All posts by CPNN Coordinator

About CPNN Coordinator

Dr David Adams is the coordinator of the Culture of Peace News Network. He retired in 2001 from UNESCO where he was the Director of the Unit for the International Year for the Culture of Peace, proclaimed for the Year 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly.

Women from several African countries trained in the culture of peace

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from Abidjan News (translation by CPNN)

Delegations of women from several African countries have been participating, since Tuesday, June 29, 2021, in Yamoussoukro, in a training workshop in peace education and socioeconomic empowerment. The workshop is organized by the Houphouët-Boigny foundation for the search for peace, the conference of ministers of youth and sports of the Francophonie (CONFEJES) and the organization of the Islamic world for education, science and culture (ICESCO).


Dr Diénéba Doumbia at the microphone

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(Click here for the original in French)

Questions for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

The Houghouët-Boigny Foundation of Yamoussoukro: what is its contribution to the culture of peace?

(Article continued from left column)

“This workshop is an opportunity for training, and also a space for sharing experiences and actions carried out in our countries”, noted the secretary general of the Houphouët-Boigny Foundation, Prof. Jean-Noël Loucou. He affirmed the determination of his institution to follow it up “to increase efficiency on the ground.”

The training is provided by the regional center for education and the culture of peace (CRECP), a structure housed at the Houphouët-Boigny foundation with the vocation of strengthening the capacities of educational executives and others in the political, administrative and economic spheres of French-speaking African states that are members of ICESCO.

CRECP has thus already trained educational executives, communication professionals, human rights advocates and youth associations, it was recalled.

“Women cannot remain on the sidelines of our priorities. For this, we need to take into account the issue of gender and education for a culture of peace as a new and promising theme allowing everyone to truly play the role of mediators, educators, actors. of peace and reconcilers,” underlined the director of CRECP, Dr Diénéba Doumbia.

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Mentoring: around fifty women at the WANEP-GUINEA school

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article by Abdoulaye Barry in RTG Koloma (translation by CPNN)

In order to allow women to further develop the culture of peace, the Wanep-Guinea network through its project called “Mentoring of Young Women” under funding from USAID, opened a training workshop on Tuesday, June 29, 2021with the participation of about fifty women. The training enables a sharing of experiences between women with strong experience in their professional career and young women at the start of their careers.

According to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Wanep-Guinea, Joseph Togna Doré, “the development of a mentoring process for the promotion of young women in our country through meetings for exchange and sharing of experience is at the heart of the major concerns of the Wanep-Guinea network and its member organizations. It is for this reason that we initiated this project which was funded by USAID with our partners the CRS in order to allow the communities of Conakry and those of Upper Guinea to develop the culture of peace. The goal is to develop greater prosperity and coherent development for these young women, ”said the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Wanep-Guinea network.

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Questions for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

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While inviting the participants to redouble their efforts for a Guinea of ​​peace and prosperity, the President of the Board of Directors of WANEP-GUINEE “hopes that this day of training” will lead to the commitment of each of the participants for the achievement of the expected results of this project ”.

Coming to share her experiences with these young women, Madame Fatou Souaré ANN Executive Director of the NGO Wafrica-Guinée (Femmes Afriques) finds this training very important. ”It will allow us the elders to make available to young women our experiences and knowledge. It’s a sharing of experience, because there are girls among you who have knowledge that our elders do not know being of the digital generation. This workshop will allow you to go through paths where you will not be faced with great difficulties like us. We are here to tell you to take advantage of this training. And you invite each of you to find a mentor who is a guide. People to whom you must go and who will guide you on the right path. We who share our experiences with you today are always looking for mentors to guide us and assist us in our various actions.”

For Batouly Kaba Deputy National Director of the Ministry of Women’s Rights and Empowerment, “The question of the protection and promotion of the rights of young women, in the management, prevention and consolidation of peace in professional bodies is one of the government’s priorities ”.

