All posts by CPNN Coordinator

About CPNN Coordinator

Dr David Adams is the coordinator of the Culture of Peace News Network. He retired in 2001 from UNESCO where he was the Director of the Unit for the International Year for the Culture of Peace, proclaimed for the Year 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly.

Peace in Colombia Is Impossible Without Us, Women Declare

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from Telesur TV

Colombian women, under the banner of “One Million Women for Peace,” are demanding a greater role in the peace talks between FARC insurgents and the government as negotiations wrap up.

Colombia women
Click on photo to enlarge and to read legend

The group has been growing its ranks in an effort to promote the signing of the peace deal and prepare for post-conflict stability, sociologist and human rights activist Gloria Florez told Prensa Latina on Wednesday.

According to the activist, the newly-formed bloc aimes to create a community movement to provide popular backing for the talks, which began in 2012, and promote implementation of the deal.

The movement brings together farmers, artists, journalists, youth and political representatives of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities. On Tuesday, women at the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues insisted they be included in peace processes around the world because “women are pushing the culture of peace and not the culture of war.”

The decades-long conflict in Colombia has killed about 300,000 people, while six million remain displaced from their homes and another 45,000 remain missing. The “One Million Women for Peace” campaign argues that women are essential in building alternatives once the militarization is negotiated, said a former cabinet member of the Bogota municipality.

Question for this article

Do women have a special role to play in the peace movement?

The 40 articles in CPNN linked to this question make it clear that women indeed have a special role to play in the peace movement. See the following for an historical explanation of why this is true.

Latin America, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

For the first time, a Peace Plan for Cali, Colombia

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article from El Pueblo (translated by CPNN)

Establishing policies and guidelines in Cali and Valle for strategic and educational activities that promote a culture of peace, peaceful coexistence and reconciliation in southwestern Colombia: that is the purpose of the “Plan for Peace and Peaceful Coexistence”, a city project led by the Peace Advisory Council of Cali, under the administration of mayor Maurice Armitage.

cali
Counselor Rocio Gutierrez Cely
Click on photo to enlarge

According to Counselor, Rocio Gutierrez Cely, the “Plan for Peace and Peaceful Coexistence” is a guide prepared by the Peace Advisory Council, in consultation with different social actors such as the High Council for Peace and Human Rights of the Government of Valle, the Archdiocese, universities along with staff of the mayor’s office in Cali and agencies such as the Post-Conflict Advisory Council. The purpose is to engage the competencies of each organization in order to strengthen support, alliances and joint proposals that may be pursued by and with the population of Cali and Valle. ”

Advances of the “Peace Plan Agenda”

Counselor Rocio Gutierrez Cely presented the “Plan for Peace and Peaceful Coexistence” to the Mayor of Cali and his cabinet, which is working on several components, one of which has been called “Cali , city of peace promoters”. In making the presentation, he said “we have already made progress to strengthen actions to train leaders and community organizations, as promoters of peace through justice and reconciliation.”

Other joint strategies will be developed to reinforce the actions of the Peace Advisory Council of Cali. They already have the support of the High Commissioner for Peace and Human Rights, Fabio Cardozo Montealegre, for community reintegration and restorative justice, which is conceived as a means of alternative dispute resolution.

In conclusion, the Peace Counselor said that “peace is an attitude, a lifestyle that leads us to forgive, reconcile and to realize that as we prevent conflict and empower people, especially those living in vulnerable circumstances, we are building peace. We can do this by workshops and conferences. We need everyone to be involved regardless of their socioeconomic status or whether they are in the public or private sector. ”

(Click here for a Spanish version of this article)

Questions related to this article:
DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

IWPR’s Syria Coordinator Wins Landmark Freedom of Speech Prize

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An article by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting

IWPR Syria project coordinator Zaina Erhaim has been awarded the 2016 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award for journalism. Erhaim, 30, returned to the war-torn Syria in 2013. Based in Aleppo, she has since trained about 100 citizen reporters, around a third of them women, who are now among the very few able to provide eyewitness accounts of events on the ground.

Syria
Zaina Erhaim. (Photo: Hayyan Alyousouf)
Click on the image to enlarge

Accepting the award at a gala ceremony in London on April 13, she dedicated it to “the journalists and citizen journalists still taking this dangerous, difficult path, sacrificing everything, playing hide and seek with death to get the stories of the Syrian people out”.

