The Contribution of Gabon to UNESCO and the Culture of Peace

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Excerpt from the website of the Gabon Review (translation by CPNN)

Drawing on his experience as a former actor in cooperation between Gabon and UNESCO, Juste Joris Tindy-Poaty takes stock of Gabonese initiatives in three key areas: the appropriation of international scientific programs, the implementation of the Program for the Management of Social Transformations (MOST), and the contribution to the Action Plan for a Culture of Peace in Africa. His analysis offers a unique perspective on Gabon’s past achievements and proposes concrete avenues for consolidating its diplomatic position within this international organization. . . .


Doctor Juste Joris Tindy-Poaty, Assistant Professor in Philosophy, Former Secretary General of the Gabonese National Commission for UNESCO (2011-2015). © DR

On the eve of the 43rd session of the General Conference, which could (we fervently hope) confirm the election of one of our own, in the person of Ambassador Noël Nelson Messone, to the post of Director-General of UNESCO, we intend to provide here some answers to the following question: what has been Gabon’s presence at UNESCO to date and what could this presence be beyond? It is as a former actor in our country’s cooperation with UNESCO that we authorize ourselves to make this contribution. . . .

The national contribution to the implementation of the “Action Plan for a Culture of Peace in Africa/Let’s Act for Peace”

Designed to call for the creation of a “Continental and Sustainable Movement for Peace”, the “Action Plan for a Culture of Peace in Africa/Let’s Act for Peace” was adopted at the end of the Pan-African Forum “Sources and Resources for a Culture of Peace”, organized jointly with the Angolan Government, UNESCO and the African Union, in Luanda (Angola), from 26 to 28 March 2013. The objective of this forum, which eventually became a Biennale of the Culture of Peace [2] , was “to draw on the sources of inspiration and the potential of the continent’s cultural, natural and human resources to identify concrete courses of action to build sustainable peace, understood as the cornerstone of endogenous development and Pan-Africanism.”

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

Question related to this article:

The Luanda Biennale: What is its contribution to a culture of peace in Africa?

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Represented at the Pan-African Forum in Luanda in 2013, and as such a stakeholder in the implementation of the action plan calling for the creation of a “continental and sustainable movement for peace”, Gabon immediately worked to contribute to the creation, under the aegis of UNESCO and the AU, of a certain number of networks of civil society organizations in Africa and the Diaspora, namely: (i) the “Network of foundations and research institutions for the promotion of a culture of peace in Africa” (September 2013); the “Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace” (December 2014) and the “Pan-African Women’s Network for the Culture of Peace and Sustainable Development” (June 2018). Made up of more than 50 organizations, including UNESCO chairs, the first network has its permanent secretariat provided by the “Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research”, and its headquarters is therefore based in Côte d’Ivoire, more precisely in Yamoussoukro. Initiatives of Gabon, the other two networks have their respective headquarters in Libreville.

The “Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace”, made up of about 60 organizations, including National Youth Councils, was formalized at the end of the Pan-African Forum “African Youth and the Challenge of Promoting a Culture of Peace” organized from 11 to 13 December, jointly by the Omar Bongo Ondimba Foundation for Peace, Science, Culture and the Environment and the Gabonese National Commission for UNESCO with the support of UNESCO and the participation of the AU. The general objective of this forum was to mobilize and unite African youth, particularly through a number of representative field structures, with a view to promoting a culture of peace in Africa. Since its creation, the “Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace” has been involved in all major initiatives involving youth organized by UNESCO, not only in the sub-region, but also at the continental level, including the now traditional youth forum, one of the institutionalized segments of the “Luanda Biennale. Pan-African Forum for Culture”.

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Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Israeli General Strike Protests Netanyahu’s ‘Cabinet of Death’

. . HUMAN RIGHTS . .

An article by Jake Johnson from Common Dreams

Workers across Israel walked off the job and took to the streets on Monday to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to agree to a cease-fire and hostage-release deal after Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six people who were held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Teachers, local government employees, transit workers, and others took part in the strike, which halted departures from Israel’s largest airport, shut down universities and shopping malls, and disrupted the flow of traffic as outraged Israelis blocked roads.


Israelis gather in the center of Tel Aviv on September 2, 2024 to demand a hostage-release agreement. (Photo: Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The strike was called by Histadrut, Israel’s largest trade union. Arnon Bar-David, the union’s chairman, said  ahead of the action that “this is not a matter of right or left; it is a matter of life and death.”

“All the heads of the security establishment support the deal, and it is the government’s responsibility to bring our hostages home,” he continued. “It is inconceivable that our children will not return because of narrow considerations and interests.”