This is why, she adds. “It is undeniable that our country will continue to be sick if we do not change the paradigm of excluding women who make up 52% ​​of the population. The objectives of the project are noble and perfectly match those of the department of women’s rights issues.”

(Click here for the original in French)

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Nigeria: Osun, Kaduna First Ladies emerge leaders of governors’ wives forum

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti in The Sun


The First Ladies of Osun and Kaduna States, Mrs Kafayat Oyetola and Mrs Hadiza El-Rufai have been elected chairpersons of the Southern Governors’ Wives Forum and Northern Governors’ Wives Forum respectively.

Their election was contained in a Statement signed by the Wife of the Governor of Ekiti State and Chairperson of the Nigerian Governors’ Wives Forum (NGWF), Erelu Bisi Fayemi and made available to journalists on Thursday.

Erelu Fayemi congratulated the duo, stressing that she was optimistic that their emergence as new leaders will further help the Forum to work together “in solidarity across boundaries” in addressing issues of mutual concerns.

Mrs Fayemi who noted that the Wives of Governors have always played discreet but active roles in providing support for their husbands, stated that members of the Forum can contribute in their little ways towards the development needs of the country.

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Questions for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

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She noted that the Forum had succeeded in ensuring increased participation of women in governance, building a culture of peace in communities across the country and advocating access to education for girls.

The Ekiti State First Lady identified other efforts of the Forum to include provision of women healthcare needs, economic empowerment, advocating against drug abuse and responding to curb sexual and gender-based violence.

She commended the First Lady, Dr Aisha Buhari for all her encouragement and support for the works handled by the Governors’ Wives.

“On behalf of the Nigerian Governors’ Wives Forum, I hereby congratulate Mrs Kafayat Oyetola, First Lady of Osun State, the newly elected Chair of the Southern Governors’ Wives Forum and Mrs Hadiza El-Rufai, First Lady of Kaduna State and new Chair of the Northern Governors’ Wives Forum. Wives of Nigerian Governors have always played a discreet, yet active role to support the efforts of their husbands. By working together in solidarity across boundaries, we can address issues of mutual concern to us.”

“Through our collective work in responding to sexual and gender-based violence, access to education for girls, women’s healthcare needs, economic empowerment of women, advocacy against drug abuse, increased numbers of women in public life and building a culture of peace in our communities, we can contribute in our own small way towards the development needs of our country. I also thank HE (Dr) Aisha Buhari, First Lady Federal Republic of Nigeria, for all her encouragement and support for the work that we do as Governors’ Wives”, she said.

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

African women propose a 10-year plan for gender equality in Africa at the Generation Equality Forum in Paris

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

A press release from APO reprinted by Africa Newsroom

The proposed Kinshasa Declaration, launched today at the Generation Equality Forum [Paris, July 2], outlines concrete actions for African Union member countries to advance gender equality in Africa by 2030; The proposed Kinshasa Declaration calls for doubling the number of women’s organizations that can access funds from national economic stimulus programs and external funding.

A delegation of African women led by Her Excellency Madame Gisèle Ndaya, Minister of Gender, Family and Children of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Madame Julienne Lusenge, gender expert on the Panel of Experts in charge of accompanying President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo during his presidency of the African Union for 2021/2022 shared the proposed Kinshasa Declaration on the sidelines of the Generation Equality Forum (bit.ly/3wdRHDZ)  being held in Paris from June 30 to July 2.

The proposed Kinshasa Declaration, drafted during the Conference on Gender Equality held in Kinshasa on June 10, is the result of a large mobilization of pan-African groups including youth, civil society, researchers, government officials, activists and international organizations. One of the main objectives of the conference was to show the collective capacity of the participants and organizers  to foster a more just world, where gender equality is no longer a struggle but a reality for future generations.

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(Click here for a version in French)

Questions for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

(Article continued from left column)

The proposed Kinshasa Declaration builds on existing texts on gender equality in Africa and a series of new recommendations. Its goal is to encourage the member states of the African Union to expand their actions in favor of gender equality and to put in place strong systems to evaluate progress.