In 2015 Erhaim filmed a ground-breaking documentary, Syria’s Rebellious Women, telling the stories of young activists helping their country in the midst of conflict.

At a screening the night before the awards ceremony at London’s Frontline Club, Erhaim told the audience that she wanted to ensure these women’s work was remembered.

“The main reason I made the films is because I am Syrian, and I’m a woman,” she said. “I tried to do some research six years ago about Syrian women who participated in Syrian history and I couldn’t find anything.

“So I felt like we had to capture this work that the women are doing because in the future the men are going to be writing the history and these heroines are going to be forgotten.”

Last year Erhaim won another landmark prize, the Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism.

Zaina also writes regularly for The Economist and has contributed to the Guardian and Arabic-language media like Orient TV, Al-Hayat and Al-Quds Al-Arabi.

Born in Idlib and educated in Damascus, Erhaim was finishing a degree in international journalism in London just as unrest began in Syria in 2011. She spent two years as a broadcast journalist with the BBC before joining IWPR and returning to northern Syria.

IWPR has worked in Syria since 2007, supporting journalists, civil society groups, and youth and female activists. Its Damascus Bureau platform is a space for news, comment and reportage written by Syrians. Since February 2015, the Women’s Blog has carried pieces by new writers with no background in professional journalism, talking about the hardship of daily life and the horrors of war. Erhaim has been instrumental in bringing these stories out.

Another IWPR contributor, Azerbaijani journalist Idrak Abbasov, won the 2012 Index On Censorship prize for journalism.

Abbasov was recognised for his investigative reports on corruption and violence in Azerbaijan.

Questions related to this article:
FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Mideast

Colombia celebrates agreement to legally bind the peace accord

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An article from Prensa Latina

Parliamentarians, political parties and platforms like the Patriotic March celebrated today [12 May] the agreement signed by the Colombian government and the FARC-EP to legally ensure the agreements that have been reached in the Havana.

colombia
Video about the agreement on HispanTV

Through his Twitter account, the legislator Iván Cepeda, co-chairman of the peace committee of the Senate, lauded the decision of the belligerents to “shield” or protect the agreements.

According to the attorney Humberto de la Calle, the chief government spokespersons in these discussions, the final document will have the category of Special Agreement under the terms of Article III common to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the cornerstone of international humanitarian law. It will then be incorporated into national law following its approval in Congress, followed by presidential approval, he said.

Since 2012 representatives of the Colombia executive and the Revolutionary Armed People’s Forces (FARC-EP) in Cuba have engaged in a dialogue to find a political solution to the civil war, an initiative that is expected to be concluded soon.

The Patriotic Union party said in a statement that this is one of the best news the Colombian people could receive in the face of the media and political campaign promoted by the extreme right against the peace process. In their view, it will facilitate compliance with the principles of sustainability and the stability of the accords.

The agreement will be binding and no one can change it one iota, according to the platform Patriotic March, led by former congressman Piedad Cordoba.

Referring to the development of the meetings with the FARC-EP, Humberto de la Calle said that the two delegations are working hard to define the terms of the bilateral and definitive ceasefire, the surrender of weapons and disarmament of the insurgents, areas of temporary location for the guerrillas and guarantees for the future of the demobilized.

Question(s) related to this article:
FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

Tens of Thousands Take Part in Global Actions Targeting World’s Most Dangerous Fossil Fuel Projects

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from Ecowatch (abridged)

Twelve days of unprecedented worldwide action against fossil fuels concluded Sunday showing that the climate movement will not rest until all coal, oil and gas is kept in the ground. The combined global efforts of activists on six continents now pose a serious threat to the future of the fossil fuel industry, already weakened by financial and political uncertainty.

ecowatch
The UK’s largest opencast coal mine was shut down for a day.
Photo credit: Tim Wagner

Tens of thousands of activists took to the streets, occupied mines, blocked rail lines, linked arms, paddled in kayaks and held community meetings in 13 countries, pushing the boundaries of conventional protest to find new ways to demand coal, oil and gas stay in the ground. Participants risked arrest—many for the first time—to say that it’s time to Break Free from the current energy paradigm that is locking the planet into a future of catastrophic climate change. . .

