Category Archives: DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

Brazil: Ministry of Education advances the debate on restorative justice

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article from the Ministry of Education in Brazil

On Tuesday, November 28th, the 2nd Restorative Justice Dialogue in Schools was organized by the Ministry of Education (MEC) through the Secretariat of Continuing Education, Youth and Adult Literacy, Diversity and Inclusion (Secadi). The initiative is in partnership with the National Council of Justice (CNJ) and aims to promote a culture of peace and non-violence in schools. The broadcast is available on the MEC YouTube Channel.

This second meeting featured the participation of judge Egberto de Almeida Penido and judge Roberto Portugal Bacellar. The debate was moderated by Yann Evanovick Furtado, general coordinator of Educational Policies for Youth, at Secadi.

According to  judge Roberto Portugal Bacellar, having a new look at the issue of authority makes it possible to work in a cooperative, integrative manner and with a systemic vision. “The idea of restorative justice is that we can analyze a conflict with a complex, systemic view, instead of seeing it as a fragmented episode. We analyze it not as a portrait, but as a film, where we can try to learn about each person’s story,” he explained. According to the judge, restorative justice is participatory and a conflict must be treated together by all who are involved, including students, teachers, principals and even the community.

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(Click here for the original article in Portuguese)

Discussion question

Restorative justice, What does it look like in practice?

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According to judge Egberto de Almeida Penido, restorative justice in schools is an initiative to deal not only with violence, but with the construction of an environment of fair coexistence. “When we talk about restorative justice, we are talking about the value of justice, which is a very expensive value, too precious to be in the hands of jurists alone. It concerns each and every one, the way we respond to what affects us”, he stated. According to him, schools that have adhered to restorative practices have seen a drop in the rate of violence.

Dialogues – The Restorative Justice in Schools cycle of dialogues is part of the Technical Cooperation Agreement for the implementation of the “Restorative Justice in Schools” project, signed by the MEC and the CNJ on November 14th. The debates are a preparation for the implementation of restorative practices in the school environment in 2024. The objective is to promote a culture of peace and non-violence in schools, using practices that involve dialogue, accountability and repairing the damage caused by conflicts.

Agreement – The Technical Cooperation Agreement for the implementation of the “Restorative Justice in Schools” project has the objective of contributing resources so that schools can create environments that facilitate the confrontation of internal violence. It is based on qualified listening and restoration and strengthening of relationships that permeate the school environment. These actions require the commitment of the entire school community (leaders, teachers, students, parents) and society, as well as through the training of professionals and students who have an interface with the education network.

The project also includes: partnership between the courts; the participation of magistrates and civil servants; institutional partners; and the education system and its schools. The dissemination of the basic notions about the various possibilities and functionalities of restorative justice is the responsibility of the CNJ’s Restorative Justice Steering Committee.

The Technical Cooperation Agreement requires the Ministry of Education and the National Council of Justice must promote articulation, management, awareness-raising and training actions in order to achieve restorative justice in the educational system.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

Medellín, Colombia, with the most peaceful days in the last 40 years

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article from Cambio Colombia

Four years after its creation, the Medellín Non-Violence Secretariat makes spaces for reparation between victims, perpetrators and citizens. As a result, Medellin has achieved the calmest days in the city since the 1980s.


Photo: Mayor’s Office of Medellín.

The capital of Antioquia is experiencing the most peaceful days of the last 40 years. As an example, during the protests of the social outbreak in the country, Medellín was the only place that did not report deaths or missing people.

This was possible thanks to the creation of the Non-Violence Secretariat in 2020, which at that time worked hand in hand with marchers and public forces to preserve order and respect for human rights.

Likewise, the launch of the Secretariat by the District Administration has turned Medellín into a Latin American example for reparation and care for victims, ex-combatants and people deprived of their liberty. Furthermore, thanks to the work of this department with the public force, the city has recorded a reduction of more than 40% in homicides.

The contribution to total peace

Already at the beginning of its activities in September 2020, the Non-Violence Secretariat began to show results. In 2022, thanks to the entity, the Mayor’s Office of Medellín managed to make victims, peace signatories, boys, girls, adolescents and young people the main protagonists of peace building and creators of common spaces, which was previously thought unlikely.

This was achieved through attention to the victims of the armed conflict, and with opportunities and training for peace signatories; with prevention of the involvement of adolescents and young people in organized crime, with the Partners Program; and with training in a culture of peace for boys and girls; also with the implementation of actions with a sense of reparation between victims, community and those responsible.

“The Non-Violence Secretariat is delivering for society and the community organizations with which we interact every day. This work is reflected in the advances in the structuring of the Public Peace Policy for Medellín that has been done in a participatory manner. Also, there is an increase in coverage and in the participation of different populations in various processes,” according to the Secretary of Non-Violence, Cristian Aguirre.

In addition, the implementation strategy of the Peace Agreement was developed, based on the signing of the Agreement with the Special Justice for Peace (JEP) and the recognition of the peace agenda with a restorative approach built by the Collective Memories Process and Territorial Peace in Manrique.

Promotion of employment and entrepreneurship

An economic autonomy strategy was consolidated through employment training processes, composed of eleven courses that impacted approximately 220 people in developing skills and competencies for the populations that are part of the agency’s programs.

Also, support was provided for employability, which has allowed 963 people to get into the job market, 838 of them have been victims of the armed conflict, that is, about 87% of the beneficiaries are victims.

