Category Archives: DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

The Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces offers its support to the network “Mayors for Peace” and proposes future initiatives in an assembly in Japan

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from El Diario (reprinted according to the rules of Creative Commons)(translation by CPNN)

The Mayor of Móstoles (Madrid) and President of the International Relations Commission of the FEMP, Socialist David Lucas, expressed the support of the institution to the IX General Assembly of the Mayors for Peace Network, 8 and 9 August in the Japanese city of Nagasaki. This forum is designed to build peace and the FEMP has expressed the commitment and collaboration of the Spanish mayors towards this objective.

On behalf of the FEMP, Lucas addressed the plenary session with regard to future action plans, including the abolition of nuclear weapons by 2020. During his speech he called for a greater collaboration of Mayors for Peace with other global actors, such as the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and UN-Habitat, for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

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Questions for this article:

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

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Following the proposal of the FEMP, the 2017-2019 action plan of “Mayors for Peace” includes compliance with the 2030 agenda for sustainable development objectives and the reinforcement of coordinated work with UCLG. Lucas also expressed the need to involve other regional actors such as the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and the Council of Europe.

The mayor of Móstoles emphasized in his speech that the commitment of the FEMP to the organization “Mayors for Peace” has made it possible in the last year to involve 130 Spanish cities in this initiative.

Lucas is accompanied in Japan by several first selectmen: Josep Mayoral of Granollers (Barcelona), Alberto Casero of Trujillo (Cáceres), and Martí Pujol of Llinar del Vallès, along with the Spanish ambassador in Tokyo, Gonzalo de Benito.

The FEMP participates in the strategy of city diplomacy and peacebuilding through the UCLG world organization. ‘Mayors for Peace’ network is an indispensable partner in such relevant issues as development, culture of peace, migration, coexistence and intercultural dialogue. After several years of collaboration with the Global Network of ‘Mayors for Peace’, the last plenary session of the FEMP promoted the adhesion of Spanish local governments to the Network with the objective of forming a Spanish section within the Federation.

(Click here for the Spanish original of this article)

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Europe

Pan-African Parliament session adopts recommendations and resolutions

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

Excerpts from the website of the Pan-African Parliament

The Pan African Parliament (PAP) on Thursday wound up its two-week fourth Ordinary Session of the Fourth Parliament by adopting a total of seven resolutions and five recommendations that are aimed at impacting PAP’s work as well as the wellbeing of the African people.


Video of Parliamentary Session

The PAP has been holding its ordinary session at the Parliament’s Headquarters in Midrand, South Africa since May, 8 and the sitting was kick-started with the special address by Malawi’s and Burkinabe Presidents, H.E Arthur Peter Mutharika and Roch March Kaboré, respectively.

In his closing remarks, PAP President, Honourable Roger Nkodo Dang, described the Ordinary Session as a success, not only because of the various crucial issues that the Parliament discussed but also the presence of the two African Heads of State that graced its official opening on May 8.

The PAP President also expressed gratitude to various dignitaries and experts who interacted with PAP Members and shared with them several experiences and technical knowledge to enable PAP execute its role effectively.

He said the recommendations and resolutions that the PAP Plenary had adopted should enable national parliaments to take an active role towards achieving Africa’s goal of integration and other initiatives to benefit the people of Africa.

The PAP President also expressed gratitude to various dignitaries and experts who interacted with PAP Members and shared with them several experiences and technical knowledge to enable PAP execute its role effectively.

Concept of the African Passport

The House also resolved to promote and support free movement of people in Africa and the African passport through, among other initiatives, raising awareness, popularizing and demystifying the concept of the African Passport and also allaying fears that African countries had concerning free movement of persons within the continent.

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Question(s) related to this article:

Pan-African initiatives for peace: Are they advancing?

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The PAP members therefore proposed formulation of a Protocol on free Movement of Persons that must be presented before African Union (AU) Heads of State for adoption at their January, 2018 Summit. The House also resolved to draft a Model Law on Free Movement of People in Africa and the African Passport to entrench people’s free movement in the legislation of all African countries.

Towards a borderless continent

Another resolution that the PAP Plenary adopted was the establishment of a Pan-African Parliamentary Forum on Trade, Customs and Migration that would advocate for the ratification and domestication of relevant trade agreements that would eventually advance establishment of One Border Posts across African countries and ultimately a borderless continent with safe migration, cross border trade and protected refugee rights. The forum would also promote regional integration and establishment of Continental Free Trade Area.

Other key resolutions that the PAP Plenary adopted were the resolution on the African transport sector aimed at ensuring that the continental Parliament takes the lead in its oversight role over implementation of AU infrastructure projects particularly those under NEPAD; a resolution on the development of a Model African Law on Police and Model Treaty for Mutual Legal Assistance for Police Cooperation in Africa; and a resolution on the establishment of the PAP Alliance on the Sustainable Development Goals.

The PAP Members also adopted resolutions on Holding of Autonomous Election Observation Missions; Conferment of Observer Status in the PAP to the Parliament of Palestine; and Declaration of Support to Palestinian Prisoners.

