Category Archives: FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

UNAM, Mexico: Establishment of Commission to Develop Content on a Culture of Peace

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from Gaceta UNAM

An Academic Working Commission has been established at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) with the aim of contributing to and supporting high school education through the development of educational courses on a culture of peace for students and faculty,

This commission is comprised of the University Program on a Culture of Peace and the Eradication of Violence (PUCPAZ), the general directorates of the National Preparatory School and the National School of Sciences and Humanities, the High School Academic Council, the General Directorate of Incorporation and Revalidation of Studies (DGIRE), and the Institute of Legal Research.

Leticia Cano Soriano, head of PUCPAZ, led a ceremony held at the Program’s offices in the Engineering Tower. She explained that the design, development, and integration of an elective course and a training course are part of the University’s strategy to disseminate a culture of peace across all levels of education, beginning in secondary school and later being integrated into higher education.

The Master of Social Work commented that it is important to develop this elective course and training program to offer students and faculty tools that allow them to incorporate a culture of peace and violence prevention into academic activities, with an emphasis on human rights, interculturality, and community social fabric. She also emphasized integrating these themes with other subjects in the high school curriculum.

Sergio Abraham Reyes Pantoja, Academic Secretary of PUCPAZ, explained that, based on the University Program’s Founding Agreement, one of the program’s objectives is the development of its own educational content on a culture of peace. In addition to advising institutions on mainstreaming these topics into their curricula, the commission also promotes the development of human resources for teaching. The aim is to establish plans and strategies at the high school level for disseminating a culture of peace and implementing specific actions to eradicate violence in university environments.

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(Click here for a Spanish version of this article)

Question related to this article:

How can we develop the institutional framework for a culture of peace?

Is there progress towards a culture of peace in Mexico?

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During the meeting, Consuelo Arce Ortiz, secretary of the Academic Council of the UNAM High School, stated that it is essential to begin with an understanding of the regulations, specifically the General Regulations for the Presentation and Approval of Study Plans and Programs. This will provide greater academic validation, and the need to address a culture of peace has already been raised, calling the University to action.

Arce Ortiz added that the commission’s intention is to place the dignity of individuals at the center of education, fostering positive attitudes and positively impacting the lives of the school and teaching community.

Restorative Approach

Mara Hernández Estrada, from the Institute of Legal Research, mentioned that collaborative work is crucial to ensure the classroom becomes a suitable pedagogical environment for fostering a culture of peace, especially in conflict management, and with a restorative approach.

She emphasized the importance of addressing students’ needs to prevent negative impacts in the classroom, aligning with the ethics of care, and raising awareness about violence.

Speaking next, Alejandro Benítez Jiménez, Continuing Education Coordinator at the DGIRE (General Directorate of Educational Research), shared that the affiliated system serves more than 17,000 students in 28 states across Mexico, who follow 263 different curricula, and that they will now be able to incorporate these courses to promote a culture of peace.

In developing new courses, she noted, it is essential to consider the needs of affiliated schools both in Mexico City and throughout the country. She added that the new courses for students and faculty will be an important opportunity to convey not only the message of fostering a culture of peace, but also the teaching strategies to achieve it.

Finally, Jacqueline Leyva Chávez, coordinator of the Institutional Tutoring Program at the General Directorate of the College of Sciences and Humanities, emphasized that the course topics are particularly relevant because students face diverse challenges, and the training must include specific strategies to effectively support and guide them.

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DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

Catholic Institute for Nonviolence: new developments

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

Email received from Pace é Bene (see authors below)

We are happy to announce that Ken Butigan, a long-time Pace e Bene trainer and organizer, has been selected to be the co-director of the Catholic Institute for Nonviolence. He will continue to serve as Strategy Consultant at Pace e Bene, where he has worked for many years.

With Pope Francis’ blessing, the institute was launched in 2024 with the aim of making nonviolence research, resources, and lived experience more accessible to Catholic Church leaders, communities, and institutions worldwide. It is a project of Pax Christi International’s Catholic Nonviolence Initiative, with which Pace e Bene has been actively involved since CNI was established after a landmark conference ten years ago this spring. [The institute is based in Rome.]


Ken Butigan and Marie Dennis in St. Peter’s Square, October 2024. Photo: Pax Christi International.

The “Nonviolence and Just Peace” conference was held at the Vatican and cosponsored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Pax Christi International in April 2016. It brought scores of theologians, scholars, Church leaders and, most significantly, practitioners from war zones and other hot spots around the world together to gather in hope of seeing this 2,000 year-old institution actively re-embrace the nonviolence proclaimed and lived by Jesus.

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Question related to this article:


How can we develop the institutional framework for a culture of peace?

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After a year of planning (which Ken Butigan and John Dear, representing Pace e Bene, were part of with so many others, including Marie Dennis of Pax Christi), the conference was a dazzling, multi-layered conversation that culminated in an assembly-wide, consensus-based document entitled, An Appeal to the Catholic Church to Re-Commit to the Centrality of Gospel Nonviolence.

CNI was formed as a project of Pax Christi not long after the conference, with leadership from around the world, including Pace e Bene. CNI has been at it ever since, building relationships at the Vatican and with partners worldwide, holding two other conferences in Rome, publishing books, papers and articles; sponsoring many webinars and seminars, and organizing countless meetings. All of this has been focused on inviting the Church to come to a richer and deeper understanding of a nonviolence that combines the power of rejecting violence, the power of refusing to harm others, and the power of love in action. We have been heartened by the prophetic call to nonviolence Pope Francis made repeatedly and that Pope Leo has continued.