Highlights include:

Thousands worldwide risked arrest during the actions, many for the first time.

$20 million worth of coal shipments were halted by activists shutting down the largest coal port in the world in Newcastle, Australia.

The UK’s largest opencast coal mine was shut down for a day.

Hundreds stood up to South Africa’s most powerful family with a march that delivered coal to their front door, despite their attempts to silence civil society by pressuring police to revoke permits for a march.

Dozens of people occupied train tracks overnight on both coasts of the United States to stop oil-filled ‘bomb trains’ from rolling through communities — including less than 100 feet from low-income public housing in Albany, New York.

3,500 people shut down one of Europe’s biggest carbon polluters in Germany, occupying a lignite mine and nearby power station for more than 48 hours, reducing the plant’s capacity by 80 percent.

10,000 marched against a proposed coal plant in Batangas, the Philippines.

3,000 sent an ear-splitting message to Indonesia’s president with a whistle demonstration against coal in Jakarta, and a few days later 12 activists climbed the cranes supplying coal for the Cirebon Coal Power Plant, and dropping banners to “Quit Coal” and for “Clean Energy, Clean Air.”

Community members blocked traffic outside the gates of Brazil’s largest thermal coal plant, in Ceará.

On land and water, indigenous communities and local activists blockaded the Kinder Morgan tar sands facility in Metro-Vancouver, unceded Coast Salish Territories.

150+ local activists marched and occupied the entrance of two fossil fuel refineries, which are the largest unaddressed source of carbon pollution in the Northwest of the U.S.

In Aliaga, Turkey 2,000 people marched to the gates of the Izmir region’s largest coal dump, and surrounded it with a giant red line, as a call to end plans for the massive expansion of coal in the country.

“The global climate justice movement is rising fast. But so are the oceans. So are global temperatures. This is a race against time. Our movement is stronger than ever, but to beat the odds, we have to grow stronger,” Naomi Klein, award winning journalist/author, said.

Question for this article:
global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Sub-regional consultation on “Youth and culture of peace in Central Africa”

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An article by M. Franck Carel Nkaya, UNESCO

Addressing the new challenges of the Central African region, the UNESCO Regional Office for Central Africa [Yaoundé, Cameroon] organized for its partners from 20 to 22 April 2016, a meeting of exchange and participatory reflection on “Contributions of UNESCO and its partners to the efforts of ECCAS States for youth involvement in the consolidation of peace and the achievement of sustainable Development Goals for sustainable emergence in Central Africa “.

enzo
click on the photo to enlarge

The various debates of the meeting were focused on the following topics: peace and climate change and ecosystem protection in relation to the strategies of Priority Africa of UNESCO and Agenda 2063 of the African Union. The youth of Africa were considered to be the primary agent of change.

Of the ten (10) countries that make up the Central Africa subregion, only Equatorial Guinea iwas not represented. The delegations were composed of the National Commissions for UNESCO, ministerial delegates (Forest Economy, Environment, Culture and Arts, etc.), UNESCO Chairs and Category 2 Centres of UNESCO Clubs and Associated Schools of UNESCO and youth movements.

Besides the Member States, the meeting also saw the participation of representatives of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the International Organisation of La Francophonie (IOF), the United Nations Regional Office for Africa Central (UNOCA), the United Nations population Fund (UNFPA), the Pan African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace (PAYNCOP) and the UNESCO Offices in Brazzaville, Kinshasa, Libreville and Yaounde.

The work of the third day of the meeting focused on the sub-regional program “Youth and culture of peace in Central Africa” ​​which aims to strengthen the capacities of youth as the main player for prevention of violence and for conflict resolution by peaceful means in order to build more inclusive, just, democratic and harmonious society.

After the plenary presentation of the situation of African youth by Mr. Stephane NZE Nguema, President of the Pan African Youth Network for Peace and the presentation of the concept note of the ‘Youth and Culture of Peace in Central Africa “by M . Franck Carel Nkaya, UNESCO Brazzaville, participants were divided into thematic working groups.

