Category Archives: global

Desmond Tutu Announces the Winners of the International Children’s Peace Prize 2019

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION .      

An announcement from Kids Rights

From an impressive 137 applicants from 56 countries, the KidsRights’ Expert Committee selected Divina from Cameroon and Greta from Sweden as winners. The International Children’s Peace Prize will be awarded on November 20th, on Universal Children’s Day in The Hague. The very special award ceremony, will also celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the International Children’s Peace Prize which became a global phenomenon and reached 1.2 billion people last year.


Greta Thunberg and Divina Maloum

PERSONAL CONGRATULATIONS FROM ARCHBISHOP TUTU

Archbishop Tutu, who has been the patron of the International Children’s Peace Prize and KidsRights for more than a decade, said in a personal message to the winners: “I am in awe of you. Your powerful message is amplified by your youthful energy and unshakable belief that children can, no must, improve their own futures. You are true change-makers who have demonstrated most powerfully that children can move the world.”

INTRODUCING THE WINNERS

“The impact of both Greta and Divina for the future of many children is unmistakable, they are the rightful winners of the International Children’s Peace Prize 2019”, said Marc Dullaert, Founder of KidsRights and chairman of the Expert Committee.

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Questions related to this article:

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

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DIVINA: Nominated by African Network of Young Leaders for Peace and Sustainable Development (ANYL4PSD)

Divina Maloum (14 years old, Cameroon, theme: Peace) – Since 2014, Cameroon has experienced terrorist attacks. When Divina visited the north of the country, she was horrified to see that children were the biggest victims of these terrorist attacks. She realized that many children do not know their rights, and so she created Children for Peace (C4P) to warn them about enrolment in armed groups and to reinforce the participation of children in peace-building and sustainable development. C4P is now a network of 100 children across the ten regions of Cameroon. She empowers them to be changemakers and to take part in peace initiatives in their communities. She has organized an inter-community children’s peace camp, established peace clubs in mosques, and together with other children, made a children’s declaration against violent extremism. Divina has big plans for the future and will not stop advocating for the right of children to live in peace.

GRETA: Nominated by Private Person: Jan van de Venis

Greta Thunberg (16 years old, Sweden, theme: environment) – Greta is a climate activist and a role model for international student climate activism. At the age of eight, when she first learned about climate change, she was shocked that adults did not appear to take the issue seriously. She could not understand why adults were not taking action against the climate crisis. Greta became depressed. She didn’t eat, go to school or speak for months. It was vital for Greta to take measures in her own life; she refrains from flying, eats no meat or dairy and she has a shop stop, meaning that she doesn’t buy new things. On August 20th 2018 Greta decided that it was time for her to take her efforts to the next level and speak out. She wanted more people to be aware and take action. Inspired by the 2018 International Children’s Peace Prize winners March for Our Lives, she sat down in front of Sweden’s parliament with a self-made banner skolstrejk för klimatet (school strike for climate).

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global

Alfred Fried Photography Award’: world-best picture on the theme of peace

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article and photos from The Alfred Fried Photography Award

The Alfred Fried Photography Award recognizes and promotes photographers from all over the world whose pictures capture human efforts towards a peaceful world and the quest for beauty and goodness in our lives. The award goes to those photographs that best express the idea that our future lies in peaceful coexistence.

Winner of the Alfred Fried Photography Award’s world-best picture on the theme of peace, worth € 10000, is Stefan Boness, Germany, with an image from his work „FridaysForFuture Climate Protest“


„FridaysForFuture Climate Protest“, Stefan Boness, Germany

Stefan Boness lives in Berlin and Manchester, working as a photographer on a wide range of topics. He has not only documented the political Berlin with its protagonists and the right-wing populist movements in towns like Dresden or Cottbus, or traced the steps of Walter Benjamin. He also worked in Japan, and photographed landscapes of ruins, animal graveyards as well as Eritrean welders. With his book Flandern Fields he created a “photographic meditation on the battle fields of WWI”. He photographed architecture in places like Tel Aviv, Asmara, or Hoyerswerda. In 2015, Boness was awarded the first prize at the German photo competition ‘Rückblende’ for a photograph of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and has won a World Press Photo Award and a Fuji Euro Press Award.