For the Minister of Gender, Family and Children of the DRC, Ms. Gisèle Ndaya, this declaration offers concrete proposals for the member countries of the African Union. She highlighted that “one of the key recommendations of the declaration is to campaign for a quota system of at least 40% of women, including 10% of young women under 35 years of age in national government bodies, and in elective and nominative positions, by 2030, in order to increase the rate of women’s participation in decision-making bodies on the African continent. ”

Julienne Lusenge, member of the Panel of Experts in charge of accompanying the DRC during its chairmanship of the African Union for the year 2021/2022 said: “This proposed declaration makes a crucial contribution to the AU Strategy for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment by proposing concrete actions and tools for measuring success towards gender equality in Africa by 2030. Through this proposed Declaration, we call for, among other measures, the development and strengthening of human rights and culture of peace curricula in at least 50% of primary and secondary schools, including the integration of age-appropriate information on existing laws, conventions, and action plans with a focus on gender equality and positive masculinity by 2030. ”

According to the delegation, the proposed Kinshasa Declaration will be shared with African Union stakeholders, member states, civil society, international organizations and relevant bodies within African governments after the Generation Equality Forum. The objective is to the adoption of this Declaration at the next meeting of the African Union in 2022.

Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

Argentina: Teachers lead national strategy for Comprehensive Environmental Education

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Graciela Mandolini from Education International

We live in a historical time in which all kinds of emergencies are constantly being played out: environmental, climate, energy, health, economic … All of these converge in what many authors define as the crisis of civilization. The environmental agenda has been setting the pace and environmental conflicts have burst into school settings, appearing with unprecedented speed and persistence.

If we understand education as a process that is permanently under construction, we could say that teachers in Argentina are carrying out some important actions in terms of comprehensive environmental education. These include interventions in curricular designs, as well as in projects and programs aimed at incorporating the environmental dimension for sustainable development as part of teaching-learning proposals.

Teacher and Union Training School

For 25 years, the Confederación de Trabajadores de la Educación de la República Argentina (CTERA) [Educational Workers Confederation of the Argentine Republic] has generated teacher training processes in Environmental Education: postgraduate courses and specializations in environmental education for sustainable development, in cooperation with public universities, face-to-face meetings with in-service teachers, projects, programs and actions on environmental education for secondary school students and teachers… practical, recreational and learning activities have also been organized, such as planting trees, composting activities, etc.

The union has worked with dedication on a project aimed at creating spaces for building knowledge in order to promote a dialogue of knowledge and skills development, consolidating teacher training at all levels and modalities of the formal educational system, so as to promote environmental education for sustainable development.

This issue has been one of the fundamental pillars of the training activities promoted by our organization’s “Marina Vilte” Teacher and Union Training School.

Initially, in the late 1990s, CTERA produced a training proposal for an Advanced Specialization Course in Environmental Education for sustainable development, in cooperation with a public university that offered lectures nationally through its grassroots entities. In the training space, more than 4,000 teachers specialized in Environmental Education.

Pandemic and environmental education

During 2020, as we moved through the stages of isolation and later of social distancing, whilst tackling the pandemic, a pedagogical proposal was drawn up based on training itineraries and paths, to consider different theories and concepts on the issue affecting us.

Firstly, through mechanisms designed for this purpose, the CTERA Education Secretariat and various grassroots entities offered training opportunities using the co-self-assisted methodology, so that teachers felt this was an invitation to study and an occasion for lifelong learning, without feeling pressured to meet requirements that could create an overload of teaching work. These training formats made it possible to reflect on educational practice, based on personal interests and motivations and in a self-regulated manner.

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(Click here for the article in French or here for the article in Spanish

Question for this article:

What are good examples of environmental education?

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Secondly, and in coordination with the INFoD (National Teacher Training Institute), CTERA further developed the proposal, moving towards creating a tutored course.