The PAP Plenary, in accordance with its Rules and Procedures, also adopted several recommendations pertaining to the parliament, the AU and its organs, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and AU Member States and their organs and institutions.

The continental Parliament recommended that the AU Policy Organs adopt the Draft Model Law on the Protection of Cultural Property and Heritage and urged AU member states to adopt it and apply it to their domestic legislations. PAP members also recommended that the AU, RECs and African countries adopt and ratify global, continental and regional instruments that were related to women and girls’ rights to access educational systems.

Africa, DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

Members of Parliament from Middle East find innovative solutions to regional water issues

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Two articles from the The Inter-Parliamentary Union

Members of Parliament from the Middle East, including Israel and Palestine, have declared that access to clean water should not be politicized and should not be used as a weapon in regional conflicts. In a second roundtable, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s (IPU) Committee on Middle East Questions, MPs from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine and the United Arab Emirates have also agreed concrete measures to tackle the water crisis that threatens to further aggravate regional instability.


Members of the IPU Committee on Middle East Questions gathered in Geneva on 6-7 July to find innovative solutions to regional water issues. ©IPU/Jorky

The areas earmarked for action include: mapping those communities most threatened by water scarcity, establishing a regional parliamentary network on water governance and supporting MPs’ on shaping equitable and sustainable legislation on water management.

The roundtable meeting, which took place from 6-7 July, was one of a series of events intended to bring together MPs from the Middle East with water management experts in a bid to help meet the challenge set out in Sustainable Development Goal 6, which calls for viable management of water and sanitation.

Experts from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the development organization WaterLex and Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME), a Jordan-based group that brings scientists together from across the region, worked with the MPs to identify technological solutions to water safety, availability, accessibility and affordability.

“The Middle East is one of the most water-stressed regions in the world. This is a major contributing factor to the conflicts here. Our aim is to use our joint expertise in technology and policymaking to help relieve a major source of tension and, hopefully, create an environment where peace-building can move ahead,” said Committee President Denise Pascal Allende.

The outcomes of this second round table will be presented to IPU Members at its October Assembly with clear steps for on-the-ground implementation.

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Questions for this article:

How can parliamentarians promote a culture of peace?

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“This round table is the latest effort by IPU to build trust and transform elements that can potentially cause or exacerbate conflict into reasons for co-existence,” said IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong. “The constructive non-political discussions between MPs and experts that occurred throughout this meeting show that regional solutions can be found to regional problems; and, most importantly, that, by uniting different experts and communities through the neutral lens of science, peace can move from an aspiration to concrete reality.”

IPU welcomes new water-sharing deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) applauds the new agreement between Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan to deliver water to drought-stricken Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza. We acknowledge the contributions of all participating governments, including the US, to address this longstanding humanitarian issue.

The five-year pipeline project will move water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. It will deliver 22 million cubic metres of water to the occupied West Bank, and some 10 million will go to Gaza. This agreement builds on the 2013 memorandum of understanding between Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians to construct a water desalination plant at the Red Sea.

This recent water-sharing deal comes on the heels of the Second Roundtable on water organized by IPU’s Committee on Middle East Questions. Areas designated for action following the roundtable include: increasing regional water supply through science and technology, mapping communities most threatened by water scarcity, establishing a regional parliamentary network on water governance and supporting MPs’ on shaping equitable and sustainable legislation on water management.

“As we stated during our Roundtable, water should not be used as a weapon in regional conflicts,” explained IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong. “By depoliticizing access to safe water, we hope that this new deal reinforces other peace-building initiatives such as the one we are leading at the IPU. Together we can reach our common goal to transform factors of conflict into elements of co-existence, cooperation, reconciliation and prosperity.”

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Mideast

U.S. Conference of Mayors Opposes Military-Heavy Trump Budget

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An article from World Beyond War (abbreviated)

The U.S. Conference of Mayors on Monday [June 26] unanimously passed three resolutions opposing the military-heavy Trump budget proposal, urging Congress to move funding out of the military and into human and environmental needs rather than the reverse.

The three resolutions are numbers 59 and 60 found on this page.

and number 79 found on this page.

“We are very excited that the entire US Conference of Mayors, from major metropoles such as New York City and Los Angeles to small rural townships, understand that the resources being sucked up by the Pentagon to wage endless wars overseas should be used to address our crumbling infrastructure, the climate crisis and poverty at home and abroad. Congress and the Trump administration should listen to these mayors, as they reflect the needs and hopes of their constituents, not the greed of corporate donors,” said Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK.