The spirit of nonviolence is present in the pope’s recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, including its call to “disarm AI” and its declaration that “the ‘just war’ theory, which has all too often been used to justify any kind of war, is now outdated. Humanity possesses far more effective and capable tools for promoting human life and resolving conflicts.”

Ken is grateful for all the ways Pace e Bene has supported CNI and the Catholic Institute for Nonviolence. We look forward to deepening and broadening our ongoing partnership in working to advance nonviolence in the Church and the world.

Peace and all good,
Erin, Ken, Rivera, Stacie, Layal, Rosie, Mili, and the Pace e Bene Team

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DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Europe, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global,

World Peace Foundation: who is asking what’s next for peace? Part 2

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article by Michelle E. Anderson from the World Peace Foundation

This April, WPF launched its newest research program on the future of peace. In part one this essay begins with a preliminary global mapping of contemporary peace-focused work and some of the different approaches and patterns that emerged across contexts. Part two turns to futures-oriented thinking and explores how WPF’s approach seeks to bring these conversations into dialogue.

Current ways of engaging the future

In order to think beyond stakeholders who identify with peace-related work, this mapping also explored who was engaging with questions of the future more broadly, and in what ways. This included the field of futures studies, which encompasses methods such as forecasting, foresight, and scenario-building, as well as other domains that work in the business of long-term change but in less explicit ways. These preliminary observations reveal a range of ways of understanding the future itself, and the different assumptions that shape how it is approached.

There is a group of actors that look at the future as something to anticipate and plan for- these are often multilateral institutions or governments, or groups that support them. In these contexts, foresight is integrated into governance processes, often through scenario-building and risk analysis. For example, the United Nations Futures Lab  is a strategic foresight unit that describes itself as “dedicated to future-proofing the UN and multilateral system.” The OECD Strategic Foresight Unit  is more outward looking, partnering with governments in member states on the basis that strategic foresight “helps policy makers improve the effectiveness of governments by identifying opportunities, challenges, risks and disruptions that may arise over the coming years.”

Other work focuses less on anticipating the future and more on reshaping the systems that will produce it. Institutions such as the Stockholm Resilience Centre  or the New Economics Foundation, for example, engage with the future with “transformation” in mind, pursued through collaborative efforts between local changemakers, researchers, and policy advocates to redesign economic, ecological, and governance structures. While not typically framed in terms of peace, their work is among a set of future-oriented efforts that address many of the underlying challenges– such as climate and economics– that shape its possibility.

A smaller and more diffuse but informative strand of work approaches the future as something to be reimagined and contested. Drawing on speculative, decolonial, feminist, and abolitionist traditions, among others, these types of efforts emphasize imagination, narrative, and the role of alternative epistemologies in shaping what futures become thinkable. Within this, the future is not simply something to be predicted or designed, but something that is actively constructed through political and cultural processes. Recent work on reproductive justice futures  and futurisms  offers a useful example of this orientation. Emerging from a black feminist tradition that links bodily autonomy (the goal) to social, economic, and environmental justice (the conditions through which that goal can be realized), it treats the future as something to be collectively defined through questions of care, experimentation, governance, and access to resources. Abolitionist approaches similarly emphasize that transformative futures are not simply distant ideals, but are built through present-day practices and experimentation, including community care networks, participatory defense initiatives, mutual aid, and other efforts that attempt to prefigure alternative social arrangements. Within these approaches, the future is both expansive and immediate: not something deferred until ideal conditions emerge, but something actively constructed through political, social, and cultural practice.

Another area of work that helps to expand this picture is that related to climate futures. In contrast to more clearly defined and explicitly-named “futures” strands such as reproductive justice futures, “climate futures” spans a wide range of modes of working, from forecasting and risk management  to frameworks that rely on justice and imaginaries. Some efforts, such as the Climate Futures Initiative  at Princeton, attempt to bridge scientific, normative, and policy-oriented approaches by examining questions related to climate justice, international equity, environmental values, and the political mechanisms through which scientific knowledge shapes decision-making.  Others, such as the Undisciplined Environments  platform for scholars and activists, approach climate futures through more critical and experimental lenses that foreground environmental humanities, alternative imaginaries, and the cultural dimensions of ecological crisis. Still others have written about using climate imaginaries  as tools for justice-centered policy evaluation, highlighting another possibility for combining deep theoretical work with practical outcomes. Work under the umbrella of “climate futures” illustrates how different orientations toward the future can coexist within a single domain, and possibly in support of one another.

Many transformative futures-oriented approaches can be traced to concepts of political imagination and imaginaries. While a wide range of understandings of “political imagination” exist, broadly speaking, it is concerned with how visions of the future take shape, whose perspectives gain traction, and how dominant ways of organizing social and political life are reproduced or contested. Much of this literature still also emphasizes the limits of imagination, which is not neutral and can be constrained, co-opted, or detached from the institutional and material conditions that shape what can be realized in practice. Increasingly, however, these ideas are not only the subject of analysis but are being taken up as part of practice. One strand of this includes participatory, artistic, or narrative-based approaches that treat imagination as part of processes of social and political change. Initiatives such as University of Southern California’s Civic Imagination Project, which uses workshops, storytelling, and collaborative worldbuilding exercises to help communities imagine and identify actions toward alternative social and political futures, or Adelaide University’s future-focused interactive museum exhibit  on practicing alternative futures, illustrate how imagination can function as both a method and a site of intervention, offering space not only for new futures to be envisioned, but also for collective reflection on how they might be pursued in practice.