Yair Lapid, Israel’s opposition leader, expressed support for the strike, saying  that “Netanyahu and the cabinet of death decided not to save” the six hostages whose bodies were recovered from Rafah. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Sunday that Hamas fighters killed the hostages, including Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

Hamas said in a statement  that “we hold the criminal terrorist Benjamin Netanyahu and the biased American administration responsible for the failure of the negotiations to stop the aggression against our people and to release the prisoners in an exchange.”

“We also hold him fully responsible for the lives of the prisoners who were killed by his army’s bullets,” Hamas added.

The IDF’s announcement Sunday intensified the fury that hostages’ families and much of Israeli society have directed at Netanyahu, who has repeatedly sabotaged cease-fire talks  with hardline demands in recent weeks. Israeli officials believe around 100 hostages remain in captivity in Gaza, including roughly 35 who are believed to be dead.

At least some of the hostages have been killed by Israeli forces. In April, Hamas released a brief video  in which Goldberg-Polin appealed to the Netanyahu government for a cease-fire agreement and said at least 70 hostages had been killed in IDF attacks.

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Question related to this article:

How can war crimes be documented, stopped, punished and prevented?

How can a culture of peace be established in the Middle East?

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B’Tselem, an Israeli advocacy organization, said in a statement  Sunday that “the six Israeli hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza this morning could have been saved if the Israeli government had heeded the pleas of their families and the Israeli public to reach a cease-fire and an exchange deal.”

“The Israeli government places no value on human life—whether of its Gazan subjects or of its own citizens,” the group added.

Labor unions in the United States—Israel’s main ally and weapons supplier—expressed solidarity with Israeli workers who walked off the job Monday, with American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten applauding  “this action to halt Israel’s economy to send a message to the Netanyahu government to end this war.”

“We are devastated by the murder of the six innocent hostages by Hamas, young people, most of whom were at the Nova dance festival,” said Weingarten. “But it is unconscionable that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has refused to seal a cease-fire deal with Hamas that would bring the hostages home and end the humanitarian crisis of Gaza. We have called for an end to this war since January. In Netanyahu’s obstinance, he has refused to listen, even to his own military and security experts.”

The strike kicked off amid reports that the U.S. “has been talking to Egypt and Qatar about the contours of a final ‘take it or leave it’ deal that it plans to present to the parties in the coming weeks,” according to The Washington Post.

“Biden officials said it was not immediately clear whether the discovery of the six hostages would make it more or less likely that Israel and Hamas could come to an agreement in the coming weeks,” the Post added.

Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill noted  Sunday that “rather than insisting on upholding what [U.S. President Joe] Biden said was Israel’s own proposal in May, the U.S. has appeased Netanyahu’s efforts to allow an indefinite presence of Israeli forces in Gaza and an open-ended campaign of military attacks.”

Update:

The chairman of Histadrut, Israel’s largest trade union, instructed workers  to return to their jobs following an order by an Israeli court to end the general strike on Monday afternoon.

(Editor’s notes:

In a related development on August 31, “in Tel Aviv, tens of thousands of demonstrators, including relatives of those held hostage in Gaza, gathered at the Hostages Square for a rally demanding their loved ones’ return and pled with the prime minister and negotiating team to reach an agreement before time runs out.”

A list of businesses affected by the general strike has been published by the Times of Israel.)

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HUMAN RIGHTS, Mideast

Peace Day in San Francisco, A milestone in Cultivating a Culture of Peace

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Special to CPNN from David Wick*

“As you think, so you become”, is an ancient and timeless message for humanity. A similar wake-up call is expressed in the preamble of UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization). “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.” Both the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, and the UN International Day of Peace are dedicated to assisting humanity in consciously living this reality.

The United Nations in a series of resolutions and programs for the 21st Century, called for a transition from the culture of war to a culture of peace. In 1999 the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace (A/RES/53/243). During the International Year for the Culture of Peace in the Year 2000, one percent of the world’s population (75 million people) took part in the signature campaign on the Manifesto 2000.

Pathways To Peace (PTP) is an international Peacebuilding, educational, and consulting organization. For over four decades, PTP has been actively making Peace a lived reality. PTP is a UN-designated Peace Messenger Organization and has Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). PTP works locally and globally, inter-generationally and multi-culturally, to support Peacebuilding, Peacebuilders, and to collaborate with other organizations in initiatives that advance the Culture of Peace.

