Category Archives: DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Zimbabwe: Artists Celebrate Peace

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by Godwin Muzari, The Herald (Zimbabwe)

Dancers, actors and poets will come together to commemorate the International Day of Peace with performances at Zimbabwe Hall in Highfield. The International Day of Peace is celebrated on September 21 and the performances are set to take place on September 25. The programme was put in place by EDZAI ISU Theatre Arts Project founded by acclaimed actor and director Tafadzwa Muzondo.

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Blessing Hungwe in “Burn Mukwerekwere Burn”

One of the plays that are likely to be outstanding at the event is “Burn Mukwerekwere Burn” a 2010 production written by Blessing Hungwe. The anti-xenophobia play is a story of two Zimbabweans that are caught up in a dangerous situation following violence against foreigners that erupts in South Africa.

The characters, initially separated by tribal lines, realise they have more in common than their perceived differences. On their way to escape the horror of xenophobic attacks, the Zimbabweans eventually concur that love for their country and the fight for survival bind them together.

“Burn Mukwerekwere Burn” was showcased at the Harare International Festival of the Arts (2010) and had a run at Theatre in the Park. The play won a National Arts Merit Awards accolade and has been staged outside Zimbabwe and recently toured Germany.

Despite being written in 2010, last year’s xenophobic attacks in SA reignited interest in the production and it has been on rotation on various stages, culminating in its invitation to the Zimbabwe Hall event. Also featuring on the Zimbabwe Hall stage would be poet Mbizo Chirasha, well-known for his poem “Africa My Motherland”.

Chirasha was recently in Zambia for performances and said he is geared up for the upcoming International Day of Peace celebrations. “It is an honour to be invited to take part at such an event. I have been on a regional tour and I am more than prepared to go on a local stage at a big event,” said Chirasha.

“As poets we are glad to celebrate peace and condemn violence. There is war in many countries and some big nations are fanning violence in small nations. We have to add our voice in condemning war and violence. We want peace in the world and we will preach peace through poetry.”

The list of dancers at the event will be led by award-winning Zvido Zvevanhu dance ensemble from Mufakose. The group, which is led by Gibson Sarari, has made headlines during international tours and remains one of the best traditional dance ensembles. Sarari said the group will showcase various traditional dances at the event.

“It will be a big event for us. We have performed at various stages locally and internationally and we will continue showcasing various Zimbabwean traditional dances,” said Sarari. “We will mainly be showcasing celebratory dances because it will be a day to celebrate peace. We want the Highfield community to join us in the celebrations. We will dance to peace and sing songs of peace.”

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Question for this article:

How are you celebrating peace day

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Muzondo said the programme was part of a new project by Edzai Isu called TISU.COM (Theatre Inspired Social Unity for Community Organisation and Mobilisation). The programme is supported by Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust in partnership with SIDA and DANIDA.

“We will be bringing award winning and internationally acclaimed theatre plays to Zimbabwe Hall so that communities can watch internationally acclaimed plays by professional theatre practitioners every last Friday of the month starting with International Day of Peace and ending on World Theatre Day (March 27),” said Muzondo.

“Each professional play will be complemented by a community play followed by post performance discussions and spiced by guest poetry, dance and/or music appearances every month end targeting women and young people in Highfield and beyond.

“We have already identified the plays to showcase and we trained seven community groups in transformative theatre so that they incorporate some of the strategies in their work as community development communicators.”

Africa, DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Colombia: VII National and II International Congress of REDUNIPAZ, 21, 22 and 23 September

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article of Uniminuto Tolima (translated by CPNN)

The University Corporation Minuto de Dios and the Regional Center Ibagué along with three higher education institutions of Tolima, will host the Seventh National and Second International Congress of REDUNIPAZ.

redunipaz

The academic meetings will be held on 21, 22 and 23 September in the city of Ibagué and will address “The Role of the University in Building Peace with Social Justice”.

The Ibagué Regional Center, is responsible for addressing the issue of Culture (Education, Education, Communication Art and Peace). 500 attendees are expected.