Across these different orientations toward the future, peace is rarely the central organizing concept, yet the domains of focus are precisely those that shape how peace is constituted in practice. As a result, many of the most consequential questions about the future of peace are being taken up indirectly, across fields that do not name them as such. This points to a more diffuse landscape of work that does not sit neatly within either “peace” or “futures” as defined fields, but nonetheless grapples with many of the same underlying questions. Rather than forming a clearly bounded field, these efforts are dispersed across domains, practices, and vocabularies, often without being recognized as part of a shared conversation.

Bringing peace and futures into conversation

This initial mapping points not to a simple divide between or within peace work, futures work, and adjacent approaches, but to a complex landscape shaped by different assumptions about the future and how it can be engaged. These assumptions, in turn, shape how questions of peace are framed, where they are located, whether they are made explicit or remain implicit, and what becomes visible or obscured when it is not named as such.

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Question related to this article:


How can we develop the institutional framework for a culture of peace?

(Article continued from left column)

One pattern that this mapping endeavor made clear is that institutions explicitly identifying with peace or peacebuilding tend to work in present- or near-term timelines, and most often through governance, security, or post-conflict recovery frameworks. While this does not mean that questions of the future are entirely absent, they are not often treated as a sustained or central area of inquiry. Some policy and multilateral institutions have held dialogues or produced reports that incorporate elements of foresight such as scenario-building, risk analysis, or the identification of emerging trends. These modes inherently attend to how existing systems might be strengthened, adapted, or made more resilient in the face of shifting geopolitical, technological, or environmental conditions, but without fundamentally challenging the underlying assumptions or institutional logics in which they operate. For example, a 2025 report from the Stimson Center on the Future of International Cooperation  argues for the need to strengthen global governance through measures such as expanding the jurisdiction of international courts, reinforcing human rights compliance mechanisms, establishing new coordinating bodies such as a United Nations Climate Change Council, and improving regional capacity and financing structures. These recommendations reflect a focus on reforming and strengthening existing institutions rather than rethinking the systems within which they operate.

Other efforts have gone somewhat further in attempting to rethink the assumptions, relationships, and practices through which peacebuilding is carried out. For example, Humanity United’s 2025 report, A Pathway to Peace, grounds its rationale in the many challenges facing peacebuilding today, including the limited adaptability of multilateral institutions and shrinking financial support for peace and humanitarian efforts. Drawing on input from peacebuilders around the world, it proposes an “engagement framework” centered on more inclusive, locally grounded, and adaptive approaches. However, this framework- perhaps necessarily in its effort to provide practical guidance for the current moment- remains largely oriented toward improving how peace efforts are carried out in relation to existing funding structures and institutional arrangements. Interestingly, the report acknowledges that their proposals may still challenge established assumptions about expertise, neutrality, and power, and may be met with resistance, highlighting a tension between efforts to rethink practice and the institutional contexts in which they are situated. It may also be a nod to Humanity United’s listed topical focus on “innovative pathways for peace,” suggesting that these efforts are part of an emerging area of work oriented toward linking imagination, innovation, and action.

There have been some efforts by explicitly peace-focused actors to take up questions of the future that argue for a more transformative approach, though these also mostly remain episodic. For example, the Re-thinking Peace and Conflict Studies in a Postcolonial World  conference held in Tunis in 2025 brought together scholars from multiple regions and disciplinary backgrounds to reflect on how the field itself might be reoriented. Discussions emphasized the need to move beyond dominant frameworks and rethink how knowledge is produced and whose perspectives are centered. This was reflected not only in the themes of the conference but in how it was organized, with one participant describing it as “a plurivocal ecology of knowledge,” a collaborative way of working that privileges neither centre nor periphery. While such efforts suggest a growing recognition of the need to think beyond existing models, they do not yet cohere into a sustained area of work across organizations.

Beyond individual reports or convenings, there are some early attempts to build more sustained platforms for this kind of exchange.  For example, the Alliance for Peacebuilding’s “Future of Peace and Security” project seeks to bring together practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to examine how emerging trends, including shifts in technology, geopolitics, and governance, may shape the conditions for peace and conflict. In doing so, it creates space for forward-looking reflection within established networks.

Even so, what emerges from this mapping is a fundamental disjunction between those engaged in more imaginative or visioning work and those operating within policy and institutional frameworks. At a moment when dominant systems are fracturing, this divide is not just analytical but consequential. This suggests that the broader imperative is not simply to introduce future-oriented thinking into peace work, but to create spaces where different ways of engaging the future– whether anticipatory, structural, or imaginative– can be brought into conversation with different understandings of peace, and where long-term connections between them can and should take shape.

Implications for the Future of Peace

This dispersed landscape of conceptualizations and approaches relevant to the future of peace presents both opportunity and challenge. How can these different modes of thinking be brought into conversation without collapsing one into the other? How can they be used as building blocks for something new, rather than being forced into existing frames or reduced only to familiar forms such as policy forecasting or abstract scenario-building?

The Future of Peace program is an effort to explore synergies between approaches that are often kept entirely separate. It takes seriously the need for grounded analysis while also creating space for more expansive and exploratory thinking about what peace could be, and how those possibilities take shape in practice. The aim is not only to bridge existing efforts, but to open up novel ways of working across them.

Rather than centering a single framework, we aim to bring into conversation a range of people, modes of working, and schools of thought that are rethinking peace in different ways. This includes perspectives that have long challenged dominant assumptions about order, governance, and coexistence, alongside work grounded in policy and practice, without being limited to either.

In these early stages, the program is being shaped through a set of evolving guiding questions. Among them are the following: How is peace being reimagined in the current moment, and by whom, particularly in ways that look to longer-term futures or alternative possibilities? What would it mean to take these reimaginings seriously as starting points for inquiry and even guidance, rather than treating them as peripheral to policy or practice?