Since its inception in 1981, Pathways To Peace has worked with the UN to expand awareness of and engage in the International Day of Peace (Peace Day), which is held annually on September 21. Peace Day has grown from a single event of a few hundred people in San Francisco on September 18, 1984, into a global movement that reaches hundreds of millions to billions of people. Peace Day provides a globally shared date for all humanity to commit to Peace above all differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace. For Pathways To Peace, the overarching mission is cultivating a Culture of Peace for all of humanity with the International Day of Peace serving as a day for all nations and people to honor a cessation of hostilities, and to commemorate Peace Day through all means of education and communication.
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Question(s) related to this article:

What is happening this year (2024) for the International Day of Peace?

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The sound of silence reverberated at high noon in every time zone across the globe on September 18, 1984, as it rode a PeaceWave launched from San Francisco.

On that day, Pathways To Peace (PTP) coordinated a Peace Day in San Francisco (the birthplace of the UN) to celebrate the first large-scale, civil society organized, International Day of Peace. As the PeaceWave circled the globe that first year, citizens from 52 countries responded to the invitation from San Francisco to participate in the celebration of the International Day of Peace.

Those numbers have grown exponentially over the past 40 years. This year, organizers are expecting upwards of three billion people to observe the noon minute of silence and to participate in peace building events held in over 200 countries. Major international cities such as Geneva, Hiroshima, and New York will join San Francisco in livestreaming their Peace Day events to a global audience, with more cities to be announced in the weeks to come.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first United Nations International Day of Peace gathering and the launch of the PeaceWave from The City by the Bay, Pathways To Peace is hosting the Peace Day gathering at the Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco this September 21, 10:30 am – 4:00 pm PDT. Tezikiah Gabriel, Executive Director of PTP, said, “As it was 40 years ago, the purpose of the Peace Day initiative is to foster cooperation at all levels of our local-global communities and to demonstrate the difference each individual, group, organization, or nation makes when acting in concert with one another… enough of a difference to change the course of history!”

Additional information can be found on Pathways to Peace . If you cannot attend in person please register to join us online for the Live Global Broadcast at ptp.events/broadcast and join in virtually.

Our shared goal of cultivating a Culture of Peace is doable and right before us. As international futurist and past President of the Institute of Noetic Sciences Willis Harman said, “Perhaps the only limits to the human mind are those we believe in.”

* David Wick is the President of Pathways To Peace and Executive Director of the Ashland Culture of Peace Commission.

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FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, North America

English bulletin September 1, 2024

CULTURE OF PEACE IN THE NEWS

The culture of peace has been headlined in several recent news reports.

The first was in June when the United Nations announced that the theme of this year’s International Day of Peace is “cultivating a culture of peace.” The announcement began “This year marks the 25th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace.” The Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted in 1999, not only defines the culture of peace in terms of eight principal characteristics, but also provides programmatic proposals for their achievement.

The second came on August 2 when the UN General Assembly held its annual High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace. Here, too, there were many references to the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, for which this is the 25th anniversary.

A high-point of the forum was the presentation by the European Union, which said that it “expresses its full support for the Culture of Peace agenda. . . The Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace with its eight pillars remains as valid today as it was in 1999. . . the European Union fully agrees that we must cultivate and nurture a Culture of Peace for present and future generations. . . . To conclude, Mr President, you can count on the EU’s full commitment to contribute to the effective implementation of the UN Culture of Peace agenda.”

The third came on August 11, when the President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach said the following in his speech addressing the athletes at the Closing Ceremony:

“During all this time, you lived peacefully together under one roof in the Olympic Village. You embraced each other. You respected each other, even if your countries are divided by war and conflict. You created a culture of peace. . . . We know that the Olympic Games cannot create peace. But the Olympic Games can create a culture of peace that inspires the world. This is why I call on everyone who shares this Olympic spirit: let us live this culture of peace every single day.”

The culture of peace will continue to be in the news throughout the month of September as the International Day of Peace is celebrated around the world. An example comes from San Francisco, where a major, day-long celebration is planned by Pathways to Peace to be held in the central plaza and broadcast internationally.

The culture of peace is not mentioned specifically, but in fact the recent statements of the great expert on conflict resolution, John Paul Lederach, indicate that the only way to avoid a civil war in the United States, with its momentous consequences, is to carry out the following actions which are essential to a culture of peace:

“1. We need to reach beyond our isolated bubbles and open conversations with the perceived enemies in our communities.

2. We have to rehumanize our adversaries; We must have the courage to confront dehumanizing language and behavior, especialy when it comes from within our closest circles.

3. We need to stick with it. We can’t just pull away when difficult issues emerge.”

The explicit high-level references to the culture of peace, as well the urgency for culture of peace actions at this moment of history, make it seem more likely that the answer is positive for the question posed at the end of last month’s bulletin:

“Twenty four years ago there was a powerful pressure for peace in the 75 million people who signed the Manifesto 2000 during the International Year for the Culture of Peace. Has the time come when we need a new manifesto, like the Manifesto 2025 proposed in our most recent blog?”