The Congress will start on September 21 with a National Assembly in the Ocobos Auditorium of the University of Tolima with delegates from all participating universities. Later a press conference with local and national media will be held, in order to disseminate the results of the academic meeting.

The same day in the afternoon will take place the installation of the Congress in the Auditorium Alfonso López Pumarejo of the Government of Tolima. The general public is invited.

At night the opening day will close with a concert of Colombian music in the Sala Alberto Castilla Conservatory of Tolima.

On the second day of the meeting activity will take place in each of the organizing universities.

The activity at the Regional Center Ibague will take place at the Chicalá Headquarters. There, from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, the main theme will be culture. Education, Arts and Peace, Education and Communication, will be addressed at work tables, along with 13 papers that address the issue of peace.

On September 23 experts in the field of peace, will hold a conferences open to all the community of Ibagué. In the evening the academic event will close with general conclusions.

Click here to take part in the II International REDUNIPAZ Seventh National Congress.

(Click here for the original version in Spanish.)

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DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Latin America

Global Feast for Peace, held annually during Peace Week, Sept. 15-21

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from the International Cities of Peace

International Day of Peace, September 21st of each year, was created by a United Nations Resolution in the 1980s and has grown to become a day of global celebration, education, and reflection on peace in local communities and throughout the world. During Peace Week, Sept. 15-21, families, friends, organizations, as well as cities, towns, and villages across the world gather and break bread together in a Global Feast for Peace.

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ADD YOUR CITY TO THE MAP OF CITIES HAVING A FEAST FOR PEACE!

Sharing food together in celebration of friendship and common interest is a tradition as old as the human family. The Global Feast for Peace is part of the U.N. sponsored International Day of Peace, celebrated around the world on September 21st each year. Whether it’s a small family celebration or a large community gathering, the Feast for Peace is a simple and profound expression of peace that everyone, no matter how humble or blessed their circumstances, can connect with and enliven the global celebration. Feast for peace!

Who can participate?

• Families, neighborhoods, communities, and cities
• Organizations, including faith-based, interfaith and secular
• Businesses, both for-profit and not-for-profit
• Schools from nursery schools to higher education
• Anyone who wishes to express their wish for peace

What to do?

Join together during International Day of Peace or during Peace Week. The gathering can be a formal lunch or a group potluck where people bring a dish and share. Other events can be planned before, during, and/or after the Global Feast, including bell ringing, speakers, musical events, meditations and prayers, moments of silence and other activities that foster a culture of peace.

When to celebrate and plan?
Each year, there are thousands of celebrations around the world. Planning for the Global Feast should begin weeks or, better, several months ahead in order to involve as many people as possible.

Where to have the Feast?
The place for the Feast can be as small as a family dining room or as large as an amphitheater. One person can even Feast for Peace at home!

Why plan a Global Feast?
To come together as members of the human family; to honor those who have worked and who are working today for a more peaceful world; to encourage the next generation of peacebuilders. The Global Feast for Peace is a thanksgiving of the peace we have and to inspire actions to foster a culture of peace during the coming year.

To Register Your Event:
Send info to: story@internationalcitiesofpeace.org
Join our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Global-Feast-for-Peace/490665730993992

Initiated by members of the Peace Cities Subcommittee of the IDP NGO for United Nations International Day of Peace.

Question for this article:
DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global

Argentina: Cycles of Culture of Peace 22 September to 1 October

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

A communication from the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, National University of La Plata (UNLP) (translation by CPNN)

In commemoration of the International Day of Peace and Nonviolence, which is celebrated on September 21, the following cycle will take place from 22 September to 1 October, at six and eight o’clock. This cycle will feature various presentations and photo exhibitions during the week.