As the Future of Peace program develops, this work will continue through further mapping, engagement with different bodies of work and practice, and the cultivation of conversations that bring these perspectives into closer relation. The aim is not only to identify what exists, but to better understand how different approaches to peace and the future can inform one another, and where new connections or directions may be needed, helping to build a foundation for the program’s ongoing work.

At a moment marked by uncertainty, polarization, and rapid transformation, revisiting the question of peace is both necessary and fraught. The aim of the Future of Peace program is not to resolve these tensions, but to work within them, opening space for new ways of thinking about what peace is, how it is shaped, and what it might yet become.

We see this as an ongoing conversation, and an invitation to think together about the future of peace. This mapping is necessarily partial, and this essay even more so. We welcome hearing from those whose work is represented here, as well as those we may not have captured but who are engaging related questions and challenges. We look forward to connections, reflections, and suggestions as this work continues to take shape.

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DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global

UAB School for a Culture of Peace annual report: highest number of armed conflicts in the world in the past decade

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A report from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

The UAB School for a Culture of Peace publishes today its annual report—one of the main yearbooks in Spain on conflictivity, human rights and peacebuilding. The report identifies 40 wars currently existing in the world, the highest figure in the past decade, and warns about the increase of international conflicts and humanitarian consequences.

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The world is experiencing a new upsurge in global armed violence. In 2025, 40 active armed conflicts were registered (37 in 2024), the highest number since 2011 and one of the highest since the School for a Culture of Peace (ECP) of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona has been producing its annual reports on international conflict. This is one of the main conclusions of the report Alert 2026! Report on conflicts, human rights and peacebuilding, published on 3 June. The report is mainly based on qualitative analysis of studies and information provided by the United Nations, international organisations, research centres, media and NGOs, among others, as well as the experience acquired in field research.

According to the study, there were 40 armed conflicts and 113 scenarios of socio-political tension around the world in 2025. Africa continues to concentrate the highest number of wars (17), followed by Asia and the Pacific (12), and the Middle East (7), while Europe and America register two armed conflicts each.

Rise in international conflicts

The report particularly warns of the increase in international conflicts. In 2025, nine clearly internationalised wars were recorded, the highest number since the ECP uses its current classification methodology. Among the new armed conflicts identified are the confrontation between India and Pakistan, the serious escalation between Thailand and Cambodia, and the war between Israel, the United States and Iran, known in 2025 as the “12-day war” and which was reopened in 2026. The ECP research team warns that this evolution reflects a deterioration in global security and is a reflection of an international system in which many powerful actors do not prioritise prevention, addressing the root causes of disputes and supporting dialogue.

Sudan, Gaza, Haiti and Ukraine: worsening of the humanitarian situation

The report concludes that almost half of the world’s armed conflicts worsened during 2025. Among the most serious cases are the Western Sahel region, Sudan, Haiti, Somalia, Gaza, Myanmar and the war between Russia and Ukraine. The ECP warns of the increase in civilian casualties, the bombing of populated areas, the destruction of infrastructure and the violations of international humanitarian law.

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Question related to this article:

Where in the world are zones of peace?

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Setbacks in women’s rights

Coinciding with the 25th anniversary of UN Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, the report warns of a global backsliding in women’s rights. According to the study, 70% of the highest-intensity armed conflicts take place in countries with low or medium-low levels of gender equality. Twenty-three of the 40 armed conflicts that took place in 2025 took place in countries with low or medium-low levels of gender equality, and 16 of the 20 high-intensity armed conflicts in 2025 (80%) took place in countries where the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association had documented legislation or policies that criminalise LGBTIQ+ people.

Moreover, women’s participation in UN-led peace processes continues to decline. The UN verified more than 4,600 cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2024, a 25% increase over the previous year. A total of 93% of the victims were women and girls.

Over 117 million forcibly displaced people

The report notes that forced displacement remains at historically high levels. In mid-2025, there were 117.3 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, including refugees and internally displaced persons. Although the figure represents a slight decrease from the previous year, partly attributed to the return of people to countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan, the ECP highlights that the overall volume remains extraordinarily high. Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan, Ukraine and Venezuela account for 65% of the world’s refugee population.

An internationally renowned report

Alert 2026!, which this year reaches its 25th edition, is one of the main yearbooks produced in Spain on conflict, human rights and peacebuilding. The study combines data from the United Nations, international organisations, research centres and specialised fieldwork. The objective of the report is to offer tools for analysis and preventive warnings to political leaders, international organisations, the media and actors involved in the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

UAB School for a Culture of Peace report: Alert 2026! Report on conflicts, human rights and peacebuilding

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(Click here for a Spanish version of this article)

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global

Edgar Morin deplores “the world’s silence in the face of the carnage in Gaza”

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An article from L’Orient le Jour (translation by CPNN)

(Editor’s note: Edgar Morin passed away on May 29, 2026, at the age of 104 years.)

While Edgar Morin’s public appearances are rare, this one will undoubtedly remain one of his most striking. “I am both stunned and outraged by the fact that those who represent the descendants of a people who have been persecuted for centuries (…) can not only colonize an entire people (…) but, in addition, after the massacre of October 7, have committed a veritable, massive carnage against the people of Gaza.”


An extremely popular intellectual figure in France, Edgar Morin is the author of a transdisciplinary body of work translated into 27 languages ​​and published in 42 countries. Photo AFP)

With shining eyes and a high-pitched voice, emphasizing each word, the 102-year-old French philosopher and sociologist delivered a short plea on Saturday, February 10 [ 2024], to a packed house at the Marrakech African Book Festival, where he was the guest of honor, deploring “a horrific tragedy.” The Israeli offensive has killed more than 28,000 people in Gaza since the start of the war more than four months ago, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

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(Click here for the original version in French)

Questions related to this article:

How can we carry forward the work of the great peace and justice activists who went before us?