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION



The Olympic Games and the Culture of Peace

HUMAN RIGHTS



Rev. Al Sharpton: Jesse Jackson Helped Reshape Democratic Party & Paved Way for Kamala Harris

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT



Major Power Milestone’: US Green Groups Cheer Wind, Solar Overtaking Coal

WOMEN’S EQUALITY



UN Women: Interview with Hawa Yokie on youth-led innovation in Sierra Leone
  

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY



Youth Summit on Peace and Sustainable Future Wraps Up Successful Week in Montpellier, France

EDUCATION FOR PEACE



Uruguay: The book Culture of Peace

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY



Hiroshima Peace Declaration 2024

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION



Statement by the European Union to the United Nations High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace
d-information, d-united nations

Uruguay: The book Culture of Peace

. EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from ANEP, Dirección General de Educación Inicial y Primaria (translation by CPNN)

Next Friday, August 9, in the Amphitheater of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, starting at 6:00 p.m., the book Culture of Peace will be presented, a work of support for teachers, educators, students and citizens who promote Human Rights.

Download the book here

The present edition of this book is a modest contribution from the Movement of Educators for Peace for the daily work of teachers, educators and student teachers.

(Click here for the original Spanish version).

Question for this article:

Culture of peace curricula: what are some good examples?

Promoting a culture of peace requires a set of knowledge and supportive attitudes and behaviors depends upon this basis. It is a collective construction that develops in the dynamic relationship between theory and practice in which the student and the educator are conceived as subjects of learning and teaching integrated within an educational community.

The different forms of violence that permeate our society are also expressed in institutions, but we have the opportunity to select and reproduce those that contribute to a culture of peace.

The educational institution that is based on the principles of a culture of peace constitutes the best environment for balanced and respectful personal relationships.

Learning and teaching in these conditions become a rewarding and productive effort that allows the integral development of the student and the educator. Therefore, educating in a culture of peace is not an additional effort that is demanded of educators but rather an aid to facilitate and make their pedagogical work more consistent.

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EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Youth Summit on Peace and Sustainable Future Wraps Up Successful Week in Montpellier, France

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

A press release from Open PR

The Institute of Public Policy, and Diplomacy Research (IPPDR) today announced the conclusion of its Youth Summit on Peace and a Sustainable Future, which took place from July 22 to 26, 2024, in Montpellier, France. The Summit was hosted by Montpellier Mayor Michael Delafosse and Dr. Andrise Bass, Founder of The Institute of Public Policy and Diplomacy Research. Also attending and mentoring were Prince Jean Louis Bingna, Dr. Bruno Mpondo-Epo, and Hawa Taylor-Kamara Diallo from the IBTK Foundation, which was founded to inform students about public policy as it pertains to the international community.

“The message from the Summit was unequivocal, ‘This is our time, this is our day, this is our future,'” said Dr. Bass. “The young people implore those with influence to ‘Help us lead, because we are ready to be leaders.'”

The Summit provided a platform for young people from more than forty countries to explore and debate the merits of issues related to global peace and sustainability. Views and conclusions about what actions should be taken were decided upon by the students, and the findings will directly contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions).

Summit participants were expected to understand, clarify, and give legitimacy to the young people’s voices and opinions regarding the greater global conversation. Lively discussions around peace and sustainability were the most interesting topics that aligned with guidelines of the United Nations’ Security Council Resolution 2250, which was adopted in 2015. Resolution 2250’s encourages member nations to set up mechanisms to enable young people to participate meaningfully in peace processes and dispute resolution.

Delegates collaborated and made recommendations meant to strengthen youth participation in the peace building movement, and the young people advocated for an observation role at the UN Security Council. Because the younger generation will inherit what their elders leave, or do not leave them, it was critical to ensure that that their voices would be heard.

(Click here for an article in French on this subject)

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

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Those attending the event look to people in the highest levels of government and industry to examine the ramifications of decision-making, which affects the globe along with everything on it and in it.

The Institute of Public Policy and Diplomacy Research is a not-for-profit organization that focuses on human rights, public policy, sustainable development, human trafficking awareness, diplomacy protocol, leadership etiquettes and peacebuilding The organization offers hybrid courses on a range of topics, including:

– Diplomatic protocol

– National security

– Finance and economics

– Consular affairs

– Etiquette and acceptable behavior

– Employment

– Regulations

The summit concluded with the young attendees publishing a Declaration on peace and the sustainable future that will be shared with the Secretary General of the United Nations. The ambitious Declaration, representing the youth of more than 40 countries, seeks to include youth in the worldwide peacemaking process and efforts to build sustainable societies.