141 enterprises were impacted with the program to strengthen the productive units of victims, with $199 million. And, finally, there is the “Made in Peace” strategy that has been part of 12 city fairs and has generated sales of $228 million in events such as the Flower Fair, the Book Festival, the Month for Peace, the Days of Non-Violence, and Football for Life and Peace.

Accompaniment to victims of the conflict

Among the milestones achieved with the victims of the conflict is the resumption of the search for people reported missing in La Escombrera (commune 13), which could be carried out after seven years of having been suspended.

This work, coordinated with the Search Unit for Persons Reported Missing, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) and victims’ organizations, involved a budget of more than $468 million. Another milestone is the delivery of basic income to 7,777 victims of the armed conflict, settled in the city.

In relation to reincorporation and reintegration into social and economic life, the Non-Violence Secretariat has accompanied 610 ex-combatants to enable their access to the offer of employability and entrepreneurship.

In addition, during 2022, productive projects were strengthened and awareness workshops were held with the business sector to promote inclusion and non-stigmatization. In addition, the route of economic reintegration of the signatories of the Peace Agreement was supported and disseminated from the line of action “Community productive development” with professional and technical support for 34 productive units.

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(Click here for the original article in Spanish.)

Question related to this article:

How can we develop the institutional framework for a culture of peace?

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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To transform territories and enable peaceful forms of conflict resolution, 4,695 boys, girls, adolescents and young people were trained in peacebuilding by the Schools of Non-Violence, which worked from art, culture and territorial peace based on processes of memory, truth, restorative justice and humanization of conflicts.

“Within our strategies against organized crime and common crime, at the head of the Prosecutor’s Office, the crime of instrumentalization of minors is being charged to those leaders and members of all these criminal organizations who are using or using minors for their misdeeds. . Thus, all the ringleaders have charges in this crime,” said the Secretary of Security and Coexistence, José Gerardo Acevedo.

Through the Partners strategy, 1,443 adolescents and young people were reached with training processes in life skills, construction of territorial peace and strengthening of their life projects. With this, 135 young people were linked to educational, entrepreneurship and employability activities.

In addition, the District developed a tool to analyze the status of the children and adolescents, at the beginning and at the end of their participation in the project, which made it possible to know their impact and generate knowledge about the prevention of instrumentalization or recruitment by illegal armed actors in the city.

In the Youth Public Health and Youth Habitat programs, with more than 1,000 young beneficiaries, the agenda was aligned with key issues for the peace of the country, such as the solution to the drug problem, peace agreements and post-agreements, and the Agreement from Escazú, among others.

And through the Conscious Consumption strategy, a commitment was made to the decriminalization of substance users, and with the Seres del Agua and Medellín en la Cabeza projects, reflection was made on the protection of the environment and those who safeguard it.

Schools of Non-Violence

Another of the secretary’s strategies was the creation of the Schools of Non-Violence through which a process is developed that seeks to transform the lives of boys, girls, young people and adolescents by training them through art and culture to build peace in their territories, in addition to showing them forms of resistance and humanization of conflicts in the face of violence.

The main allies to be able to bring this offer to different communes and townships of Medellín are the social organizations that in each territory work to remember, seek the truth, and be symbols of resilience and resistance against violence with art and culture to transform realities. .

Ana María Hoyos, 24 years old, is a trainer of the Schools of Non-Violence and is part of the Robledo Venga Parchemos Corporation, an organization that has been developing processes for the construction of peace and memory through art for a long time. . Among the processes carried out in the corporation is the incubator of aerial acrobatics in fabrics, in which Ana is one of the promoters through theater and circus processes, and with which they are also linked to the Schools of Non-Violence , relating these artistic activities to the processing and humanization of conflicts for the construction of peace.

“In 2015 we were established as a corporation and this was born from the gathering in the territory of young artists who met in other spaces in the city and due to the very complex and violent dynamics of the territory they did not meet in the same neighborhood. They saw in the Robledo Venga Parchemos Corporation the possibility of being recognized and validated from other perspectives; and so they found a new way of inhabiting public space by filling it with art,” says Ana María.

In the Corporation they started with cultural spaces and from this two events emerged that are the most representative. The first most emblematic event of all was an Artistic and Cultural Lunada, which revolves around sitting in a park to share a chocolate, to make music, that is, to make a cultural take, which little by little evolved and became a cultural march through the neighborhood.

Ana María tells how her proposal has evolved. “Little by little ‘La Lunada’ was transformed until it reached the open-air theater in La Batea park, which is where it is currently performed. This was before a place of consumption and fights, and ‘La Lunada’ came to redefine this space to fill it.

The second event was the Circo al Puente, which was born from the intention of holding an artistic exhibition of the aerial acrobatics. ‘”This process began on the Bridge between Robledo Aures and Villa Sofía, which was previously an invisible border and we turned it into a space where we could practice aerial acrobatics. Thus we began to transform another space that had been violent, to fill it with art and redefine it,” said Ana María.

The Robledo Venga Parchemos Corporation projects itself and shares its knowledge in the territory with the boys, girls, adolescents and young people who are part of its group. It has transformed the neighborhood, giving new meaning to the territories and appropriating public space to fill it with culture.

This process has been strengthened by the Schools of Non-Violence, since they have not only been linked as a school, but they themselves are constantly in training to continue acquiring various knowledge and taking it to their training. Diploma courses and collaborators are some of these spaces to remember, share knowledge and experiences.

