Tag Archives: Latin America

Colombia: The International Youth Congress for Peace

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An article by Juan Valderrama from the Global Campaign for Peace Education

As Election Day arrives, Colombian youth are still demanding answers to the many questions that arise with every event that still comes out to the public sphere. There are at least 3 common topics that articulate the agenda of all candidates in terms of presidential discourses, which brings encountered feelings among Colombian Youth.

That being said, the order of those agendas will most definitely determine the completion of the peace agreement, the cooperation set of rules with the international community, the migration crisis shared with Venezuela, and yet the successful adoption of a culture of peace among all citizens.


Organizers and participants from Fundacion Escuelas de Paz, IPB, and UNOY. (Photo: Fundacion Escuelas de Paz)

Colombia´s youth have already started paving the way, and there are tiny positive steps that continue to pave a way out of the old conflictive situations.

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Question related to this article:

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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One of those tiny steps took place the past 25 of April in Medellin, Colombia.

With participants from Mexico, Argentina and Colombia, The International Youth Congress for Peace gathered around 110 Youth leaders from all political perspectives.

The lead of Fundacion Escuelas de Paz, UNOY and International Peace Bureau Youth, played a crucial role after dialoguing over 4 key areas of common concern: Human Rights, Education and Communication for Peace, Participation in Public Policy, and UNCSR 2250.

All the dialogues held constituted a document, a set of 13th proposals addressed to the Colombian Presidential Candidates, with the hopes to be adopted by the new National Development Agenda (2018-2022).
But more importantly, an opportunity to launch a Youth4Peace Latin Network to support, share, learn and earn knowledge form our own perspectives as responsible citizens for the positive change of today’s glocal world.

The network is continuously and systematically expanding, as most of the leaders consider sharing to be the key aspect to straighten capacity building and resilience in our home countries.

The next step in this process will be the Conference ¨Hablemos de Paz” to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina on July 3-6.

We encourage of all interested youth groups and leaders to participate in the following steps to build the network, straighten existing channels and continue engaged with us on the road to the Summit of Berlin 2019.

In Latin America, agroecology is a deeply political struggle

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Florence Poznanski for Articulação Nacional de Agroecologia (translation by CPNN)

Agroecology is a new model of development based on farming and land use practices in an ecological and common good perspective centered around traditional and popular knowledge and culture. In Brazil, the National Association of Agroecology (ANA) has brought together several hundred farmers’, women’s, artists’ and activists’ organizations over the course of the last fifteen years. Every four years they organize a national meeting of agroecology (RNA) in order to strengthen this network and share the know-how. The fourth edition was held this year between May 31 and June 3 in the city of Belo Horizonte (south-east Brazil) with the theme of the link between the city and the countryside for the production of a healthier diet. In addition to 2000 participants from different regions of Brazil, there were also about fifty people from 14 other countries.


Martin Willaume, Paulo Petersen and Patrícia Candela Orozco. Photos by Lucas Bois

International networks of agroecology

The Catholic Committee against Hunger and Development (CCFD) was one of the participants who made the trip. The French organization has defended the right to land on all continents for more than 50 years. Its presence is due to the institutional support partnership that was signed with ANA in 2016 as part of a global program on ecological transition based on the knowledge of traditional communities. In Latin America, in addition to Brazil, CCFD supports organizations in 10 other countries including Mexico, Peru, Ecuador and Haiti.

“The Latin American experience is of great interest to us because it develops a political approach to agroecology that goes far beyond the sole issue of agriculture. In addition to the debate on organic food production and soil protection, the movement manages to link other central axes such as decent work, gender equality or the struggle for democracy “, explains Martin Willaume of CCFD. “This approach does not exist in other parts of the world, for example in Africa where the movement works in a mainly technical line. We are interested in understanding how this articulation is built to then bring the experience there, “he adds.

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(Click here for the original French version.)

Question for this article:

What is the relation between movements for food sovereignty and the global movement for a culture of peace?