“The Peace Council applauds the resolve of major city mayors to dramatically cut the U.S. military budget and to take the funds saved to provide money for jobs, education, housing, transportation, seniors, youth, rebuild our roads, bridges, public transportation much more,” said Henry Lowendorf of the US Peace Council. “The mayors understand how pouring the wealth of our great country into building war machines and waging wars around the globe does not make us more secure. To the contrary, this gigantic military budget is strangling our country and the many unnecessary wars only generate death, destruction and enemies. We fully support the mayors’ call both for inviting the public and city leaders to hearings expressing on how funds saved by cutting the Pentagon budget can be used in our cities and for passing resolutions to our members of Congress demanding that they respond to cities to begin prioritizing the needs of our residents over war profiteering.”

“These three resolutions should be read carefully by every member of Congress,” said David Swanson, director of World Beyond War. “These are the considered statements of the mayors of this country, as prompted by the citizens of numerous cities that moved their city councils to pass similar resolutions and their mayors to support these.”

Information on a campaign to pass resolutions through city councils, and those that have been passed thus far, can be found here: http://worldbeyondwar.org/resolution

Over 20,000 people signed a petition similar to Resolution 59 here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/un-trump-the-budget

Resolution 59 was introduced by the mayor of Ithaca, NY, and had been passed by that city. . . [click here for the resolution]

Resolution 60 was introduced by the Mayor of New Haven, CT, and had been passed by that city. . . . [click here for the resolution]

Sponsors of Resolution 79 were:

The Honorable T.M. ‘Frank’ Franklin Cownie, Mayor of Des Moines
The Honorable Alex B. Morse III, Mayor of Holyoke
The Honorable Ardell F. Brede, Mayor of Rochester
The Honorable Chris Koos, Mayor of Normal
The Honorable Denny Doyle, Mayor of Beaverton
The Honorable Frank C. Ortis, Mayor of Pembroke Pines
The Honorable Geraldine ‘Jeri’ Muoio Ph.D., Mayor of West Palm Beach
The Honorable Helene Schneider, Mayor of Santa Barbara
The Honorable John Dickert, Mayor of Racine
The Honorable John Heilman, Mayor of West Hollywood
The Honorable Libby Schaaf, Mayor of Oakland
The Honorable Lucy Vinis, Mayor of Eugene
The Honorable Mark Stodola, Mayor of Little Rock
The Honorable Nan Whaley, Mayor of Dayton
The Honorable Patrick L. Wojahn, Mayor of College Park
The Honorable Paul R. Soglin, Mayor of Madison
The Honorable Pauline Russo Cutter, Mayor of San Leandro
The Honorable Roy D. Buol, Mayor of Dubuque
The Honorable Salvatore J. Panto Jr., Mayor of Easton

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Questions for this article:

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

The post-election fightback for human rights, is it gathering force in the USA?

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The resolution recognized some of the cities that have passed resolutions:

“The United States Conference of Mayors welcomes resolutions adopted by cities including New Haven, CT, Charlottesville, VA, Evanston, IL, New London, NH, and West Hollywood, CA urging Congress to cut military spending and redirect funding to meet human and environmental needs.”

It further resolved (at least as drafted; there were slight modifications):

“NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) calls on the United States Government, as an urgent priority, to do everything in his power to lower nuclear tensions though intense diplomatic efforts with Russia, China, North Korea and other nuclear-armed states and their allies, and to work with Russia to dramatically reduce U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles; and

“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors welcomes the historic negotiations currently underway in the United Nations, involving most of the world’s countries, on a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading to their total elimination; and

“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors deeply regrets that the United States and the other nuclear-armed states are boycotting these negotiations; and

“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors calls on the United States to support the ban treaty negotiations as a major step towards negotiation of a comprehensive agreement on the achievement and permanent maintenance of a world free of nuclear arms, and to initiate, in good faith, multilateral negotiations to verifiably eliminate nuclear weapons within a timebound framework; and

“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors welcomes the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017, introduced in both houses of Congress, that would prohibit the President from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress; and

“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors calls for the Administration’s new Nuclear Posture Review to reaffirm the stated U.S. goal of the elimination of nuclear weapons, to lessen U.S. reliance on nuclear weapons, and to recommend measures to reduce nuclear risks, such as de-alerting, improving lines of communication with other nuclear-armed states, and ending nuclear sharing, in which Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and Turkey host U.S. nuclear bombs; and

“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors calls on the President and Congress to reduce nuclear weapons spending to the minimum necessary to assure the safety and security of the existing weapons as they await disablement and dismantlement; and . . .

“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors calls on the President and Congress to reverse federal spending priorities and to redirect funds currently allocated to nuclear weapons and unwarranted military spending to restore full funding for Community Block Development Grants and the Environmental Protection Agency, to create jobs by rebuilding our nation’s crumbling infrastructure, and to ensure basic human services for all, including education, environmental protection, food assistance, housing and health care,

“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors urges all U.S. mayors to join Mayors for Peace in order to help reach the goal of 10,000 member cities by 2020, and encourages U.S. member cities to get actively involved by establishing sister city relationships with cities in other nuclear-armed nations, and by taking action at the municipal level to raise public awareness of the humanitarian and financial costs of nuclear weapons, the growing dangers of wars among nuclear-armed states, and the urgent need for good faith U.S. participation in negotiating the global elimination of nuclear weapons.”