Bass commented, “As we ended the Summit, we all felt that it was not an ending, but rather a beginning. The momentum continues. Young people were so passionate regarding insights and recommendations going forward that will be presented to global leaders.”

For more information visit www.ippdr.org [http://www.ippdr.org/]
Media Contact
Company Name: The Institute of Public Policy, and Diplomacy Research
Contact Person: Media Relations
Email: Send Email [http://www.universalpressrelease.com/?pr=youth-summit-on-peace-and-sustainable-future-wraps-up-successful-week-in-montpellier-france]
Country: France
Website: http://www.ippdr.org

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Europe, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

UN Women: Interview with Hawa Yokie on youth-led innovation in Sierra Leone

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from UN Women

We live in a rapidly digitizing world, with over 67 per cent of the global population using the internet as of this year. Digital technologies and data have a critical role in fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals – the global blueprint for people and the planet – and as “digital natives”, young people are at the forefront of adopting and innovating with new technologies.  Worldwide, 79 per cent of people aged between 15 and 24 use the internet, significantly more than the rest of the population (65 per cent, as of 2023.)


Hawa Yokie spoke as a youth panellist at an event during the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN Headquarters in New York. Photo: UN Women/Catianne Tijerina

On International Youth Day (12 August), marked under the theme, “From Clicks to Progress: Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development”, UN Women spoke to Hawa Yokie, member of the UN Women Generation Equity Youth Task Force and the co-founder and CEO of the Kamara Yokie Innovation Center in Sierra Leone. The first of its kind in Sierra Leone, the Innovation Center offers a safe, multicultural space for young people to learn digital technologies.

From youth-led community development to innovation and technology

Hawa Yokie was always curious about how things worked. Although her family wanted her to study law, she was interested in science and technology. She sneaked into the computer lab in school and taught herself computer skills.

“I’ve always wanted to see how I can create change and make an impact in my community,” said 24-year old Yokie from her home town, Kenema.

As part of a community development service group that visited rural communities in Sierra Leone and talked to young people about issues that affected them, Yokie had first-hand information about what young people needed.  

Soon after completing high school, during one of her visits to a village near Kenema, she discovered that most of the girls had dropped out of school and were pregnant or had already given birth. One of the challenges that the girls highlighted to Yokie was the lack of electricity to study.

“In rural communities where there is no access to electricity, girls get limited time to study at night [because they have to do household chores during the day], leading to low performance in school and ultimately dropping out of school,” she explained.

Thus started Yokie’s innovation journey. She started researching and teaching herself about renewal energy. With the help of a mentor, she learned about solar energy and created a new technology – SolWind – which combined solar and wind energy to generate electricity for the community.

“We were able to power 50 houses there,” shared Yokie.

A centre for learning digital technology and innovation

When Yokie went to the university in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, she realized that many young people didn’t know how to use a computer. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she saw her peers struggle to adapt to online classes.

Witnessing their challenge, Yokie started computer literacy classes for students in the university, and from there, she moved on to teaching and inspiring younger children.

“So we went to schools and started teaching kids computer literacy, coding and programming,” said Yokie. Recognizing the importance of inspiring young minds, Yokie and her friends launched a campaign in 2021 – STEM for Us by Us. The campaign connected people working in STEM fields with young people interested in STEM careers.

In 2023, together with her friend Abu Kamara, Yokie launched the Kamara Yokie Innovation Center – a first-ever in Sierra Leone – a safe space by and for young people to learn digital technologies.  

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Questions for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

(Article continued from left column)

“By then, we had already established 15 STEM clubs [through the STEM for Us campaign] and had impacted over 5,000 young students across Sierra Leone,” said Yokie.

The Kamara Yokie Innovation Center works directly with schools and communities and teaches an array of skills – from digital literacy to computer programming, robotics, electronics, 3D design, and drone technology.

The Center then encourages the students to innovate and problem-solve. “We have had students who learned drone technology and are using it to map out safety issues during the rainy season [when it floods], and show environmental degradation and sanitation issues. And, we have had students who used hydroponics for agriculture,” said Yokie.

The organization also helps students get funding to implement the solutions in their schools and communities.

How digital tools enhance learning for youth

“What we do at the Center, the digital tools that we have, have really impacted these kids,” said Yokie. “They have helped them use their imagination and learn in an easy and fun way.” She claims that the children who come to the Center perform exceptionally well in school.

When asked what digital skills are especially relevant for young people in the country, Yokie said computer skills and digital literacy were a priority for young people in Sierra Leone, along with coding and programming skills, 3-D design and robotics.