How can we best express solidarity with the people of Gaza?

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Jewish Resistance Fighter

The message is all the more powerful because it comes from the son of Jewish immigrants from Thessaloniki, born Edgar Nahoum, who joined the Resistance in 1943 as a lieutenant in the Free French Forces formed by General de Gaulle, later adopting his Resistance name, Morin. Influenced by Marx, this man, who studied philosophy, psychology, sociology, and the history of political science, has always aspired to become what he calls a “humanologist,” or to understand what it means to be human by combining different fields of knowledge.

The excerpt in question has been shared tens of thousands of times on X, where the intellectual’s humanity has been widely praised, including by some French political figures on the left. “Edgar Morin thinks and speaks truthfully on behalf of all those who still possess a human touch in the face of the genocide in Gaza,” lauded Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of La France Insoumise (LFI), on X. “A century and a perspective still capable of indignation, of condemning the silences,” tweeted Olivier Faure, First Secretary of the Socialist Party.

In a recent opinion piece in Le Monde, Edgar Morin had already addressed the tragedy in Gaza, while also expressing alarm at the proliferation of conflicts worldwide and climate change. “Crises feed off one another in a kind of multi-faceted ecological, economic, political, social, and civilizational crisis that is steadily intensifying,” he wrote, before calling for “fundamental resistance of the mind” against “hatred and contempt.”

In his final address, the sociologist denounced “the silence of the world, the silence of the United States, protectors of Israel, the silence of the Arab states, the silence of the European states that claim to be defenders of culture, humanity, and human rights.” He concluded: “The only thing left, if we cannot resist in a concrete way, is to bear witness.”

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Europe, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, HUMAN RIGHTS, Mideast,

Arab League: On Press Freedom Day: Calls To Ensure A Pluralistic Media Environment That Enlightens Public Opinion

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An article from Yaffa News Network

The Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League and Head of the Media and Communication Sector, Ambassador Ahmed Rashid Khattabi, stressed the need to ensure a pluralistic, independent, and credible media environment that contributes to enlightening public opinion, protecting rights and freedoms, and combating tendencies toward violence and hatred.


In press statements on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, Ambassador Khattabi praised the provisions recently introduced to the Arab Media Code of Honor regarding the consolidation of pluralism and freedom of opinion, as well as the prohibition of publishing misleading rumors, especially during electoral processes.

He added that this international day, adopted by a UN General Assembly resolution in 1993 on the initiative of UNESCO, is an opportunity to acknowledge the valuable services of journalists in all their positions and professional affiliations, and to emphasize the facilitation of their work and their contributions to development and democratic practice, in line with the principles of relevant international conventions, starting with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

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Questions related to this article:

Free flow of information, How is it important for a culture of peace?

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He also stressed that freedom of opinion is an inherent right, limited only by legal and ethical frameworks and vital national interests.


The Head of the Media and Communication Sector announced that the world will mark this UN day in 2026 under the slogan “Building a World of Peace,” highlighting the role of the media in promoting a culture of peace in a highly unstable geopolitical context marked by tensions and devastating wars, particularly in the Middle East, where innocent civilians are losing their lives, including journalists working to convey the truth under dangerous conditions.


Ambassador Khattabi also noted that social media platforms and artificial intelligence applications, while enhancing communication democratization, media performance, and innovation, also raise serious concerns due to the spread of online violence, discriminatory stereotypes, and fake content in the media space.


He emphasized the need to implement the strategy adopted by the Council of Arab Ministers of Information regarding the integration of media literacy into the educational curricula of member states.

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FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Mideast

UNESCO International Forum of NGOs: Advancing a Culture of Peace in Africa

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An announcement from UNESCO

UNESCO Headquarters, Paris | 19, 21 and 22 May 2026
Held in the framework of Africa Week 2026, the International Forum of NGOs will bring together representatives of Member States, the African Union, civil society, youth and UNESCO partners to advance dialogue and cooperation on building a Culture of Peace in Africa. The Forum will feature a high-level opening panel, thematic discussions and exchanges highlighting the role of civil society in advancing inclusive, peaceful and resilient societies, including through youth engagement, education, water cooperation, culture, inclusion and community-based approaches to social cohesion across the continent.

Excerpts from the Forum programme

Day 1 Tuesday, 19 May 2026

Official Opening

Remarks by Ms Åsa Regnér, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO

Remarks by Ms Svetlomira Stoyanova, Chairperson NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee

Master of Ceremony: Mr Davide Grosso, NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee

High-Level Panel: “Building a Culture of Peace in Africa – Lessons from the Past, Realities of the Present, Visions for the Future”

Moderator: Mr Julien Pellaux, Director of UNESCO’s Division for Partnerships

(Participants from UNESCO headquarters)

Question related to this article:

Will UNESCO once again play a role in the culture of peace?