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, North America

U.S. Conference of Mayors to Vote on Resolution to Move Money from the Military to Human and Environmental Needs

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An article from World Beyond War

New Haven, CT, Charlottesville, VA, Montgomery County, MD, Evanston, IL (see page 14 of linked document), New London, NH, and Ithaca, NY, have passed resolutions opposing the Trump budget’s moving of money from everything else to the military, urging that money be moved in the opposite direction.


(Click on image to enlarge)

Those passed by Ithaca and New Haven will be voted on by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Ask your mayor to contact the U.S. Conference of Mayors now to endorse resolutions #59 and #60.

Your town or city or county can also go ahead and pass its own. For more tips and sample materials from Ithaca, NY, click here.

You can also watch/listen to this webinar done with Code Pink and U.S. Peace Council.

Steps you can take:

Contact mary@worldbeyondwar.org to ask for help

Form a coalition of local groups concerned about the cuts, the military increase, or both

Find out how to speak publicly at local government meetings and how to submit a proposal or get one on the agenda for a vote; or ask council members/ aldermen / supervisors to sponsor it.

Collect organizations’ or prominent people’s or lots of people’s names on a petition

Hold rallies, press conferences

Write op-eds, letters, go on radio, tv

Use http://costofwar.com to calculate local trade-offs

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Questions for this article:

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

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Make use of this petition signed by many prominent people and over 20,000 people total

Revise the draft below:

Resolution Proposed for __________, ___

Whereas President Trump has proposed to move $54 billion from human and environmental spending at home and abroad to military spending[i], bringing military spending to well over 60% of federal discretionary spending[ii],

Whereas polling has found the U.S. public to favor a $41 billion reduction in military spending, a $94 billion gap away from President Trump’s proposal,

Whereas part of helping alleviate the refugee crisis should be ending, not escalating, wars that create refugees[iii],

Whereas President Trump himself admits that the enormous military spending of the past 16 years has been disastrous and made us less safe, not safer[iv],

Whereas fractions of the proposed military budget could provide free, top-quality education from pre-school through college[v], end hunger and starvation on earth[vi], convert the U.S. to clean energy[vii], provide clean drinking water everywhere it’s needed on the planet[viii], build fast trains between all major U.S. cities[ix], and double non-military U.S. foreign aid rather than cutting it[x],

Whereas even 121 retired U.S. generals have written a letter opposing cutting foreign aid[xi],

Whereas a December 2014 Gallup poll of 65 nations found that the United States was far and away the country considered the largest threat to peace in the world[xii],

Whereas a United States responsible for providing clean drinking water, schools, medicine, and solar panels to others would be more secure and face far less hostility around the world,

Whereas our environmental and human needs are desperate and urgent,

Whereas the military is itself the greatest consumer of petroleum we have[xiii],

Whereas economists at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have documented that military spending is an economic drain rather than a jobs program[xiv],

Be it therefore resolved that the ____________ of ___________, ________, urges the United States Congress to move our tax dollars in exactly the opposite direction proposed by the President, from militarism to human and environmental needs.

[i] “Trump to Seek $54 Billion Increase in Military Spending,” The New York Times, February 27, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/27/us/politics/trump-budget-military.html?_r=0

[ii] This does not include another 6% for the discretionary portion of veterans’ care. For a breakdown of discretionary spending in the 2015 budget from the National Priorities Project, see https://www.nationalpriorities.org/campaigns/military-spending-united-states

[iii] “43 Million People Kicked Out of Their Homes,” World Beyond War, http://worldbeyondwar.org/43-million-people-kicked-homes / “Europe’s Refugee Crisis Was Made in America,” The Nation, https://www.thenation.com/article/europes-refugee-crisis-was-made-in-america

[iv] On February 27, 2017, Trump said, “Almost 17 years of fighting in the Middle East . . . $6 trillion we’ve spent in the Middle East . . . and we’re nowhere, actually if you think about it we’re less than nowhere, the Middle East is far worse than it was 16, 17 years ago, there’s not even a contest . . . we have a hornet’s nest . . . .” http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/02/27/trump_we_spent_6_trillion_in_middle_east_and_we_are_less_than_nowhere_far_worse_than_16_years_ago.html

[v] “Free College: We Can Afford It,” The Washington Post, May 1, 2012, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/free-college-we-can-afford-it/2012/05/01/gIQAeFeltT_story.html?utm_term=.9cc6fea3d693

[vi] “The World Only Needs 30 Billion Dollars a Year to Eradicate the Scourge of Hunger,” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000853/index.html

[vii] “Clean Energy Transition Is A $25 Trillion Free Lunch,” Clean Technica, https://cleantechnica.com/2015/11/03/clean-energy-transition-is-a-25-trillion-free-lunch / See also: http://www.solutionaryrail.org

[viii] “Clean Water for a Healthy World,” UN Environment Program, http://www.unwater.org/wwd10/downloads/WWD2010_LOWRES_BROCHURE_EN.pdf