For Yokie, the future is digital, and she wants young people in Sierra Leone prepared to seize the opportunities.

Gender stereotypes and the importance of mentorship for girls in technology

“I couldn’t study science. What if my parents had allowed me to pursue science, where would I have been today,” wonders Yokie.
The prevalent gender norms and stereotypes limited Yokie’s education choices as a young girl. Her parents wanted her to study law, instead of science.

“When we were doing the solar installation, we had to climb up the roof. Someone told me: ‘You should not climb on top of a roof to do installation. That’s a man’s job’.”

Yokie and thousands of girls and young women around the world are battling such stereotypes every day. And for them, mentorship matters.

“There are only a few women in tech in Sierra Leone that I know of,” said Yokie. “Mentorship is really important, and to have mentors believe in what you’re doing and supporting you… it really changed my life.”

With 70 per cent of their programmes focusing on girls, the Kamara Yokie Innovation Center aims to improve access to digital learning for girls and also offers them mentorship.

“One of the biggest challenges that I face is access to funding,” said Yokie. “It’s hard [to find] funding for women-led organizations.”

African youth-led solutions to problems

Hawa Yokie dreams big. She wants to create even more impact.

“Since 2021 to now, we have been able to impact about 7,000 young students. We want to increase that number. But we also want to reach students and communities across Sierra Leone and even outside of Sierra Leone.”

Her dream is for the Innovation Center to become a solution hub where African youth can design and innovate unique solutions for the problems that communities across Africa are facing.

“For Africa, it’s good if we innovate in our culture, create technologies that work for us instead of copying what other countries is doing.”

Message for the International Youth Day

“Technology is here to stay. We need to use technology as a tool to create impact and reach places so that our voices are heard. We need to use tech for good.”

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Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

‘Major Power Milestone’: US Green Groups Cheer Wind, Solar Overtaking Coal

.. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ..

An article by Jessica Corbett from Common Dreams licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

U.S. climate advocates this week are celebrating new federal data  that show wind and solar have generated more power than coal during the first seven months of 2024 and are on track to do so for the entire calendar year.


A wind farm is show in front of mountains at sunset. (Photo: Mickey Strider/Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

“This is the kind of news we like to see!” Food & Water Watch said  of the data on social media Tuesday. “Ensuring a livable climate for all depends on us making a swift and just transition to clean energy like wind and solar.”

The group shared reporting from E&E News, which noted that “the milestone had been long expected due to a steady stream of coal plant retirements and the rapid growth of wind and solar. Last year, wind and solar outpaced coal through May  before the fossil fuel eventually overtook the pair when power demand surged in the summer.”

“Renewables’ growth has been driven by a surge in solar production over the last year,” the news outlet continued. “The 118 terawatt-hours generated by utility-scale solar facilities through the end of July represented a 36% increase from the same time period last year, according to preliminary U.S. Energy Information Administration figures. Wind production was 275 TWh, up 8% over 2023 levels. Renewables’ combined production of 393 TWh outpaced coal generation of 388 TWh.”

Sierra Club  executive director Ben Jealous said  in a statement Wednesday that “wind and solar energy has long been the most cost-effective choice for utilities, but now it has also outpaced coal generation as the top source of energy, further demonstrating that clean energy is critical to a reliable and affordable grid.”

“This historic milestone marks a significant win for clean energy advocates, for ratepayers, and for people and communities across the country that simply want to breathe clean air, drink safe water, and worry less about climate disasters like floods and wildfires,” Jealous continued.

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Question for this article:

Are we making progress in renewable energy?

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“For decades, the Sierra Club has fought to move America Beyond Coal  and onto a clean, reliable, and affordable grid,” he added. “To date, the Beyond Coal campaign has secured the retirement of 385 coal plants and counting, and on August 16th, we celebrate the two-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, which made historic investments in clean energy and clean energy jobs. Together, families across the country are saving money, enjoying good paying jobs, breathing clean air, and drinking safe water.”

Along with celebrating the federal legislation signed in 2022 by President Joe Biden, Sierra Club highlighted a state law signed the previous year by Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.

“Illinoisans should be proud of the work we’ve done to close our largest coal plants and leverage the power of clean energy to drive economic growth while reducing pollution that’s harmful to public health and our planet,” said Jack Darin, director of the Sierra Club’s state chapter. “Thanks to the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act of 2021, Illinois workers are now building the clean energy that is replacing old, dirty fossil fuels and bringing a brighter future to communities across our state.”

Celebrations over the “major power milestone” come as Americans prepare for a November presidential election in which Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz—who are endorsed by a range of climate groups—are set to face former Big Oil-backed former Republican President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).