Day 2 Thursday, 21 May 2026 (

Building Blocks of Peace: Water, Education and Youth

Introduction of the Forum by the NGO Forum co-chairs:

Session 1: “Water as a Catalyst for Cooperation: From Scarcity to Shared Security”

Moderator: Ms Svetlomira Stoyanova, Chairperson NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee

(Videos presentations from South Africa and Algeria)

(Panel with participants from UNESCO headquarters and Zimbabwe)

Session 2: “Reimagining Education Systems as Engines of Peace”

Moderator: Ms Nisrine Ibn Abdeljalil (Morocco), Executive Director of the Moroccan Fondation for PreSchool (FMPS)

(Panel with participants from UNESCO headquarters, Togo, Kenya, Burundi and Senegal)

Session 3: “Youth as Co-Architects of Peace and Stability”

Moderator: Ms Melissa Mejía Flórez (Colombia), New Humanity, Communications Coordinator and Strategic Advisor

(Panel with participants from Brazil, Italy, DR Congo, Cameroon, Tanzania, France, Colombia and USA)

Day 3 Friday, 22 May 2026

Culture, Inclusion & Community-Based Peacebuilding

Session 4: “Fostering a Culture of Peace within Communities”

Moderator: Mr Davide Grosso, International Music Council, NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee

(Panel with participants from Zimbabwe, African Union, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, South Africa and Togo.

Closing session

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UN General Assembly resolution: Interreligious Dialogue as Soft Power Peace Tool

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Excerpt from an article of United Nations News Service

The Assembly adopted by consensus [on May 20] the draft resolution titled “Promotion of interreligious and intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation for peace” (document A/80/L.43) aimed at advancing interreligious and intercultural dialogue as a practical tool for peace, inclusion and sustainable development, supported by education, policy, partnerships and global cooperation.

Introducing the biennial text, the representative of Pakistan, also speaking on behalf of the Philippines and all co-sponsors, stressed that it is essential to promote a culture of peace — one that embraces diversity and inclusivity, safeguards fundamental rights and freedoms and rejects social structures and stereotypes that create divisions among individuals, societies, communities and nation States.

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Despite progress achieved over the years, he noted, much more remains to be done to fully realize these shared ideals.  In this regard, he recalled the Constitution of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which affirms that “since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed”.  He explained that “a technical rollover” would retain the key messages reaffirmed through the consensus adoption of the resolution during the seventy‑eighth session.

Despite the unanimous adoption, several delegations raised some concerns. Among them was the representative of the United States, who said that the Assembly “spends countless hours negotiating symbolic, repetitive text with little to show in tangible results for the common citizen”.  Washington, D.C., she added, “is finished with performative exercises and bloated ideological multilateralism that fails to advance the core mission of the United Nations”.

(Editor’s note: The resolution was proposed by Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines and Turkmenistan. Its operative paragraphs include the following:)

Calls upon Member States, which have the primary responsibility to counter discrimination and hate speech, and all relevant actors, including political and religious leaders, to promote inclusion and unity to combat racism, xenophobia, hate speech, violence and discrimination.

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Nepal Peace Walk: A Journey towards Loving Kindness through Mindful Moments

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An article by Biswo Ulak

In 2015, the Global Peace Index highlighted a decline in global peace, marked by rising terrorism, growing refugee crises, and increasing inequality. At the same time, Nepal was recovering from a decade-long armed conflict while continuing to face political instability, economic challenges, and social uncertainty despite the adoption of the 2015 Constitution. In response to these challenges, the Nepal Peace Walk emerged as a cultural journey that welcomes people of all religions, races, nationalities, and backgrounds to celebrate diversity, heritage, and human connection. Through mindful walking, cultural exchange, and community engagement, the initiative promotes healing, dialogue, tolerance, reconciliation, and unity by connecting participants with heritage sites, local communities, and shared human values.

Origin of Peace Walk

An informal group of cultural activists and peace advocates, including Biswo Ulak, spiritual leader Naresh Prasad Manandhar, and campaigners such as Deva Sainju, Palden Lama, Anil Raj Bajracharya, Subarna Shrestha, Chandra Badan Bijukchhe, Rajaram Karmacharya, Sunita Shahi, and Hem Kumar Shrestha, along with many like-minded individuals, came together to launch a symbolic Peace Walk promoting peace and coexistence. The journey begins at Swayambhunath, which has a history spanning over 3,000 years and continues to Namo Buddha Temple, a site with more than 6,000 years of history associated with compassion and selfless sacrifice through the story of Prince Mahasattva.

Inspired by Nepal’s cultural heritage, the route passes through historic settlements and sacred sites including Pashupatinath Temple, Boudhanath Stupa, Bhaktapur, and Panauti, symbolizing cultural continuity, dialogue, reconciliation, and peace.

Focus of the Journey

The Nepal Peace Walk and Peace Festival aims to celebrate cultural diversity, promote social engagement, and strengthen the tourism industry, contributing peace and harmony in society through:

Sharing the inspiring, often untold history of Avayadan—the spirit of selfless compassion—with the world, to help promote the value of saving lives, supporting ecological balance in nature, and raising awareness about organ donation as a modern reflection of this noble tradition.

Promoting the value of peace, unity, harmony and healing to help ease internal conflicts and foster awareness of the vital need to preserve our shared human civilization.

This walk is not a search for peace, but a gentle reminder that peace has always been with us. Through times of challenge, loss, and solitude, it has remained present, patiently awaiting our awareness. As we walk together in shared purpose, our steps offer an invitation to pause, reflect, and reconnect with the peace that lives within each person. May this collective journey unfold like the sunrise after a long night, bringing renewed understanding, quiet strength, and hope for a more harmonious and compassionate world.

Commencing the Movement

The movement began on Nepal New Year, 16 April 2017, with a bicycle rally organized in collaboration with World Cycle Tour. The journey connected the historic Swayambhunath Stupa and Namo Buddha Temple, promoting peace, compassion, and cultural harmony. What started with an expectation of 80 participants grew into a powerful gathering of more than 160 cyclists from diverse backgrounds, united through shared movement and human connection. This experience inspired a deeper vision — transforming fast-paced rallies into mindful cultural journeys focused on reflection, community bonding, cultural exchange, and the spread of peace through meaningful shared experiences.