Facilitated by the team “Foresight Initiative” of UNESCO Paris who presented a paper on the prospective and participatory approach, the work took place in workshops in four areas: (i) Education for global citizenship, sustainable development and culture of peace, both formal and non-formal; (Ii) Youth empowerment and development of leadership skills for youth movements of the region; (Iii) youth skills development for the creation of income-generating activities, particularly in the cultural and creative industries and sustainable development; (Iv) media campaign to promote the culture of peace and mobilization of partners.

The participants identified priorities and major actions to meet the challenges of the subregion that concern young people, including: the manipulation of youth in conflicts, intolerance and the resurgence of negative values ​​(moral, civic, citizen), unemployment, lack of schooling, expansion of terrorism resulting in the increased risk of religious and ideological radicalization of youth, etc.

Following the sharing of workshop results, all of the countries and the technical and financial partners at the meeting pledged to support the implementation of the program ‘Youth and Culture of Peace in Central Africa “.

The work of the Yaoundé meeting wwas sanctioned by the final communiqué in the presence of Madam Minister of Basic Education, President of the Cameroonian National Commission for UNESCO who encouraged UNESCO to sustain this initiative .

( Click here for the French version.)

 

Question related to this article.

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

Most recent comment:

It is very appropriate that this new impulse for the culture of peace at UNESCO should come from Côte d’Ivoire, since the global movement for a culture of peace was initiated at a UNESCO conference in that country in 1989. See Yamoussoukro and Seville in the early history of the culture of peace.

Note added on September 2:

The official reports from the UNESCO Conference in Abidjian are now available:

English

French

Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Red carpet film festival asserts Gaza’s pride and talent

…. HUMAN RIGHTS ….

An article by Lara Aburamadan in Electronic Intifada

A grand red carpet ran between rows of destroyed apartment blocks and houses in the Gaza City district of Shujaiya last week, temporarily transforming one of the areas most devastated during Israel’s 51 days of bombing last summer. Dozens of men, women and children were massacred in Shujaiya on 20 July 2014. The red carpet occasion was the Karama Human Rights Film Festival, produced by the Gaza-based production company Lama Film.

gaza
Click on photo to enlarge

Khalil al-Mozayen, a film director and the manager of the festival, stated at a press conference that “The red carpet symbolizes equality — that not only celebrities and high profile personalities or politicians deserve to walk on red carpets but also the people who witnessed the brutal war and experienced the loss of a family member or the imprisonment of another.”

The festival audience was mainly made up of residents of Shujaiya, including many children.

Attendees walked down the red carpet nearly 500 meters away from the militarized boundary with Israel and the army sniper towers. Stepping foot on the red carpet stirred up both joy and sorrow for Shujaiya’s residents, as well as pride and dignity, and a reminder that they are not forgotten.

The approximately two dozen festival selections mainly concerned human rights.

Spokesperson Saud Aburamadan told The Electronic Intifada that the festival is the first of its kind in Gaza and that it sends a message that “in spite of siege and destruction, we have our minds and talents and creativity. We want to reflect an image that the darkness of wars can never hide Gaza’s shine because people love life.”

Al-Mozayen said, “Gaza embraces cinema despite the war and siege. Cinema is our gate to the world and we hope that next year we will be able to make the festival in West Bank and Jerusalem.”

Carol Scheller replied on Wed, 05/20/2015 – 07:40

This event is the most powerful and human statement as to what Israel wreaked on Gaza last summer and to what everyone there yearns for: just a life that includes going to the movies ! The three days of films restored dignity and recognition to the people of Gaza who in their great majority detest all politics. It gave hope and joy: many young Gazans have never been to the cinema; older ones remember by-gone days when Palestinians there adored going to films. The Karama Film Festival will long be remembered when the ruins of Shijahiya are no more. It has gone a long way towards reconstructing Gaza, more than reports and empty déclarations – it has given its people the inner strength they need to continue to demand justice.

Questions related to this article:
HUMAN RIGHTS, Mideast

United Nations High Level Thematic Debate on Peace and Security: Closing remarks

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An article from the webpage of the the President of the United Nations General Assembly

Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. We have come to the end of what I believe has been a truly enriching discussion on the UN’s role in maintaining global peace and security. I would like to thank all those who contributed so actively to this event including our speakers, those of you visiting from capitals, our interpreters, colleagues in DGACM, civil society representatives and of course, you, the membership.

unga

Discussions these past few days demonstrate that across the membership, there is a feeling that we are at a watershed moment in terms of both the challenges we are facing in maintaining international peace and security and the way we must tackle those challenges.