During an April event in Florida, Trump told fossil fuel executives that if they invested just $1 billion into his campaign, he would gut the Biden-Harris administration’s climate regulations. The Washington Post reported  Tuesday that billionaire Continental Resources founder then “called other oil executives and encouraged them to attend fundraisers and open their wallets.”

While Hamm is reportedly sharing Big Oil’s priorities with the Trump-Vance team, their approach can be summed up by a phrase they’ve said on the campaign trail: “drill, baby, drill.”

Although the Republican candidates have tried to distance themselves by the Heritage Foundation-led Project 2025, the right-wing policy agenda—crafted by many Trump allies—has also alarmed climate campaigners.

Noting the new energy data, Antonia Juhasz, a senior researcher on fossil fuels at Human Rights Watch, said  Tuesday: “This transformation is due in large part to federal government policy which has specifically incentivized renewable energy development and deployment and increased regulation on the harms of fossil fuels. All of which are specifically targeted for removal in Project 2025.”

As Common Dreams reported  earlier Wednesday, an analysis from the think tank Energy Innovation shows that a GOP administration implementing the Project 2025 plan would increase U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2.7 billion metric tons by 2030 compared to the current trajectory.

North America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Rev. Al Sharpton: Jesse Jackson Helped Reshape Democratic Party & Paved Way for Kamala Harris

. HUMAN RIGHTS .

An article from Democracy Now licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Reverend Jesse Jackson, the civil rights icon who worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr., ran for president twice, in 1984 and 1988, and founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, is expected to appear on stage on the opening night of this year’s Democratic National Convention. We play footage of an event held Sunday in Chicago to honor Jesse Jackson, which featured fellow civil rights activist Al Sharpton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, among many other speakers.


frame from video of the event. Jackson is in the front row, right center

“We learned at his feet,” Sharpton said of Jackson’s impact on civil rights activism. “Every time a Black [person] opens their mouth and talks about democracy, Jesse Jackson is talking. Every time we march, Jesse Jackson is walking. And when you see Kamala Harris get on that stage this week, Jesse Jackson is on that stage.”

Transcript

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, “War, Peace and the Presidency: Breaking with Convention.” I’m Amy Goodman, here with Juan González.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, on Sunday, hundreds of people gathered here in Chicago to honor civil rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson, the founder of Rainbow PUSH Coalition. In the 1960s, Jackson worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In 1984 and ’88, Jackson ran two groundbreaking presidential campaigns.

AMY GOODMAN: Reverend Jesse Jackson is expected to appear on stage tonight at the DNC. In 2017, he announced he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. On Sunday, the Reverend Al Sharpton praised Jackson as Jackson sat in the front row in a wheelchair, hundreds of people around him, family and friends. He praised Jackson for transforming the Democratic Party. This is the Reverend Al Sharpton.

REV. AL SHARPTON: I became a youth organizer under Reverend Jackson when I was 12 years old in New York. Many people do not understand the magnitude of what Jesse Jackson has done for this country. When Martin Luther King was killed in 1968, there was the vacuum of what was going to happen to the movement. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Some of the ministers, even though I was a young minister, seemed like they were not connected to what was going on in the urban North. Jesse Jackson came from the South but organized in Chicago and knew how to organize in urban centers. There would not have been a continuation of that movement had Jesse Jackson not bridged that gap and started fighting for collective economics at that time.

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Questions related to this article:

The struggle for human rights, is it gathering force in the USA?

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Way before we started talking about corporate accountability, he was boycotting Fortune 500 companies, dealing with the economic policy, dealing with the exploitation of the poor. He became a national figure holding corporate America accountable. What people are doing now was started by Jesse Louis Jackson.

But directly, as they start the Democratic convention on tomorrow, let me just talk about his historic reshaping of the party. In 1983, he started saying a Black should run for president. There was, in 1972, the Gary, Indiana, convention, National Black Political Convention. There was the fights between the Black nationalists and those that were in elective office. Reverend tried to bridge that. It led all the way to ’83. He went around the country trying to get certain Blacks to run. In the middle of him doing that, he started a Southern voting crusade. As he was on the bus going through Mississippi, through Louisiana, registering voters, people started saying, “You should run, Jesse.” And we started to chant, “Run, Jesse, run!” Most of the Black elected officials didn’t see it. He ran anyway. And he ran and won many of those primaries, and he put us on the agenda, saying, “Our time has come.” …

It’s a remarkable career to be born in the Deep South, in the back of the bus, and to grow into being a world figure that literally changed the political structures as we knew it, put two of his sons in Congress — Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., who’s a constitutional scholar, Jonathan Jackson now — reshaped the civil rights movement. What we’re doing now with civil rights organization, we learned at his feet.

