Category Archives: EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Philippines: Fostering a culture of peace through art

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from the Manila Bulletin (slightly abbreviated)

Mindanao has . . . been through decades of armed conflict, which has claimed countless lives and displaced some 30,000 to 50,000 persons annually. Children and adolescents are among those who have suffered the most, caught in the midst of violence, displacement, poverty, and the loss of loved ones. It is for this reason that civil society groups have taken initiatives in introducing the culture of peace among the children in Mindanao’s conflict-affected communities through the promotion of their own traditional, cultural, and artistic abilities.

Philippines
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One of these groups is the 13-year-old Kalimudan Culture and Arts Center, a non-profit organization based in Gen. Santos City. It is currently undertaking the Fostering Culture of Peace and Child Protection program, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Coined from the Maguindanaon term for gathering, Kalimudan is composed of artists and advocates for social reforms, backed by their experiences as cultural and community workers, trainers, researchers, and teachers.

In recent months, Kalimudan has been conducting the Adolescent Development and Participation-Peace building program in the provinces of Maguindanao, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Lanao del Sur.

According to Al Nezzar Ali, the project uses culture and arts as tools to assist communities in creating a violence-free home environment, and helps children promote a culture of peace.

Among the strategies used in the workshops are play production dance drama and choral narration, peace tiles and peace totems, interactive storytelling, dance, music, and visual workshops, which enhance participants’ coping mechanisms.

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Question for this article:

Do the arts create a basis for a culture of peace?

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“The program also helps develop children’s creativity, appreciation of tradition, and culture to foster peace, which get them more engaged in sports and recreational activities, instead of getting involved in armed activities,” Ali enthuses.

He said that the project hopes to contribute to the attainment of strengthened mechanisms for promoting the rights of children in peace process and situations of armed conflict and supporting children’s participation.

During the International Day of Peace held last Sept. 21 at the Mindanao State University Gymnasium in Maguindanao, children and adolescents representing the different Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) areas in Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Lanao del Sur will be the highlight of the celebration. These children and adolescents took part in the ADAP workshops and #ChildrenNotSoldiers campaign traditional cultural performance showcase, which were exhibited on the same day.

Ali said that peace building measures should address the root causes of the conflict, enhance social cohesion, build trust in governments, and build capacity of individuals, communities, and institutions to manage conflict and deliver appropriate services.

He noted that under the UNICEF framework, programs create space for young people and enhance their capacity to participate in the decision-making on the peace process, especially between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the MILF, while promoting pro-peace knowledge, attitudes, and lifestyle.

He pointed out that the quest for peace is integral to the fulfillment of the rights of children to safety and wellbeing, since young people have distinct capacities in contributing to peace-building due to their diverse experiences in armed conflict.

Founded in 2003, Kalimudan Culture and Arts Center seeks to raise awareness, advocate basic social issues through culture and arts as its tool, as it links with local and national movements for social and cultural development

It specializes in Mindanao cultural dances and music, contemporary arts (music, film, and video), and collaborates with national agencies like the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, as well as NGOs such as the SOCSARGEN Peace Network, and Mindulani, a Mindanao-wide network of theater workers.

East Asia, EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Colombia: Follow live the 12th World Congress of Mediation and Culture of Peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from the Chamber of Commerce of Bogota (translated by CPNN)

Follow live the most important conferences on issues of mediation and reconciliation at the XII World Congress of Mediation and Culture of Peace. The event, organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Bogota, through its Center for Arbitration and Conciliation, in partnership with the University of Sonora in Mexico, the Mediation Institute of Mexico and the International Centre for the Study of Democracy and Social Peace, will bring together more than 1,000 people in five cities, to discuss dialogue as the best tool to resolve conflicts in society.

Congreso
Video of the Congress

While Bogota will be the epicenter of Congress, cities such as Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla and Buenaventura will also host different events witrh the presence of renowned personalities such as John Paul Lederach, an expert on peace building, and Christopher Moore, an expert in collaborative conflict resolution who will give their views on how to achieve reconciliation.