In both situations, it was felt necessary to consider the particular conditions that lead to problematizing the Teacher Training curriculum, based on the situations it addresses and analyzes, the complexity of associated trends and the practices of meaning, intervention, research, outreach and transcendence, which allow it to interact in and with the communities of origin.

Pino Solanas Law

The National Congress of Argentina recently approved the National Law of Comprehensive Environmental Education. This law, named after the Argentine filmmaker, Pino Solanas, proposes a “permanent, crosscutting and comprehensive” national public policy for all educational establishments in the country. It covers the interdependence of all the elements that make up and interact in the environment; respecting and valuing biodiversity; equity; recognizing cultural diversity; caring for our natural and cultural heritage and exercising the right to a healthy environment.

The law proposes the establishment of a National Strategy for Comprehensive Environmental Education. It promotes the creation and development of Jurisdictional Strategies and raises the issue of an Intergenerational Environmental Commitment. It also provides for the implementation, on the educational agenda, of actions to improve institutions. It affirms that any educational proposal must be based on educating young people and children. This project clearly establishes a public policy that reinforces the paradigm of citizen participation for sustainability.

Environmental education, education for life

We believe that any environmental education proposal, project or program for sustainable development that we carry out must, without question, interact with history, trajectories, institutional projects, stakeholders, local and regional projections, that will give it meaning and make it unique.

Environmental Education, based on the paradigm of Latin American Environmental Thought, makes it possible for the community’s knowledge to be discussed, thus recovering its voices, trajectories, expectations, experiences, demands, concerns and proposals, in order to highlight environmental conflicts in the territory, dismantling naturalized practices on a daily basis, generating dialogue and linking different disciplinary knowledge so as to reimagine and alter our practices.

CTERA sees Environmental Education for sustainable development as the establishment of environmental criteria, as raising awareness about environmental conflicts, understanding environmental complexity, as creativity, wonder, empathy; it means thinking in an inter-connected manner; learning as you live and learning from life.

It is a conceptual proposal that is interwoven and integrated with methodological work. That is why how we make the content available, the way we present work dynamics and proposals, and encourage participation is very important. This includes:

* Recreational activities that allow us to express our sensations, emotions, and feelings, our mind-body thoughts

* Actions that make it possible to develop proposals where identity is expressed in an artistic and creative way.

* Ancestral ceremonies that occur, highlighting the need to re-connect with nature, recognizing ourselves as children of Mother Earth.
Taking part in tree planting, composting, recycling, materials recovery, camping activities, etc.

The didactic strategies that we can use as environmental education workers to address the issues, problems and conflicts that affect and challenge us, are under continuous construction. In this process, much searching is done to ensure culture and nature, teachers, students, schools and the community support each other, generating creative processes committed to reality, promoting the construction of teaching – learning processes aimed at creating a society based on environmental, social and, of course, curricular justice.

(Thank you to Phyllis Kotite, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Women must no longer be ‘squeezed into a small corner’, landmark Forum declares 

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from the United Nations News Service

In a bid to put gender equality at the heart of COVID recovery, UN Women kicked off a three-day “landmark effort” in Paris on Wednesday, aiming to lay out ambitious investments and policies to bridge the chasm between where women stand in the world today, and where they should be, by 2030.
 
“Gender equality is essentially about power, and power in a world that is still largely male dominated, with a culture that is still largely patriarchal”, Secretary-General António Guterres said at the Generation Equality Forum, launching a “five-year action journey”, based on the UN Global Acceleration Plan for Gender Equality. 


UN Women/Johis Alarcón People protest in a demonstration for women’s rights in Ecuador.

Noting that “power is very rarely given. You have to take it”, he stressed as one of his five priorities, the importance of parity to redistribute power and create the necessary conditions for true equality.  

Setting priorities 

The UN chief said that to achieve equal rights, discriminatory laws around the world must be repealed and transformed into ‘de facto’ equality.  