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Willaume reports that there are several agroecological experiences on the continent that intertwine with other political agendas. In Bolivia, for example, agroecology has become a central focus in the process of building indigenous self-government in accordance with the Plurinational State’s legislation. In Peru, the movements build agroecology as a means of fighting against mining, and in Colombia, the agroecological movement combines the issues of the peace process in the struggle.

To face the empires of agribusiness, an international union is needed

Paulo Petersen, member of the ANA Executive Committee, explains how important these international alliances are, especially in the context of Brazil today. “The very nature of agroecology is transversal. If we take the 17 Sustainable Development Goals [adopted by the United Nations], we realize that agroecology covers the majority: climate, water, the fight for gender equality, against poverty, hunger, decent work, etc., “commented Peterson.

Completing Willaume’s reflection on the political dimension of agroecology, he points out that “it is not possible to think agroecology without thinking about the defense of democracy. We are talking about processes that do not correspond to a market logic. Agroecology is linked to the common good. It is a global challenge because the companies we fight are global empires and the answer is more autonomy, more sovereignty to get closer to nature and create new social relationships.”

Peterson explains that several Latin American organizations have contacted the ANA to participate in the RNA and also underlines that these exchanges of knowledge are important to allow the movement to continue to innovate and enrich new ideas. Brazil has a pioneering articulation force on the continent
Among the Latin American representatives was Colombian Patrícia Candela Orozco who went to Brazil to learn about the RNA experience. She represents the Instituto Mayor Campesino (IMCA), located in the Valle del Cauca region, near Cali, an organization that has been working for 57 years with peasant communities.

According to Patrícia, Brazil is a pioneer in the development of agroecology in Latin America. She says she was very impressed with the methodology called “mystic”, which is developed with music, theater and poetry. This is used to welcome meeting participants, to celebrate victories, to strengthen struggles or to introduce or contextualize debates in diverse spaces, in addition to fostering greater interaction with and among participants. “The fact of adding the spiritual part of the people gives more strength to the messages of that struggle. If each one lives this message inside of himself, he will be able to transmit it more easily to the rest of the people”, she says.

The broad participation in the fourth ENA was another point that impressed Candela. In Colombia, the IMCA was involved in the construction of the first national farmers’ meeting, which took place in 2017 and involved various civil society organizations. Patrícia highlights how difficult it is to hold an event of this size. The Brazilian experience in the ENA left her inspired.

(Thank you to Kiki Chauvin, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

Mexico: Invitation to study the Master of Science for Peace

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from El Pulso del Estado de México

With the aim of contributing to the construction of a culture of peace in the educational communities of the State of Mexico, the Ministry of Education, through the Universidad Mexiquense del Bicentenario and the Council for School Coexistence, invites those interested in participating in the admission process for the Master of Science in Peace, school year 2018-2019.


This educational program is based on the formative lines of Conflict Transformation and Peaceful Coexistence in Educational Contexts, Gender Perspective for Security, Development and Sustainable Peace, as well as Public Policies and Citizen Participation for Human Rights and Peace.

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(Click here for the original article in Spanish)

Questions for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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Graduates can enroll, preferably in areas related to education, social sciences, human rights and humanities, and the educational program will last four semesters, plus an additional one to complete the terminal work and obtain the degree.

The admission process consists of: information session on June 23; pre-registrations from June 25 to July 6; interviews from July 9 to 13; English exam on July 14; issue of results on August 8; registration for the first semester from August 13 to 17; propaedeutic course on August 18; beginning of the postgraduate course on August 24.