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Days for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence

The International Day of Peace and Nonviolence reflects the profound aspiration of all peoples to live together, free and equal in dignity and rights,

September 22

INTRODUCTION: PROMOTING A CULTURE OF PEACE. PHILOSOPHY FOR MAKING PEACE, THE RIGHT TO PEACE AND ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE

Coordinator Rocio Pilar Gomez, Lawyer (UNLP) Criminal Law Specialist (UBA), Diploma in Culture of Peace (University of Barcelona) – Prosecution of Crimes Related o Trafficking in Persons – Assistant Professor of Law and Faculty Social UNLP.-

September 23

THE PROCESSES OF INTEGRATION AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO REGIONAL PEACE AND DEMOCRACY

Mag. Laura Maira Bono, Lawyer (UNLP), Coordinator of the Department of Latin America and the Caribbean and CENSUD -. IRI, Master in International Relations, Professor of Public International Law FCJyS -UNLP. Researcher IRI.

Mag. Laura Lucía Bogado Bordazar,, Doctor of Law and Social Sciences (Lawyer) and Master in International Relations, University of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, teaching and research of public international law FCJyS – UNLP. Coordinator of the Department of Latin America and the Caribbean, South American Studies Center and the Chair of IRI Brazil UNLP.

September 24

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND HUMAN RIGHTS: The Human Right to Adequate Food

Dr. Marcos Ezequiel Filardi, lawyer specializing in Human Rights (UBA and Columbia). He has visited more than 200 projects for Human Rights and Development in countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Professor of Human Rights Law School (UBA), in charge of the Interdisciplinary Seminar on Hunger and the Human Right to Adequate Food. He chairs the teaching of Food Sovereignty in the School of Nutrition and Faculty of Agronomy of the University of Buenos Aires, and the Chair of Food Sovereignty of the National University of Lomas de Zamora.

Carolina Maria Gomez Fonseca, Sociologist, PhD in Human Rights, University of Lanus, Master of Agricultural Social Studies, FLACSO. She specializes in studies on gender and rural organization and has extensive experience in working with rural communities, migrant populations including those who have been forcibly displaced.

September 25

INSTITUTIONAL VIOLENCE: BUILDING SPACES FOR NEW PRACTICES

Dr. Esteban Rodriguez Alzueta, Lawyer, essayist and Master of Social Sciences (UNLP), Teaching, Research and Extension in UNQ and UNLP, Author of the book “Fear and Control. Managing insecurity as a form of government.”Also author of Media Justice (2000), Against the Press (2001) and Crude Esthetics (2003); coauthor of The radicalism of legal forms (2002); The criminalization of social protest (2003) and Policies of Terror (2007). Member of the Collective for Research and Legal Action (CIAJ), human rights commission of the city of La Plata; member of the cultural group La Grieta of the city of La Plata

September 28

CHILDREN, HUMAN RIGHTS AND PUBLIC POLICIES: THE CHALLENGE TO TRANSFORM THE VARIOUS DAILY VIOLENCE SUFFERED BY CHILDREN AND YOUTH WITH OPTIONS OF A DECENT LIFE, TOGETHER WITH OTHERS.

Dra. Carola Bianco, lawyer, specialist in Improving Law Procedure, Associate Professor of Sociology of Law Faculty of Law at the National University of La Plata, director of the Program for Children, Human Rights and Public Policy of the Extension Secretariat FCJyS UNLP-.

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(Click here for the original version in Spanish.)

Question for this article:

How are you celebrating peace day

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September 29

WOMEN AND CULTURE OF PEACE: Resolution 1325 of the Security Council of the UN. “Women, Peace and Security” – an innovative milestone in the peace agenda and gender

Dr. Maria Julia Moreyra, “Women for Peace around the World”, Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean for Women for Peace around the World. Lawyer, Master in International Relations (FLACSO – Argentina), Author of the book “Armed Conflict and Sexual Violence Against Women” (Publishers Puerto- 2007), lecturer in public and private universities in Argentina and in international forums on Resolution 1325 Security Council UN and on the International Criminal Court.

Mr. Alejandro Alvarez. Collaborator with the Regional Office of Women for Peace around the World. Former member of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations.