He said women in the informal economy, were “paying a heavy price for the pandemic”, also highlighting economic equality in pay, employment, and social protections. 

Noting a surge in violence against women and girls during COVID, Mr. Guterres said that putting an end to it must be “a central element of all policies and all of our objectives”.
  
Finally, he highlighted the importance of intergenerational dialogue as “another fundamental instrument for gender equality” to allow young people to be a part of decision-making in today’s digital society. 
 
Women worth more than a quarter 

In her statement, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said that “women everywhere in the world are squeezed into a small corner”.  

She highlighted how they make up a quarter of all managers, parliamentarians, climate change negotiators and “less than one quarter of those who negotiate peace agreements”.  

“One quarter is not enough. One quarter is not equality. Equality is one half, where both men and women are together”, she spelled out. 

Moving forward 

Generation Equality is about change, the UN Women chief said, it’s about “moving from making promises” to saying what has been done to advance women worldwide. 

She detailed that Member States, the private sector and others, have made nearly 1,000 commitments to change the lives of women, including to change policies.  
However, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka continued, “the fight still has to continue…We need to be pushing upwards all the time, so that there is a race to the top” 

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(Click here for the article in French or here for Spanish.)

Questions for this article

Does the UN advance equality for women?

Prospects for progress in women’s equality, what are the short and long term prospects?

(continued from left column)

Stepping up funds 

The UN Women chief concluded by detailing that countries of the Global South, regional organizations, young people and civil society groups, have all “put their foot forward” raising $40 billion, saying “and we are still counting”. 

Meanwhile, Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that Germany “is actively involved in the Action Coalition on Economic Justice and Rights” and would invest an “additional €140 million, making a total of around €240 million in the International Action Coalition”. 

And the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it would spend $2.1 billion to advance global gender equality. 

Achieving ‘tangible progress’ 

At the same time, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched a set of commitments  to achieve “tangible progress” towards gender equality over the next five years. 

The UN agency will support girls’ education  with quality gender-transformative teaching for 28 million learners in over 80 countries; work to close the digital gender divide, empower women scientists, and promote ethical Artificial Intelligence; and in Africa, empower  women economically in creative industries.  

UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay had called upon women worldwide to “take control and full leadership in every aspect of life and domain of society to build back a better future for all”. 

Co-host comments 

Co-hosting the event, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the struggle for gender equality is “far from won”. 
 
“It’s a battle today, but tomorrow it must be a matter of fact”, he underscored.
  
His counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President of Mexico, said: “We must continue to fight against sexism. We must not forget economic and social equality, which is fundamental to achieve a better society”.  

Call to action from Clinton, Harris 

United States Vice President Kamala Harris, warned that “democracy is in peril” around the world. 

“I believe, resolutely, that if we want to strengthen democracy, we must fight for gender equality…Democracy is strongest when everyone participates – and it is weaker when people are left out…without doubt, gender equality strengthens democracy”, she said. 

Back in1995, at the World Conference on Women  in Beijing, then-First Lady Hillary Clinton proclaimed: “Human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all” . 

At today’s meeting she sent a message that “it’s no longer enough to talk about women’s rights…[as] they are nothing without the power to claim them. And we know that when women have the power to raise our voices, assert our rights, and rebuild economies, everyone will be better off”. 

Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, drew attention to the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, or the Istanbul Convention. 

“Last year, we saw a surge in domestic violence during COVID lockdowns. The Convention provides three advantages that no country alone can: it raises national standards; provides a monitoring mechanism; and ensures co-operation between governments in the prosecution of these crimes”, she said.

(Thank you to Phyllis Kotite, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,

WWF report: The custodians of nature crucial to any and every effort to protect our planet

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Lilian Gikandi from World Wide Fund For Nature (reprinted according to Creative Commons Attribution- Share Alike 3.0 License)

2021 is the super year for our planet. Global leaders will convene in a series of meetings to determine solutions to the planet’s climate, nature and sustainable development challenges and it is critical they support nature’s original custodians – the world’s Indigenous peoples and local communities. Any global conservation efforts including calls to protect and conserve at least 30% of the world’s land, freshwater and oceans by 2030 hinge on strong IPLC participation and leadership and will be unattainable without them.