Nepal Peace Walk

The first Walk with the Cultural Peace Lamp was held from 21–23 September 2017 to celebrate the International Day of Peace. The three-day journey connected Swayambhu Stupa and Namo Buddha Temple, promoting peace, compassion, and cultural harmony. Along the route, participants stayed at the historic Muni Vihar in Bhaktapur and Dhyanakuti Vihar in Banepa, experiencing local traditions, spiritual reflection, and meaningful cultural exchange that strengthened unity among communities.

The event was successfully organized by the GCPW team, inspired by the momentum of the April 2017 Bicycle Rally. In 2018, Tergar Monastery helped expand the peace movement with support from Education Foundation on Buddhism (EFoB), Namo Buddha International Cities of Peace (NBCP), and World Forum for Buddhists (WFfB). Together, these organizations strengthened the initiative into an ongoing platform promoting peace, compassion, cultural preservation, and global solidarity, which continued in the following years.

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Resilience in the Time of Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, large public peace talks were paused due to health restrictions. Despite these challenges, local communities, heritage sites, and peace organizations continued organizing small-scale and symbolic programs under the message “Peace Energy to Fight Aagainst COVID-19.” Through community support, reflection, and peace activities at sacred and cultural sites, these initiatives spread hope, compassion, healing, and solidarity, proving that human connection and the spirit of peace can endure even in difficult times.

Restoration of the Campaign

In 2022, after two years of pandemic restrictions, Education Foundation on Buddhism (EFoB) successfully revived the Walk with the Cultural Peace Lamp, reconnecting communities through peace, culture, and compassion. The return of the journey was warmly welcomed by local communities and symbolized resilience, healing, and renewed social harmony.

In 2023, the campaign reached a major milestone under the leadership of Kavre Sewa Samaj, in collaboration with World Forum for Buddhists (WFfB) and Namo Buddha International Cities of Peace (NBICP). What began with only five walkers from Boudhanath gradually grew into a powerful movement, with more than 1,500 participants joining the final walk from Panauti to Namo Buddha Temple, reflecting growing public support for peace, cultural unity, and community connection.

For more about Nepal’s cultural peace initiatives and destinations, visit https://peacetourist.com/nepal/. The community participation and highlights of the 2023 walk can also be viewed through Facebook Reel @GCPW Nepal.

International Recognition and Expansion

Nepal, a beautiful Himalayan nation between India and China, is renowned for its rich biodiversity, ancient cultural heritage, and breathtaking landscapes. In 2024, the Nepal Peace Walk programme, led by World Forum for Buddhists with support from partner organizations, was officially launched through an international webinar, generating strong global engagement among peace advocates, cultural communities, and international participants. The programme was officially launched on June 2024 through an international webinar, which created significant momentum and engagement among peace advocates, cultural organizations, and global participants.

The 2024 Nepal Peace Walk brought together 120 participants from 8 countries across Asia, Europe, and the United States, making it one of the most internationally diverse gatherings in the programme’s history. Beyond a physical journey, the walk became a platform for intercultural dialogue, friendship, peacebuilding, and community connection, while digital outreach and documentary coverage expanded its global visibility and impact.

In 2025, the Nepal Peace Walk programme was organized in two phases due to the Dashain festival in Nepal. The first phase, the Peace Festival, was held on 21 September 2025 at Patan Durbar Square, bringing together cultural performers and peace advocates for the International Day of Peace. The second phase, held from 3–5 November 2025, covered nearly 70 kilometers from Swayambhu Mahachaitya to Namo Buddha Temple and attracted over 100 participants, reflecting growing support for peacebuilding, cultural exchange, and community connection.

Looking Ahead: 2026 and Beyond

The success of the 2024 and 2025 Nepal Peace Walk programmes highlighted the growing importance of deeper connections between international participants and local communities through cultural exchange, shared learning, and meaningful human interaction. In a world facing conflict, division, and uncertainty, the Nepal Peace Walk promotes peacebuilding through mindful walking, cultural understanding, and compassionate community engagement.

Building on this momentum, the 2026 programme will feature a Peace Festival at Patan Durbar Square on 21 September, followed by a five-day Cultural Peace Walk from 21–25 November, connecting sacred and cultural heritage sites including Swayambhu Mahachaitya and Namo Buddha Temple. Open to people from all backgrounds, the initiative encourages peace, dialogue, compassion, and global solidarity through shared cultural experiences and mindful journeys.

Together, We Walk for Peace

The Nepal Peace Walk is a living expression of peace, compassion, and cultural harmony that brings together people from different cultures, communities, and nations in a shared journey toward understanding and unity. Inspired by the timeless values of empathy, selflessness, and mutual respect, the walk promotes dialogue, cultural preservation, and humanitarian awareness. The spirit of modern organ transplantation in health science reflects the ancient compassion demonstrated by Avayadan Prince Mahasattva over 6000 years ago, symbolizing the profound act of giving life to others. In a world increasingly affected by conflict, division, and social challenges, the Nepal Peace Walk serves as a powerful reminder that lasting peace begins with mindful steps, compassionate hearts, and the willingness of humanity to walk together toward a shared and harmonious future.

For more information about the Nepal Peace Walk, participation opportunities, partnerships, or event details, please contact GCPW.Nepal@gmail.com

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Sánchez, Lula Lead ‘Work for Peace’ and Equality at Gathering of Global Progressive Leaders in Spain

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An article by Julia Conley from Common Dreams (reprinted according to Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Arriving in Spain on Friday for a two-day visit that will center on a gathering of progressive leaders from more than 100 political parties across five continents, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva emphasized that the summit was not “an anti-Trump meeting.”