[ix] “Cost of High Speed Rail in China One Third Lower than in Other Countries,” The World Bank, http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2014/07/10/cost-of-high-speed-rail-in-china-one-third-lower-than-in-other-countries

[x] Non-military U.S. foreign aid is approximately $25 billion, meaning that President Trump would need to cut it by over 200% to find the $54 billion he proposes to add to military spending

[xi] Letter to Congressional leaders, February 27, 2017, http://www.usglc.org/downloads/2017/02/FY18_International_Affairs_Budget_House_Senate.pdf

[xii] See http://www.wingia.com/en/services/about_the_end_of_year_survey/global_results/7/33

[xiii] “Fight Climate Change, Not Wars,” Naomi Klein, http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2009/12/fight-climate-change-not-wars

[xiv] “The U.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities: 2011 Update,” Political Economy Research Institute, https://www.peri.umass.edu/publication/item/449-the-u-s-employment-effects-of-military-and-domestic-spending-priorities-2011-update

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, North America

U.S. Conference of Mayors to Vote on Resolution to Move Money from the Military to Human and Environmental Needs

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from World Beyond War

New Haven, CT, Charlottesville, VA, Montgomery County, MD, Evanston, IL (see page 14 of linked document), New London, NH, and Ithaca, NY, have passed resolutions opposing the Trump budget’s moving of money from everything else to the military, urging that money be moved in the opposite direction.

Those passed by Ithaca and New Haven will be voted on by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Ask your mayor to contact the U.S. Conference of Mayors now to endorse resolutions #59 and #60.

Your town or city or county can also go ahead and pass its own. For more tips and sample materials from Ithaca, NY, click here.

You can also watch/listen to this webinar done with Code Pink and U.S. Peace Council.

Steps you can take:

Contact mary@worldbeyondwar.org to ask for help

Form a coalition of local groups concerned about the cuts, the military increase, or both

Find out how to speak publicly at local government meetings and how to submit a proposal or get one on the agenda for a vote; or ask council members/ aldermen / supervisors to sponsor it.

Collect organizations’ or prominent people’s or lots of people’s names on a petition

Hold rallies, press conferences

Write op-eds, letters, go on radio, tv

Use http://costofwar.com to calculate local trade-offs

Make use of this petition signed by many prominent people and over 20,000 people total

Revise the draft below:

Resolution Proposed for __________, ___

Whereas President Trump has proposed to move $54 billion from human and environmental spending at home and abroad to military spending[i], bringing military spending to well over 60% of federal discretionary spending[ii],

Whereas polling has found the U.S. public to favor a $41 billion reduction in military spending, a $94 billion gap away from President Trump’s proposal,

Whereas part of helping alleviate the refugee crisis should be ending, not escalating, wars that create refugees[iii],

Whereas President Trump himself admits that the enormous military spending of the past 16 years has been disastrous and made us less safe, not safer[iv],

Whereas fractions of the proposed military budget could provide free, top-quality education from pre-school through college[v], end hunger and starvation on earth[vi], convert the U.S. to clean energy[vii], provide clean drinking water everywhere it’s needed on the planet[viii], build fast trains between all major U.S. cities[ix], and double non-military U.S. foreign aid rather than cutting it[x],

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Questions for this article:

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

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Whereas even 121 retired U.S. generals have written a letter opposing cutting foreign aid[xi],

Whereas a December 2014 Gallup poll of 65 nations found that the United States was far and away the country considered the largest threat to peace in the world[xii],

Whereas a United States responsible for providing clean drinking water, schools, medicine, and solar panels to others would be more secure and face far less hostility around the world,

Whereas our environmental and human needs are desperate and urgent,

Whereas the military is itself the greatest consumer of petroleum we have[xiii],

Whereas economists at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have documented that military spending is an economic drain rather than a jobs program[xiv],

Be it therefore resolved that the ____________ of ___________, ________, urges the United States Congress to move our tax dollars in exactly the opposite direction proposed by the President, from militarism to human and environmental needs.

[i] “Trump to Seek $54 Billion Increase in Military Spending,” The New York Times, February 27, 2017

[ii] This does not include another 6% for the discretionary portion of veterans’ care. For a breakdown of discretionary spending in the 2015 budget, see the National Priorities Project

[iii] “43 Million People Kicked Out of Their Homes,” World Beyond War, and “Europe’s Refugee Crisis Was Made in America,” The Nation

[iv] On February 27, 2017, Trump said, “Almost 17 years of fighting in the Middle East . . . $6 trillion we’ve spent in the Middle East . . . and we’re nowhere, actually if you think about it we’re less than nowhere, the Middle East is far worse than it was 16, 17 years ago, there’s not even a contest . . . we have a hornet’s nest . . . .” quoted in Realclearpolitics.