A new, first of its kind collaborative study compiled by conservation organizations and experts, with guidance from and peer reviewed by Indigenous Peoples experts and organizations highlights the importance of recognizing and respecting the rights, governance, and conservation efforts of Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLC) as custodians of their lands. 


Photo © Luis Barreto / WWF-UK

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Question for this article

Indigenous peoples, Are they the true guardians of nature?

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The study finds that Indigenous peoples and local communities’ lands and territories cover at least 32% of the planet’s terrestrial surface and the majority (91%) are considered to be in good or fair ecological condition today. This is mostly because IPLCs have lived sustainably for generations in their ‘territories of life’ and safeguard many of the world’s remaining natural landscapes. Many of these areas support unique cultural and spiritual values and practices, and are critical in combating nature loss and climate breakdown. 

IPLC knowledge and practices have helped preserve their lands for generations. And yet, more than a quarter of IPLC lands could face high development pressures in the future, underlining the need to secure the rights, governance and practices of those who are best-placed to safeguard many of the natural systems on which we all depend.

As countries meet to negotiate a new Global Biodiversity Framework  later this year, we hope the findings of this report catalyze  support for Indigenous peoples and local communities so that they can defend and restore their lands and territories as part of global conservation efforts.   

Only with IPLCs leading, will conservation that benefits both people and the biodiversity on which we all depend, be fruitful.

Read the The State of the Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ lands and territories report here.

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

English bulletin July 1, 2021

AFRICAN WOMEN, YOUTH LEAD THE WAY

As UNESCO helps prepare the Biennale Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace that will take place in October in Luanda, the UNESCO Directrice-General Audrey Azoulay, has emphasized the participation of women, especially in the session on “Women’s Networks for Peace in Africa”. She explains that “Around the “Pan-African Network of African Women in Conflict Prevention and Mediation” ( FemWise-Africa ) created in 2017, it is important that the various networks of women for peace that exist in Africa can exert more influence, unite and enhance their complementarities. It is only through collective action that we can effectively contribute to building and consolidating peace on a daily basis.”

The Biennale is also placing a priority on African youth. It is being organized as an intergenerational dialogue. 150 young people (from all AU countries and the Diaspora) will be invited to take part in this Dialogue. These young people will be selected from among members of National Youth Councils, National Coordinating Bodies of the Pan-African Youth Network for a Culture of Peace (PAYNCOP) and other youth leaders and organizations, through a call for applications.  They will discuss with Heads of State and Government, Ministers in charge of Youth / Culture, Commissioners of the AU and Regional Economic Communities in charge of Youth, representatives of the United Nations, international organizations and technical and financial partners invited to the Biennale. 

Among the many networks of women for peace in Africa, several have featured in recent CPNN articles.

The Nala Feminist Collective (Nalafem); a  Pan African group of 17 young feminists with a mission to foster and mobilize young women from Africa and the diaspora, advocate for Africa Young Women B+25 Manifesto; a groundbreaking political document that sets out ten critical issues of concern for young African women. The manifesto calls on world leaders to scale up action for progressive gender inclusion and will be presented at the upcoming Generation Equality Forum in Paris.

In Mali, the national restitution conference “Palabre trees of Timbuktu and Gao” engaged more than a hundred women from the north, some of whom are on their first trip to the capital. The initiative lays the groundwork for a return to lasting peace and cohesion with a dual objective:
– to restore and make available to all participants the diagnosis of the Mali situation by women in the regions;
– and to give a voice to the representatives of women from the municipalities for the implementation of structuring projects for local community development.