September 30

TRUTH, JUSTICE AND REPARATION: THE PROCESS OF TRANSITION TO PEACE IN LATIN AMERICA

Dra. Natalia Barbero, PhD in Criminal Law (UNED, Spain). Master of Comparative Law (USD, United States). Legal adviser. Specialist consulting on the theme of Human Rights and International Criminal Law. Professor of Human Rights, Criminal Law, International Criminal Law and Transitional Justice at the University of Buenos Aires, Belgrano University and St. Thomas University (Colombia). INTERVENOR IN COLOMBIA PEACE PROCESS

October 1st

Closure: Dr. Fabian Salvioli, President of the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations

WHERE: Hall of Mirrors (Edificio de la Reforma – 48th Street between 6th and 7th # 582)

Free admission

RIGHT TO CERTIFICATION: with 80% attendance at the conference

REGISTRATION: personally at the University Extension Department (1st Floor of the Reforma building), Monday through Friday from 8 to 20 hours.

Brief history

The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by resolution 36/67 of the UN General Assembly. Peace Day was celebrated for the first time in September 1982.

Every September 21 the International Day of Peace is celebrated. This day is devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace among all nations and peoples.

The motto of this year’s celebration is “Partnership for peace, dignity for all”, to highlight the importance for all social groups to work together for peace.

Along with this, the International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the independence movement in India and pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of nonviolence.

According to the resolution A/RES/61/271 of the General Assembly of June 15, 2007, which established the commemoration, the International Day is an occasion to “disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness “. The resolution reaffirms “the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence” and the desire “to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence.”

As a result, Argentina enacted a law declaring 2 October as the Day of Nonviolence, norma 27.092, enacted last December by the Congress. The date chosen coincides with the International Day of Non-Violence established by the UN to mark the anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi.

(Thanks to Rocio Pilar, CPNN reporter for this article.)

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Latin America

Curitiba, Brazil: Military police discuss culture of peace

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

Un article from the Instituto Mundo Melhor (translation by CPNN)

On 25 August, the Instituto Mundo Melhor (IMM) brought together police officers from Curitiba to discuss the culture of peace. The activities put an emphasis on values ​​education and pedagogy of coexistence. The project involved about 30 professionals from the 12th and 13th Battalions of the Paraná Military Police and trained police officers from the Units of Paraná Seguro.

curitiba

The President of the IMM, Jeroslau Pauliki, commented on the pilot experience of working with public outside the areas of education, welfare and health in which they already have expertise. “This pioneering initiative brings us to an important reflection. Even if their professions are diametrically opposed, the work environment, their conflicts and challenges are similar in many ways and this contributes to an open discussion and development for all,” he said.
 
The initiative is evaluated favorably by the commander of the 12th Battalion, Colonel Antonio Zanatta Neto. “It is an excellent opportunity to integrate the military police in society and to seek new knowledge. Our expectations are good, because I know the platform crafted by the IMM. The contents have been adapted to the military police and we are the pioneers. We want to break paradigms and further advance community policing and citizen services, “he added.
 
The next meeting of Education for Peace by the IMM with the 12th Military Police Battalion will take place on September 16. In all, there will be four meetings. The contents will be taught by the Center for Studies and Teacher Training in Education for Peace and Coexistence of the Ponta Grossa State University.

(Click here for the original version in Portuguese)

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DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global

Afghan Girl, Sakina, Buries Toy Gun and Says…

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by Dr. Hakim, Voices for Creative Nonviolence

Ten-year-old Sakina, an Afghan street kid, had this to say, “I don’t like to be in a world of war. I like to be in a world of peace.” On 27th August 2015, Sakina and Inam, with fellow Afghan street kids and the Afghan Peace Volunteers, held a mock funeral for weapons and celebrated the establishment of a green space in Kabul.

afghan
Sakina breaks a toy gun

Dressed in long black coats, they broke and buried toy guns in a small spot where, over the past two years, they have been planting trees.

