This month we look at progress toward peace (or lack of progress) in five major wars and military confrontations: Philippines; Colombia; Ethiopia and Eritrea/North and South Korea; and Israel/Palestine.

On July 27, Philippine President Duterte signed into law the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BOL) which aims to complete the peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Southern Philippines. The agreement gives the Moro people greater autonomy in ruling their homeland in Mindanao.

Following the ratification of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, who chairs the Senate subcommittee on the BOL said “It’s a new dawn for Bangsamoro in Mindanao.” “The MILF and the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) are ready to work with the Philippine Government especially in the conduct of the plebiscite that will be held around November.”

Four years of lobbying for the inclusion of peace education in the BOL was crowned with success. Under Article IX, the Education provision of the BOL, second paragraph says: “The Bangsamoro government shall institutionalize peace education in all levels of education” Some 6,000 new teachers are deployed in five southern provinces and they are now actively helping propagate interfaith solidarity among schoolchildren in support of the government’s Mindanao peace efforts.

Putting the new law into practice, in an historic solidarity event, the Philippine military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) gathered together to celebrate the muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha.

Following two decades of hostile relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea, a joint peace and friendship agreement was signed by the two countries on 9 July in Asmara. At a rally that was organized by the communities of Eritrea and Ethiopia on 3 August, thousands of citizens of both countries expressed support to the historic agreement reached between President Isaias Afwerki and Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed to normalize relation. As a result of the agreement, there have been a series of reconciliation agreements with various armed groups, including the Oromo Liberation Front, the Amhara Democratic Forces Movement, and most recently reconciliation talks with the Tigray People’s Democratic Movement.

For years, the strife between Ethiopia and Eritrea weakened the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), in the region. Now, it is hoped that IGAD can play its role for for peace and cooperation, similar to that of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which are relatively successful in reinforcing peace and stability as well as cooperation among their members.

For years now, we have followed the peace process in Colombia. Although the newly elected government in Colombia has opposed part of the peace accords at a national level, outoing President Santos considers that the “peace is irreversible” and there continues to be progress towards peace at the departmental level. In the Department of Bolivar, the project Ruta de la Paz, is promoting tourism and cultural development in regions and municipalities that were affected by the Colombian armed conflict. And in the Department of Caldas, teachers of public educational institutions, cultural managers, librarians, social leaders, police, members of the Red Cross and members of the municipal councils have become peace promoters through the diploma “Rural education as a scenario in peace building.”

Although Afro-Colombians have become disenchanted with the implementation of the accords in their region on the West Coast, they have continued to build peace in their own ways. Residents are creating local peace-building initiatives, and last year, the residents of Buenaventura and the surrounding area shut down the city in a civil strike, demanding a recognition of their rights.

This year we have followed the progress towards an eventual peace agreement and reconciliation between North and South Korea. Progress has been slow in recent months, but a peace summit is planned for the North’s capital of Pyongyang this month. It will mark the third meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Finally, we consider the long-standng conflict between Palestine and Israel which periodically erupts into open warfare. In the latest development, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proposed a United Nations-led armed international mission to defend Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza from the Israeli army. Unfortunately, it seems that this cannot be achieved because of the veto power of the United States in the Security Council.

Two major international events for peace that had been scheduled for May and June were cancelled or postponed this month, and, as a result, civil society has taken up the initiatives.

We are referring to the high level meeting between the Presidents of the United States and North Korea that had been scheduled for June 12 and the United Nations High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament that was scheduled to open on May 14.

In Korea, the Nobel Women’s Initiative joined with thousands of Korean women, north and south, to call for an end to the Korean War, reunification of families and women’s leadership in the peace process. They held international peace symposiums in Pyongyang and Seoul where they listened to Korean women and shared experiences and ideas of mobilizing women to bring an end to war and violent conflict. And on May 24, International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament, along with 1200 Korean women, they successfully crossed the 2-mile wide De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) that separates millions of Korean families as a symbolic act of peace.

As readers of CPNN know from the bulletins of July, August and November, 2017, the proposal for a United Nations High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament was a followup to the landmark UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons. The Conference was supported by the nations of the Non-Aligned Movement. However, it seems that pressure from the nuclear states has forced them to withdraw their sponsorship and postpone the conference. It seems now that it may never take place.

Although the Conference is not taking place, many organizations are taking up the cause for nuclear disarmament. In CPNN this month, we carry articles about initiatives by the World Medical Association, by women parliamentarians from around the world, by local activists at one of the largest American nuclear facilities and by the American Campaign for Compliance with the Nuclear Ban Treaty.

The Council of the World Medical Association, with delegates from almost 40 national medical associations, meeting in Latvia, expressed their strong concern about the growing threat of nuclear war and spoke about the catastrophic consequences of these weapons on human health and the environment. They urged all states to promptly sign and implement the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

49 women parliamentarians from around the world, under the auspices of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, have issued an appeal, Common security for a sustainable and nuclear-weapon-free world. They come from Kazakhstan, Marshall Islands, Austria, Australia, Switzerland, Finland, Canada, Germany, Portugal, New Zealand, Sweden, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Jordan, UK, Norway, USA, Mexico, Chile and Costa Rica.

In Oak Ridge, Tennessee, one of the largest nuclear production facilities in the United States, local activists have raised enough money for a lawsuit to stop a new nuclear processing plant. At the same time they have carried their message against nuclear weapons to international meetings and to the United Nations.

The American Campaign for Compliance with the Nuclear Ban Treaty is mobilizing the civil society at all levels, individuals, businesses, faith communities, schools, organizations, cities and states to be in ‘compliance’ with the Nuclear Ban Treaty. Their goal is to put pressure on the nuclear weapons industry and eventually force the federal government to sign and implement the Nuclear Ban Treaty.

Finally, at another level, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has announced a new initiative for disarmament, focusing on three priorities – weapons of mass destruction, conventional weapons, and new battlefield technologies. Hopefully, the pressure for disarmament and peace coming from both above and below the level of the state will be able to push through some progress.