In Kenya, The inaugural season of Think African  is inspired by Nobel Prize Winner Wangari Maathai’s political philosophy, which she likened to a traditional African stool, comprising a seat and three legs. First leg: Inclusive Democracy. Second leg: Sustainability. Third leg: ” a culture of peace”; fairness, respect, compassion, forgiveness, recompense and justice. The first episode features Kenyan climate change activist Elizabeth Wathuti. She is the founder of the Green Generation Initiative, which nurtures young people to be environmentally conscious from a young age and has planted 30,000 tree seedlings in Kenya.

In Senegal, the members of the Platform of Women for Peace in Casamance (PFPC) have called for serenity and social stability in the country. “Our nation is characterized by a multiethnicity which, instead of being a source of division, is a richness and a pledge of a symbiosis, a harmony, a mutual respect. The joking cousin is the real social cement that unites the Serer to Pulaar, Diatta Ndiaye to Diop, the game of fraternal alliances which banishes any hostility between Diola and Serer.”

African youth networks for peace have also been featured recently.

In Gabon, The Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace, Gabon section (PAYNCoP Gabon) has recently launched, in Libreville, a project to promote the culture of peace and fight against violence in schools. The initiative will sensitize key actors (supervisory staff, students, parents of students) on the effects of violence in schools, train them on the culture of peace and peaceful conflict resolution. In order to engage students in the continued promotion of the culture of peace within the school, the project also plans to create a club of young peacemakers within the school.

In Chad, an interactive conference was held on “The involvement of young people in the preservation of culture of peace”. The objective was to make young students understand the essential role of peace and the culture of peace. Following ideas expressed by students regarding peace, the speakers emphasized that peace is the acceptance of others, peace being the foundation or the basis of life in society. The president of the organizing committee, Wardougou Moussa Abdelkader, on behalf of the students of HEC-TCHAD, thanked the United Nations association of Chad, for the initiative, and pleaded for the sustainability of this theme.

In Cameroon, UNESCO is supporting five exemplary leaders of youth-led organizations engaged in early warning and response Mechanisms for peacebuilding. These young leaders include- Christian Achaleke of Local Youth Corner (LOYOC), Loic Atangana Nkulu of the Pan-African Network for a Culture of Peace (PAYNCOP), Brice Nisebang of the Cameroon National Youth Council (NYC), Paul Bernard Noah of “G-54 Afrique Avenir” and Gladys Tchegoue of Dynamique Mondiale des Jeunes (DMJ). Other youth leaders equally participated in this initiative such as Desmond Ngala of Rog Agency for Open Culture, Stephane Mebonde of Accord Parfait and Ramatu Abdou of the Association for the Welfare of Women and Indigenous Persons (ASOWWIP).

In her interview, Directrice-General Audrey Azoulay concludes that “Africa is the continent of today. The African continent is rich in knowledge and opportunities, it is the youngest continent in the world and UNESCO is committed to ensuring that this youth has the skills, education, creativity, all the capital. human potential to build a better future.”

And in supporting the Luanda Biennale, the African Union says, “The strategic objective of the event is to promote a peaceful and prosperous Africa through the defense and encouragement of actions that prevent conflicts in the management of national and cross-border natural resources on the African continent, as well as to educate a generation of young Africans as agents of peace, stability and development.”

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Bibang

Gabon: Youth for the Culture of Peace

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

virtual
Past virtual events in June

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Shell

Netherlands: Court orders Shell to cut carbon emissions 45% by 2030

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

Tlalpan

Mexico City prepares third culture of peace meeting

In addition to articles, we list virtual events for the culture of peace: Click here for upcoming events. Last month we registered 26 virtual events.