Sakina breaks a toy gun before burying it. Inam and other street kids await their turn.

Inam, a bright-eyed ten year old, caught the group’s energetic desire to build a world without war. “I kept toy guns till about three years ago,” he acknowledged with a smile.

On the same day, Nobel Laureate Oscar Arias Sanchez, ex-President of Costa Rica, was in Mexico for the Arms Trade Treaty’s First Conference of States Parties.

In his statement at the Conference, he told the story of an indigenous Guatemalan woman who thanked him for negotiating a peace accord 28 years ago. The mother had said, “Thank you, Mr. President, for my child who is in the mountains fighting, and for the child I carry in my womb.”

No mother, Guatemalan or Afghan, wants her children to be killed in war.

Oscar Arias Sanchez wrote: “I never met them, but those children of conflict are never far from my thoughts. They were [the peace treaty’s] true authors, its reason for being.”

I’m confident that the children of Afghanistan were also in his thoughts, especially since he had a brief personal connection with the Afghan Peace Volunteers in 2014, having been part of a Peace Jam video message of solidarity to the Volunteers, wearing their Borderfree Blue Scarves which symbolize that “all human beings live under the same blue sky”.

I thank Mr Oscar Arias Sanchez for his important work on the Arms Trade Treaty, though I sense that an arms trade treaty isn’t going to be enough.

Afghan children are dying from the use of weapons.

To survive, they need a ban against weapons. Regulations about buying and selling weapons perpetuate a trade that is killing them.

I saw Inam and other child laborers who work in Kabul’s streets decisively swing hammers down on the plastic toy guns, breaking off triggers, scattering nozzles into useless pieces and symbolically breaking our adult addiction to weapons.

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Question for this article:

“Put down the gun and take up the pen”, What are some other examples?

Is peace possible in Afghanistan?

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Children shouldn’t have to pay the price for our usual business, especially business from the U.S., the largest arms seller in the world. U.S. children suffer too, with more U.S. people having died as a result of gun violence since 1968 than have died in all U.S. wars combined. U.S. weapon sellers are killing their own people; by exporting their state-of-the-art weapons, they facilitate the killing of many others around the world.

After burying the toy guns, surrounded by the evergreen and poplar trees which they had planted, the youth shed their black coats and donned sky-blue scarves.

Another world was appearing as Sakina and Inam watched young friends plant one more evergreen sapling.

Inam knew that it hasn’t been easy to create this green space in heavily fortified Kabul.

The City Municipality said they couldn’t water the trees (though it is just 200 metres away from their office). The Greenery Department weren’t helpful. Finally, the security guards of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission just across from the garden, offered to help, after the Volunteers had provided them with a 100-metre water hose.

Rohullah, who coordinates the environment team at the Borderfree Nonviolence Community Centre, expressed his frustration. “Once, we had to hire a private water delivery service to water the tree saplings so they wouldn’t shrivel up. None of the government departments could assist.”

Sighing, he added ironically, “We can’t use the Kabul River tributary running just next to the Garden, as the trash-laden trickle of black, bracken water is smelly and filthy.”

Meanwhile, in the rest of the country, according to figures from the National Priorities Project, a non-profit, non-partisan U.S. federal budget research group, the ongoing Afghan War is costing American taxpayers US $4 million an hour.

It is the youth and children who are making sense today, like when Nobel Laureate Malalai Yousafzai said recently that if the whole world stopped spending money on the military for just 8 days, we could provide 12 years of free, quality education for every child on the planet.

“I don’t like to work in the streets, but my family needs bread. Usually, I feel sad,” Inam said, looking away, “because I feel a sort of helplessness.”

Oscar Arias Sanchez said at the Arms Trade Treaty’s First Conference, “And we must speak, today – in favour of this crucial treaty, and its swift and effective implementation. If we do, then when today’s children of conflict look to us for guidance and leadership, we will no longer look away in shame. We will be able to tell them, at long last, that we are standing watch for them. We are on guard. Someone is finally ready to take action.”
That morning, I heard the voices of Sakina, Inam and the Afghan youth ring through the street, “#Enough of war!”

It wasn’t a protest. It was the hands-on building of a green spot without weapons, and an encouraging call for others to do so everywhere.

Through their dramatic colours and clear action, they were inviting all of us, “Bury your weapons. Build your gardens.”

“We will stand watch for you!”

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, South Asia

In Japan, Tens of Thousands Anti-War Protesters Reject Return to Militarism

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by Jon Queally, Common Dreams (reprinted according to guidelines of Creative Commons)

Tens of thousands of people gathered outside the Japanese parliament building on Sunday to reject plans put forth by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that would see an aggressive expansion of the nation’s armed forces despite a long-standing constitutional mandate for a “defense only” military posture.

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Protesters hold up banners reading ‘No To War,’ during a rally to protest against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s drive to enact two controversial security bills on Sunday in Ogimachi Park in Osaka’s Kita Ward. (Photo: KYODO)

The enormous crowd—estimated by organizers as more than 120,000 people—is opposing a set of bills moving through the country’s legislature which would allow the country’s military to engage in overseas fighting and ratchet up spending on new weapons systems. Despite loud public protest against the plan, Abe has continued to defend the plan. Demonstrators carried banners reading “Peace Not War” and “Abe, Quit!”

“Sitting in front of TV and just complaining wouldn’t do,” Naoko Hiramatsu, a 44-year-old associate professor in French and one of the Tokyo protesters, told Reuters. Holding his four-year-old son in her arms, she continued, “If I don’t take action and try to put a stop on this, I will not be able to explain myself to my child in the future.”

As the Asahi Shimbum reports:
In one of the largest postwar demonstrations in Japan, tens of thousands of protesters swarmed in front of the Diet building in Tokyo on Aug. 30 to oppose the Abe administration’s contentious security legislation.

Following a wave of weekly protests near the Diet building in recent months, rally organizers had worked to mobilize 100,000 participants from across the nation.

Amid the gloomy and rainy weather, protesters held up placards and banners and chanted slogans against the legislation, which is being pushed through the Diet.
A huge banner hanging from dozens of balloons read: “Abe, Quit!”

Opponents blasted the security bills on concerns that they would drag Japan into unwanted conflicts overseas.

Organized by a union of three different anti-war citizens’ groups, the Japan Times reports Sunday’s rally was arguably the most massive in a string of similar protests in recent months.

Question for this article:

Should Japan be allowed to militarize?

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, East Asia

US: We’re winning the fight for diplomacy

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

A communication from Jo, Alejandro, Victoria, Matt, and the rest of the team at Moveon.Org

Republican leaders are admitting that they’re losing the fight over the diplomatic deal with Iran. Despite tens of millions spent by war hawks to sabotage the agreement, more and more Democrats are choosing diplomacy over war.

iran

They have the money. We have the people and the momentum.

We saw that yesterday, as thousands of MoveOn members and anti-war allies gathered outside more than 200 congressional offices and delivered petitions signed by hundreds of thousands of Americans. Members came together from MoveOn, Americans United for Change, Council for a Livable World, CREDO Action, DailyKos, Democracy for America, Friends Committee on National Legislation, National Iranian American Council, Peace Action, Win Without War, and more.

And this grassroots activism is leading to results: In the past 24 hours, Representatives Susan Davis, Bonnie Coleman Watson, and Ed Perlmutter have all come out for the deal. Representative Alan Lowenthal announced his decision to support the deal just in advance of the petition delivery, and he came out to announce it to MoveOn members in person.

We’re building something together, and the result—a diplomatic resolution to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon—will be historic.

Click here to see more images from yesterday’s national day of action

The fight isn’t over. When members of Congress return to Washington in just over a week, they’ll be deluged with propaganda by the war hawks who want to sabotage this deal.

We’ll keep up the pressure—and keep building the momentum for peace. We have just a few weeks to stop a war, but we know that we can do it together.