Let me end by saying there’s some people that say that it’s sad Reverend Jackson, from Parkinson’s, can’t walk like he used to and talk like he used to. But I want you to know that every time a Black opens their mouth and talk about democracy, Jesse Jackson is talking. Every time we march, Jesse Jackson is walking. And when you see Kamala Harris get on that stage this week, Jesse Jackson is on that stage. He’s sitting there watching the results of his work. There wouldn’t be no us if it wasn’t for him. Thank you, and God bless you.

AMY GOODMAN: That’s the Reverend Al Sharpton honoring the Reverend Jesse Jackson last night here in Chicago at a gathering at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters. Hundreds turned out. Jesse Jackson is expected to appear on stage at the Democratic National Convention tonight. He ran twice for president, in 1984 and 1988.

Democracy Now! is broadcasting two hours each day from the Chicago convention as we cover the DNC from the inside out. In our other hour today, we’ll be talking with Osama Siblani, who runs a newspaper in Dearborn, will talk about the “uncommitted” movement. We’ll also be talking about two men who were imprisoned for over 40 years and then exonerated, what that means. That does it for our show from Chicago, from CAN TV. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

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HUMAN RIGHTS, North America

John Paul Lederach: How a Civil War Can Be Avoided in the United States?

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

A review of The Pocket Guide for Facing Down a Civil War by John Paul Lederach

In this Pocket Guide, internationally renowned peace practitioner John Paul Lederach reflects on his experience across over four decades mediating and transforming conflicts in places including Northern Ireland, Colombia, Nepal, Somalia, South Sudan, Nicaragua, and Tajikistan, among many others. His experiences grant him a unique perspective not only on what precipitates, propels, and sustains violent conflict, but also into key understandings and approaches that help shift dynamics of harm toward practices of social healing.

Screenshot

The Guide is framed to reflect on questions increasingly posed about the likelihood of divisive polarization in the United States leading toward political violence and even civil war. To consider this question, Lederach offers a comparative view. He suggests that despite the tendency in the U.S. to hold to exceptionalism, the country is not exempt from the toxic dynamics that have been faced in other settings where open armed conflict, once unleashed, became nearly impossible to end. In each chapter, Lederach describes a challenging pattern that repeats across contexts and animates toxic polarization and sustained armed conflict. He illustrates these dynamics with stories, observations, and wisdom gathered from his work with local communities and national leaders in places impacted by such toxicity, describing how they faced down and shifted seemingly ceaseless cycles of violence. 

This Pocket Guide does not offer quick fixes. Rather, it explores the way ordinary people resisted and countered patterns of violence in their communities. Their curiosity, persistence, and creative innovation suggest that to face down a civil war and heal long-standing wounds that stoke cycles of violence, people must resist the pull of toxic polarization that legitimates violence as the only option. The challenge is to innovate pockets of vitality that embody the basic idea that politics without violence where we live is possible. Such innovation requires a web of courageous relationships that reach across divides, creating the connective tissue that fosters dignity and respect within, between, and across deep political and cultural difference.

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Question related to this article:
 
How Can a Civil War Be Avoided in the United States?

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In addition to the Pocket Guide, John Paul Lederach has written an op-ed in the Washington Post on this subject.

Based on the analysis above, his op-ed proposes three actions that we should all take:

1. We need to reach beyond our isolated bubbles and open conversations with the perceived enemies in our communities.

2. We have to rehumanize our adversaries; We must have the courage to confront dehumanizing language and behavior, especialy when it comes from within our closest circles.

3. We need to stick with it. We can’t just pull away when difficult issues emerge.

In the article he lists six websites that tell about good initiatives to overcome polarization and develop a peaceful society.

He concludes the op-ed by saying:

The best way to end a civil war is to stop it before it happens.

Will Americans have the courage to nurture these initiatives demonstrating that politics — honest partisan politics — can thrive without violence? I believe we can, and we must.

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(Editor’s note: One is reminded of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi who said that we never have an enemy, what he have are opponents that we have yet to convince. And we should keep trying to convince them. Gandhi went each week to see the English viceroy who ran the occupation of his country, to tell him of the actions he was going to take for liberation, and to try to convince him that liberation was inevitable and that the British should leave and give India its freedom. In one sense he was successful. The British left without need for a violent revolution. But unfortunately, despite Gandhi’s valiant efforts, India was not able to escape an ensuing civil war between Hindus and Muslims that left a million dead and the division of India into three countries based on religious affiliation.)

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DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America