 14 events in 11 countries.

From Asia there were articles about 22 events in 11 countries.

From Western Europe there were articles about 29 events in 8 countries.

From Russia and the Ukraine there were articles about 24 events.

From Latin America and the Caribbean there were articles about 39 events in 14 countries.

An analysis of the data is provided in this month’s CPNN bulletin.

(Survey continued in right column)

Question for this article

What has happened this year (2016) for the International Day of Peace?

(Survey continued from left column)

In addition to local and national events, there were major international mobilizations for the International Day of Peace.:

At the United Nations , the Secretary-General celebrated the Day in the Peace Garden at United Nations Headquarters by ringing the Peace Bell and observing a minute of silence. Women Nobel Peace Prize laureates and the United Nations Messengers of Peace were invited to participate in the ceremony. And the United Nations Education Outreach Section hold a global student videoconference.

The African Union represented all of its countries in its campaign for “silencing of the guns” by 2020, while CEDEAO called for the women of West Africa to establish a durable peace in that region.

Choirs with a million singers around the world were said to have taken part in One Day One Choir to send a message of peace and unity on International Day of Peace.

Mayors and activists from around the world took part in an International Forum of ‘Mayors for Peace.‘

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