Category Archives: EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Mexico: Municipal Mediation Unit of the City of Merida to promote a Culture of Peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Mi Punto de Vista

With the aim of consolidating a culture of peace and dialogue, the Mérida City Council provides a mediation service to offer alternatives for a peaceful solution to family disputes and conflicts. or neighborhood, announced the Mayor, Renán Barrera Concha.

He pointed out that the Municipal Mediation Unit is an effective tool to remedy those conflicts that arise between neighbors or relatives. Otherwise they could lead to crimes such as threats, injuries or damage to someone else’s property.

“In the City of Mérida we continue to implement alternative mechanisms that allow us to prevent the commission of crimes, especially those that appear due to disagreements, thus we are committed to dialogue between the parties to prevent these situations from escalating to another level,” he said.

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(click here for the original version in Spanish).

Question for this article:

Mediation as a tool for nonviolence and culture of peace

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The Municipal President reported that in the 2018-2021 administration, attention was paid to 529 cases, of which 40%, that is, around 200 files, due to neighborhood conflicts, 21% due to voluntary divorce, 15% family conflicts and the rest was divided on issues such as alimony, spouses, custody of minors and family visits.

“Mediation is gradually being accepted and adopted by the people of Merida. Once they know the benefits that this entails, the answer is positive. People not only achieve the solution of the conflict they are going through, but they also promote communication and peaceful coexistence between the parties involved,” he stressed.

For her part, the director of the municipal DIF (Desarrollo Integral de la Familia), Silvia Sarti González, explained that the procedure is carried out free of charge and with the support of a professional mediator. “People who have resorted to this model have found solutions from a different perspective, since we have them listen to the other’s version, discuss those points of view and, through dialogue, propose a way to resolve their disagreements.”

She added that those who resort to conflict mediation find less financial and emotional wear and tear, and, in most cases, avoid legal processes that are often lengthy and expensive.

The Municipal Mediation Unit provides services from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, and it deals with cases of a family, school, community and commercial nature.

To request attention, those interested should contact the Legal Coordination of DIF Mérida, located at 59 # 432 between 50 and 52-A, Centro, or they can call 9999 28 69 77 extension 81516 presenting a copy of their INE and CURP.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Film review: Oliver Stone’s new JFK documentary

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

A review by Michael McCaffrey in RT.com

Stone’s new documentary, ‘JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass’, isn’t perfect, but it’s vitally important. He goes back into the assassination case with a fervor and has produced an insightful film that’s well worth a watch.


Trailer of film

Stone’s ‘JFK’ hit theaters in 1991 and sent shockwaves through Washington and the corporate media because it was a compelling cinematic counter-myth to the equally fantastical Warren Report.

The Praetorian Guards of the establishment in the halls of power and press met the film with ferocity as they set out to debunk and defang it, because it directly challenged their narrative and thus their authority. They failed. ‘JFK’ was nominated for eight Academy Awards and brought in over $200 million at the box office. More importantly, though, it broke the spell of public indifference and somewhat loosened establishment obstruction with regard to JFK’s assassination.

In the film’s wake, the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 was passed, and the Assassination Records Review Board set up and funded.

Now, some 30 years later, Oliver Stone is back, this time with a documentary streaming on Showtime, ‘JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass’, which sticks its thumb in the eye of those who mindlessly espouse the ‘official’ story of JFK’s assassination as the truth.

As someone interested in the assassination, and who has read a multitude of books on the subject across the spectrum, from Gerald Posner’s ‘Case Closed’ and Vincent Bugliosi’s ‘Reclaiming History’ to Jim Marrs’ ‘Crossfire’ and James W. Douglass’ ‘JFK and the Unspeakable’, finding a decent documentary worthy of a watch on the topic is a challenge.

Thankfully, Stone has stepped up to the plate with ‘JFK Revisited’ – a serious and worthy work that offers a coherent, if limited, counter-theory to the official assassination line.

The film runs to a brisk two hours, features a bevy of talking heads – including John M. Newman (whose ‘JFK and Vietnam’ and ‘Oswald and the CIA’ are terrific), David Talbot (who wrote ‘The Devil’s Chessboard’ – also fantastic), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., James K. Galbraith, Dr. Cyril Wecht, and Dr. Henry Lee – and is a well-paced primer that would be a useful launchpad for anyone interested in diving even deeper into the case.

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Question related to this article:
 
Free flow of information, How is it important for a culture of peace?

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

(Article continued from the column on the left)

There’s a four-hour cut of the film that will purportedly be made available to the public in the new year, and I’m looking forward to seeing that version, as I assume it gets more into the specifics of who did the actual shooting – a subject the at-times-rushed two-hour version foregoes in favor of more foundational topics.

The film does examine a plethora of fascinating JFK assassination topics, though, including the following: Assassin Lee Harvey Oswald’s numerous and obvious connections to the intelligence community. The Warren Commission’s, intel community’s, and media’s knowing distortions and deceptions regarding the assassination. The fantasy of the magic-bullet theory. The contradictory medical evidence from Parkland Hospital in Dallas, and the autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. The remarkably similar plots to kill Kennedy in Chicago and Tampa, leading up to Dallas, which included other Oswald-esque patsies Thomas Arthur Vallee and Gilberto Lopez. And the story of Abraham Bolden, the first black secret service agent, who allegedly tried to inform the authorities of the Chicago plot, but instead of being hailed a hero, was railroaded and sent to prison.

‘JFK Revisited’ also spotlights the struggle between Kennedy and the political establishment. His famed American University speech of June 1963, where he laid out his vision for a new, peaceful US foreign policy, opens the film. This vision is foundational to ‘the why’ of Stone’s theory regarding the assassination, as it provides a motive for the intelligence agencies and military to act to remove a president they deemed soft on communism and weak in general.

Kennedy wanted to promote anti-colonialism, normalize relations with Cuba, not make the same mistake as the French in Vietnam, and have détente with the Soviets, even including combining efforts in the space race.

The intelligence community and the Pentagon had a very different and much more nefarious agenda. They were busy eliminating Lumumba in the Congo, fomenting a military coup in France, conjuring both the Bay of Pigs and Operation Northwoods – which would use false-flag terror attacks on US targets to force a war in Cuba – and pushing for American escalation in Vietnam.

This is why Kennedy moved to reduce the CIA budget by 20%, fired CIA warhorse Allen Dulles (who, curiously enough, would become a powerful member of the Warren Commission), and famously declared he would shatter the CIA into a million pieces. According to Stone, the CIA beat Kennedy to the punch, as it shattered his skull into a million pieces in Dealey Plaza, on November 22, 1963.

The gaping, gangrenous wound at the heart of America, which rots our national soul, was born on that fateful day, and it still festers and it still matters.

Unlike both malignant political parties and the shameless corporate media, Oliver Stone – whose status as pariah is the fuel that powers all his documentaries – understands this, and he’s trying to heal that wound by seeking out the truth about JFK’s killing.

While the establishment may ignore ‘JFK Revisited’, the general public shouldn’t. It’s a useful and insightful film for anyone who wants to understand their government and what it’s willing to do to maintain both its grip on power and the lucrative status quo.

Seek out and watch ‘JFK Revisited’. It isn’t perfect, but it’s vitally important.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

The Best Weapon for Peace : Maria Montessori, Education, and Children’s Rights

. EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

A book review from The University of Wisconsin Press

This book is by Erica Moretti (see below).


“Innovative and extremely well-documented. This volume reframes the life and work of Maria Montessori within the context of international peace studies. She deserves recognition as a pioneer who faced gender barriers and nevertheless almost won the Nobel Peace Prize. Moretti gracefully weaves portraits of historical topics into this narrative of Montessori’s intellectual life.”
—Mary Gibson, John Jay College and the Graduate Center–CUNY

The Italian educator and physician Maria Montessori (1870–1952) is best known for the teaching method that bears her name. She was also a lifelong pacifist, although historians tend to consider her writings on this topic as secondary to her pedagogy.

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Question related to this article:
 
What is the best way to teach peace to children?

What is the relation between peace and education?

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In The Best Weapon for Peace, Erica Moretti reframes Montessori’s pacifism as the foundation for her educational activism, emphasizing her vision of the classroom as a gateway to reshaping society. Montessori education offers a child-centered learning environment that cultivates students’ development as peaceful, curious, and resilient adults opposed to war and invested in societal reform.



Using newly discovered primary sources, Moretti examines Montessori’s lifelong pacifist work, including her ultimately unsuccessful push for the creation of the White Cross, a humanitarian organization for war-affected children. Moretti shows that Montessori’s educational theories and practices would come to define children’s rights once adopted by influential international organizations, including the United Nations. She uncovers the significance of Montessori’s evolving philosophy of peace and early childhood education within broader conversations about internationalism and humanitarianism.
 
Erica Moretti  is an assistant professor of Italian at the Fashion Institute of Technology–SUNY. She is the recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award in Scholarship and Creative Activities.

The book is published as part of the following series:

George L. Mosse Series in Modern European Cultural and Intellectual History
Steven E. Aschheim, Skye Doney, Mary Louise Roberts, and David J. Sorkin, Series Editors

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global

Global Teacher Prize: Juline Anquetin-Rault

. EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from The Global Teacher Prize (reprinted by permission)

(Editor’s note : Juline Anquetin-Rault came to our attention by way of a article in a local newspaper in France, Tendence Ouest, where she is quoted as being inspired by the pedagogical methods of Maria Montessori. CPNN has long maintained that this pedagogy is a good model for peace education. Montessori’s methods are usually used for young children, but Juline has adapted the methods to use with adolescents. )

She is now a candidate for the Global Teacher Prize as follows:


Video from Global Teacher Prize

Even as a child, Juline Anquetin Rault knew she wanted to become a teacher, but there was a time when she doubted whether her dream would come true. When she took the national exam to become a history and geography teacher, she ranked 607th out of 6,000 candidates, but only the top 604 were hired as public school teachers. Juline was crushed, but resolved to retake the exam the following year. In the meantime, she started working as a teaching assistant in a local school. On her first day, as she helped students with their homework and went over their lessons with them, Juline knew she had found her calling, and would become a teacher no matter what. She decided to start a tutoring agency, and also began teaching in private schools that did not require educators to pass the national exam.

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Question related to this article:
 
What is the best way to teach peace to children?

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Juline now splits her time between tutoring and teaching history and geography at an apprenticeship school. There, many of her students start out disliking school, having struggled in formal education, and a large portion are foreign students still learning to speak French.  

Juline believes learning should be fun, and that pupils should feel empowered to progress on their own. She has developed innovative teaching methods to engage her students, including treasure hunts and ‘pop culture’ classes using films. To help her students regain their confidence, she teaches them that failure and making mistakes are a valuable part of learning. Each class incorporates autonomous workshops, which can include internet research, online quizzes or studying maps. Juline’s methods have proven successful, with clear improvements not just in her students’ grades, but also in their mental health. In an end of year survey, 98% of students at Juline’s school said they would recommend this way of learning, and a project is in the works to apply it at national level. 

Outside of teaching, since 2017 Juline has organised yearly trips for students at her apprenticeship school. In 2020, she launched an organisation to fundraise for these outings. For Juline, travelling with students is a key way to teach them to be more tolerant. Many of her pupils have never even been to Paris, which is just 90 minutes from Rouen. She has also raised funds for children in Asia and Africa to access health and education services, and encourages regular dialogue between these children and the students at her tutoring agency.   

Juline is committed to helping her fellow teachers be the best they can be, and hosts training sessions to share her knowledge with colleagues. She teaches her peers how to use new technologies and memorisation techniques based on the latest cognitive science. She also frequently looks at what other teachers around the world are doing, and is inspired by passionate teachers. Juline runs a popular YouTube channel on which she shares learning and teaching materials with students and educators. If she wins the Global Teacher Prize, she would spend the funds on helping train even more teachers, to transform French education for the better.

(Thank you to Kiki Adams, the CPNN reporter for this articl

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe

CEPEJ Takes Peace, Environmental Advocacy To Schools Across Nigeria

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from Tribune Online

Niger Delta-based Center for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ) has inaugurated Peace and Environment Clubs (PECs) in over 15 secondary schools across the country with a mandate to promote peace and environmental best practices among young ones for a better society.

The most recent PECs were established at the Federal Capital Territory to serve as “safe spaces” with the idea of catching them young and bringing the next generation together from different social and cultural backgrounds to discuss critical issues relating to peace, conflict prevention/management and environmental sustainability, as well as share values of tolerance and civic responsibility.

The National Coordinator of CEPEJ, Comrade Sheriff Mulade appreciated the FCT board for the partnership to enable the NGO to establish the Peace and Environment Clubs and to inaugurate PEC coordinators for Government Senior Secondary School, Bwari, and Mabushi Secondary School, both in Abuja.

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

Question for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

Can a culture of peace be achieved in Africa through local indigenous training and participation?

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FCT Secondary School Board Chairman, Hon. Yahaya Musa Muhammed, who was represented by Assistant Directors, Mr Itam Nneoyi and Mrs Mary Ajibola, appreciated CEPEJ for the laudable initiative.

They pledged to work with the CSO to educate and guide the youths in the ways of life.

Speaking in the same vein, the Principals of Government Secondary School, Bwari, Dr Mrs Nse Martina Ikwo, and Government Secondary School, Mabushi, Mr Muhammed Shaba thanked CEPEJ for establishing the peace clubs to educate pupils on the need to imbibe the culture of peace and environmental protection, highly needed in Nigeria today.

They promised to ensure the sustainability of the clubs.

The Programme Director of CEPEJ, Mrs Nafisat Amadu Abdulmalik, however, listed improved life skills (leadership, negotiation, decision making, values, self-esteem, conflict management etc.), enhanced advocacy skills-speaking up for self and for others, among others.

She said CEPEJ would facilitate training the trainers’ workshops in the coming weeks before the activities would kick off fully.

Others in attendance included Vice Principals, administrative staff, as well as senior teachers and students.

These advocacies are expected to help the young lads to imbibe values of mutual respect, fairness, teamwork, discipline and tolerance, in order to birth a society with a mindset that values peace and environmental best practices.

Africa, EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Colombia: ‘5th with 5th Crew’, rhymes and colors for peace in Norte de Santander

. EDUCATION FOR PEACE . .

An article by Anderson Salinas for Radio Nacional Colombia

The cultural and social foundation ‘5ta con 5ta Crew’ was born in 2007, with the idea of ​​strengthening the social fabric among the youth in the department of Norte de Santander. It is a group that deals with violence through the arts from the Itinerant School of the North Bravos Hijos in 12 municipalities of the department.

With rap, graffiti, urban dance and audiovisual productions, this foundation has become a pedagogical path for young people in the department.


Rap video from the foundation

They are a team of 20 young professionals who travel through different rural and urban areas, bearing messages that transcend the memory of violence in the territories affected by the armed conflict.

“I started rapping long before, with passionate rap partners we began to share that music that we liked. To the point, that my mother’s house on 5th Street and 5th Avenue in the Motilones de Atalaya neighborhood, became the main headquarters for a time, ”explains Jorge Botello, leader of the foundation.

The initiative focused on working with young people between 16 and 25 years old, promoting artistic expressions in favor of life and the defense of the rights of youth, activities that provide the region with spaces for coexistence and reconciliation.

“In this space we begin to enjoy every moment from rap, graffiti, muralism, urban dance, audiovisuals, weaving, theater, community cinema, which began a new stage in the foundation, and where we try to manage always the historical look at our reality,” adds Jorge.

‘Ahiman,’ the artistic name by which Jorge is known, found that music provided a way to teach in the search of historical memory and truth. “It was something we did without knowing it, the lyrics, the processes, became the opportunity to express what we felt,” he explains.

(click here for the article in Spanish.).)

Question related to this article:

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

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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The border area and the Catatumbo are those spaces of resistance, where their cultural processes allow children and adolescents to compose the history that is hidden in each of its 11 municipalities.

“Young people have found the possibility of amplifying the voice, that their voice not only represents themselves, but a whole group, a community, and that through these spaces they allow to transform relationships, and thus have a better coexistence” says Botello.

Currently, the foundation is carrying out the ‘Crafts for peace, memory and truth’ project in the departments of Arauca, Santander, Norte de Santander, Bolívar and César. According to Laura Rangel, a member of the team, this initiative is developed with the purpose of training 510 youth in the Comprehensive System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition.

“We reflect around the truth. We find incredible, heartbreaking, hopeful, resilient stories that are very motivating for our work in the territory and today we are closing this project and opening the door for our next stop: the art of truth,” Botello indicates.

This work will be present in Norte de Santander for a year, where it will work for the legacy of the Truth Commission and the fundamental role of youth in the non-continuity of the armed conflict with children and young people.

For Darwin Delgado, one of the young people who participates in these foundation processes, it is necessary to continue keeping history alive in these territories marked by violence in Colombia.

“It is better that the trumpets sound and we do not have the rifles, it is better that the paint is spilled and not the blood of the Colombians; that is the value of art for our region, it allows us to visualize ourselves and represent ourselves under a different perspective before society,” he affirms with a tone of hope.

‘Ahiman’ points out that it is the new generations who must make use of the lyrics, beats, dances and colored lines to rebuild the social fabric that has been fractured by decades.

“For every violent act there are many more rhymes, more murals, more colors, many more break dance steps, art became what holds the new generations to say that there is an opportunity to have a better country,” he says. .

Today they are a medium that runs from art, a path to coexistence and the promotion of a culture of peace in Catatumbo and all of North Santander, with each expression highlighting its message of peace in different languages.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Chad: AJPNV training for democracy and human rights

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Alwihda Info (translation by CPNN)

As part of its project to promote democracy and human rights in Chad, the youth association for peace and non-violence (AJPNV) is organizing a training workshop from October 1 to 2, 2021 for leaders of civil society organizations and the media.


The workshop opened on Friday, October 1, 2021 at the national headquarters of the association in the Amtoukougne district. The AJPNV, created in 2000, is a secular, apolitical and humanitarian non-profit Chadian civil society organization. It is an accredited member of IRC (International Rehabilitation for Council of Victims of Torture) based in Copenhagen) and a member of IFHRO (International Federation of Health and Human Right Organization) based in Geneva.

AJPNV aims to promote and protect human rights and provide free medical, psychosocial and legal assistance to victims of human rights violence, refugees, and internally displaced persons, prisoners, women victims of sexual violence. It promotes socio-economic reintegration through information, communication and education of refugees; the promotion of the culture of peace and democracy in Chad; promotion of reproductive health; health promotion linked to human rights; strengthen women’s capacities to fight poverty, unhealthy traditional practices and HIV.

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(Click here for the original article in French)

Questions for this article:

How can we promote a human rights, peace based education?

Can a culture of peace be achieved in Africa through local indigenous training and participation?

(Article continued from left column)

Officially launching the workshop, AJPNV President Nodjigoto Charbonnel asserts that civil society organizations and the media are a pillar in the national system for the promotion and protection of human rights. Their main responsibilities are, on the one hand, to promote human rights through the dissemination of a national culture of human rights in which the values ​​of tolerance, equality and mutual respect flourish, in particular. through human rights education and on the other hand to protect human rights, by identifying or investigating cases of human rights violations.

To carry out their mission of promoting and protecting human rights in their country, Nodjigoto Charbonnel maintains that civil society organizations and the media need to be strengthened and supported. And to add that, this strengthening project working in the field of human rights responds to the need for strengthening and broadening the field of action of associations.

Nodjigoto Charbonnel says human rights movements, democracy organizations and development donors have a common goal but have not always seen each other as allies. It is quite possible that the three groups have found common ground around the notion of a rights-based approach to development. He goes on to insist that good democratic governance must inevitably focus on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Without this protection, he says, there can be no real democracy.

Africa, EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Mexico: UdeC holds international discussion on the culture of peace and human rights

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from El Comentario (translation by CPNN)

This weekend an international discussion was held on “Freedoms, culture of peace and human rights in education”, organized by the High School 32 of the University of Colima, located in Suchitlán. The aim was to have an interactive meeting space where activists and social leaders from Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala could share their experiences and proposals with students from the school.


Opening the event, Rector Christian Jorge Torres Ortiz Zermeño highlighted that this type of initiative as “an example of the importance of educational institutions in the implementation and promotion of the culture of peace”; In this sense, he added, the UdeC itself has promoted different actions, such as the inclusion of the subject in study plans, a humanistic educational model aimed at comprehensive training, as well as efforts to offer quality education.

However, he pointed out, the high interaction that occurs in university spaces, as well as the diversity and dynamics of the student population, “require permanent and coordinated activities to achieve the long-awaited culture of peace.”

This, he stressed, “is not an simple task; Therefore, together with participation in national programs such as ANUIES and the design of institutional strategies for the promotion of values ​​that privilege respect, freedom and justice, it is essential to learn about other experiences and to reflect and discuss aspects that allow us generate new projects aimed at guaranteeing peace, human rights, inclusion and substantive equality.

Finally, he highlighted that universities are called to be generators of these spaces. In this sense, he thanked the speakers for their willingness to contribute to enriching the participants’ knowledge; “I wish the organizers and speakers success and a profitable learning for the university students, which we will surely see materialized in actions in favor of tolerance and the eradication of violence.”

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(Click here for the original article in Spanish)

Questions for this article:

How do we promote a human rights, peace based education?

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

(Article continued from left column)

The president of University Volunteering, Blanca Liliana Díaz Vázquez, said that talking about a culture of peace “means placing special emphasis on values, principles, attitudes and positive behaviors that reflect respect for the dignity of all and all” , since this concept, she emphasized, “puts human rights at the center, the rejection of violence in all its forms and modalities, promotes substantive equality and inclusion, and incorporates principles such as freedom, justice, solidarity and tolerance ”.

She added that “peace allows understanding between peoples and groups of people.” For this reason, she pointed out, it is of great importance to speak and reflect on the culture of peace in university spaces, “since we are convinced that educational institutions are the propitious place for the analysis and promotion of projects aimed at promoting changes in the way of relate ”.

In this sense, she reported that within Volunteering, and hand in hand with the University Family Development Center (CEDEFU), “we work to foster and promote the culture of peace as an instrument that contributes to the education of those who are trained in our highest house of studies, through intervention programs where this perspective is linked to volunteer work.

We also promote the participation of university youth in solving problems in their environment, we bet on awareness and training as transformative mechanisms and we promote leadership and human development from a transversal and holistic perspective ”.

Finally, Díaz Vázquez recognized and congratulated Baccalaureate 32 for the relevance of this discussion, because through specific actions, those who study at said campus can access this training; “I am convinced that this activity will allow a greater understanding of the meaning of peace for the community of this school, but also the possibility of replicating in the institution those actions and proposals that our renowned panelists will share with the university community.”

During his speech, the director of Bachillerato 32, Cirilo Topete Alcaraz defined the culture of peace “as an element that allows the construction of new routes for the sustainable development of peoples and is promoted through training actions that put human rights, prevention of violence, substantive equality between men and women and inclusion. For this, I thank our Rector Christian Torres Ortiz for his support to promote these actions. They strengthen the training of all our students, as well as the teaching, administrative, secretarial and general services staff ”.

In the framework of this Conversation, recognized activists and promoters of the culture of peace participated, such as Andrea Palomo from Switzerland, Carolina Letona from Guatemala, Johan Jaramillo from Colombia, Lucero Padilla from Oaxaca, Jesús Monjarás from San Luis Potosí, Esther Pérez de Hidalgo and Edder Reynaga from the University of Colim

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

The Páramo de Sumapaz, will be the scene of Colombian cinema festival

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from El Cine Suma Paz

The protection of the environment, citizen participation and the culture of peace will be the main themes of the first edition of the International Festival El Cine Suma Paz.

The festival will take place from September 10 to 25 with 10 face-to-face stages and a worldwide access platform to the festival’s contents for training, creation, transmission, promotion and circulation of audiovisual and cinematographic content.

Bogotá, DC, August 2021. The last great páramo in the world, El Páramo de Sumapaz, will be the setting for the first edition of the International Film Festival “El Cine Suma Paz” which aims to generate spaces for reflection through cinema that allow the discussion on the protection of the environment and the culture of peace to be shared by an international audience.

(Editor’s note. The scene, the Páramo de Sumapaz, is a unique high-altitude ecosystem in Colombia, above the tree line.)

On this occasion, the programming has been carried out in a hybrid way from September 10 to 25, with face-to-face and virtual activities. This project was born as an initiative of the Social Cinema Foundation with stories about the protection of the environment and the culture of peace.

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(Click here for the Spanish original.)

Questions related to this article:
 
What is the relation between the environment and peace

Film festivals that promote a culture of peace, Do you know of others?

(article continued from left column)

The first edition of the Festival will feature international exhibitions, academic spaces and an official selection made up of 80 films from around the world that positions cinema as a tool that raises awareness about the protection of the environment and the culture of peace among humans and the ecosystems that surround it.

It should be noted that this festival takes place in a complex social context, in a country that has seen more than 100 assassinated social leaders. “The Suma Paz Cinema is a space with which we seek to reaffirm our commitment to environmental education, with the defense of the environment and with the people who fight for social and environmental transformations, from different parts of the world,” said Cristhian Ossa, Director of the Social Cinema Foundation.

“We believe that this is a great opportunity to make visible the stories of the community and the relationship between the protection of our environment and the culture of peace. In these times where Colombians go through such a deep division, we need to generate bridges of communication and dialogue between us, in addition to nourishing ourselves with experiences related to the themes of the festival where the world has already explored historical paths and solutions, which sometimes we do not know. and make it impossible to implement them in our daily lives. ” Ossa added.

One of the films within the framework of the festival is Pico de Plata, which tells the story of a group of peasants who fought a historical battle to protect the Pico de Plata hill from mining in Fusagasugá . This short film will premiere on September 10 at the Festival’s opening ceremony.

Within the framework of the festival there will be exhibitions of the films in the communities that make up the Province of Sumapaz, Municipalities of Cundinamarca and the city of Bogotá, in the same way, during the development of the festival, there will be a platform that will allow to reproduce the films and the contents of the festival without any cost in any country of the world.

For more information visit www.elcinesumapaz.com.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

United Nations from the field: Desert artisans in Mali foster dialogue and tolerance

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

Two articles from the United Nations

Traditional arts and crafts are being used to build peace and dialogue in Mali thanks to the work of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, MINUSMA.


MINUSMA/Gema Cortes. Tuareg women artisans produce leather goods as part of a project supported by the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA.

Some 360 artisans based around Menaka, in the far northeast of the West African nation, some of whom fled as refugees to neighbouring Niger, have been encouraged to return to the town’s newly restored House of Artisans to practice a range of traditional crafts, including leatherwork, silver-smithing, sewing and carpentry.

MINUSMA, which supported the restoration, is hoping bringing artisans together from a range of ethnic groups will help to reinforce social cohesion, tolerance and improve security as well as providing much-needed employment.

The Menaka region is experiencing increasing insecurity as a result of attacks by terrorist groups and armed bandits.

* * * *

Using art to promote social cohesion in Mali

A related article from the United Nations

Taking a piece of leather in her hand, Bachira, a Tuareg artisan, starts weaving an ornament that will be sewed onto a new colourful tribal saddle cushion that may end up decorating a home somewhere.

Bachira is an accomplished leather worker. She is among 360 artisans in Mali sponsored by the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) to promote social cohesion and dialogue through traditional art.

“When I returned home from exile, the only personal belongings I brought were my knowledge and my hands. This project is helping me to make the most of what I have. It ensures I can cover my family essential needs. I want them to have a better life than mine,” she said.

Bachira Walet Mohamed, a 50-year-old mother-of-eight is from a village close to Menaka, in the far north-east of Mali. She fled her home with her family during the humanitarian crisis following the 2012 conflict. The whole family lived one year in exile in Niger, before returning in 2014.

Only last year did Bachira fully retake her tribal leather work. Thanks to “The House of Artisans’, a regional crafters association, rebuilt and equipped using MINUSMA support. “During those difficult years of violence shaking our town, the workshop was vandalized and as a result it closed down. I didn’t have anything, not even to buy food,” she recalled.

Art to foster dialogue and tolerance

MINUSMA saw the potential to promote peace and dialogue through traditional arts and crafts, thus the idea to restore “The House of Artisans” to its glory, through a Quick Impact Project (QIP). The Menaka ‘House of Artisans” was completely rebuilt and equipped with furniture, machines and tools for artisans working in jewelry, welding, leatherwork, forging metal, carpentry, sewing and wood carving.

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Question for this article:

Do the arts create a basis for a culture of peace?, What is, or should be, their role in our movement?

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The project, under USD$45,000, gave back an economic activity to up to 360 artisans from different ethnics’ groups It even improved the operating environment and enhanced their production and distribution capacities through training.

MINUSMA’s QIP objective is to contribute to the socioeconomic development by improving the income of artisans across the Menaka region, which is experiencing increasing insecurity as a result of attacks by terrorist groups and armed bandits.

According to Adass Ag Abdoul Karim, President of the Union of Artisans and coordinator of the project, art can break barriers and promote tolerance because “the objective to create a space for dialogue, tolerance and peace through art,” he said. “Thereby, reducing unemployment and improving family income of the artisans.”

Metalsmith (left) pictured with Adas Ag Abdoul Karim (right), President of Union of Artisans in Menaka, Mali. Photo: MINUSMA/Gema Cortes

Adass is grateful for MINUSMA’s continuous support to his community and for helping rebuild the confidence in Mali’s well-known craftsmanship. Nevertheless, he underlines the need for young people to be trained, in order to safeguard the ancient traditions of Malian artistry. By doing so, one is both promoting the quality and marketing skills of artisans, particularly those of women and the creation of employment. All leading to peace and stability.

Since 2013, MINUSMA sponsored more than 740 QIPs projects in Mali totalling USD$24 million benefitting over 10 million people. These projects contributed to strengthening social cohesion and security, improving access to basic health care and water, fostering training and education, promoting the use of agro-pastoral resources, creating temporary and long-term employment and supporting cultural heritage.

Providing a crucial lifeline for struggling artisans

While the temperature is reaching its peak in the sandy streets of Menaka, under e blazing sun, several Tuareg jewelers toil away inside the House of Artisans. Most of them are hand-engraving silver pieces homemade tools. This shows how little has changed in the traditional Tuareg jewelry making process.

Alhader Ag Tital is fifty-one-year-old. He is Tuareg, very quiet and a silversmith. He learnt the trade from his grand-parents and parents, becoming a master himself. His quietness ends up when he talks about his participation in this project. “I am very, very, very happy. It’s the first time we have a proper space for working. We now have a safe and operational place, and we are so grateful.”

Despite being the most dangerous active peacekeeping deployment in the world, with so far 158 blue helmets killed by hostiles forces, and dozens more killed by accidents and illness since its creation in 2013, MINUSMA remains committed to help rebuild sustainable peace in this landlocked north-west African nation. This project proves peace and dialogue can be achieve through numerous actions, involving all groups and different communities, and, at the same time promoting livelihoods and empowerment.

Africa, DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, EDUCATION FOR PEACE