The delivery of documentation, entry procedure and definition of venue for the classes will be carried out in the facilities of the Higher Studies Unit Lerma of the Universidad Mexiquense del Bicentenario, located at Av. Industria Poniente s / n, Industrial and Technological Park Doña Rosa, Lerma, State of Mexico, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

For more information, interested parties can consult the sites: www.umb.edomex.gob.mx, www.convive.edomex.gob.mx, as well as write to the email: investigación@umb.mx or call 01-728- 284-7310 ext. 134

Mexico: Tlalnepantla Continues Work to Eradicate Gender Violence

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from Ordenador

To raise awareness among citizens about the importance of eradicating gender violence and promoting a culture of peace throughout the municipal territory, the Tlalnepantla government continues to carry out activities of comprehensive attention to women, including a variety of services.

Each month the Municipal Institute for Women’s Equality and Development (IMIDM) carries out an average of 12 days of activities in various communities to prevent more women from being victims of some type of violence.


At their stands, attendees are given information on this topic, and it is expected that they in turn replicate this knowledge among their families and neighbors, to detect situations of violence in their communities.

During conferences, psychologists specialized in this subject offer a talk in which they teach the definition of violence and how to detect it; what is the gender violence alert, and what is the cycle of violence. Attendees are provided with emergency numbers to be called in case of violence.

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(Click here for the original in Spanish.)

Question for this article

Protecting women and girls against violence, Is progress being made?

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After the presentation, attendees have the opportunity to participate in a “Workshop to promote self-employment”, which is carried out free of charge, with the purpose of empowering women to generate their own economic resources to access a better quality of life.

Among the activities carried out in this workshop, crafts are taught for the preparation of candy, bags, baskets, portraits and key rings, as well as the manufacture of products for cleaning the home, which can then be marketed to obtain additional income

Those interested in participating in this workshop should contact the IMIDM, gather a group of at least 25 people and have an adequate space for the preparation of food.

It is worth mentioning that these days are carried out in coordination with the Municipal Health Institute and with the Municipal DIF System, which is why services such as eye examinations, pressure collection and vital signs, dental check, among others, are also available.

For his part, Edgar Mauricio Zepeda Montes, a resident of Santa Monica, acknowledged that this type of conference serves to raise awareness among people about gender violence and the way in which it harms the development of society.

Monica Bribiesca Barrera, from Valle Ceylán, said that these activities contribute to improve the environment in their communities “because there should be no violence of any kind, at any age, not even towards animals. Violence denigrates all of us as living beings.”

Brazil: Experts Support Teacher Training for Culture of Peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Agência Câmara Notícias (translation by CPNN)

In a public hearing on Wednesday, the 14th. experts called for public policies to train teachers to promote a culture of peace in schools, The debate was promoted by the special commission to draft legislative proposals to develop a culture of peace.


Committee chairwoman Keiko Ota (center) has called for tougher laws to curb violence, but acknowledges that it is necessary to think about prevention policies to teach children and young people how to cultivate peace in schools

The United Nations defines a culture of peace as a set of values, attitudes, traditions, behaviors and lifestyles based on respect for life, the end of violence and the promotion and practice of non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation.

According to Nei Salles Filho, the coordinator of the Center for Studies and Training of Teachers in Education for Peace and Coexistence of the State University of Ponta Grossa (Paraná), the main step for the promotion of a culture of peace is teacher training. “This training involves knowledge of the areas of human values, human rights and mediation of conflicts,” he said. According to him, designing public policies in this sense is the best way to maintain continued projects of culture of peace in schools.

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Questions for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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The United Nations defines a culture of peace as a set of values, attitudes, traditions, behaviors and lifestyles based on respect for life, the end of violence and the promotion and practice of non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation.

According to Nei Salles Filho, the coordinator of the Center for Studies and Training of Teachers in Education for Peace and Coexistence of the State University of Ponta Grossa (Paraná), the main step for the promotion of a culture of peace is teacher training. “This training involves knowledge of the areas of human values, human rights and mediation of conflicts,” he said. According to him, designing public policies in this sense is the best way to maintain continued projects of culture of peace in schools.