During the six days of the Congress, dialogue, deliberation and consensus will become the common denominator of an academic agenda with the active participation of entrepreneurs, NGOs, the Government and citizens, in addition to the academic community. This event is the ideal place to raise awareness of the importance of solving everyday conflicts through peaceful alternatives and mediation.

The president of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogota, Monica de Greiff said that “although the country is going through a very important moment of reconciliation, conflicts are part of daily life in the family, at work, in the community, at school and in business; therefore, this will be a space for national and international experts to deliver tools for healthy living and the peacefu solution of conflicts at any stage. ”

Mauricio Gonzalez, director of the Center for Arbitration and Conciliation said “at the Center, we have contributed to building peace for more than 30 years. We promote a culture of dialogue in all our services. Both employers and communities benefit from the school and community programs that we make available. ”

The Congress will also address the advantages of associative dialogue in the sectors of mining and energy in projects in vulnerable areas of the country, and will analyze the relevance of mediation and conciliation to public, private and social institutions.

For mor information, see: www.congresodemediacion.com.

(Click here for the original article in Spanish)

Question for this article:
EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

From pacifism to nonviolence in Berlin

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

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

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

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

Berlin
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(Image by Pressenza Berlin)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Question for this article:

Can peace be guaranteed through nonviolent means?

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And now we turn our lights on!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For everyone: Peace, Force and Joy!

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe

Snowden: Best Film of the Year

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

A review by David Swanson

Snowden is the most entertaining, informing, and important film you are likely to see this year.

It’s the true story of an awakening. It traces the path of Edward Snowden’s career in the U.S. military, the CIA, the NSA, and at various contractors thereof. It also traces the path of Edward Snowden’s agonizingly slow awakening to the possibility that the U.S. government might sometimes be wrong, corrupt, or criminal. And of course the film takes us through Snowden’s courageous and principled act of whistleblowing.

Snowden
Trailer for film

We see in the film countless colleagues of Snowden’s who knew much of what he knew and did not blow the whistle. We see a few help him and others appreciate him. But they themselves do nothing. Snowden is one of the exceptions. Other exceptions who preceded him and show up in the film include William Binney, Ed Loomis, Kirk Wiebe, and Thomas Drake. Most people are not like these men. Most people obey illegal orders without ever making a peep.

And yet, what strikes me about Snowden and many other whistleblowers I’ve met or learned about, is how long it took them, and the fact that what brought them around was not an event they objected to but a change in their thinking. U.S. officials who’ve been part of dozens of wars and coups and outrages for decades will decide that the latest war is too much, and they’ll bail out, resign publicly, and become an activist. Why now? Why not then, or then, or then, or that other time?

These whistleblowers — and Snowden is no exception — are not passive or submissive early in their careers. They’re enthusiastic true believers. They want to spy and bomb and kill for the good of the world. When they find out that’s not what’s happening, they go public for the good of the world. There is that consistency to their actions. The question, then, is how smart, dedicated young people come to believe that militarism and secrecy and abusive power are noble pursuits.

Oliver Stone’s Ed Snowden begins as a “smart conservative.” But the only smart thing we see about him is his computer skills. We never hear him articulate some smart political point of view that happens to be “conservative.” His taste in books includes Ayn Rand, hardly an indication of intelligence. But on the computers, Snowden is a genius. And on that basis his career advances.

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Question(s) related to this article:

What are some good films and videos that promote a culture of peace?

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Snowden has doubts about the legality of warrantless spying, but believes his CIA instructor’s ludicrous defense. Later, Snowden has such concerns about CIA cruelty he witnesses that he resigns. Yet, at the same time, he believes that presidential candidate Barack Obama will undo the damage and set things right.

How does one explain such obtuseness in a genius? Obama’s statements making perfectly clear that the wars and outrages would roll on were publicly available. I found them with ordinary search engines, needing no assistance from the NSA.

Snowden resigned, but he didn’t leave. He started working for contractors. He came to learn that a program he’d created was being used to assist in lawless and reckless, not to mention murderous, drone murders. That wasn’t enough.

He came to learn that the U.S. government was lawlessly spying on the whole world and spying more on the United States than on Russia. (Why spying on Russia was OK we aren’t told.) But that, too, wasn’t enough.