But the contrast between US President Donald Trump’s violent foreign and domestic policies and the international meeting, which will focus on wage inequality and electoral strategy for progressives, was unmistakable as Spanish President Pedro Sánchez opened  the gathering at a press conference in Barcelona on Friday.

“We want to double our efforts to work for peace and for a reinforced multilateral order. While others open wounds, we want to mend them and cure them,” said Sánchez.

Da Silva—who is commonly called Lula—and Sánchez, as well as other leaders who will be attending the weekend event, have spoken out forcefully against Trump’s policies and the rise of the far right in the US, Germany, Italy, and other European countries.

Sánchez has refused  to allow US fighter planes to use Spanish military bases for missions in the US-Israeli war on Iran and  closed  the country’s airspace to American military aircraft—plus doubled down on his condemnation of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war even after the US president threatened  Spain with a trade embargo.

Lula expressed solidarity with Pope Leo this week after the pontiff denounced  the Iran war, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who will also attend the meeting, took aim  last month at Trump’s claim that her country is the “epicenter of cartel violence”—blaming the US for the flow of illegal weapons into Mexico.

Lula emphasized that the 3,000 attendees of the summit, which will include the IV Meeting in Defense of Democracy as well as a gathering called the Global Progressive Mobilization on Saturday, will “discuss the state of democracy, to see what went wrong and what we have to do to repair it.”

The Brazilian president added that “Brazil and Spain are side by side in the trenches together.”

“We are an example that it is possible to find solutions to problems without giving into the empty promises of extremism,” said Lula. “Democracy must go beyond just voting and bring real benefits to people’s lives.”

Sánchez added that “in a world that doubts and fragments, Spain and Brazil open a new chapter convinced that our countries have something the world needs: the strength to build bridges where others raise walls.”

The Global Progressive Mobilization meeting will include roundtables dedicated to discussing economic inequality and other issues at a time when, as one report showed  earlier this month, the richest 0.1% of people on the planet are stashing more than $2.8 trillion in tax havens—more than the wealth owned by the entire bottom 50% of humanity.

The economic hardships of working people have only been exacerbated by the war on Iran, which has sent global energy prices soaring.

US Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is the only federal US official planning to attend the gathering, while New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani—who has swiftly taken steps toward enacting  a universal childcare program and announced  a plan to tax second homes valued at over $5 million since taking office in January, is scheduled to participate virtually.

Also on Saturday, Lula and Sánchez will host the IV Meeting in Defense of Democracy, a summit first held in 2024 with the aim of combating “extremism, polarization, and misinformation.”

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European Council President António Costa, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, and leaders from Albania, Ghana, and Lithuania are among those attending the meeting on democracy.

Lula said the large number of attendees is evidence that progressive governments are winning more influence around the world despite the rise of authoritarian political parties.

“Our flock is growing. We must give hope to the world,” said Lula. “Otherwise, what happened with [Nazi leader Adolf] Hitler is going to happen.”

Economist Gabriel Zucman, who joined  Mamdani this week in publishing an op-ed calling for an end to regressive tax systems and highlighting a proposal for a 2% tax on the wealth of those with more than €100 million, or $117 million, expressed hope that the global left is amassing power by building a cooperative international movement.

“The good news is that, from Zohran Mamdani and [Congresswoman] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York to Pedro Sánchez in Spain, from Lula in Brazil to [Green Party Leader] Zack Polanski in the UK, we may be seeing the early signs of a new cross-border alliance taking shape against global oligarchy,” said Zucman. “And I have no doubt that in this fight—the defining battle of the 21st century—democracy will prevail. See you in Barcelona this weekend to press ahead!”

. . . .

(Editor’s note: It seems that there was no official press release with the results of the meetings in Barcelona on April 17 and 28, but here is some additional information about the meetings, drawn from other sources:

The summit is intended to become a regular event, aiming to “unite progressive forces from around the world.” 

The presence of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at the meeting has a symbolic character, just a few weeks after King Felipe VI acknowledged, for the first time, “numerous abuses” during the Spanish conquest of America in the 16th century, a subject of tension between Madrid and Mexico for many months. Sheinbaum declared at the opening of the meeting, “”I come from a people who recognize their origin in the great indigenous cultures, those that were silenced, enslaved and plundered, but that were never defeated, because there are memories that cannot be conquered and roots that can never be uprooted,”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro told the press on Friday that “by firmly opposing the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran , “it seems to me that Spain’s position is at the forefront in Europe.”

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who campaigned alongside Kamala Harris in her aborted presidential bid against Donald Trump, addressed a large crowd Saturday at the first Global Progressive Mobilization, describing Trump as a “warmonger” with no real plan. Walz denounced an apparent authoritarian drift under Trump, stating that “it has to be called by its name. It’s fascism. Or at least, it’s becoming fascist, as they would say.”

 Giacomo Filibeck , Secretary-General of the Party of European Socialists (PES)., said Left-wing parties needed to show voters there was an alternative to what organisers called the “right-wing international”. No sitting prime minister of a large western European country took the stage.

A Eouropean delegation included German Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Italian opposition leader Elly Schlein, and Belgian politician Paul Magnette. The President of the European Council, António Costa, cancelled his visit at the last minute.

Alexander Soros, son of financier George Soros and now chair of the Open Society Foundations (OSF) acted in practice as a third host alongside Sánchez and Lula. Writing on X at the close of the meeting, he said it had been “an honor to welcome so many incredible leaders” to Barcelona, and posted photographs of himself with the Spanish Prime Minister. Pedro Abramovay, a senior OSF programme official, appeared on the speaker list, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also took part.

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