„BORN FREE – Mandela’s Generation of Hope“, Ilvy Njiokiktjien, Netherlands

Ilvy Njiokiktjien bought her first camera in 2002, graduated from the school of journalism in her home town, and is working as a photographer and multimedia journalist. She finances long-term projects like the one in South Africa through day jobs for new media. The has been published inter alia in the New York Times, in Spiegel, in the Telegraph Magazine, and in l’Espresso. In 2012, she received the World Press Photo Award in the category Multimedia. In 2018, her photos of new-born babies in Africa were shown at a UNICEF exhibition at the United Nations in Geneva. The jury of the Alfred Fried Photography Awards should like to extend their heartfelt congratulations to her for her peaceful and obviously enjoyable work.


„The Forest Orphanage“, Nur Adilla Djalil Daniel, Indonesia

Dilla Dlalil Daniel was born in 1966 in Jakarta where she lives today. She was given a camera at the age of nine with which she photographed her dogs. As she had to give up her dream of becoming a vet she studied English literature, working for an advertizing agency for a while. Workshops with the well-known photographers Alex Webb and Peter Turnley turned her into a ‘workshop junkie’. She attended such workshops in Istanbul, Buenos Aires, Chiang Mai, South Africa, and on Antigua. She started to admire NGOs – and above all she has been expelled from her comfort zone. Wherever she went she was looking for animal sanctuaries. Be it the elephant hospital in Thailand, be it a rescue centre for maltreated donkeys in Nepal. She has two dogs, two cats and one horse. We can assume that she treats them very well.

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Question for this article:

Do the arts create a basis for a culture of peace?, What is, or should be, their role in our movement?

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„Le temps retrouvé“, Alain Laboile, France

Alain Laboile, born in May 1968 in Bordeaux, was first interested in insects which he also photographed as macro images which served as inspirations for his metal sculptures. He taught himself about photography making an incredible career. Because his heart-warming, engaging positive family photographs have enchanted people all over the world – and now also the jury of the Alfred Fried Awards. Laboile regards the books with the photos of his children – called ‘At the end of the world’ or ‘The summer of a fawn’ or ‘Under the monochrome rainbow’ − also as a private treasure as he himself has only one photo from his own childhood. He now celebrates what a childhood could be like – and he has been celebrated at exhibitions in France, Cambodia, the USA, in Japan, India, Austria, Mexico, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, in Poland and Hungary. The recipients of his images apparently recognize a universal longing for an unwavering innocent life in what he depicts.


„The Rugbywomen: Tackling Stereotypes“, Camilo Leon-Quijano, France

Camilo Leon-Quijano was born in Bogotá, Columbia, and lives in Paris, where he studied sociology and focussed on Latin American studies at the Sorbonne. His photos have been published inter alia in the Washington Post, in Líberation, Paris Match, and Vice, he has had exhibitions in France, in the USA, in Germany, and Italy. Leon-Quijano was finalist and award-winner of several competitions such as Lens Culture, Prix la France Mutualiste, and the UNICEF Photo of the Year 2018. In addition to the rugby girls, the people in the suburbs of Paris in general are his favourite subject at present.


Winner of the The Children’s Peace Image of the Year, worth € 1000, is Dune Laboile, France, with her image „Slow Stream“

Dune Laboile – the surname will ring a bell. Yes, Alain Laboile, her father, is one of our five award-winners in the adult category this year. We have never had such a constellation. One could also say: like father, like daughter. Alan Laboile described his daughter beforehand. He calls her cute and quiet. And he says that she has a lot of time for discovering her little world; for painting and sketching and shaping; for playing with five cats; building caves and swimming; reading and watching films; making short videos and, of course, photography – because she does not go to school, but has private lessons at home. Moreover, he says, Dune doesn’t like racists and the destroyers of our plant. All this makes us curious about what will become of young Dune.

Click on the title to see the complete story. [Editor’s note: only one photo is shown here, but there are many more photos on the original article.]

Click here for the shortlist of the Alfred Fried Photography Award 2019.

Click here for the shortlist of the Children Peace Image of the Year 2019.

Thank you to everyone who submitted to the Alfred Fried Photography Award 2019.

Award Ceremony
The Alfred Fried Photography Award 2019 was presented on 12 September 2019 at a gala in the rooms of the Austrian Parliament. On behalf of Wolfgang Sobotka, speaker of the Austrian National Council Harald Dossi introduced the ceremony attended by 200 guests. More…

Exhibitions
All entrants will have the chance to take part in worldwide exhibitions.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2019

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

Press release from The Nobel Peace Prize

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea. The prize is also meant to recognise all the stakeholders working for peace and reconciliation in Ethiopia and in the East and Northeast African regions.