He came to learn that the U.S. was spying on its allies and enemies alike, even inserting malware into allies’ infrastructure in order to be able to destroy things and kill people should some country cease to be an ally someday. That, too, was not enough.

Snowden went on believing that the United States was the greatest country on earth. He went on calling his work “counter cyber” and “counter spying” as if only non-Americans can do spying or cyber-warfare, while the United States just tries to gently counter such acts. In fact, Snowden risked his life, refraining from taking medication he needed, so that he could continue doing that work. He defended such recklessness as justified by the need to stop Chinese hackers from stealing billions of dollars from the U.S. government. Apart from the question of which Chinese hackers did that, what did Snowden imagine it was costing U.S. taxpayers to fund the military?

Snowden’s career rolled on. But Edward Snowden’s brilliant mind was catching up with reality and at some point overtook it. And then there was no question that he would do what needed to be done. Just as he designed computer programs nobody else could, and that nobody else even thought to try, now he designed a whistleblowing maneuver that would not be stopped as others had.

Consequently, we must be grateful that good and decent people sometimes start out believing Orwellian tales. Dull, cowardly, and servile people never blow whistles.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, North America

Forging a peaceful future: four years of UNICEF’s Learning for Peace Programme

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from UNICEF

UNICEF and partners are a step closer to building peace, Eran Nagan, of the Government of the Netherlands said at a high-level event on education and peacebuilding in New York.

Mr. Nagan, First Secretary of Economic Affairs, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations, joined some 80 UN staff, researchers, civil society, private sector representatives and members of the public to celebrate the final event of the Learning for Peace programme on Thursday, 30 June at UNICEF House. The UNICEF programme, launched in 2012 with the support of the Government of the Netherlands, helped promote peace through education in 14 conflict-affected countries: Burundi, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Liberia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, State of Palestine, Uganda, and Yemen.

UNICEF
Panelists (L-R) Patrick Fine, FHI 360 CEO; Angela Kearney UNICEF Pakistan Representative; Yasmin Haque, UNICEF Deputy Director of Emergency Programmes; Henk-Jan Brinkman UN Peacebuilding Support Office Chief of Policy Planning and Application.
Click on image to enlarge

“The teaching of tolerance, respect for the other, promoting social cohesion is a necessity of any society because it is by inserting these essential values in our youth that we forge peaceful societies for the future,” Mr. Nagan said in his key note address, praising the programme for its achievements over the last four and a half years. Learning for Peace worked with governments, education systems, and communities to design education interventions that addressed underlying causes and dynamics of conflict. The programme also included a significant research component to fill the gap in knowledge and evidence on social services for peacebuilding.

Research from UNICEF and FHI 360 found evidence that education inequities reinforce social divisions that lead to conflict – the likelihood of violent conflict doubles in countries with high education inequality between ethnic and religious groups. Conversely, conflict widens educational inequalities. Although less pronounced, the study also provides evidence that gender-based education inequality makes violent conflict more likely, and vice versa.

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Question for this article:

Peace education at the United Nations, how does it work?

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“I think it has direct implications for how we set priorities and what kinds of actions we take in humanitarian response, and it also has immediate implications for policies and programmes,” Patrick Fine, FHI 360 CEO, said of the research findings.

Mr. Fine, along with Angela Kearney, UNICEF Pakistan Representative; Yasmin Haque, Deputy Director, Office of Emergency Programmes, UNICEF; and Henk-Jan Brinkman, Chief of Policy, Planning and Application, UN Peacebuilding Support Office were part of a panel to share experiences, achievements and lessons learned of the Learning For Peace programme.

Ms. Kearney shared stories of innovation in education from Pakistan, where findings from the programme’s conflict analysis informed education sector plans in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. In South Sudan, where 70 per cent of children have never stepped inside a school, Ms. Haque said that Learning for Peace helped develop a new, inclusive education system and forged new partnerships amongst education stakeholders and development partner organizations with peacebuilding expertise.

Josephine Bourne, Associate Director of Education at UNICEF, moderated the event and stressed that the lessons-learned on conflict-sensitive and peacebuilding-oriented education programming that began through the Learning for Peace programme would continue in future projects.

“While the programme is finishing, the work does not. There’s a very strong commitment to conflict assessment and really understanding the situation of children and their access to resources and other inequalities.” Ms. Bourne said. The inequality piece is front and center, not just for education, but everything UNICEF is doing”.

At the event, UNICEF also discussed plans to employ conflict assessment, study gender-based violence, and have children participate in determining the issues that drive conflict and necessary interventions. FHI 360 is also leading an education equity research initiative in conjunction with UNICEF and other partners including USAID, Save the Children and World Vision.

For more information on the programme please visit: learningforpeace.unicef.org.

(Thank you to the Global Campaign for Peace Education for bringing this article to our attention.)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global, United Nations,

USA: Teachers in High-Need Schools Share Why They Do What They Do

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

Excerpts from The Education Trust Edition 132

We’ve asked educators across the country who teach in schools that serve large percentages of students of color and students from low-income families why they choose those assignments. What brings them back to the particular demands of these classrooms, year after year? Strong school leadership, networks of supportive colleagues, and the genuine opportunity to have a say in schoolwide decisions.

edtrust
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Here are four of the responses:

LETTING STUDENTS TAKE THE LEAD by Matthew Stensrud

Last school year, our principal invited me to take part in instructional rounds — an observation-based approach to better understand the learning occurring in our Title I elementary school. The reason? To determine why our school was having difficulty meeting various benchmarks on the end-of-year assessments.
The goal of rounds is to identify a problem of practice through brief observations of teachers, collect anecdotal evidence, and review this evidence to determine solution-
Reminding ourselves that students from low-income households are capable of higher-level thinking was the first step toward addressing this, and creating assignments that demand those higher levels was the next.

CATCHING BUTTERFLIES by Brooke Haycock

Each year, in alarming numbers, and with alarming predictability, they leave. Some, swept out in a cloud of dust and suspension records. Some, fall out through the loose weave of the safety nets educators hoped would hold them. Others exit on their own, seeing more opportunities outside the school walls than within.

Too often, they are cast as the very problems. The data points that drag schools down, the disciplinary actions, the truancy numbers, the failure rates, the call-outs, the walk-outs, the kick-outs.
These students are telling us in every way they know how that our schools are not working for them. And they are exactly the young people from whom we need to be seeking advice about how to draw them back in.
Lessons emerging from students and educators in schools like these have much to contribute to the conversation about how to support and meaningfully engage students, and to provide students — particularly those struggling in our current schools — what they need to take flight.

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Question for this article:

What is the relation between peace and education?

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MY WORK IS AS DIVERSE AS MY STUDENTS by Rebecca Friedman

When I’m asked, “So, you’re a teacher; what do you teach?” I invariably reply, “Students.”

Here — in my once comfortably suburban, middle class, Western Washington school district, which now cushions the impacts of gentrification, faces the rise of the suburban poor, and welcomes ever-evolving immigrant communities — I’m allowed to be more than a Spanish and ELL teacher. I’m allowed to be a teacher of students.
When my school sought staff for a 15-hour credit retrieval course during school vacations, I was allowed to design curriculum for low-performing students to access ideas of epistemology, philosophy, decision-making, ethics, evolution, and interpretation of data. I told them: “You’re here because you’ve failed a course; I’m here because I know you can learn the hard stuff, and because you deserve more than just a work packet. We’re here to get us to graduation and beyond.”

I teach where I teach to be reminded that I have a choice: I could be a teacher who romanticizes the struggles of poverty, racial adversity, immigration, and countless other factors … or I could be a teacher who teaches students.
My choice is clear.

WE ALL GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR COLLEAGUES by Meredith Hughes

Last year was a tough one — so tough, in fact, I applied for other jobs mid-year. I had moved school districts from south Arlington, Virginia, to the east end of Henrico County (outside Richmond), and I didn’t think I could do it. I had seen tough classes in south Arlington but this was a different kind of tough: Students blurted out throughout each lesson. Kids walked around the room, kicking desks or walls and yelling in anger. But as I was applying to other jobs, I began thinking about my students (sounds ridiculous to write that) — how could I leave them in the middle of the year? My students need structure and routine, and change is hard for them. As difficult as last year had been, I reminded myself that I am doing this job to help exactly these kinds of kids — the ones who do not have stability at home, the ones who come to school for structure. I am here to provide a safe, comfortable, and fun learning environment. And so, with support from my co-workers, I worked to figure out how to make my room less chaotic. I met with my grade-level team, as well as others, to talk about behavior management ideas — some even offered to stop by to check in on certain students. My admin team and I brainstormed ideas to better utilize school resources. And I came in some mornings to little notes of encouragement from the PE teacher across the hall. I never felt like I was alone, and slowly, but surely, we got to a good place. I am proud to say I am staying on this year. In fact, I have requested to follow my kiddos to third grade — because I want them to transition into their first testing grade with ease.
(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, North America

Three Decades of Peace Education in the Philippines

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article by the Global Campaign for Peace Education

On June 27-28, 2016, the Dept. of Peace and Conflict Studies of the University for Peace and the Center for Peace Education of Miriam College organized a Forum on the theme “Three Decades of Peace Education in the Philippines.” The Forum, held at the Environmental Studies Institute of Miriam College, Quezon City Philippines, gathered more than 60 peace educators and advocates from all over the country representing various groups actively engaged in the peace movement in the Philippines for the past three decades. Participants came from state and private universities, colleges and schools, government, nongovernment and civil society organizations, interfaith dialogue circles and peace education/studies scholars from the University for Peace and Miriam College and UNESCO-ASP network.

Philippines
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Sharing personal stories has long been an inspiring and powerful way of reminding us how we may be better able to re-vision and respond to what may lie ahead. It has been more than three decades that peace education in the Philippines has become a goal, a pedagogy, a program and a movement. Before the formal institutionalization of Peace Education in the Philippine education system, the movement for Peace Education in the country began in the early 1980s, with the efforts of several individuals and groups from civil society organizations, academic institutions, and international organizations engaged and mobilized to promote and mainstream education for peace. After the 1986 People Power Revolution, peace education took off through various efforts of individuals, universities, academic/professional groups and civil society organizations, among others.  

The two-day Forum provided an opportunity for sharing stories of hope and challenges of formal and/or non-formal or community educators in promoting peace education over the past three decades. At the end of the Forum, participants were able to share renewed hope and inspiration of how to move forward as peace educators to fulfill a vision of a more just, compassionate, peaceful and sustainable planet.

Some of the most significant learnings from the forum included, in the words of participants, reflections such as: unique and inspiring stories of commitment towards peace advocacy, justice and integrity; storytelling is a powerful tool for peace education; diverse patterns of peace education and experiences that provide a lot of hope and wisdom; cascading theoretical knowledge about peace to practice; the sharing of best practices, framework & programs; the power of storytelling provides a concrete result for what has been done to really strengthen the implementation of peace education; there are many champions in peace education; the need to walk the talk; there are a hundred and one platforms for promoting peace education; peace education as a tool for social change/transformation; recognizing historical injustices from the earliest time; affirming peace education initiatives among Muslims and indigenous peoples; there are committed and passionate people sustaining peace education all over the country in different levels and areas – community, schools, government, and others; the feeling of affirmation that each one’s work and engagement finds connection in the stories of others.

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Question for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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The stories presented in the Forum will form the core of a proposed book publication which will be helpful in enhancing the theory and practice of peace education in the Philippines as well as in other countries and regions worldwide.

This very successful gathering and story sharing of peace educators spanning some three decades in the Philippines was organized and coordinated by Dr. Toh Swee-Hin and Dr. Virginia Cawagas from the University for Peace in Costa Rica and Dr. Jasmin Nario-Galace from Miriam College Center for Peace Education in the Philippines.

Participants represented the following institutions.

FORMAL EDUCATION SECTOR

▪ Asia Pacific Network of International Education & Values Education (APNIEVE)
▪ Ateneo de Manila University Grade School
▪ Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Peace Institute
▪ Cotabato City State Polytechnic College
▪ DepED-Basic Education Sector BEST
▪ Far Eastern University, Angel C. Palanca Peace Program Foundation
▪ Holy Angel University, Angeles, Pampanga
▪ Mindanao State University, Maguindanao
▪ Miriam College, Center for Peace Education
▪ Miriam College, Grade School
▪ Philippine Military Academy
▪ Philippine Normal University
▪ St. Paul College, Pasig, Institutional Research
▪ University for Peace Costa Rica, Dept. of Peace & Conflict Studies
▪ University of the Philippines
▪ World Council for Curriculum and Instruction (WCCI)
▪ Xavier University Peace Center

NON-FORMAL EDUCATION SECTOR

▪ Conflict, Security and Development Team, The World Bank Philippine Office
▪ Gaston Z. Ortigas Peace Institute
▪ Generation Peace
▪ Institute for Autonomy and Governance
▪ Interfaith Center for a Culture of Nonviolence (ICCN)
▪ Mindanao Peoples Peace Movement
▪ Museo Pambata
▪ Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
▪ Pax Christi Pilipinas
▪ PAZ, Peace Advocates Zamboanga
▪ Silsilah Dialogue Movement
▪ Teach Peace Build Peace Movement
▪ The Peacemakers Circle
▪ ZFD Forum of Development
 

East Asia, EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Brazil: Public schools of São Vicente transform education through the culture of peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article by Herbert Lima and Myrian Castello 

A Culture of Peace committee composed of educators Carla Souza, Damiana Albuquerque, Herbert Santo., Ingrid Geraldo, Lourdes Santo., Myrian Castello, Regina Morais, Sandra de Aragão, Tatiana Rodrigues and Wagner Bessa, is carrying out a program of Training for Peace Education of 60 hours for professionals from all the public education units of São Vicente in partnership with the Secretary of Education.

Vicente
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The main objectives of the training are

– Stimulating new ways of living together;

– Improve group relations and climate at schools;

– Plan positive changes after identification of common problems;

– Create communication networks and undertake ACTIONS;

– Enable an affective perspective at the school units and work collectively on awareness and preparation of actions for local development

– Work for a culture for peace in education in order to assess, sustain, co-create solutions and view results.

To achieve these goals the training consists of seven modules in two stages:

Stage 1:
Contact
Consciousness
Transforming Action
Recognition
Connecting Action

Stage 2:
Practice
Presenting Actions

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(Click here for the article in Portuguese)

Questions for this article:

What is the best way to teach peace to children?

Where is peace education taking place?

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The modules were inspired by the following organizations and methodologies:

The Pedagogy of Cooperation and Culture of Peace: A method of teaching and cooperative learning, where each and every person is considered to be a master-apprentices engaged in the discovery of themselves and the world, through the encounter with others, in the face of problem situations challenging them to find cooperative solutions for the success and well-being of everyone.

Pallas Athena: The organization Palas Athena promotes and incubates programs and projects in the areas of Education, Health, Human Rights, Environment and Social Promotion, in order to improve human society through the mutual understanding of cultures and the articulation of knowledge.

Oasis Game: The Oasis Game is a support tool for citizen mobilization for the realization of collective dreams.

Nonviolent Communication: supports the establishment of partnership and cooperation relations through effective and empathetic communication. It emphasizes the importance of determining actions the basis of common values.

Restorative justice is a paradigm, the opposite of punishment, based on values, which aims to repair the damages caused by an offense committed by one of the parties involved – victim, offender and community – and, where possible, the reconstruction of broken relationships.

Circle Dances: These promote group unity and community spirit, and interculturalism, as everyone joins hands and supports and assists each other.

Psychomotricity: The method of studying a person through his body movements in relation to his/her internal and external world.

During the modules, the training involved 93 teaching units and about 300 education professionals who were able thereby to promote a culture of peace within and outside the school walls.

A number of activities were carried out by managers in partnership with the community around the school.

Research carried out in the modules showed a high level of involvement and satisfaction of participants who requested the continuation and expansion of training.

The activities were carried out from January to June and will be continued.

For more information, contact comissaoculturadepaz@gmail.com

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Mexico: The government promotes mediation as an alternative for the resolution of conflicts

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from La Jornada Aguascalientes (translated by CPNN)

As the representative of the General Secretary of the Government [SEGOB], Alejandro Bernal Rubalcava has released the 6-month report from the Coordination of Mediation which indicates that between January and June 2016 the Coordination of Mediation completed 736 mediations of conflicts between individuals, as well as 653 legal advisories for citizens who opted to use this service.

SEGOB

The Coordination of Mediation offers citizens legal advice as well as the dialogue and the construction of accords by means of alternative conflict resolution, free of charge and confidential, creating channels to facilitate communication in order to resolve problems between individuals in a way more rapid and efficient than the judicial process, explains Bernal Rubalcava.

He emphasizes that the promotion of mediation among citizens as an effective tool for achieving satisfactory agrreements of conflicts between two parties has contributed to generating a culture of peace among the population of Aguascalentes, while decreasing the demands on the judicial system.

He adds that in addition to the satisfactorily concluded mediations and agreements constructed and accepted by the parties involved, the 653 legal advisories on civil, criminal and family law, provided a guide allowing people to assert their rights and clarify conflicts.

Mediation, through its form and content, promotes a more peaceful and just society. To this end, the representative of the General Secretary of the Government invites citizens requiring advice or looking for a quick and peaceful solution to a conflict, to come to the offices of the Coordination of Mediation located on Hornedo street 104, first floor, in the city center, with hours open to the public from 8:30 to 15:00 hours.

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EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

The Third International Conference on Mediation to take place in Guatemala

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Noticias Panorama (translated by CPNN)

The International Mediation Center (CIM) has announced that the Third International Congress on Mediation will take place on Thursday August 18 from 8:00 to 18:00 at the Salón Jade y Plata of the Hotel Camino Real. The Congress aims to provide effective methods for the solution of social and trade conflicts that affect the development of our society through dialogue. Mediation seeks to provoke changes that will benefit the people of Guatemala.

mediation
Mario Bucaro, President of CIM

The method of mediation is practical, effective and suitable because it helps people find the solution to their conflicts and dialogue and peace as a result. “The mediator does not decide the result of a dispute, the parties retain the autonomy of their solution.”

“The aim of the Congress is to show firsthand the benefits of the method and how to put into practice the techniques in the social and business environment through dialogue. The intention is to achieve peace in the world “, stated Mario Bucaro, President of CIM.

The activity will be attended by national and international speakers who will share their experiences, techniques and methods in order to promote the culture of peace around the world.

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Question for this article:

Mediation as a tool for culture of peace and nonviolence

(continued from left column)

The International Mediation Center is a private institution created and supported by CAMEX [The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Guatemala/Mexico], made up of experts in the method of mediation to facilitate the resolution of disputes on a voluntary basis through dialogue and cooperation as the best way to resolve the differences between people and entities in the national and international private sector.

Mediation began in the public sphere in 1998. Under the program of modernization of the judiciary, the President of the Judicial Agency created the Pilot Center of Mediation and Conciliation (21/998 and 22/998 agreements). Currently there are 78 public mediation centers in 14 departments led and managed by the judiciary. The one private center is the International Mediation Center.

Congress Keynotes:

* The Phenomenon of Mediation and Its Trends. Mario Bucaro – Lawyer, Certified Mediator, President International Mediation Center Guatemala.

* Alternative Dispute Resolution in International Trade. Judge Cristina Pareyra, lawyer, journalist Mediator and Legal Expert JAMS (Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services) Miami USA.

* Prevention and management of conflicts in Labor Relations. Wanda Azmitia – expert in mediation, Coordinator of the Unit of alternative dispute resolution Judicial Branch.

* Juan Carlos Lucero-Lawyer, International Labor Mediator, an expert in social dialogue.

* Community and Business Mediation as a response to restore social harmony. Laura Avila, Lawyer, Master in Business Law, Center for Arbitration and Mediation Center, Legal College, Costa Rica.

* Workshop: Techniques to manage nonverbal language in conflict resolution. Dr. Virgilio Gordon, consultant, professional coach, writer, university professor, therapist and lecturer. – Guatemala

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America