  

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

Mali

Mali National Restitution Conference: Women propose possible solutions

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

summit

US-Russia Summit advances key points in international Open Letter

HUMAN RIGHTS


Biden

#NowIsTheTime – A global call to President Biden

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Autesserre

Building peace, from the bottom up: A Q&A with Séverine Autesserre
Uncategorized

Council of Europe: Youth, peace and security today: successes and challenges

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article from the Council of Europe

On 8 June 2021, on the initiative of the Advisory Council on Youth (CCJ), the Joint Council on Youth (CMJ)  organised a thematic debate to mark the recent fifth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security, a text which Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Youth (pre-recorded message),explained has its origins in a youth-led movement.

Across Europe and elsewhere, for many young people in Europe, protracted conflicts have become a part of normal life, a situation which, according to Inka Hopsu, Third Vice-Chairperson, Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, can be a barrier for the implementation of Resolution 2250.

Miriam Teuma, Chair of the European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ), spoke of the more restrictive lifestyle; limited access to education, work and services; self-isolation and social distancing which have resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic, the impact of which has been felt across the world. Miriam described her own country, Malta, as a doorway to Europe, and reflected on how the incoming migration as a result of conflict is symbolic of deeper and more pervasive problems.

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(Click here for a French version of this article)

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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Youth participation and an enabling youth civil society are paramount to combating the democratic deficit that children and young people are being raised into according to Rosaline Marbinah, Special Representative on Youth & Security, OSCE. Issues which were also touched on by Andrea Ugrinoska, Chair of the Advisory Council on Youth (CCJ) and of the Joint Council on Youth (CMJ).

For her part, Paulína Jalakšová, Board Member, European Youth Forum, underlined the valuable role of young people and their organisations who contribute to a culture of peace through peace dialogue, reconciliation processes, and intercultural understanding within Europe and across the world.

Pia Šlogar, Advisory Council on Youth (CCJ), spoke of the necessity to hear diverse voices. Excluding minority youth from decision and policymaking in the youth, peace and security agenda has a disproportionate impact, both direct and indirect, on minority groups.

Reminding the participants that the large multilateral organisations were created mainly to protect peace, Antje Rothemund, Head of the Youth Department, distinguished each one by its mandate: the UN is a forum for dialogue, meeting and exchange; the EU was created to safeguard peace through economic co-operation; the OSCE through dialogue and negotiation between East and West. For its part, the Council of Europe is founded on three pillars, without which peace cannot be protected, those of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Finally, Graziano Tullio explained how the Council of Europe’s North-South Centre  has been working on the youth, peace and security agenda since 2018 through confidence-building measures, intercultural dialogue and human rights education.

This thematic debate will now inform the Advisory Council on Youth’s further work on the youth, peace and security field.

Europe, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

Gabon: Youth for the Culture of Peace

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article by Jerry Bibang, special to CPNN

The Pan-African Youth Network for the Culture of Peace, Gabon section (PAYNCoP Gabon) recently launched, in Libreville, a project to promote the culture of peace and fight against violence in schools.


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In Gabon, violence in schools has reached worrying proportions, according to a recent study conducted by UNICEF in partnership with the Gabonese government. Approximately, 79% of the actors of the education system are victims of verbal or psychological violence; 59% are victims of physical violence and 50% are victims of sexual violence. Aware of this state of affairs, the Government has drawn up a national strategy to strengthen the response to violence in schools.

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

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

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

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The project to promote the culture of peace and fight against violence in schools, initiated by PAYNCoP Gabon and supported by the French Development Agency (AFD) is part of this national strategy to strengthen response to violence in schools.

The initiative will sensitize key actors (supervisory staff, students, parents of students) on the effects of violence in schools, train them on the culture of peace and peaceful conflict resolution. In order to engage students in the continued promotion of the culture of peace within the school, the project also plans to create a club of young peacemakers within the school.

For Jerry Bibang, the coordinator of this initiative, “this is a pilot experience that is part of our activities to promote the culture of peace, in connection with government action. If the experience is positive, we plan to extend this project to other establishments in the capital but also to the interior of the country ”

The project involves several key players, including supervisory staff, students, teachers and parents, in an inclusive and participatory process.

Africa, EDUCATION FOR PEACE, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY