… 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.

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.

(Click here for the original article in Spanish)

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

Mediation as a tool for culture of peace and nonviolence

… 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.

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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(Click here for the original article in Spanish)

Mediation as a tool for culture of peace and nonviolence

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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 …

An article of RCN Radio along with comments by Gina Parody, Minister of Education, reprinted by El Pilon (translated by CPNN)

The Minister of Education, Gina Parody, speaking at the meeting of secretaries of education from across the country, invited them to teach a new generation of peace, preparing children and young people to consolidate peace. The meeting took place in the municipality of Villa de Leyva in Boyaca department.

Minister of Education, Gina Parody

The directors of the 95 Ministries of Education in the country are meeting from 29 June to 1 July, to take stock of education management and to meet the sector’s challenges in the light of the peace agreement to be signed in Havana, Cuba.

Secretaries of Education and the Education Minister are addressing a number of issues including educational infrastructure, the full school day, enrollments, quality of education, early childhood education and budgetary concerns, among others.

Remarks by Gina Parody, Minister of Education:

The government of President Juan Manuel Santos has set a goal: see the country experience its first generation that does not live even one day at war: a generation of peace. With the silence of the guns Colombia can turn the page and start writing the chapter of peace and equity. To write that chapter of hope and reconciliation, Colombia is prepared with the most valuable legacy that we can give our children: education.

For the first time, the government has allocated a larger budget for education of our children and young people, that the budget for war. We are convinced that it is in the classrooms that the new generation will begin to rewrite the history of Colombia as a country in peace.

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(Click here for the original articles in Spanish)

Where is peace education taking place?

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And we’re already advancing! With every action we take in favor of education, we move forward towards peace. For example, we have established free education in all public schools in the country, from kindergarten to grade eleven; today thanks to this 7,620,397 children and young people are preparing for the future and their families simply by sending them to school.

We declare education to be compulsory until the 11th grade, to ensure that children wield pencils rather than guns. We started the Full School Day, ensuring that children spend more time in school and less on the streets. Today there are more than 500 thousand children who benefit from this measure, by 2018 it will be 2.3 million children, and by 2030 all children in public schools will be studying eight hours a day.

Our children will not only have more hours of study but also more spacious and modern spaces that facilitate learning. Our goal is to build 30,000 new classrooms by 2018, equivalent to 1,500 schools.

We are opening the possibility for low-income youth to prepare in the best universities in the country, we are gaining brilliant minds in the service of peace and rather than in the battlefields. With the program ‘Ser Pilo Paga’ 40,000 young people and their families will transform their lives.

We are working to improve the conditions of our teachers, because they are the heroes of education, whose dedication and commitment are forming the generation of peace. We are delivering 4,600 master’s scholarships and more than 20,000 digital tablets with instructional materials. To this are added 78,000 million pesos of incentives to reward their efforts and to improve the quality of our education.

With actions like these, we can be sure and without doubt, that the future and progress of our country will be defined in the classroom and not in the fields of war, because the soul of peace is education.