When Abiy Ahmed became Prime Minister in April 2018, he made it clear that he wished to resume peace talks with Eritrea. In close cooperation with Isaias Afwerki, the President of Eritrea, Abiy Ahmed quickly worked out the principles of a peace agreement to end the long “no peace, no war” stalemate between the two countries. These principles are set out in the declarations that Prime Minister Abiy and President Afwerki signed in Asmara and Jeddah last July and September. An important premise for the breakthrough was Abiy Ahmed’s unconditional willingness to accept the arbitration ruling of an international boundary commission in 2002.

Peace does not arise from the actions of one party alone. When Prime Minister Abiy reached out his hand, President Afwerki grasped it, and helped to formalise the peace process between the two countries. The Norwegian Nobel Committee hopes the peace agreement will help to bring about positive change for the entire populations of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

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Question for this article:

Can peace be achieved between Ethiopia and Eritrea?

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In Ethiopia, even if much work remains, Abiy Ahmed has initiated important reforms that give many citizens hope for a better life and a brighter future. He spent his first 100 days as Prime Minister lifting the country’s state of emergency, granting amnesty to thousands of political prisoners, discontinuing media censorship, legalising outlawed opposition groups, dismissing military and civilian leaders who were suspected of corruption, and significantly increasing the influence of women in Ethiopian political and community life. He has also pledged to strengthen democracy by holding free and fair elections.

In the wake of the peace process with Eritrea, Prime Minister Abiy has engaged in other peace and reconciliation processes in East and Northeast Africa. In September 2018 he and his government contributed actively to the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Eritrea and Djibouti after many years of political hostility. Additionally, Abiy Ahmed has sought to mediate between Kenya and Somalia in their protracted conflict over rights to a disputed marine area. There is now hope for a resolution to this conflict. In Sudan, the military regime and the opposition have returned to the negotiating table. On the 17th of August, they released a joint draft of a new constitution intended to secure a peaceful transition to civil rule in the country. Prime Minister Abiy played a key role in the process that led to the agreement.

Ethiopia is a country of many different languages and peoples. Lately, old ethnic rivalries have flared up. According to international observers, up to three million Ethiopians may be internally displaced. That is in addition to the million or so refugees and asylum seekers from neighbouring countries. As Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed has sought to promote reconciliation, solidarity and social justice. However, many challenges remain unresolved. Ethnic strife continues to escalate, and we have seen troubling examples of this in recent weeks and months. No doubt some people will think this year’s prize is being awarded too early. The Norwegian Nobel Committee believes it is now that Abiy Ahmed’s efforts deserve recognition and need encouragement.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee hopes that the Nobel Peace Prize will strengthen Prime Minister Abiy in his important work for peace and reconciliation. Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populous country and has East Africa’s largest economy. A peaceful, stable and successful Ethiopia will have many positive side-effects, and will help to strengthen fraternity among nations and peoples in the region. With the provisions of Alfred Nobel’s will firmly in mind, the Norwegian Nobel Committee sees Abiy Ahmed as the person who in the preceding year has done the most to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019.

Africa, DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global,

What has happened this year (2019) for the International Day of Peace

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This year we give links to 280 actions carried out in most of the provinces and all the states in Canada and the USA. Next is Europe with 144 actions in 21 countries. There are 50 actions cited in 16 Asian countries, 53 from 17 Latin American and Caribbean countries, 54 from 6 countries formerly part of the Soviet Union, 53 from 27 African countries, and 21 from 14 Arab and Middle Eastern countries. See the CPNN bulletin for October for a synopsis.

Detailed data may be found on the following CPNN articles:

United States and Canada: International Day of Peace

Europe: International Day of Peace

Asia and Pacific: International Day of Peace

Ex-Soviet Countries: International Day of Peace

Arab and Middle Eastern States: International Day of Peace

Latin America and Caribbean: International Day of Peace

Africa: International Day of Peace

d-information, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global

Global climate strike: When, where and how you can join and take action

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Jackson Ryan from CNET

On Sept. 20, students and adults will rally across the globe, demanding immediate action on climate change. Here’s where you can join them.


Greta Thunberg leads the Fridays for Future Rally.
Ernesto Rucio/Getty
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The planet is in a pretty bad way. The Arctic has been burning and fires still rage in the Amazon rainforest. Iceland recently held a funeral for a 700-year-old glacier killed by climate change. One million species are threatened with extinction and some have already been lost. We are living through a crisis — and the kids are absolutely not alright with where our planet is headed. Over the coming week, students and adults will join together in global strikes to demand action on climate change.