The Non-Violence policy of the District Mayor’s Office continues to work hand in hand with the social organizations that have committed to the processes of peace construction, resignification of the territories, building memory and searching for the truth, to continue impacting and transforming processes through art and culture and in this way be closer and closer to that peaceful future of Medellín.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

Feasibility Proposal for the Creation of a Ministry of Peace for Colombia

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article from the Global Campaign for Peace Education

By the Latin American and the Caribbean Chapter of the Global Alliance for Ministries and Infrastructures for Peace

Fulfilling its objective of supporting the development of Ministries and Infrastructures for Peace in the world, the Latin American and the Caribbean Chapter of the Global Alliance for Ministries and Infrastructures for Peace (GAMIP LAC) delivered the Proposal for the feasibility of the creation of a Ministry of Peace in Colombia. Presented at the Congress of the Republic in a Public Hearing on Thursday, November 9th in the Luis Guillermo Velez Hall with the presence of all political parties, House of Representatives and Senators – as well as members of the Executive Branch of the Nation and delegations from civil society, the document is now published (At this moment, the publication is only available in Spanish). It is the first time in the international history of the construction of Ministries of Peace that a Non-Governmental Organization has taken this initiative.

Read the Feasibility Proposal (in Spanish)

Executive Summary of the Feasibility Proposal for the Creation of a Ministry of Peace in Colombia

This analysis for a Ministry of Peace proposal in the Republic of Colombia is authored by a Colombian and international team of experts in the field of peacebuilding. The group respectfully presents to Congress the key lessons learned from a legislative study on the feasibility of establishing a Ministry of Peace (MPC) in Colombia, based on similar experiences in other countries. The aim is to support the vision of the Republic of Colombia in striving to build, consolidate, and maintain sustainable peace for future generations.

The methodology involved studying, analyzing, and outlining lessons learned potentially beneficial for the creation of a MINISTRY OF PEACE in Colombia, as stated in the FINAL REPORT OF THE TRUTH COMMISSION – CEV during its public presentation to the elected President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro, and the country on June 28, 2022. The team included a select group of Colombian and international advisory consultants, academics, and leaders from International Organizations with extensive knowledge, experience, and training in peacebuilding theory and conflict resolution implementation. They hail from Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, and Canada. Their areas of expertise include Education for Peace, Citizenship and Democracy; Political Science; Economics; Human Rights Practice; Defense; International Cooperation; Communications; Sociology; Constitutional Law; and Professionalism for Peace.

The resulting document is based on international research and focuses on Colombia’s declared needs to establish a Ministry of Peace, as well as the Recommendation cited from the Final Report of the Truth Commission – CEV. This proposal considered as fundamental elements of analysis and background:

The history of Ministries of Peace (MOPs) in the international community and supporting UN resolutions of which Colombia is a signatory (especially UN resolution 53/243 on the Action Program for a Culture of Peace).

The recommendations of the Truth Commission (June 2022), including the Colombian government’s political will to build Peace (particularly the enunciation of the concept of “Total Peace” by the current government); Colombia’s existing long-standing efforts towards peacebuilding and existing practices in this field that have demonstrated efficiency in their development and application in some territories.

The current research in the country on the sufficient and urgent conditions to achieve peace and advance an MPC, such as: the readiness and willingness of the majority of the parties involved in the armed conflict and widespread violence to seek peace as a priority; collective awareness of the need for healing, reconciliation, and addressing traumas and other social issues; the political will to invoke change and solutions with a reasonable chance of success for peaceful coexistence; and the intention for all involved parties to work together, with perspectives of progressing towards peace, reconciliation, and human security in all its aspects.

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(Click here for the announcment in Spanish.)

Question related to this article:

How can we develop the institutional framework for a culture of peace?

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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Key Lessons Learned to Consider in the Planning and Implementation of the Following Proposal

Develop:

° Capacities and authorities with sufficient funding for leadership and sustainability to address national peace issues and act as an effective catalyst to amplify ministerial, departmental, municipal, and civil society initiatives;

° Sustainable capacities for future generations at national, state, and municipal levels;

° Capacities to drive and coordinate the consolidation of peace as an organizing principle of society;

° Coherent outcomes with the creation of a positive peace culture that fosters well-being and harmony, and capacities to constructively address conflicts or violence;

° Capacities to build and strengthen a national architecture of peace, peace education, and peace practices.

Pay due attention to:

° The sustainability of this proposal with sensitivity to UN resolutions and building a culture of peace;

° Avoiding the trap of a single-focus approach – Ministries of Peace (MdP) that have focused on specific conflict outcomes risk being marginalized or dissolved once the single-focus mandate is deemed achieved or primary goals reach manageable levels (e.g., the case of Nepal). Instead, a broad peace consolidation mandate should be built on sustainable foundations to address issues affecting peace, such as peace education, gender, racism, violence, crime, human rights, poverty, environmental concerns, and biases;

° Encouraging broad participation, inclusion, ownership, and accountability by strengthening and accommodating existing peace-related functions already assigned to other Colombian ministries and institutions, including at the departmental and municipal levels, as well as in civil society;

° Considering existing peace services, such as ministerial peace managers and Total Peace initiatives to establish peace promoters;

° Prioritizing and integrating peace education at all levels of Colombian educational curricula;

° Building an inclusive Colombian peace architecture involving citizen peace practices, community-level capacities, and peace professionals, as well as qualified peace professionals at all levels;

° Instituting strong monitoring, research, and advisory functions on peace at the highest levels of government;

° Prioritizing and addressing national needs for peace consolidation, considering existing Peace Agreements, the Havana Peace Agreement (November 2016), and the Truth Commission Report (June 2022), maintaining good governance, and addressing social needs such as human rights, violence prevention, gender equality, land-related issues, and environmental considerations;

° Building strong relationships with state security providers, police, and army. Developing with them principles, methods, and strategies of peace education, peace skills and practices, and a culture that prioritizes “peaceful means” of professional intervention.

Leveraging Existing Strategic Ministerial Tools, such as:

A National Peace Development Plan within the National Development Plan, to reinforce the commitment and responsibility of peace officers and peace committees at ministerial, departmental, and city levels, as well as peace development plans, peace tables or committees at ministerial, departmental, and city levels, and by civil society;

A National Peace Program, which includes (1) service provision and operations to address priorities in peace education, ethics, gender equality, reconciliation, health, environment, justice, racism, extremism, and human rights; (2) a framework for effective, inclusive, and participatory communication, support, and reporting: (a) to the President, Congress, and Ministries for advisory, oversight, research, and peace operations functions, as well as for education, outreach, and international and UN coordination; (b) to all Ministries through established peace officers, peace committees, and Ministerial Peace Development Plans to reinforce their individual contributions within the national strategic context; (c) to departments, communities, cities, NGOs, and citizens to support, establish, catalyze, and formalize peace networks in society, federal commissions, NGOs, peace groups, and universities.

Path Forward

We believe that the timing and conditions are extremely favorable for establishing a Ministry of Peace that can make a real difference for all Colombians. The political will of Congress and the President is commendable and sets an example for the international community that Colombia can be proud of.

We understand that the journey through Congress, up to the approval of a Ministry of Peace, its mandate, and eventual implementation, will be complex, a legislative and political learning experience with which we are willing to collaborate, support, and strengthen if considered necessary and useful for the process.

We request your review, opinions, and contributions to improve this report and proposal.

If you have any comments or proposals, please refer to comunicaciones@gamipalc.org

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

Mexico: XIX World Congress and XXIII National Mediation Congress 2023

. EDUCATION FOR PEACE ..

An article from Noticias de Queretaro

The Nineteenth World Congress and the Twenty-Third National Mediation Congress 2023 closed with great success. It took place from November 6 to 10 in the Municipality of Querétaro with participants from more than 10 countries, and with activities, analysis, study and dissemination of mediation issues, as well as the culture of peace for the benefit of the people of Queretaro.

Under the motto “A Life for Peace and Concord”, 83 academic activities were carried out, including 31 presentations, 18 conferences, eight book presentations, 11 successful projects, eight dialectical analysis forums and philosophical dialogues, and 27 workshops.

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Questions for this article:

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

Mediation as a tool for nonviolence and culture of peace

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Specialists from different parts of Mexico and other countries including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Portugal, and Spain combined efforts to carry out the project for the implementation and dissemination of mediation and the culture of peace.

This international event sparked the interest of participants from 20 states in the Mexico, including Jalisco, Yucatán, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Tamaulipas, Baja California, Chiapas, Mexico City, State of Mexico, Sonora, Sinaloa, Nuevo León, Puebla, Guerrero, Chihuahua, Aguascalientes and Quintana Roo. They met at the Educational and Cultural Center of the State of Querétaro, “Manuel Gómez Morín”, the Arts Center of the State of Querétaro.

It is worth highlighting the great participation and interest in all activities, both by specialists and by attendees. Attendees included students and schools at the high school and professional level of Mexico and more than 1,300 congressmen during the five days of the event which closed with important conclusions that will be translated into actions and public policies that will promote the peace and harmony that citizens need.

(Click here for the Spanish original of this article)

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

2 October, 2023: 3rd World March for Peace and Nonviolence officially launched in the Spanish Congress of Deputies

. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION .

An article from Pressenza

The 3rd World March for Peace and Nonviolence was officially presented at the Congress of Deputies of Spain in Madrid on 2 October, International Day of Nonviolence, in the magnificent Ernest Lluch hall.


Presentation of the 3rd World March for Peace and Nonviolence. Congress of Deputies. 2 oct 2023 (Image by Pepi Muñoz and Juan Carlos Marín)

The event had a total attendance of about 100 people (most of them in person and others online), including some members of parliament and several representatives of related groups. María Victoria Caro Bernal, honorary president of the Association of Rhetoric and Eloquence of the Ateneo de Madrid, director of the International Festival of Poetry and Art Grito de mujer, who acted as master of ceremony, first read the communiqué sent by Federico Mayor Zaragoza, president of the Culture of Peace Function and former director of UNESCO, who had not been able to attend in person: “The time for confrontation, for force, is over… it is now time to act in favour of the peoples, we must stop being impassive spectators and become active citizens…”.

Rafael de la Rubia, promoter of the previous World Marches for Peace and Nonviolence and founder of the humanist association World Without Wars and Without Violence, reviewed the previous marches and commented on the main lines and the main circuit of the 3rd WM which will begin in a year’s time on the same date in Costa Rica. He emphasised the feat and the ethical value of developing a project of this magnitude without funding or sponsors of any kind.

Martine Sicard of MSG France then intervened to comment on how delicate it was going to be to specify the Africa route because of the current instability in several areas of the continent, but that we could count on the best of its people and its cultures to enhance initiatives already underway; this was completed with a video sent by N’diaga Diallo from Senegal.

It was then connected live to the Legislative Assembly in San José, Costa Rica, where Giovanny Blanco of World without Wars and without Violence and coordinator of the 3rd WM in Costa Rica, was presenting the March in front of an enthusiastic and committed audience to ensure its start from the University for Peace, a UN dependent university where there are students of 100 nationalities. They will walk more than 22 km to the Plaza de la Abolición del Ejercito in San José.

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

Questions related to this article:

The World March for Peace and Nonviolence: What is its history and its effects?

How effective are mass protest marches?

Carlos Umaña, co-president of IPPNW, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, recalled the importance that the March can have in continuing to raise awareness of the danger of nuclear weapons, alluding to the current position of the atomic clock, and invited people to watch Pressenza’s documentary, The Beginning of the End of Nuclear Weapons, to encourage a paradigm shift regarding their use.

Marco Inglessis from Energia per i diritti umani intervened live from Rome-Italy, shared some projects already underway in Europe, in particular Italy, Spain, Portugal, Czech Republic, Greece, Slovenia, France and Austria, among others, as well as the campaign Mediterranean, sea of peace, and highlighted the importance of educational work and the participation of the new generations.

Lizett Vásquez from Mexico, commented on the Mesoamerican and North American route. She pointed out that it would pass through different countries: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and the USA, where activities had already taken place in previous marches. The aim is also to arrange an interview at the United Nations at the highest possible level.

Cecilia Flores from Chile gave a sketch of what could be the route of the March in its South American part and the important spiritual role that the Parks of Study and Reflection in the area could contribute to it. In general, it would enter through Argentina-Brazil and the two possible Atlantic and non-violent corridors are still to be defined, going up to Panama to finish on 5 January in Costa Rica.

The video of the intervention of Madathil Pradeepan from India was broadcast, claiming Gandhi’s legacy as a responsibility it to make his legacy his own once again and to involve the whole of Asia in this next march. The Asian route that will finally take place remains to be defined. New Zealand, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Nepal, and India are the places through which previous marches have passed.

Jesús Arguedas, as spokesperson for MSGySV Spain, recalled that it was from Madrid that the first and second Marches were conceived and committed himself to promoting various initiatives at the Spanish level in both cultural and educational ambits, inviting everyone to make their own contribution.

Next, Rafael Egido Perez, sociologist, councillor for the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and secretary of the association Cuidadores de personas called for respect for human rights, in particular those of the elderly, migrants and women.

At the end of the event, spokespersons from various groups were invited to briefly present their field of action and their commitment to causes such as the defence of women, migrants and the environment, all of which will, of course, have a place in the March. And there were also several poetic interventions in homage to Gandhi, since 2 October has been designated as the International Day of Nonviolence precisely because it is the anniversary of his birth.

You can watch the whole event on the Congress TV channel

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Europe, global, ,

In final declaration, G77 rejects “digital monopolies” and calls for “reform” of the financial system

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article by Gabriel Vera Lopez from the Peoples Dispatch

In the final declaration, the G77+China Summit highlighted the importance of technology for development, the impacts of climate change, and called for a reform of the international economic system. The event ended on Saturday September 16 in Havana, the capital of Cuba, and was attended by heads of state from Latin America, Africa, and Asia including Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, as well as United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and diplomats and delegations from more than 100 countries.


Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, the host and president of the G77+ group, addresses the summit. Photo: Presidencia Cuba

“We stress the urgent need for a comprehensive reform of the international financial architecture and a more inclusive and coordinated approach to global financial governance, with greater emphasis on cooperation between countries, notably by increasing the representation of developing countries in global decision-making and policy-making bodies that will contribute to increasing the capacities of developing countries to access and develop science, technology and innovation,” says the Havana Declaration.

The summit’s final declaration also criticizes “digital monopolies” and “other unfair practices that hinder the technological development of developing countries”.

The text also attacks “sanctions” and “coercive economic actions” against developing countries. “We emphasize that such actions not only undermine the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter and international law, but also seriously impede the advancement of science, technology and innovation and the full realization of economic and social development, particularly in developing countries.”

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel stressed at the opening of the summit on Friday September 16 that one of the aims of the event was to seek common positions so that the countries of the Global South could take their demands to other international forums. On the same day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out that “global systems and structures have failed” the countries of the Global South.

President Lula on Saturday September 16 criticized the sanctions imposed by the United States against Cuba, defended the reformulation of the global governance system and also questioned technology companies. 

“It is particularly significant that, at this time of great geopolitical transformations, this summit is being held here in Havana. Cuba has been an advocate of fairer global governance and is even the victim of an illegal economic embargo. Brazil is against any unilateral coercive measure. We reject Cuba’s inclusion on the list of states that sponsor terrorism,” said the Brazilian head of state.

“The South can no longer bear the dead weight of all the misfortunes”

The Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Group of 77 (G77) and China began on Friday September 15. The opening ceremony was preceded by an excerpt from Fidel Castro’s speech at the “first Summit of the South”, held in 2000, also in Cuba. The opening speeches were then given by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres.

At the start of his inaugural speech, the Cuban president emphasized the importance of the group, which currently has 134 members: “Today we are two-thirds of the UN’s members, home to 80% of the world’s population,” he said.

Díaz-Canel also paid tribute to former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, recalling that he used to say that “we presidents go from summit to summit, while the peoples go from abyss to abyss.” He called for joint efforts to coordinate joint actions between the countries of the global South in order to “change the rules of the game” and achieve the “pending democratization of the system of international relations”.

“It is the peoples of the South who suffer most from poverty, hunger, misery, deaths from curable diseases, illiteracy, human displacement and other consequences of underdevelopment,” said Díaz-Canel. He described the international economic order as “unjust and ecologically unsustainable”.

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Question related to this article:

How can we develop the institutional framework for a culture of peace?

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He also said that “this will be an austere summit”, since in Cuba “we lack many things, but we have an abundance of feelings of friendship, solidarity and fraternity.” He denounced the fact that “Cuba is literally surrounded by a blockade that has lasted six decades and all the difficulties that derive from this siege, which has now been reinforced.” He stressed that Cuba “is not the only one suffering from this unjust world order.”

Describing the global situation, the Cuban president said that “We are traveling on the same ship, even if some are the passengers and others the servants. The only way for this world ship not to end up like the ‘Titanic’ is through collaboration.”

Díaz-Canel questioned the international patent system and made a special complaint about international military spending and the irrationality of the fact that these resources cannot be used to improve the living conditions of the majority.

“Estimates indicate that 9% of world military spending could finance adaptation to climate change in 10 years, and 7% would be enough to cover the cost of universal vaccination against the pandemic,” he estimated.

In the opening speech of UN Secretary General Guterres, he started by saying that the countries of the Global South are “caught in a web of global crises”.

“Poverty is increasing and hunger is growing. Prices are rising, debt is exorbitant and climate disasters are becoming more frequent,” said Guterres. “Global systems and structures have failed them,” adding that “the conclusion is clear: the world is failing developing countries.”

The UN Secretary-General noted that in recent decades, the G77 countries and China “have lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and have come together in the United Nations in search of global solutions and solidarity.”

“To change this, we need action at the national level to ensure good governance, mobilize resources, and prioritize sustainable development. And we need action at the global level that respects national ownership, with the aim of building an international system that defends human rights and looks after the common interest,” he said.

In this sense, Guterres recognized that “many current global institutions reflect a bygone era.” He highlighted the need to update the UN Security Council, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Importance of the Summit

The summit takes place a few days before the opening of the 78th UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday September 19. It is hoped that the countries meeting in Havana will be able to agree on common positions to be defended at the assembly.

Although the UN General Assembly does not have a binding character that obliges member countries to adopt its declarations, several experts emphasize the importance of the 134 countries that currently make up the G77 + China coordinating joint positions as a way of putting pressure on the most powerful countries.

Claudia Marin, from Cuba’s International Policy Research Center, noted that “many of the countries that make up the G77 + China have gained enormous international weight in the last two decades, as in the case of those that make up the BRICS, and this means that the countries of the Global South as a whole have greater weight in their demands.”

However, Marin stressed in an interview with Brasil de Fato that “it will only be possible to build a fairer international system if the weight of these emerging countries can be articulated with the number of countries from the Global South through a greater degree of South-South collaboration”.

Diplomatic victory against the blockade

The G77 Summit of Heads of State and Government is being held in Cuba just days after US President Joe Biden extended the law regulating the blockade against Cuba for another year. A ritual that both Democrats and Republicans have been repeating year after year for more than six decades. Cuba is currently the only state subject to US trade restrictions under the Trading with the Enemy Act, although it is not the only one to suffer unilateral sanctions from Washington.

Every year since 1992, Cuba has presented a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly on the need to suspend the US blockade. Since then, the majority of member states have always voted in favor of the document. This year, the vote is expected to be repeated.

According to several experts, the fact that delegations from all over the world have arrived in Havana to take part in the summit demonstrates the enormous diplomatic capacity that Cuba has managed to build.

(Editor’s note: From various Internet sources, it seems that heads of state at the Havana Conference included those of Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Comores, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka and Venezuela, as well as the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Bolivia, Malaysia, Mexico, Saint Kitts and South Africa and the special representative of Chinese President Xi Jinping.)

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, global

UN-AUSC Youth Forum: The Role of Young People in the 13Th African Games

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

Excerpts from an announcement from the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations

DRAFT CONCEPT NOTE

BACKGROUND

. . . The United Nations acknowledges the value of the youth in peacebuilding through the development of United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) 2250 (2015), 2419 (2018), and 2535 (2020) on Youth, Peace, and Security that called upon the United Nations (UN) entities and Member States to improve capacity-building by integrating the Youth, Peace, and Security agenda into their technical assistance plans. Also, the African Youth Charter recognizes that “youth are partners, assets and prerequisite for sustainable peace and prosperity of Africa with a unique contribution to make to the present and future development.”

Through unique engagement, such as sports, the youth have led and sustained peacebuilding and development conversations across societies. Sports have historically played a significant role in disseminating positive values worldwide and across civilizations and cultures, thus making it a powerful vector for developing efforts to promote peace and prevent and counter violent extremism. . . .

PROPOSAL

The Global Sports Programme will organize a Youth Forum on the role of young people in the upcoming 13th Edition of the African Games (Accra, Ghana, set to commence in March 2024) in partnership with the AUSC, which oversees the coordination and organization of the African Games—building on the power of sport to promote increased youth participation in the organization of major sporting events. Other partners are the 13th African Games Local Organising Committee (LOC) which comprises key Ghanaian stakeholders, the Ghana National Peace Council which is responsible for implementing the National PVE Strategy, and the UN Country Team.

OBJECTIVES

Raise awareness of integrating youth in major sporting events, particularly from an African perspective.

Establish a dialogue between youth and decision-makers about the power of sports and major sporting events to prevent violent extremism, showcasing unique youth approaches, including those targeting the vulnerable youth population.