Thanks for all you do.

Question for this article:
DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North America

Peace Agreement in South Sudan

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by Tiffany Easthom, Country Director in South Sudan, Nonviolent Peaceforce

“This week [August 28], the final signature was placed onto the South Sudan peace agreement.  In doing so, all parties to the conflict have indicated their intentions to end the violent conflict that has rocked South Sudan for the past 21 months.  While the signing of the agreement is not a guarantee of peace, it is a public declaration of constructive, peaceful and positive intentions to end the war.

new sudan

 Having been on the front line of the conflict since the first day, the Nonviolent Peaceforce team is greatly relieved at the signing of the agreement and we want to extend our appreciation and support to the parties as they move into this new phase. We look forward to seeing strong, people centred leadership and action to move into the implementation of this agreement starting with an urgent and immediate cessation of hostilities.  Getting to peace is as complicated if not more so than getting to war.  The road ahead will be a long one that will take the dedication of all South Sudanese and the support of the international community to engage in reconciliation, justice and reconstruction.

 The people of South Sudan deserve real peace and the opportunity to build the country that was so long struggled for. The Nonviolent Peaceforce team is committed to supporting our South Sudanese brothers and sisters in working for peace.”

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

Question for this article:
Africa, DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

India: No More Hiroshima: No More Nagasaki: Peace Museum  

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by Dr. Balkrishna  Kurvey, Indian Institute for Peace, Disarmament & Environmental Protection

On the eve of Hiroshima & Nagasaki Atomic bombing, Hiroshima Day was observed in the Raman Science Center, Nagpur. on 6th August 2015.  This is renowned Science Center of Government of India, Ministry of Culture. The theme was ” Environmental Impact of  Atomic Bomb Explosion”

Kurvey4

Selected High school Students from Nagpur were invited.
To catch them young, we are targeting youngsters who will be future citizens of the country to inculcate the idea of a Nuclear Weapon Free World.

Photographic exhibition  of Hiroshima & Nagasaki bombing was also displayed for the public from 6th to 9th August 2015 in the Raman Science Center.

Hiroshima Day was also arranged in Department of Environmental Science, Sardar Patel Mahavidyalaya (College), Chandrapur, India. This  prestigious teaching Institute of Central India  has more than 7200 students. Students of graduate, post-graduate, Ph.D. and some medical students attended the seminar. The theme was “Nuclear Weapons Disarmament and Environmental Protection  and Peace”  

I based my address on the study carried out by International Physicians for for Prevention of Nuclear war & Physicians For Social responsibility “Two Billion People  at Risk”, December 2013. 

In a  limited regional nuclear war between  India and Pakistan, if 150 Hiroshima type Bombs were used, what will be environmental consequences in Asia  in particular and world in General was the theme of the talk.

Unfortunately, there is mistrust, misunderstanding and animosity between India and Pakistan. Any fanatic military officer or political leader could start a nuclear war. Also due to misunderstanding or zealous military officials, nuclear war could be startes. 20 million people would be killed. Great cities of the sub-continent would be destroyed and much of South Asia would be blanketed with radioactive fallout. Climate experts show clearly that even this limited nuclear conflict would affect weather pattern throughout the world. Due to soot and debris injected in the atmosphere 74% of the sun light would be obstructed. Nuclear Winter would emerge. Ozone depletion would increase the incidence of cancer globally. Due to cold and darkness, crops could not be grown and because of non-availability of food grains,  1 billion people in global south would die of starvation and 1 billion others would suffer. Agriculture would be affected in the western hemisphere.

This would be the result of only a limited regional Nuclear War in South Asia. If the superpowers engage in nuclear war, it would be doomsday. Planet earth will suffer untold consequences and the human race would face extinction.

Public education and awareness is the key as there is no medicine. Prevention is the only way to safeguard the  human race.

Participants  and teachers asked many question, which were aptly answered.

Question for this article:
DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, South Asia