According to the specialist, teachers have to understand that student violence may be the result of direct violence (physical, psychological, sexual, media) or structural violence (poverty, misery). “If the student learns to reproduce the culture of violence, he can also learn a culture of peace,” he said. He also stressed that peace does not mean the absence of conflict, but a way of dealing with conflicts. In addition, he stressed that promoting the culture of peace in schools was included as a goal of the National Education Plan (2014-2024).

According to the specialist, teachers have to understand that student violence may be the result of direct violence (physical, psychological, sexual, media) or structural violence (poverty, misery). “If the student learns to reproduce the culture of violence, he can also learn a culture of peace,” he said. He also stressed that peace does not mean the absence of conflict, but a way of dealing with conflicts. In addition, he stressed that promoting the culture of peace in schools was included as a goal of the National Education Plan (2014-2024).

(Thank you to Helena Lorenzo, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

(Click here for the original article in Portuguese)

Mexico: Congress Exhorts the City Councils to contribute to the culture of peace

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from Guerrero Quadratin (translation by CPNN)

The Congress of Guerrero has exhorted the 81 city councils in the state to apply actions, programs and proposals to create a culture of peace and non-violence in their territories, in order to reduce the high rates of crime.

According to the Congress bulletin, when reading the proposal of the MC Parliamentary Group, the deputy Julio César Bernal Reséndiz highlighted that 2017 was one of the most violent in recent years, which makes it imperative that the three levels of government implement such actions.

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(Click here for a version in Spanish)

Questions for this article:

How can culture of peace be developed at the municipal level?

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He said that although municipal councils lack the infrastructure, budget and financing to contain violence in their municipalities, they do have channels for administrative, management and social participation that can hellp create a climate of peace in their territories.

Some of the actions and programs that are proposed include: create public policies of the municipalities that promote a culture of peace and nonviolence; disseminate through the municipal media the activities of local groups and the preparation of an annual program of awareness-raising activities to promote the values ​​of a culture of peace and non-violence; and make available publications on peace issues for libraries and municipal documentation centers.

Also, they should promote education for peace in schools, offering resources for students and facilitating specific training in peace and human rights for teachers, and budget an economic contribution for programs, projects and activities that promote the culture of peace organized by civil society.

Bernal Reséndiz emphasized that if each and every one of the aforementioned actions is carried out in the municipalities that make up the state of Guerrero, awareness will be created among the inhabitants to achieve peace and social harmony.

Mapping Youth Involvement in Colombia’s Peace Process

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An article from Search for Common Ground

In collaboration with USAID’s Program of Alliances for Reconciliation, our most recent report, Peacebuilding in Colombia: A Youth Perspective, maps the current landscape of youth leaders and youth-led organizations in post-conflict Colombia. It also examines their potential in playing a key role to drive positive social change.

Too often, in post-conflict environments, youth perspectives are ignored or undervalued. To promote youth inclusion in Colombia, we employed our innovative Youth Mapping Methodology, which allowed us to better understand how they use their influence within their communities. Overall, we collected information from 391 youth in 21 municipalities.

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Question related to this article:

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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The key findings shed light on various aspects of youth participation, including the demographic makeup of youth leadership and youth-led organizations, the range of activities conducted by these organizations, and the operational and societal challenges faced by these groups, among others. 91% of the youth indicated that they are ready to leave the past behind and are open to dialogue with those different from them. Based on the youth mapping findings, we make four recommendations promoting ways to better incorporate youth into the peacebuilding process.

Download the full policy brief to learn more:

Full Report – English

Highlights – English

Full Report – Spanish

Highlights – Spanish

Latin American mayors meet in Costa Rica for development goals

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from La Vanguardia (translated by CPNN and reprinted without commercial ends)

Mayors of Ibero-America will meet this Thursday and Friday [April 18-19] in Costa Rica to celebrate the XVIII General Assembly of the Union of Capital Cities (UCCI) seeking to advance in the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The organization will define its strategy for the 2018-2020 biennium in order to determine how its members can continue to advance in the local implementation of the SDGs.