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Questions for this article:

How can sports promote peace?

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● Encourage more investment and support towards youth-led sport-based PVE initiatives and increased youth participation in major sporting events.

● Concrete guidelines on the greater inclusion of young people in PVE-based activities within the context of a major sporting event.

TIME AND PLACE

• 21-22 November 2023 (2 days) in Accra, Ghana

FORMAT

● We count on the participation of approx. 15 African civil society leaders between 18 and 35 years old and involved in major sporting events, decision-making, and/or sport for PVE. ● This Forum will feature ‘safe and brave spaces,’ working groups, presentations, etc.

● The young people will have the opportunity to go into dialogue with the organizers of the upcoming 13th African Games, including the AUSC and the LOC, as well as other PVE-through-sport/sport for peace stakeholders, including civil society organizations and the UN.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

● Raised awareness of the role and significance of sport in PVE. ● Inclusion of strategies for PVE interventions while organizing major sporting events and its integration into NAPs.

● Compiled recommendations on integrating young people in organizing major sporting events and related sport-for-PVE initiatives.

SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS

● Due to limited slots, participants will be subjected to a selection process that will consider the relevance of their application, their experience, the motivation and interest demonstrated, as well as their potential contribution to the discussions. To the extent possible, the selection committee will balance age, gender, and diversity of backgrounds (cultural, educational, professional) among selected participants.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

● Age: 18-35 years of age

● Region: African Union Member States

● Interest in themes: the applicant demonstrates some experience and knowledge (or a great interest in getting involved) in issues related to PVE (through sport), the organization of major sporting events, sport for development and peace, and/or meaningful youth engagement.

● Future impact and follow-up: the applicant expresses a strong commitment to further engage on the topics and has the ability to consult with and reach a wider group of young people, audiences, or networks, including leading initiatives at the grassroots and community levels.

● Experience and potential: experience in the development of policies and guidelines and advocacy in PVE.

Africa, DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, United Nations,

From Trauma to Healing: New Book Series from International Cities of Peace

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An announcement from International Cities of Peace

Announcing a Book Series on International Cities of Peace just published in China in Chinese and English. The Series is edited by Professor Liu Cheng, UNESCO Chair of Peace Studies in China and Board Member of Cities of Peace, a nonprofit U.S.-based association of nearly 400 global Cities of Peace. The Series already includes books on many cities that have experienced major trauma from war: Dresden, Nanjing, Warsaw, Coventry, and Hiroshima.

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Question related to this article:
 
How can culture of peace be developed at the municipal level?

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“When the traumatic memory of a city is transformed into a common human memory,” the books begin, “we can understand the past disasters in a new way beyond stereotyped political memory. Only this can enable the traumatic history to be linked to the future peace, which can promote the reconciliation between the former hostile parties, and boost hope to the establishment of a community with a shared future for mankind.”

This book series on International Cities of Peace is a tremendous step forward in recognizing the horror of war and understanding the need to move our communities from simply memorializing the trauma toward cultural and personal healing. Great thanks to Professor Liu Cheng who is leading a surge of peacebuilding dialogues and Peace Studies programs in Asia. International Cities of Peace is a platform that can take the world beyond the traumas of the past into a new age of community engagement and healing.

(Thank you to Fred Arment, for sending this announcement to CPNN.)

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, East Asia, global,

PAYNCOP Gabon Trained Youth and Women in Political Leadership in the City of Oyem

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

Special for CPNN by Jerry Bibang

Thanks to the support of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) the Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace, Gabon section (PAYNCOP Gabon) trained, over the past weekend, around thirty youth and female candidates from the commune of Oyem for political leadership.

The town hall hosted the training workshop which brought together nearly forty participants, from the political parties of the majority and the opposition as well as independent candidates.

Long before the training workshop, an intergenerational dialogue was organized between the local authorities and the participants. This dialogue allowed participants to exchange freely with local authorities in order to strengthen collaboration between the two parties, in an inclusive management approach that gives young people the opportunity to participate in public affairs.

“We cannot all be mayors, municipal or departmental councillors. However, it is possible to participate in the management of public affairs when there is genuine collaboration between the local authorities and the citizens united in associations. This is the meaning of this intergenerational dialogue,” explained Jerry Bibang, the Project Coordinator.

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

Question related to this article:
 
Youth initiatives for a culture of peace, How can we ensure they get the attention and funding they deserve?

How should elections be organized in a true democracy?

(continued from left column)

“The representation of young people and women remains very low in political decision-making bodies, although they are the most numerous activists in the political parties of the majority and the opposition. This is why we want to accompany them during these various elections in order to improve this representativeness,” he added.

For the Secretary General of the prefecture, Cyprien Meboune M’Esso, “the project is in line with the country’s public policies, in particular the National Youth Policy (partnership contract for responsible youth) which recommends associating young people in the management of public affairs. It is also part of the political will of the highest authorities, a will materialized by several measures, in particular “the youth seven-year term” and “the women’s decade”.

The training, provided by the geopolitical expert and international consultant Francis Sima Mba, was intended to be very practical, essentially concerned elements relating to the electoral campaign, including political strategy, development of a political program, political marketing as well as public speaking tips.

“It was very instructive for us. We learned a lot about the actions to take before, during and after the vote. I also learned about managing a campaign team and even how to behave during the campaign,” said Junior Franck Nkou-Nkou, young candidate for the Forum pourla République Gabonaise (FRG) political party.