If you want to know the what, when and where of the September Global Climate Strikes, we have you covered.

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Question for this article:
Despite the vested interests of companies and governments, Can we make progress toward sustainable development?

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What is the Climate Strike?

When Greta Thunberg, a Swedish school student, sat in front of the Swedish parliament building with her hand-painted “Skolstrejk för klimatet” sign, she kick-started a worldwide movement. It wasn’t the first time school kids had walked out of school to demand change, but Thunberg’s one-person strike on the steps of parliament drew global attention. On Fridays leading up to the 2018 Swedish election, she’d miss class to protest, sign in hand.

Thunberg has become the face of the new movement, inspiring students across the world to leave school and demand action on climate change. In March, students took to the streets in over 2,000 cities asking adults to take responsibility for the climate crisis. Smaller strikes occurred in May, June and August.

The next series of strikes are set to be the biggest yet and will see students and adults walk out of their schools and workplaces to “demand an end to the age of fossil fuels.”

When is the Climate Strike?

The upcoming strikes will take place on two successive Fridays designed to coincide with an emergency climate action summit being held at the United Nations in New York beginning on Sept. 23.

On Sept. 20 and Sept. 27, thousands of climate strikes will take place in cities across the world. Thunberg herself will be attending the climate strike in New York City on Sept. 20, but no matter where you are across the world, a climate strike is likely within your vicinity.

Where can I join a strike?

A massive number of strikes are registered on the Global Climate Strike website, so that’s a great place to start if you’re seeking a nearby climate strike to attend.    

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

URI International Peacebuilding Network Joins with Worldwide Groups Calling for Peace 

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A press release from Globe News Wire

With tensions growing between people of different ethnicities and faiths across the planet, and humanitarians increasingly worried about healing the rifts, URI (United Religions Initiative) and likeminded organizations worldwide are coordinating efforts to lift up the International Day of Peace (“Peace Day”) on September 21.



Children in Sri Lanka celebrate Peace Day with “Understanding Cultural and Religious Values,” a URI grassroots member group.

The worldwide URI community, which consists of more than 1,000 grassroots interfaith groups (called Cooperation Circles) working in 108 countries, celebrates Peace Day every September 21. This occasion was established in 1981 by a unanimous United Nations resolution which provided a shared date for all humanity to commit to peace above all differences, and to contribute to building a worldwide culture of peace.

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Question(s) related to this article:

What has happened this year (2019) for the International Day of Peace?

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This year, the celebration is particularly significant: It is the 20th Anniversary of the UN Resolution on the Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace – a resolution which is needed more strongly than ever in the current political climate. The 2019 Peace Day theme is also particularly timely: “Climate Action for Peace.” The theme draws attention to the importance of combatting climate change as a way to protect and promote peace throughout the world.

Throughout September 2019, URI Cooperation Circles around the world will celebrate peace with events such as school programs, community marches, film showings, interfaith meals, silence walks, shared prayers, candle lightings, musical performances, and more. You can see a sampling of last year’s URI’s Peace Day 2018 celebrations here.

The United Nations Peace Day celebrations will take place at the UN Headquarters on Friday, 20 September 2019, beginning at 9:00am in the Peace Garden. A student observance will follow, where about 700 high school and college students will interact with UN Messengers of Peace, including young people from the United Nations Mission in Kosovo participating via videoconference. URI invites you to take part as well via webtv.un.org.

From September 11 – 21, many URI Cooperation Circles will be celebrating 11 Days of Global Unity: 11 Days to Transform Your World. This is a worldwide platform for the promotion of peace, justice, sustainability and transformation. URI invites you to take part in any or all of these September events to bring more awareness to the need for unity in the world.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global

Twenty Years of the Culture of Peace: On the Road to Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

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An article from the International Peace Institute

On September 12th, IPI together with the Al-Babtain Cultural Foundation cohosted a policy forum entitled “Twenty Years of the Culture of Peace: On the Road to Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”




video

In 1999 the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace (Resolution 53/243) calling for a transition from a culture of war to a culture of peace. Twenty years later, international actors and analysts are increasingly looking at what makes a society peaceful and how we can sustain it. The 1999 declaration identified political, economic, environmental, educational, and health-related components to the culture of peace, presaging the holistic approach agreed to in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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Question(s) related to this article:

What is the United Nations doing for a culture of peace?