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(Click here for the Spanish version)

Question related to this article:

Can cities take the lead for sustainable development?

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A total of 23 international delegations from capital cities will attend the event in San José, including the mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena.

According to the organizers, initiatives linked to institutional strengthening, social development, local economic development, sustainable urban development, culture and communication will be addressed, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender, environmental sustainability, culture of peace, innovation and human rights.

One of the main priorities for the coming period is the incorporation of culture as a strategic area in the organization, since the cultural dimension is fundamental to achieve more just, supportive and sustainable societies.

The Assembly will also present a management report (2016-2018) and an economic balance and will propose the definition of a strategic framework to achieve the effective implementation of the SDGs in Ibero-American cities.

The General Assembly of the UCCI meets every two years and that of 2018 is the second to be held after the cycle change that the organization approved in 2016.

The mayor of San José, Johnny Araya, will participate in the meeting; as well as the mayor of San Salvador, Nayib Bukele; the mayor of Panama City, José Blandón; the mayor of La Paz, Luis Revilla; and the mayor of Montevideo, Daniel Martínez, among others.

The opening ceremony will be attended by the president of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solís, and the head of the Ibero-American General Secretariat, Rebeca Grynspan.

Bolivia calls for the preservation of South America as a zone of peace free of nuclear weapons

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An article from Sputnik News

On assuming the temporary presidency of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, has called for the preservation of South America as a zone of peace, free of the war dangers that affect other parts of the world.

“This is the second time we have assumed the responsibility to coordinate work with countries throughout South America, and Bolivia’s great desire is for South America to be a zone of peace,” said President Evo Morales at the Government Palace.

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(Click here for the original Spanish version of this article)

Question related to this article:

Can we abolish all nuclear weapons?

Where in the world are zones of peace?

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The Bolivian leader, in a statement through state media, said he also intended that Unasur coordinate with the European Union on issues such as development planning, legislation and common citizenship.

“We propose to build a South American identity in terms of defense, to consolidate the region as a zone of peace, free of nuclear weapons and of mass destruction, rejecting war, promoting disarmament and the peaceful resolution of conflicts and the culture of peace in the world,” he said, concerning the main objective of his temporary regional presidency.

Morales succeeds his Argentine counterpart Maurio Macri in the pro tempore presidency of UNASUR, an organization created in 2008 and whose first important resolution was to support the Bolivian president that same year in the face of a wave of political and regional protests that apparently sought to remove him from power.

More here: President of Bolivia says that the main threat to peace is the US Government

The president said that UNASUR has effectively acted in favor of the peaceful settlement of disputes, supporting negotiations between the Government of Colombia and rebel armed groups in that country, following the logic that “peace is built with social justice.”

Dominican Republic: Integrating art subjects in centers helps create a culture of peace

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from Hoy digital (translation by CPNN)

The anthropologist Tahira Vargas considers expelling students from educational centers because of bad conduct does not solve the problem, but it aggravates it, For this reason she suggests to work with these students through theater, dance and music, in order to build a culture of peace.

“To break the cycle of violence you should not answer with more violence. Instead you need to change the relationships within the centers, creating other types of spaces, where you can dialogue with students and establish responsibilities and tasks that promote a change of behavior,” she said.

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

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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She explained that the teachers and directors of the centers do not understand the context of vulnerability that violent students experience, such as the case when their parents have to go out to work and cannot be at home to help educate their children.

Vargas spoke about the issue when asked about the statements of directors and teachers of high schools in Salcedo, who have alerted the Ministry of Education about the constant misconduct of many students.

Vargas points out that the streets and schools are the main space for the socialization of young people, so schools should be a space for building a culture of peace, not a space for the reproduction of violence, and for exclusion which is a form of violence.

“What I suggest is that teachers, principals and counselors work with students to change the internal relations of the center, and they are responsible for their behavior.” They should understand that it is important to integrate art, which is a strategy used in many countries to transform violent behavior into a culture of peace.