Taken together, the recommendations included in the three UN reviews and other relevant processes, provide us with a very solid basis from which to move forward.

Indeed, through this debate we have identified some of the key themes and connectors between these reviews, but what we need now is sustained political engagement and actual implementation.

Shortly after this meeting, I will therefore produce a summary of the key messages from this debate which I will share with both member states, the current Secretary-General and Secretary-General candidates.

I also intend to invite the Secretary-General to brief the membership on how the UN is jointly implementing the relevant recommendations emerging from all three reviews and to consider producing a possible roadmap to that effect.

Among the key messages and my own personal reflections are the following:

First, on the need to rebuild trust.

The UN’s inability to protect civilians in conflicts; the disturbing allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation by peace keepers; the lack of adequate tools to respond to complex conflicts, to international terrorism or to global challenges with a clear security dimension, have undermined global confidence in the UN’s role in maintaining peace and security.

On this seventieth anniversary, therefore, we need to enhance the trust on which institutional cooperation is build.

Trust between member states, large and small and between member states and the UN, that we will adhere the commitments of the UN Charter to ensure our collective security; that we will uphold our obligations under international humanitarian law; that we will rejuvenate the ability of the United Nations to confront new and evolving threats.

(Article continued in the column on the right)

Questions related to this article:

Can the UN help move the world toward a culture of peace?

(Article continued from the column on the left)

Second, on prevention.

As Leymah Gbowee reminded us – if we spend peanuts on prevention and trillions on war, then we cannot expect to achieve peace.

Greater resources, analysis, research should therefore be dedicated to the UN’s diplomatic and preventive functions.

Furthermore, the search for conflict resolution whether through UN managed missions, efforts pursued with regional organizations or multi-national action authorized by the security council, must be ground in an overall political framework.

Third, on the role of women. Practically everyone agrees that women must be more involved right across the continuum of sustaining peace.

But agreement is not enough. Leadership and targeted steps to make this happen are needed now.

Similarly tools must be developed to place communities at the heart of peace operations.

Fifth, in today’s world the UN must increasingly look to build partnerships at political and operational level with regional and sub-regional organizations; with other multi-lateral partners, with civil society and with the private sector.

Sixth, we have to reduce fragmentation across the three UN pillars notably by enhancing the Peacebuilding Commission’s role and by taking the SDGs as our collective vision and guide. Greater efforts should also be made to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the UN, including at Headquarters.

Seventh, in relation to the fight against radicalism and terrorism, consideration should be given to identifying concrete ways for the UN to effectively contribute to the international efforts to counter terrorist entities when encountered in mission environments.

Eighth, large-scale displacement may be a consequence of instability or feed into new or existing tensions. Properly responding to these flows in the longer term demands that we focus on addressing the underlying root causes.

And finally, taking office on 1 January 2017, the next Secretary-General will

need to foster support from the UN Security Council and all Member States’ to advance peace, justice and security across our world. In particular, she or he will need support to implement the practical recommendations contained in the three reviews.

_________

To conclude, let us remember that the current or the future Secretary-General can only do so much.

Ultimately, the shift we need – in mind-set, in our financing and partnership mechanisms, in our systems and operations – will only happen if it is supported and driven by governments and leaders around the world

I hope that you and your leaders will rise up to this challenge.

I thank you again for your participation and continued support.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global, United Nations,

A Joint Declaration on the Environment, Social Inequality and Elimination of Nuclear Threat, with a Proposal for UN reform

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

From the Website of the Joint Declaration

We, individuals and institutions that are profoundly concerned about the earth’s present state, particularly by potentially irreversible social and environmental processes, and about the lack of an effective, democratic multilateral entity respected by all that is essential for world governance at this extraordinarily complex and changing time,

mayor

URGE YOU

to adhere to this joint declaration in order to contribute to the rapid adoption of the following measures, the grounds for which are attached hereto as Document I and Document II.

Environment

The current tendencies, resulting from a deplorable economic system based solely on making fast profits, must be urgently reversed to avoid reaching a point of no return. Both President Obama –“we are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it”- as well as Pope Francis –“(…) intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us”- have with wisdom and leadership warned of the immediate actions that must be taken concerning climate change. We must invent the future. The distinctive creative capacity of human beings is our hope. As Amin Maalouf has underscored, “unprecedented situations require unprecedented solutions”.

We live at a crucial moment in the history of mankind in which both population growth and the nature of our activities influence the habitability of the earth (anthropocene).

All other interests must be subordinated to an in-depth understanding of reality. The scientific community, guided by the “democratic principles” so clearly set forth in the UNESCO Constitution, should counsel political leaders (at the international, regional, national and municipal levels) concerning the actions to be taken, not only in their role as advisors, but also to provide foresight. Knowledge to foresee, foresight to prevent.

It is clear that accurate diagnoses have already been made but that they haven’t led to what is really important: the right and timely treatment.

Communications media and social networks must constantly strive to achieve a resounding outcry, a sense of solidarity and responsibility, adopting personal and collective resolutions at all levels –including radical changes in institutions- capable of halting the current decline before it is too late.

As President Nelson Mandela reminded us, “the supreme duty of each generation is to properly take care of the next”.

2-Social inequality and extreme poverty

It is humanly intolerable that each day thousands of people die of hunger and neglect, the majority of them children between the ages of one and five, while at the same time 3 billion dollars are invested in weapons and military spending. This is particularly true when, as is currently the case, funds for sustainable human development have been unduly and wrongfully reduced. The lack of solidarity of the wealthiest toward the poor has reached limits that can no longer be tolerated. For the transition from an anti-ecological economy of speculation, delocalization of production and war to a knowledge-based economy for global sustainable and human development, and from a culture of imposition, violence and war to a culture of dialogue, conciliation, alliances and peace, we must immediately proceed to do away with the (G7, G8, G20) groups of plutocrats and re-establish ethical values as the basis for our daily behaviour.

3-Elimination of the nuclear threat and disarmament for development

The nuclear threat continues to pose an unbelievably sinister and ethically untenable danger. Well-regulated disarmament for development would not only guarantee international security, but would also provide the necessary funds for global development and the implementation of the United Nations’ priorities (food, water, health, environment, life-long education for all, scientific research and innovation, and peace).

(continued in right column)

(Click here for a version of this article in Spanish.)

Question for this article:

Proposals for Reform of the United Nations: Are they sufficiently radical?

(continued from left column)

For these so relevant and urgent reasons

WE PROPOSE

Calling an extraordinary session of the United Nations General Assembly to adopt the necessary urgent social and environmental measures and, moreover, to establish the guidelines for the re-founding of a democratic multilateral system. The “new UN System” with a General Assembly of 50% of States representatives and 50% of representatives of civil society, and adding to the present Security Council and Environmental Council and a Socio-Economic Council, has been studied in depth. In all cases, no veto but weighted vote.

***

In view of the poor progress made toward fulfilling the Millennium Objectives (ODM) and, given the present lack of solidarity, increased social inequality and subordination to the dictates of commercial consortia, no one believes that the Sustainable Development Objectives (SDOs) to be adopted in September will actually be implemented.

The solution is inclusive participative democracy in which all aspects of the economy are subordinated to social justice.

Jose Luis Sampedro left a fantastic legacy to young people: “You will have to change both ship and course”. The attached report (I) outlines recent events and projects that leave room for optimism. Human beings, who today may express themselves freely thanks to digital technology, now have global awareness while, moreover, decision making is increasingly influenced by growing numbers of women, the cornerstone of this new era. A historical turning point is drawing near that will enable us to take the reins of our common destiny in our own hands.

First Signatories

Federico Mayor (President of the Foundation for a Culture of Peace and former Director General of UNESCO)

Mikhail Gorbachev (Former President of the Soviet Union, President of Green Cross International and World Political Forum)

Mario Soares (Former President of Portugal and President of the Fundaçao Mario Soares)

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (Former General Secretary ONU)

Garry Jacobs (Chief Executive Officer of the World Academy of Art & Science)

Colin Archer (Secretary General), Ingeborg Breines (Co-President) and Reiner Braun (Co-President) of the International Peace Bureau

Roberto Savio (Founder and President of IPS- International Press Service)

François de Bernard (President and Co-Founder of the GERM (Group for Study and Research on Globalization)

Alexander Likhotal (Green Cross International)

Miguel Ángel Moratinos (ex Ministro Español de Asuntos Exteriores – Presidente de REDS)

Ricardo Díez Hochleitner (Presidente de Honor del Capítulo Español del Club de Roma)

José Manuel Morán (Vicepresidente Capítulo Español del Club de Roma)

Trinidad Bernal (Secretaria General Fundación ATYME)

Julio E. Celis (Danish Cancer Society)

Jean Paul Carteron (Chairman and Founder Crnas Montana Forum)

Anwarul Chowdhury (Ambassador, Founder Global Movement for the Culture of Peace and former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the UN New York)

Denis Torres (Instituto Martin Luther King – Managua, Nicaragua)

María Novo (Catedrática UNESCO de Educación Ambiental y Desarrollos Sostenible Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) – España)

Rustem Khairov (Director International Foundation for Survival and Development Humanity)

Alejandro Tiana Ferrer (Rector Universidad de Educación a Distancia (UNED))

Negoslav Ostojic (ECPD)

Prof. José María Sanz (Rector Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)

Prof. Rafael Garesse (Vicerrector de Innovación y Política Científica de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)

Anaisabel Prera Anaisabel Prera Flores (DEMOS Institut Guatemala – former Minister of Culture of Guatemala and Director of FCP in Madrid (2000-2004)

Frank LaRue (Demos Institut Guatemala)

Anabella Rivera (Demos Institut Guatemala)

Jordi Armadans, Director de FundiPau (Fundació per la Pau)

Enrique Barón Crespo

Carlos Jiménez Villarejo

Juan José Tamayo

Manuel Núñez Encabo (Fundación Antonio Machado)

Juan Manuel de Faramiñan

Emilio Muñoz

Natalia Muñoz-Casayús

María Quintana Romero

Jerónimo Asensio Rueda

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global

Declaracion Conjunta sobre el Medioambiente, la Desigualdad Social y la Eliminación de la Amenaza Nuclear, con Propuesta para la Refundación de la ONU

. . DESARME Y SEGURIDAD . .

De la página web de la Fundación Cultura de Paz

Nosotros, personas e instituciones profundamente preocupadas por la situación del mundo, en particular por los procesos sociales y medioambientales potencialmente irreversibles, y por la carencia de un multilateralismo democrático respetado por todos y eficaz, imprescindible para la gobernanza planetaria en tiempos de celeridad y complejidad extraordinarias,

mayor

URGIMOS

A unirse a esta declaración conjunta con el fin de contribuir a la apremiante adopción de las siguientes medidas cuyos fundamentos se hallan en documento I y documento II adjuntos.

1- Medioambiente

Las presentes tendencias, fruto de un lamentable sistema económico que solo tiene en cuenta los beneficios inmediatos, deben enderezarse con urgencia para evitar puntos de no retorno.

Tanto el presidente Obama –“somos la primera generación que sufre las consecuencias del cambio climático y la última que puede tomar medidas para solucionarlo”- como el Papa Francisco –“(…) no estamos hablando de una actitud opcional sino de una cuestión básica de justicia ya que la Tierra que recibimos pertenece también a las que vendrán”- han alertado con sabiduría y liderazgo sobre las impostergables acciones a adoptar en relación al cambio climático. El futuro debe ser inventado. La capacidad creadora distintiva de los seres humanos es nuestra esperanza. “Situaciones sin precedentes requieren soluciones sin precedentes”, advirtió Amin Maalouf.

Vivimos un momento crucial de la historia de la Humanidad en el que tanto su número como la naturaleza de sus actividades influyen en la habitabilidad de la Tierra (antropoceno).

Los intereses de todo orden deben subordinarse al profundo conocimiento de la realidad. La comunidad científica, guiada por los “principios democráticos” que con tanta clarividencia establece la constitución de la UNESCO, debe aconsejar a los gobernantes (a escala internacional, regional, nacional y municipal) las acciones a adoptar no solo en una esencial funcion de consejo sino de anticipación. Saber para prever, prever para prevenir.

Está claro que disponemos actualmente de diagnósticos adecuados pero que no desembocan en lo que realmente importa: el tratamiento oportuno.

Los medios de comunicación y las redes sociales deben procurar sin pausa que se forme, en un gran clamor, una conciencia solidaria y responsable, adoptándose a todas las escalas las resoluciones colectivas y personales- incluyendo cambios radicales en las entidades- que puedan detener, antes de que sea demasiado tarde, el deterioro presente.

El presidente Nelson Mandela nos recordó que “el supremo compromiso de cada generación es atender debidamente a la siguiente”.

2-Desigualdades sociales y extrema pobreza

Es humanamente intolerable que cada día mueran de hambre y desamparo miles de personas, la mayoría de ellas niñas y niños de 1 a 5 años de edad, al tiempo que se invierten en armas y gastos militares 3.000 millones de dólares. Sobre todo cuando, como acontece ahora, se han reducido, indebida y dolosamente, los fondos destinados al desarrollo sostenible y humano. La insolidaridad de los más prósperos con los menesterosos alcanza límites que no deben seguirse tolerando. Para la transición desde una economía anti-ecológica de especulación, deslocalización productiva y guerra a una economía basada en el conocimiento para un desarrollo global sostenible y humano, y de una cultura de imposición, violencia y guerra a una cultura de la palabra, de conciliación, alianza y paz, debe procederse de forma inmediata a prescindir de los grupos plutocráticos (G7, G8, G20) y reponer los valores éticos en el centro del comportamiento cotidiano.

3-Eliminación de la amenaza nuclear y desarme para el desarrollo

La amenaza nuclear sigue consituyendo un inverosímil y éticamente insensato y siniestro peligro. El desarme para el desarrollo, bien regulado, no solo permitiría garantizar la seguridad internacional sino que proporcionaría los fondos necesarios para un desarrollo global y la puesta en práctica de las prioridades de las Naciones Unidas (alimentación, agua, salud, medioambiente, educación para todos toda la vida, investigación científica e innovación, y paz.).

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Question for this article:

Proposals for Reform of the United Nations: Are they sufficiently radical?

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Por razones tan relevantes y urgentes

PROPONEMOS,

La celebración de una sesión extraordinaria de la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas, que adopte las apremiantes medidas necesarias, tanto sociales como medioambientales, y establezca, además, las directrices para la refundación de un sistema multilateral democrático. El “nuevo Sistema UN”, con una Asamblea General compuesta por el 50% de representantes de la sociedad civil, añadiendo el actual Consejo de Seguridad, un Consejo Medioambiental y un Consejo Socioeconómico ha sido
estudiado en profundidad. En todos los casos, no habría veto pero sí voto ponderado.

A la vista de los precarios resultados alcanzados en el cumplimiento de los ODM (Objetivos del Milenio), nadie confía, vista la insolidaridad actual, las crecientes desigualdades sociales y la subordinación a los grandes consorcios mercantiles, en la puesta en práctica efectiva de los ODS (Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible) que se formularán el presente mes de septiembre.

La solución es la democracia participativa e inclusiva, en la que todas las dimensiones de la economía estén subordinadas a la justicia social.

Jose Luis Sampedro dejó este fantástico legado a los jóvenes: “Tendréis que cambiar de rumbo y nave”. En el informe anexo (I) se detallan recientes hechos y proyectos que constituyen un buen augurio. La Humanidad, ahora que ya puede expresarse libremente gracias a la tecnología digital, ha adquirido una conciencia global y cuenta –piedra angular de la nueva era- con un número progresivamente mayor de mujeres en la toma de decisiones. Se avecina la inflexión histórica que le permitirá llevar en sus manos las riendas del destino común.

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Signatarios a partir de septiembre 2015

Federico Mayor (Presidente de la Fundación Cultura de Paz y ex Director General de UNESCO)

Mikhail Gorbachev (Ex Presidente de la Unión Soviética; Presidente de Green Cross
International y del World Political Forum)

Mario Soares (Ex Presidente de Portugal y Presidente de la Fundaçao Mario Soares)

Garry Jacobs (Director Ejecutivo de la World Academy of Art & Science)

Colin Archer (Secretario General), Ingeborg Breines (Co-Presidenta) and Reiner Braun (CoPresidente) del International Peace Bureau

Roberto Savio (Fundador y Presidente de IPS-International Press Service).

François de Bernard (Presidente y Co-fundador de GERM (Group for Study and Research on
Globalization)

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