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This event served as a kick-off to the 20th-anniversary celebration of the adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace. It allowed participants to reflect on and discuss the connections between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the culture of peace ahead of the forum. Speakers examined these linkages in order to advance the culture of peace at the multilateral level and, in turn, help to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs.

Opening remarks:

H.E. Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the UN General Assembly

Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Founder of the Global Movement for The Culture of Peace (GMCoP) and Former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the UN

Speakers:

H.E. Mr. Masud Bin Momen, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN

Ms. Jimena Leiva Roesch, Senior Fellow, International Peace Institute

Moderator:

Dr. Adam Lupel, Vice President, International Peace Insitute

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global, United Nations,

Campaign Nonviolence Action Week, September 14-22

. .DISARMAMENT & SECURITY. .

from Pace e Bene

NUMBER OF ACTIONS PLANNED AS OF SEPTEMBER 14: 3284

SEE THE FULL LIST OF PLANNED ACTIONS

ACTION ORGANIZERS – SEND US YOUR POST-ACTION PHOTOS AND REPORTS HERE

MARCHING, ORGANIZING AND SPEAKING OUT FOR A NEW CULTURE OF NONVIOLENCE, FOR AN END TO WAR, POVERTY, RACISM, AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION.


Every year, Campaign Nonviolence organizes a national week of action across the United States and around the world, built around the third week of September, near Sept. 21st, International Peace Day. For the last five years, we have organized an unprecedented national grassroots movements with actions in every state where people connect the dots between the issues of injustice and violence, including war, poverty, racism and environmental destruction, and hold public events, actions and marches demanding immediate positive social change.

In September, 2018, the Campaign Nonviolence National Week of Action held over 2,660 actions, events and marches across the USA and in 25 countries. This was an historic unprecedented new form of organizing in the US, and we invite you to help us build up this national week of action.

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Question for this article:

The peace movement in the United States, What are its strengths and weaknesses?

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The only way positive social change has happened in the US is from bottom up, people power, grassroots movements of nonviolence, so we invite everyone to join this Campaign Nonviolence National Week of Action Sept. 14-22, 2019, as an organizing tool, to help get the movement moving, to invite people of all walks of life to take to the streets against violence and injustice, and to carry on Dr. King’s vision of what we could become—a new culture of nonviolence. Join the growing Campaign Nonviolence national week of action movement by signing up for an action today, or join with others planning an event. See the full list of action organizers planning an event and reach out to them to join in!

To support these powerful forms of action, Campaign Nonviolence invites people everywhere to:

Take the Campaign Nonviolence Pledge

Host or attend a Nonviolence Training in preparation for your action

Start a Nonviolence Study Group

Spread the word on Facebook  and Twitter

Find tools and resources for Action Week. Get the CNV action toolkit, flyers, graphics, action ideas and more! See below.

Read the 10 Tips for Great Actions and read about some great actions ideas.

Join action organizers around the country as we come together for the next Campaign Nonviolence National Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico August 6-9, 2020 to mark the 75th anniversary or Hiroshima and Nagasaki featuring Martin Sheen, Dolores Huerta, Richard Rohr and more!

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global, North America,

UN General Assembly celebrates 20 years of promoting a culture of peace

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An article from UN News

Just as the greatest global challenges cannot be solved by a single country, peace cannot be pursued in isolation, outgoing UN General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa said on Friday [September 13].

Ms. Espinosa was speaking at a high-level forum to mark the 20th anniversary of the General Assembly’s adoption of a Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace.

“Because peace is more than the absence of war, it needs constant nurturing through the pursuit of dignity and equality, of human rights and justice, of respect and understanding, and of cooperation and multilateralism”, she said.

As UN Chef de Cabinet Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti pointed out, although peace is at the heart of the work of the United Nations, it is something that must be addressed daily.

“A culture of peace is inseparable from human rights, respect for diversity, and fairer societies,” she said.

“One main challenge as we strive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals is to build more preventive and inclusive approaches that ensure the participation of women, young people and vulnerable, marginalized and non-represented groups.”

The Chef de Cabinet said working to achieve peace not only covers traditional notions of security but also challenges such as social injustice, the normalization of hate speech, terrorism, violence against women, and conflict.

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Question(s) related to this article:

What is the United Nations doing for a culture of peace?

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Leymah Gbowee from Liberia knows many of these issues first-hand. She won the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for her role in uniting Christian and Muslim women to help end her country’s 14-year civil war.

She said peace is seen as the absence of bad, rather than the presence of good. However, instead of being “a fairytale of bland happiness”, she views it as quite radical.

“If we dig a little deeper into what a culture of peace actually looks like, it pushes us beyond understanding peace as the absence of conflict and being a positive state itself”, Ms. Gbowee told the gathering.

“A culture of peace creates an environment where people thrive and have their needs met. It looks like a population of satisfied people: healthy children, educated children, a functional health system, responsive justice structure, an empowered, recognized, appreciated and fully compensated community of women; food on the table of every home, and a lot more. It is the full expression of human dignity.”

The high-level commemorative event marked Ms. Espinosa’s final session presiding over the General Assembly, where all 193 Member States have equal representation.

In her goal to bring the UN’s main deliberative and policy-making organ closer to everyday people, she chose the traditional ruler of the Ashanti people of Ghana to deliver the keynote address: a historic first.

Representing a kingdom that has existed since the 17th century, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II ascended the podium wearing kente cloth and accompanied by two praise-singers.

He highlighted some of the UN’s accomplishments in preserving global security: for example, staving off nuclear war and preventing conflict between nations. However, as he observed, the landscape today is different.

“Warfare is no longer the threat we face from states; it is now a danger we face on a daily basis from our citizens and from all quarters. This new threat comes on the heels of an unprecedented trust deficit in political leadership at the national level. The effect of this trust deficit is to erode the capacity of political leaders to rally their people to coalesce around national interests. The consequence for peace and security cannot be overstated”, he said.

The Ashanti leader called for a new partnership between elected authorities and traditional governance, in the spirit of authentic collaboration.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global, United Nations,

Kazakh capital to host 2019 UNWTO Urban Tourism Global Summit on SDGs

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from The Astana Times

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the Nur-Sultan Akimat (city administration) will organise the eighth UNWTO Global Summit on Urban Tourism under the Smart Cities, Smart Destinations theme in the Kazakh capital Oct. 9-12. The summit will contribute to the UN New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The summit will bring together representatives from national tourism administrations, city authorities and related stakeholders to exchange expertise and set a shared vision to advance urban tourism. Participants will discuss sustainability, accessibility, innovations and inclusion of tourism in the urban agenda contributing to the progress of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. The gathering will focus specifically on Goal 11, which is to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

“According to the UN, in 2015, 54 percent of the world’s population lived in urban areas and, by 2030, this share is expected to reach 60 percent. Along with other key pillars, tourism constitutes a central component in the economy, social life and the geography of many cities in the world and is, thus, a key element in urban development policies… Tourism is intrinsically linked to how a city develops itself and provides more and better living conditions to its residents and visitors,” reported the summit’s website emphasising the importance of the chosen topic.

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Question related to this article:

How can tourism promote a culture of peace?

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The summit will focus on how developing smart cities can address urban challenges. The participants will discuss sustainability, accessibility, urban management, innovation and technology, stressing the importance of including tourism in the wider city agenda as a contributor to inclusive, resilient and sustainable urban development.

During the summit’s first day, the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) will give a masterclass on trends in the convention industry, focusing on topics such as how to be a successful destination for meetings and organise sustainable meetings.

The second day will start with an opening ceremony including Nur-Sultan Akim (Mayor) Altai Kulginov, Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili and other higher officials. The participants will adopt the Smart Cities, Smart Destinations Declaration. This will be followed by the mayors’ meeting, where “mayors from around the world will share insights on how to translate a smart city into a smart destination,” and other panel sessions and on the topic.

The summit’s last day will be dedicated to innovative and technological solutions in tourism, the role of public and private partnerships in technologies to develop the sphere and urban destinations’ accessibility through “increased awareness of the opportunities it brings and the emergence of new innovative solutions.”

The decision to have the event in Nur-Sultan was made at the seventh UNWTO Global Summit in Seoul last year. UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili and the then Nur-Sultan Akim (Mayor) Bakhyt Sultanov signed April 5 an agreement at the UNWTO Mayors Forum for Sustainable Urban Tourism in Lisbon, where the akim presented information about Nur-Sultan’s infrastructure.

The UNWTO is responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism around the world. It promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to advance knowledge and tourism policies worldwide. The organisation has 158 member countries, six associate members and more than 500 affiliate members.

The UNWTO Global Summit is designed to encourage new approaches to tourism and its impact on urban destinations. Previously, the event took place in Seoul (2018), Kuala Lumpur (2017), Luxor (2016), Marrakesh (2015), Barcelona (2014), Moscow (2013) and Istanbul (2012).

global, South Asia, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, United Nations, ,