[v] “Free College: We Can Afford It,” The Washington Post, May 1, 2012

[vi] “The World Only Needs 30 Billion Dollars a Year to Eradicate the Scourge of Hunger,” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

[vii] “Clean Energy Transition Is A $25 Trillion Free Lunch,” Clean Technica. See also: solutionaryrail

[viii] “Clean Water for a Healthy World,” UN Environment Program

[ix] “Cost of High Speed Rail in China One Third Lower than in Other Countries,” The World Bank

[x] Non-military U.S. foreign aid is approximately $25 billion, meaning that President Trump would need to cut it by over 200% to find the $54 billion he proposes to add to military spending

[xi] Letter to Congressional leaders, February 27, 2017

[xii] See survey results

[xiii] “Fight Climate Change, Not Wars,” Naomi Klein

[xiv] “The U.S. Employment Effects of Military and Domestic Spending Priorities: 2011 Update,” Political Economy Research Institute

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, North America

Brazil: Public hearing discusses culture of peace in Recife

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from Diario de Pernambuco

The Pernambuco Commission for Peace will take part in a public hearing on the culture of peace to be held on June 15, at the City Council of Recife. The meeting, scheduled to happen at 2:00 pm, will focus on schools and families of adolescents. According to Tiago Tércio, coordinator of the Commission, the hearing will encourage families to take more responsibility for their children, especially with children who are growing up and may enter into crime. “Violence in schools will also be discussed. If we can make families aware of leaving their children under the right supervision and with extra-school activities, we will be on the right track,” says Tiago.


Click on image to enlarge.

So far, according to the Pernambuco Peace Commission, the following are expected to take part in the hearing: city councilor Eriberto Rafael (PTC), Recife’s Secretary of Urban Security, Murilo Cavalcanti, the secretary of Social Development and Human Rights of Recife, Ana Rita Suassuna, representatives of State and municipal education departments, as well as the commander of the 13th Military Police Battalion, the Civil Police delegate Ary Siqueira and the director of the Pedro Celso School in Beberibe, Sandra Serafim. The Pernambuco Peace Commission is made up of former inmates of the Fundação de Atendimento Socioeducativo, young people who committed infractions and today struggle to help children and adolescents escape Recife’s neighborhoods where crime is flourishing.

On May 26, students from ten public schools participated in a peace march. The group left the Convention Square in Beberibe and then went to the neighborhood of Campina do Barreto, where a stage was set up and several shows were shown. In the same space there was a station with services for people dependent on drugs, set up by the Consultório de Rua with free haircuts, blood pressure measurement, etc.. The event was also organized by the Pernambuco Peace Commission, which seeks to stimulate good actions and increase the self-esteem of young people. This was the second time that the institution promoted a peace march. The first happened on May 26, 2013, in the neighborhood of Santo Amaro.

(Click here for the original article in Portuguese.)

Questions for this article:
DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

Latest News from International Cities of Peace

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

Newsletter May 2017 from International Cities of Peace

The following are new cities of peace this quarter!

Mathare, Kenya

They know her as “Mama”. Dedicated teacher Emily Makokha founded the Motherway Education Center, and now she and colleagues such as Michael Ochieng Nyawino have established Mathare, Kenya: City of Peace. Mathare is a slum area in Nairobi with 180,000 people, many in great poverty and need. “Mama” has followed her passion for delivering education to this at-risk area. The group’s objectives are amazing, generous, practical, and will bring much peace to a very needy part of Kenya.
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 Jenin, Palestine

IN PALESTINE, a gift to us all. We celebrate a city in northern Palestine as our first City of Peace in that part of the world. Jenin is the home base of Youth Initiative for Peace with leader Osama Rbayah saying, “we work to educate young people and all people in the importance of peace in their lives and we announce Palestine state peace to be the peace springboard to all the world… all the world deserve to live in peace.” The announcement came on Christmas morning — Peace, Om Shanti, Salaam, Shalom — and all of us at International Cities of Peace wish you peace this year and offer good news about a rising grassroots movement to educate rather than retaliate.
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Durango, Mexico

What better motto could a city of peace envision: “IN THE DEFENSE OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES TRAINING FOR WORK AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT.” Generous of spirit and tireless in her work, Francis Francisca Fernandez and her colleagues have now established Durango City, Mexico as the 154th City of Peace. Francis is President at Federacion De Mujeres Trabajadoras De Oficios Varios Ac, an organization that provides food, medical attention and human rights advocacy for adults and children. I’m not sure how she stretches herself so far, but the photos and stories of her work are extensive and heartfelt. Her vision for the future is an example of how to ensure a person-to-person culture of peace.
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Herat, Afghanistan

Welcome Abdul Bari Zarifi and his colleagues who have established — through their amazing work in education and human rights — the 3rd largest city in Afghanistan as a city of peace. Profound news! They have formed the Afghanistan 3rd Generation for Human Rights (AGHRO) and have been working for women’s rights, education for children and providing basic necessities. A sophisticated program that might amaze and alter your view of this beleaguered country. Here is their mission in the director’s words: “We felt the pain of war and we know the real necessity and meaning of peace. We are living in the middle of a war zone. Every day hundreds of our people are killing and being killed in front of our eyes. We want to put an end to this killing. We want to bring the voice of our people to the world, saying the Afghan nation wants peace. Afghans need constructive help to make peace a reality.”
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 Banjul, The GAMBIA

Amidst the recent crisis in Gambia where a President would not give up power, peace prevailed due to the demand of the people for democracy. Welcome to Cheikh Top, who with other citizens of the Gambia have created Banjul: City of Peace. Their initiative Peace December “is our way of shining a more proverbial light into the darkness of winter by creating programming aimed directly at combating the darkness within our society. Instead of the darkness of violence, hatred and intolerance, we hope to promote the light of peace, respect, and diversity.”
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Question related to this article:

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

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Kasonga-Lunda, D.R. Congo

Welcome to Saki k Jean Claude and his colleagues who have established Kasongo-Lunda, D.R. Congo as a city of peace. “Confronted with conflicts, divisions, regionalism, wars, violence of all kinds, endemic corruption,” said Jean Claude “we decided to create the Cercle des Jeunes Leaders pour la Paix(Circle of Young Leaders for Peace), CJLP in June 2008 in Kinshasa. A non-governmental organization (NGO / NPO involved in various fields PEACE, GENDER, GOVERNANCE, MANAGEMENT OF CONFLICT PREVENTION AND RECONCILIATION & NON-VIOLENCE, HUMAN RIGHTS AND RURAL AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (training, education, rehabilitation, supervision, safety food, community development, strengthening the technical and organizational capacity).Our actions for peace are carried out with several other independent, denominational and non-denominational organizations.”
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 Lafia, Nigeria

Free HIV/AIDs testing, dialogues on ethno-religious conflicts, youth training — extraordinary real, on-the-ground peace work! Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa State in Nigeria is now a city of peace due to the work of Emmanuel Peter Dadean and his colleagues. With extensive peace-building program, the Foundation for Peace and Meditation is a non-partisan and non-religious service group that helps adults and youth throughout the community. Dadean has a Masters in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution from the National Open University of Nigeria. Welcome to Dadean and fellow Nigerians. Build the peace in Africa!
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Amsterdam, The Netherlands

AMSTERDAM, 159! The Netherlands has a long legacy of peacemaking, and now Amsterdam’s Mayor and Council has officially declared as an International City of Peace. Thanks to Mayor Eberhard van der Laan (a Mayor for Peace) as well as peace ambassador Catharina van Staveren who facilitated the Proclamation. Self-proclaiming as a city of peace is a powerful way for the large cities of the European Union to elevate their legacies of peace and to prevent the inaction that led to centuries of war. Remember history, yes, but to take action for peace is needed now more than ever. Please welcome and glorify the Netherland’s and the City of Amsterdam’s great legacy of safety, prosperity and quality of life!
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 Mambasa, D.R. Congo

This movement is definitely changing our future, especially in Africa! We welcome Aimé Waka and the students of the Bankoko Institute as well as the citizens of Mambasa who have established their community in D.R. Congo as a city of peace. Waka is headmaster at the Institute and has a vision to form four peace clubs with 72 schools peace leaders. They hope to train and provide peace education for 1600 students — what an impact that will make on the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Islamabad, Pakistan

Welcome to Ambassador Rubina H. ALi and her colleagues of the Global Learning Trust, a multidisciplinary NGO/Trust which started its operations in Gawadar and later on expanded its operations with headquarters in Islamabad. “Our mission is to help build a vibrant community by providing accessible, Educational and Health Programs in an area that can enhance the quality of life for global citizens. We would foster services and activities that will encourage connections among neighbors and inspire civic involvement.” Take a look at the extensive work for peace as they courageously declare Islamabad as a peace city.
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Berlin, Germany

 Welcome to Margret Hoffmann, Sandra Schiermeyer and all the citizens of Berlin, Germany, our newest City of Peace. Margret and her colleagues are from Clans of Peace, a movement dedicated to finding common purpose in healing, community, conscious business, and unity. Germany’s capital is the second most populous urban area in the European Union. Botanical gardens, Sanssouci, Punk music, 138 museums, Berlin is where John F. Kennedy said “Ich bin ein Berliner!” and 26 years later the Wall came down! Celebrating and emphasizing the rich history and legacy of peacebuilding will inspire Berlin’s future generations.
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DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, global

Brazil: Compaz and Londrina Pazeando promote music festival

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

An article from Bonde News

The Londrina City Culture of Peace Council (Compaz), in partnership with the NGO Londrina Pazeando, is promoting the 1st Music Festival, which will take place during the 13th Night of the Culture of Peace. The festival will be on September 28 at 7 pm at the New Alliance Church, at Rua Cuiabá, 48, at the corner of Rio Grande do Norte, in the center.


Image from the Londrina Culture of Peace Night in 2010

To participate, interested parties will be able to send lyrics and songs in any rhythm including sertanejo, pop, rock, hap, pagode and others, as long as they promote the culture of peace and restorative justice. The intention is for children, adolescents and adults to compose lyrics and melodies that encourage respect among people, cooperation among nations, an end to prejudice and discrimination between class, gender and race, and to promote dialogue as a solution for conflicts and the end of violence.

To this end, the council is inviting students from public and private schools to participate, as well as poets and singers from the city. There are three categories: children (children up to 12 years old can participate); adolescents (12 to 18 years of age) and adults (people over 18 years).

Individuals up to the age of 18 may enroll in schools, through the Municipal Education Department, the Regional Education Center and SINEPE. Adults should enroll at Compaz, at the headquarters of Sincoval, located at Rua Governador Parigot de Souza, 220.

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(Click here for the Portuguese version of this article)

Question related to this article:

 

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

What place does music have in the peace movement?

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“We hope the festival will stimulate reflection and behavior change in relation to the culture of nonviolence, because, often in our own day-to-day lives, we maintain actions and speeches that come from the violent, war-like culture. With this in mind, we are making the first music festival, which will take place during the 17th Municipal Peace Week, “explained the secretary of Compaz and coordinator of Londrina Pazeando, Luís Claudio Galhardi.

To register please read carefully the regulations posted on the website www.londrinapazeando.org.br, fill out the registration form and record the unpublished song, up to 5 minutes on CD or DVD, which must be delivered when you sign up before July 31.

A technical commission will evaluate the best songs that have been submitted and they will be performed during the Festival. The bands and musicians will have their performances recorded and posted on the channel of the Londrina Pazeando organization, on You Tube. They can also be used by the Movement for Peace in the dissemination of actions for the development of a culture of peace.

Those interested in participating can access the inspirational support material available on Londrina Pazeando’s website and on the You Tube channel by clicking on “Music Channel”.

During the festival, participants will also be able to watch the release of the music video of the Movement for Peace, with lyrics by Tinho Lemos and the performance by several singers from the city.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Latin America

Grenoble, France : Ecole de la Paix

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION . .

A talk by Matthieu Damian, Director of Ecole de la Paix at the Madrid forum on urban violence and education for peace, April 2017

In Grenoble, a few years ago we started an projet in education for peace to guide young people from Grenoble to become commited and responsible citizens. Because I only have 5 minutes to talk, i’ll go straight to the 6 mains points of the project.

First of all, we make a diagnosis of the territory concerned. We intervene in complicated suburbs facing unemployement, urban violence, etc. We go to schools, middle schools and secondary schools (different schools for children from 3 to 15 years old) and educational centres asking them to tell us their needs. We don’t impose ready-made solutions, we first figure out their needs.

As an association, we are committed to work in a long term perspective in those different suburbs, realizing that nothing can be gained without long term action.

Thirdly, we offer a number of educational tools from the Ecole de la Paix (School of Peace) based on what we call “mental pictures. ”

The comic strips drawns by Pixar called “Vice Versa”, speak of 5 main emotions : Fear, Anger, Joy, Sadness and Disgust. We can see that characters have, for each of these emotions, a lot of associated memories, either positive or negatives, which are mental pictures.

In l’Ecole de la Paix, (School of Peace), we provide a number of mental pictures in favour of « Living together ».

What do we mean by mental images ? It can be a story or an attitude or actions in favour of peace or in favour of violence. Our logic at the School of Peace is to provide a certain number of teaching tools to children. Thanks to them, once they have to make a decision, they will search in their memories and choose mental pictures they’re filled with to make a good decision.

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(Click here for the French version of this article)

Question related to this article:

 

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

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On the other hand, we know that if the child has negative mental pictures, he’ll make bad decisions. That’s why it is important to regularly repeat positive mental picture, and to adopt them. Because if you see people talking about positive mental pictures but aren’t adopting them, there is evidently a problem.

The forth aspect is an African proverb:  « It takes a whole community to raise a child ».

The Ecole de la Paix (School of Peace) cannot succeed alone, we’re not wizards. We involve judges, policemen, firemen, etc. in order to restore a dialogue between public authority and young people in those places where authority is less and less respected, whether it’s for a good or a bad reason. For example, when the police officer first comes into the room, the pupils have a negative corporal attitude, with their bodies leaning backwards. By the end of the meeting, their bodies are much more leaning forwards. They are listening much more and some are raising their hands.

Obviously, this cannot change everything but it helps them to play the role of civil society.

Fifthly, we intervene not only in schools but also in educational centres, on Wednesdays afternoon, to fortify messages we’ve sent out in schools. Pedagogy requires repetition.

Finally, we try to include parents in our action. To that end, we invite them to our actions at a theatre forum where their children do role-playing in which they react as citizens or not. We realize via the theatre forum that it is often the child who creates difficulties who has himself the solution of his bad behavior and is able to reestablish the « Living together ». It’s really a great thing to be able to say to a child « you’re creating difficluties but you also have to solution to solve it so show it us how». Very often, they take on this role with a lot of pleasure.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, Europe