“The seminar was very fruitful for us because we learned how to run an effective campaign with limited resources,” added Mengue Arlette, young candidate for the Mon Destin en Main (MDM) party.

In addition to training, the project provides logistical support for young and female candidates who meet the defined criteria.

Africa, DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) and the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) Center are joining efforts to build a Culture of Peace in Africa, through Training Trainers on Conflict Management

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article from African Business

The UCLG Africa’s (www.UCLGA.org) Local Governments Academy (ALGA) and the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) based in Durban, South Africa, will kick off their first Training-of-Trainers (ToT) Programme on Conflict Management Capacity this month with the first Workshop planned to take place from July 16th  to 22nd 2023, in Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane, Kingdom of Morocco.  


This Workshop is the first step of an important Conflict Management ToT Programme that will end with the graduation Ceremony and awarding of Certificates in 2025. 

Given the scope and challenges of conflicts faced by African Local and Regional Governments, the training, empowerment and capacity building of a first Cohort group within UCLG Africa Constituency will help in the promotion and anchoring of a culture of Peace at the Subnational level. 

This activity is part of the implementation of the Strategic and Sound Partnership signed between UCLG Africa and ACCORD in 2021.  

A group of 15 Representatives of African Local and Regional Governments will benefit from this rich and promising Program.

This first Seminar will be delivered and animated by Key Peacebuilding Experts and Practitioners of ACCORD, namely: 

* Mr. Philip Visser, ACCORD’s Manager of Applied Knowledge and Learning, 

* Mrs. René Ngwenya, ACCORD’s Consultant Trainer and Conflict Analyst.  

This first in-person ToT event will focus on peacebuilding, dialogue, negotiations and mediation with the goal of building a Network of competent and capacitated Trainers within UCLG Africa, who will be able to design, facilitate, disseminate, and evaluate peacebuilding and conflict management training in their own local contexts, and conduct conflict management workshops for Local and Regional Governments, Political leaders and Territorial Managers. The objective is also to encourage the production of contextual knowledge products and Peer Learning. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa).

Press contact:
lbensmain@uclga.org
+212641884326 

About UCLG Africa:  


United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) is the umbrella organization of local authorities in Africa whose founding congress took place in 2005 in the city of Tshwane, South Africa. UCLG Africa stems from the unification of three continental groupings of local governments following the official language inherited from the colonial period, namely: the African Union of Local Authorities (AULA), mainly English-speaking; the Union of African Cities (UVA), essentially French-speaking; and the Africa chapter of the União das Cidades e Capitais Lusófonas Africanas, Americanas e Asiáticas (UCCLA), mainly Portuguese-speaking.  

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Question related to this article:

How can we develop the institutional framework for a culture of peace?

(Article continued from left column)

UCLG Africa currently brings together the 51 national associations of local governments operating in Africa as well as 2,000 cities and territories with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Through its members, UCLG Africa represents more than 350 million African citizens. Founding member of the world organization of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), UCLG Africa is its regional chapter for Africa.  

The general secretariat of the organization is established in Rabat, capital of the Kingdom of Morocco, where UCLG Africa enjoys diplomatic status as an International Pan-African organization. UCLG Africa is also represented in the five regions of Africa through regional offices. based: in Cairo, Egypt, for the North Africa Region; in Accra, Ghana, for the West Africa Region; in Libreville, Gabon, for the Central Africa Region; in Nairobi, Kenya, for the Eastern Africa Region; and in Pretoria, South Africa, for the Southern Africa Region. www.UCLGA.org 

About ALGA of UCLG Africa: 


At the origin: a “Moroccan Initiative for an African Vision”. The African Local Governments Academy (ALGA) was created based on the Resolution adopted by the Hon. Members of UCLG Africa, the Hon. Ministers of Decentralization and their Partners, at the end of the Summit V of Africities, organized in the Kingdom of Morocco, in Marrakech in 2009.   

«The promotion of the territorial dimension of development in Africa cannot be fully effective without the support of trained Human Resources that are involved in implementing it. This is why the African Ministers and Mayors who attended the Marrakech Meeting subscribed to Morocco’s Proposal to create a « Support Centre for the reinforcement of Local Authorities’ managerial and technical capacities ». The goal is to build up, share and spread best experiences and practices in Africa. This recommendation gave rise to the plan to create an African Academy of Local Authorities». (Source: Report of Africities Summit V, Local Africa moves Africa. Marrakech 16-20 December 2019, pp. 32-33).  

After several feasibility studies, including a mapping of the Training Institutes targeting the Local Governance, organized with the support of the Ministry of the Interior of Morocco, ALGA of UCLG Africa became operational since 2016. 

About ACCORD:  


The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) is a conflict management institution based in Durban, South Africa, that seeks to encourage and promote the constructive resolution of disputes, by the peoples of Africa, and so assist in achieving political stability and socio-economic recovery, within just and democratic societies, towards peaceful co-existence.

ACCORD works to bring conflict resolution, dialogue and institutional development to the forefront as a preferred approach to deal with protracted conflict and escalation to violence and armed combat. ACCORD builds capacity and skills through training, policy development and research, and recognizes the important role of the stakeholders at the local and national level, such as local governments and civil society organizations. 

Within ACCORD, its Applied Knowledge and Learning cluster/unit is responsible for the design and implementation of strategic training and learning to position ACCORD as the continent’s leading peacebuilding capacity development organization. https://www.ACCORD.org.za/

Africa, DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION