Category Archives: global

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women marked around the world

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

A survey by CPNN

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women was marked around the world on November 25.

At the United Nations, Secretary-General António Guterres said that unless the international community tackles violence against women, the world will not eradicate poverty or reach any of the other Sustainable Development Goals. And Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women concluded that “As a global community, we can act now to end violence against women and girls, to change institutions and work together to end discrimination, restore human rights and dignity, and leave no one behind.”

Internet sites included remarkable photos from around the world of demonstrations to mark the day. Here is a UN photo from Liberia:


In observance of International Women’s Day, participants march from the centre of Monrovia to the Temple of Justice, home of the Liberian Supreme Court, where they staged a peaceful sit-in protest against gender-based violence. UN Photo/Eric Kanalstein

In France, after President Emmanuel Macron announced an initiative to make it easier to report sexual assault claims to police, hundreds marched through Paris, demanding the government do more to educate children about sexism and violence. Here is a video from Rose McGowan published by PBS.

According to PBS , there were marches in Turkey, France, Chile, Italy, Mozambique, Sweden, Spain and other countries Among others, PBS carries a photo from Reuters of protesters carrying torches and walking behind a banner reading “Your truth is Ours. Our Word Counts” during a demonstration in Bilbao, northern Spain, on Nov. 25, 2017.

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Question related to this article:

Protecting women and girls against violence, Is progress being made?

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Many photos from the day are displayed on the internet site of the Denver Post. They include photos from the following countries:

Dominican Republic: People gather with candles and banners on the eve of the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, in Santo Domingo on Nov. 24, 2017. On November 25, 1960, the Mirabal sisters – three of four Dominican political dissident sisters – were murdered by order of Dominican dictator (1930-1961) Leonidas Trujillo, and since 1999, the United Nations General Assembly, designated the date as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in their honor (Erika Santelices, AFP/Getty Images)

Italy: Two women read about a victim of violence on one of the hundred silhouettes displayed in a park as part of “Without Words” (Gregorio Borgia, The Associated Press).

Colombia: Hundreds of women perform during the fourth edition of the “Not even with the petal of a rose” festival in Bogota (Raul Arboleda, AFP/Getty Images).

Turkey: Protesters take part in a demonstration in Istanbul (Yasin Akgul, AFP/Getty Images).

Costa Rica: Thousands of people march in San Jose (Ezequiel Becerra, AFP/Getty Images).

Paraguay: Women march in Asuncion, Paraguay (Jorge Saenz, The Associated Press).

Mexico: Relatives and friends of women killed in Mexico take part in a protest along Reforma avenue in Mexico City (Ronaldo Schemidt, AFP/Getty Images).

Peru: Thousands protest for women’s rights during the “Ni Una Menos” march in Lima/ AFP PHOTO/AFP/Getty Images.

Chile: Activists shout slogans during a march on the eve of the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, in Santiago (Claudio Reyes, AFP/Getty Images).

global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY

UN Women: Leave No One Behind – End Violence against Women and Girls

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from UN Women

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, a global campaign spanning from 25 November through 10 December, is taking place this year against the backdrop of an unprecedented global outcry. Millions have rallied behind the hashtag #MeToo and other campaigns, exposing the sheer magnitude of sexual harassment and other forms of violence that women everywhere suffer, every day. Breaking the silence is the first step to transforming the culture of gender-based violence.


Young school girls organize themselves before the March to End Gender-Based Violence in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. One sign reads: “Refrain from using abusive language for Women and Children”. Photo: UN Women/Deepika Nath

At the heart of this year’s theme, “Leave No One Behind – End Violence against Women”, for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25 November) and UNiTE Campaign’s observance of the 16 Days of Activism to End Violence against Women (25 November – 10 December), is the imperative to support those who are particularly vulnerable. The UNiTE Campaign is calling on everyone to join the movement to end violence against women, using the colour orange to make your action visible. Find out how you can take action►

One in three women and girls experience violence in their lifetime—that is one too many. It happens in every country and every society. It happens at home, in schools, on the streets, at work, on the internet and in refugee camps. It happens during war, and even in the absence of war. Too often, it is normalized and goes unpunished.

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Click here for the version in Spanish of this article, or click here for the version in French)

Question related to this article:

Protecting women and girls against violence, Is progress being made?

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No matter where violence against women happens, what form it takes, and whom it impacts, it must be stopped. The promise of the Sustainable Development Goals—to leave no one behind—cannot be fulfilled without ending violence against women.

Ending violence against women and girls is possible. There are proven solutions for supporting and empowering survivors to stop the reoccurrence of this violence. Laws and policies are powerful tools to punish perpetrators, provide justice and services, and end impunity. There are many ways that we can resist and prevent violent norms, attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate violence against women, and everyone has a role in it.

While gender-based violence can happen to anyone, anywhere, some women and girls are particularly vulnerable—for instance, young girls and older women, women who identify as lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex, migrants and refugees, indigenous women and ethnic minorities, or women and girls living with HIV and disabilities, and those in humanitarian crises. See our top stories from around the world that show what it means to leave no one behind, and what people are doing to stop the cycle of violence against women.

Join the conversation
#Orangetheworld in #16days

Join the conversation and Orange the World in 16 Days on social media! Hashtags: #orangetheworld and #16days

Join the ‘Orange the World’ Event page on Facebook and post photos and actions happening in your country during the 16 Days of Activism.

Orange your Facebook wall, Instagram and Twitter accounts with a variety of images, banners and promotional material. A social media package with sample messages in English, Spanish and French is available here.

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

global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,

Pope Francis denounces nuclear weapons possession

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from Abolition 2000

On Friday Nov 10, Pope Francis denounced the possession of nuclear weapons, in what appears to be a departure from the Roman Catholic Church’s position of conditional (and temporary) acceptance of nuclear deterrence and mutually assured destruction.


Video of Pope’s address to conference

In a presentation to participants in a high-profile Vatican conference on nuclear disarmament, including representatives of Abolition 2000 member-organisations and affiliated networks, Pope Francis said that ‘humanity cannot fail to be genuinely concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental effects of any employment of nuclear devices. If we also take into account the risk of an accidental detonation as a result of error of any kind, the threat of their use, as well as their very possession, is to be firmly condemned.”

‘Pope Francis is taking a pro-active approach toward nuclear disarmament which is to be commended, celebrated and supported’ says Alyn Ware, Co-convener of the Abolition 2000 Interfaith working group and a participant in the conference. ‘This should give encouragement to people of all faiths – and also non-religious people – to feel new hope and to be inspired to act for nuclear abolition.’

Pope Francis did not directly criticize world leaders such as U.S. President Donald Trump, who has openly threatened nuclear war with North Korea over that country’s continuing development of nuclear arms. However, he remarked that “International relations cannot be held captive to military force, mutual intimidation, and the parading of stockpiles of arms. Weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons, create nothing but a false sense of security. They cannot constitute the basis for peaceful coexistence between members of the human family.”

While previous popes have strongly called for the abolition of nuclear weapons, in general they also granted conditional moral acceptance to the system of nuclear deterrence. Pope John Paul II, for example, said in a message to the U.N. in June 1982 that the system of deterrence could be judged “morally acceptable” as “a step on the way toward a progressive disarmament.”

The exception was Pope Benedict XVI who also condemned the possession of nuclear weapons: ‘One can only encourage the efforts of the international community to ensure progressive disarmament and a world free of nuclear weapons, whose presence alone threatens the life of the planet and the ongoing integral development of the present generation and of generations yet to come’.

Jonathan Granoff, President of the Global Security Institute, proposed that Pope Francis turn his condemnation of nuclear weapons into church doctrine by including this in a papal encyclical. The encyclical Pacem in Terris released by Pope John XXIII, accepts nuclear weapons as a deterrent. The encyclical Laudato si, released by Pope Francis in 2015, notes the risks of nuclear weapons but does not condemn possession outright.

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Question related to this article:

Can we abolish all nuclear weapons?

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“The church should be saying the ethic of nuclear deterrence is not morally warranted any longer,” said San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy, who also serves as a member of the U.S. bishops’ committee on international justice and peace. McElroy pointed to the fact that the conditional acceptance of deterrence was given with the understanding that the nations of the world would gradually move to disarm.

The Vatican conference, brought together Nobel Peace laureates, government representatives, religious leaders, United Nations officials, academics, and non-governmental representatives.This included leaders from ICAN, which is the 2017 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for their actions to promote and achieve the treaty.

Cardinal Peter Turkson, the head of the Vatican dicastery, said that the participants at the event had gathered “for a very candid conversation about how to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. This conversation is urgently needed, given the current tensions among nuclear weapons states and given the tensions between nuclear weapons states and states seeking to become nuclear weapons states.”

The new Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was a key topic at the conference. Many of the participants commended the Vatican for being one of the three signatories that have already ratified the agreement. However, it was also recognised that none of the nuclear powers and no NATO members have signed on to the measure.

Mexican Ambassador Jorge Lomonaco, one of the leaders of the initiative to achieve the treaty, said that the treaty was one of the ‘jigsaw pieces of the framework required to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world.’ He noted that this is a contribution that non-nuclear States have made. He urged everyone to move beyond divisions about the treaty – to end the debate on whether one supports it or not – and work now on the other pieces of the jigsaw, especially those pieces requiring action by the nuclear-armed and allied states.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, told the conference their considerations were taking place during a “decidedly disheartening state of affairs” across the world.

‘In such a fractious and uncertain world there are many voices that contend the time is not ripe for disarmament and that weapons provide security. There is an insinuation that disarmament is a utopian dream,’ said UN High Representative Izumi Nakamitsu. ‘However, I believe that quite the opposite is true. In a fractious and uncertain world, more than ever we need disarmament as a diplomatic key to unlock the door to peaceful solutions.’

Cardinal Parolin noted that 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Populorum progressio, which proposed that the world’s governments set aside a portion of their military spending for a global fund to relieve the needs of impoverished peoples. Paraphrasing the encyclical, Parolin stated: “Is it not plain to everyone that such a fund would reduce a need for those other expenditures that are motivated by fear [or] stubborn pride? Countless millions are starving. We cannot approve a debilitating arms race.”

“Nuclear armament is never an appropriate policy to achieve a long-term basis for peace,” said Cardinal Turkson. “And true security is not found in the size of our military or the number of weapons we possess, but when every human need for food, for housing, for healthcare, for employment and dignity is met — that’s when we begin to fashion peace.”

A number of Abolition 2000 member-organisations are active in the Move the Nuclear Weapons Campaign which acts to cut nuclear weapons budgets and re-direct these resources for social, environmental and economic needs. This includes actions in legislatures of the nuclear-armed States to slash nuclear weapons budgets. It also includes actions that can be taken by governments, cities, churches, universities, banks and others to end investments in corporations manufacturing nuclear weapons See Abolition 2000 working group on Economic Dimensions of Nuclearism.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global

Pope Francis meets ‘The Elders’ to discuss global concerns

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from the Vatican Radio

Pope Francis had a private meeting at Santa Marta on Monday afternoon [November 5] with members of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders working for peace and human rights around the world. The Elders was established 10 years ago by former South African President Nelson Mandela and is currently marking the group’s 10th anniversary with a campaign called “Walk Together” – continuing Mandela’s long walk to freedom.


Left to right: Elders Lakhdar Brahimi and Kofi Annan, Pope Francis with an assistant, Elders Ricardo Lagos and Mary Robinson, and an unidentified participant.

Just after the audience, Philippa Hitchen spoke to two of the founding members of The Elders, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Mary Robinson, former Irish President, former UN high commissioner for human rights and, more recently, UN envoy on climate change. Philippa began by asking Kofi Annan about the issues they were able to discuss during their papal audience…

Listen here.

The former UN leader says it was important for four representatives of the group to come to the Vatican because they share many common interests and values. He says they wanted to engage with Pope Francis and “discuss how we can work together, how we can pool our efforts on some of these issues”.

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Question related to this article:
 
Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

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Peace, migration, climate change, gender equality

Among the areas of discussion, he continues, were the questions of migration, nuclear weapons peace, mediation and conflicts, as well as climate change and gender equality, that is “the importance of giving women a voice and respecting their role”. He adds “I hope this will be the first of many meetings”.

Shared efforts to be a voice for marginalised

Former Irish President Mary Robinson says the group came to express “an appreciation for the role he is playing and the fact that he, like The Elders, is trying to be a voice for the voiceless and the marginalized, trying to deal with the most difficult areas of conflict.

She says they also spoke about countries including Venezuela and Congo, as well as focusing on climate change, all issues, she notes, where “the pope has given leadership”.

Common values, common sense of purpose

Robinson says she was also struck by the “warmth and affection and humour” in their meeting. “I was very struck by how relaxed the pope was with us, how much he joked”, she says, adding that Pope Francis seemed to “feel at home” as they discussed “common values, a common moral purpose, common problems”

I think he could be a future ‘Elder’, Annan says and Robinson quips, “I think he’s a Super Elder”.

[Editor’s note: Additional comments will be posted in the coming days on the website of the Elders]

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

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global

World body of parliaments discusses nuclear-risk-reduction and disarmament

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament

Parliamentarians from around the world, who gathered in St Petersburg for the 137th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union from Oct 14-18, held a special session on Monday organised by PNND to discuss the role of parliamentarians in reducing nuclear dangers and supporting nuclear disarmament.

Bruce Blair, co-founder of Global Zero and a former nuclear missile controller, outlined the growing risks of a nuclear catastrophe due to increasing tensions and conflicts between USA & North Korea, Russia & the West, and India & Pakistan, combined with the high operational readiness of many of these countries to use nuclear weapons. He noted that the potential of nuclear-weapons-related conflicts escalating into war – and the possibilities of nuclear weapons being used by accident, miscalculation or even intent – are even greater now than during the Cold War.

Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gómez, President of the UN negotiating conference for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, updated parliamentarians on the adoption of the treaty on July 7, the number of countries that have signed the treaty to date (53 countries) and the role that parliamentarians have in ratification of the treaty in national legislatures in order to ensure the treaty’s entry-into-force and implementation. She also called on parliamentarians from countries that have not yet signed the treaty, to call on their governments to sign in order to reach 100 signatories as soon as possible.

Alyn Ware, global coordinator of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, highlighted the opportunity to advance nuclear risk-reduction and disarmament measures at the United Nations High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament (UNHLC), which will take place at the UN in New York in May 2018. Such UN high-level conferences have been very successful in other areas (sustainable development, climate change, oceans and refugees), and could make a significant contribution to nuclear disarmament. (See UNHLC food-for-thought paper).

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Questions for this article:

How can parliamentarians promote a culture of peace?

A UN High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament: Distraction or progress?

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Goals proposed for UNHLC could include: achieve 100 signatories to the nuclear ban treaty (many governments could sign at the UNHLC); renew the UN process for a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction; agreements by nuclear armed States to take all nuclear weapons off alert, make further cuts in nuclear stockpiles, give assurances to non-nuclear States that nuclear weapons will not be used against them, commit never to be the first to use nuclear weapons, and outline a framework to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world.

A number of delegations took the opportunity to make comments and ask questions on various aspects of the issue, including: how to strengthen international criminal law against nuclear weapons regardless of whether its use or possession by terrorists or governments, how to engage youth and build a stronger civil society movement for nuclear abolition, how to maintain existing agreements (such as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action regarding Iran’s nuclear energy which is under threat from the new USA administration), how to reduce nuclear tensions and build confidence, and how to move the nuclear-armed States to phase out their reliance on nuclear weapons and negotiate a comprehensive agreement on the elimination of nuclear weapons.

The event also included the launch of a new publication – the Parliamentary Action Plan for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World. The Action Plan, which has been developed by Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament in consultation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), includes 14 key nuclear disarmament actions that can be taken by parliamentarians.

Some of these are actions that parliamentarians from States Parties to the nuclear prohibition treaty can take to implement the treaty in their parliaments. These are all non-nuclear States, as the nuclear-armed and allied States do not currently support the treaty.

Other actions in the Plan are those that parliamentarians from nuclear armed and allied States can take to reduce the risks of nuclear weapons being used, and move their governments to adopt incremental disarmament measures, phase out the reliance on nuclear deterrence and negotiate for nuclear disarmament.

And some actions in the Plan are those that parliamentarians from all States can take to build public awareness and political will for the achievement of a nuclear-weapon-free world.

The plan draws from reports and resolutions on nuclear disarmament adopted by the IPU in 2009 and 2014, as well as resolutions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and a series of consultations undertaken by PNND in key capitals and UN centres during 2016-2017.

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, global

Catholic Institutions Announce Largest-Ever Joint Divestment from Fossil Fuels

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

A press release from The Global Catholic Climate Movement

A coalition of Catholic institutions has today [October 4] announced its divestment from fossil fuels. The coalition of 40 is the largest joint announcement of divestment by Catholic organizations to date. The institutions are located on five continents, and represent fields ranging from a holy site to finance to church hierarchical entities.

Catholic institutions’ decision to remove their support for fossil fuels is based on both their shared value of environmental protection and the financial wisdom of preparing for a carbon-neutral economy.

In Assisi, Italy, the home of St. Francis and a deeply significant place for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, three institutions and a municipal government have divested. The Assisi group includes the Sacro Convento, a monastery complex and holy site that houses the remains of St. Francis, from whom Pope Francis took his name. The Sacro Convento is considered the spiritual home of the world’s Franciscan brothers.

Along with the Sacro Convento, the diocese of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino has divested. The diocese, which includes more than 80,000 people and the town of Assisi, is the site of several important pilgrimages each year. Assisi’s Seraphic Institute, a religious medical center that provides care for disabled children, has also joined the divestment announcement.

In a complementary move, the mayor of the town of Assisi has announced its divestment from fossil fuels.

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Question for this article:

Divestment: is it an effective tool to promote sustainable development?

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In addition to divestment in the highly significant home of St. Francis, church entities around the world are stepping away from fossil fuels. The Episcopal Conference of Belgium, which is the Catholic Church’s policy arm in Belgium, has divested. This is the first Catholic episcopal conference in the world to divest. In South Africa, the Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town has invested in social and ethical funds. Within the Church hierarchy, a total of one episcopal conference, one archdiocese, three dioceses, and a vicariate have divested.

These spiritual leaders are joined by business leaders. Two financial institutions have announced their divestment. Germany’s Bank für Kirche und Caritas eG (Bank for the Church and Caritas) is one of the first Catholic banks in the world to divest from fossil fuels. The bank, which has a balance sheet of €4.5 billion, is breaking from coal, tar sands oil, and oil shale because it is both morally imperative and fiscally responsible.

The bank is joined in its divestment by Oikocredit Belgium, an ecumenical financial institution and one of the world’s largest sources of private funding for microfinance. Oikocredit is joined by 12 other Belgian institutions.

These institutions are among the 40 that have divested in total. The joint commitment by 40 Catholic institutions more than quadruples the size of an announcement made in May, when nine Catholic organizations divested. Worldwide to date, the total value of those institutions that have committed to divest surpasses $5 trillion.

This divestment announcement comes amid united Christian action to protect the environment during the Season of Creation. The Season of Creation is a monthlong celebration of prayer and action for the environment, and it is embraced by a broad ecumenical community.

Global Catholic Climate Movement is a community of hundreds of thousands of Catholics and a global network of member organizations responding to Pope Francis’ call to action in the Laudato Si’ encyclical.

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

United Nations: Reaching HIGH civil society ‘virtual’ conference for nuclear disarmament proposals

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from UNFOLD ZERO

Governments have gathered at the United Nations in New York this month (October) to discuss and adopt nuclear disarmament proposals, including a draft resolution to set the dates and mandate for the first ever UN High Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament (UNHLC), scheduled for 2018. A coalition of international civil society organisations and networks used this occasion to meet on Oct 11-12 in a ‘virtual’ conference to discuss action plans and strategies to ensure success of the UNHLC.


Alyn Ware and Marzhan Nurzhan at the hub of the virtual conference – the Global Security Institute office next to the United Nations in New York

The conference involved a series of webinar sessions with civil society representatives participating from around the world through their home/office computers, laptops, cell phones and smart phones.

It was convened by the Basel Peace Office, Global Security Institute, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, UNFOLD ZERO and the Abolition 2000 working group on the 2018 UN High-Level Conference.

Why the UN High-Level Conference

‘We are at a cross-roads of increased nuclear dangers and alternative realities,’ said Alyn Ware, convener of the conference.

‘On the one hand regional conflicts and tensions, such as in North-East Asia, and between Russia and the West, are increasing the reliance on nuclear weapons and the risk of a nuclear catastrophe by accident, miscalculation or even intent. On the other hand, we have a majority of UN member states – all non-nuclear countries – adopting a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).’

‘These two communities are living in different realities, and the divide between them is increasing. The 2018 UN High-Level Conference provides an opportunity to bridge the communities, and make progress on both nuclear-risk reduction and disarmament measures.’

‘The UN Conference can also bridge the different multilateral processes and forums such as the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review process, UN General Assembly (through which the TPNW was negotiated), UN Security Council and the Conference on Disarmament.’

Most importantly, the UN High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament, which will take place in May 2018, can elevate the political, media and public attention to nuclear disarmament in all UN member states, and establish a global expectation of a concrete outcome or outcomes.

We have had considerable success with similar high-level UN conferences on Sustainable Development (2015) which adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals; Climate Change (2016) which adopted the Paris Agreement; Refugees and Migrants (2016) which achieved the New York Declaration; and Oceans (2017) which adopted the 14-point action plan Our Ocean Our Future.

But these all required cooperative action by civil society to push their governments into concrete action. The civil society virtual conference on Oct 11-12 is one of the many efforts to build cooperation and action to ensure the 2018 UNHLC on Nuclear Disarmament is also a success.

The Oct 11-12 conference included six sessions focusing on:

* Politics of current nuclear weapons policies. Nuclear risk-reduction and disarmament initiatives;

* Value of UN High-Level Conferences/Summits. Learning from UN summits on other issues (climate change, sustainable development);

* Visions for the 2018 UNHLC. What are possible outcomes which we should be promoting;

* Engaging governments and preparatory work. How to ensure governments will attend at the highest level and take action in good faith on concrete nuclear disarmament measures;

* Summarizing and packaging the politics and opportunities of the UNHLC; Making it understandable to public.

* Engaging key constituencies and building the campaign. Involvement of parliamentarians, mayors, youth, religious leaders/communities, academics… Public events and promotion.

The conference built on a series of consultation events and meetings conducted by the co-sponsoring organisations in key capitals, UN centres and inter-parliamentary assemblies over the past year. Input from these consultations provided the basis for a food-for-thought paper which explores the optimum agenda and approach of the 2018 UNHLC to ensure success.

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Question for this article:

A UN High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament: Distraction or progress?

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Key themes and approaches;

There were a number of key themes and approaches to the UNHLC discussed during the Oct 11-12 conference. These included:

Civil society should call on all governments to attend the UNHLC at the highest level. This call can be made to governments of nuclear-armed, allied and non-nuclear countries alike;

Governments already supporting the UNHLC could do joint calls on all other governments to attend the UNHLC at the highest level. CELAC (organisation of Latin American and Caribbean governments) is an obvious possibility given their initial push for the high-level conference;

The UNHLC should provide a space for all countries to participate, and for a range of initiatives to be advanced, including the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, lowering the salience of nuclear weapons, de-alerting, no-first-use, ending nuclear tests, negative security assurances, nuclear stockpile reductions, establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones and developing a framework for global elimination;

A goal for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons could be to obtain 100 signatures by the close of the UNHLC (a number of governments could choose to sign at the UNHLC);

A ‘gift-basket‘ approach could be useful, as it was in the Nuclear Security Summits. This would involve the announcement and/or adoption of a range of measures and initiatives by groups of States, without requiring unanimity of all at the UNHLC;

The UNHLC could recommend UN Security Council action on a number of initiatives, such as that any testing of nuclear weapons would be a threat to peace and security, and that any use of weapons of mass destruction would be a crime against humanity and a threat to peace and security;

In order to move nuclear-armed and allied States to agree to eliminate the role of nuclear weapons in their security doctrines, it will probably be necessary to advance common security approaches for addressing security situations in which they currently believe that nuclear deterrence is necessary. Common security approaches (diplomacy, mediation, arbitration, adjudicaton…) and mechanisms (United Nations, International Court of Justice, International Criminal Court, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe…) are already available but need promoting;

Parliamentarians have a key role to play in moving governments to attend the UNHLC and to commit to concrete outcomes. Civil society should work with parliamentarians to raise questions and advance debates/motions about the 2018 UNHLC in their parliaments;

Civil society should also contact their government officials (foreign ministries and UN ambassadors) directly. PNND and GSI maintains (and will expand) a database of government officials from key countries, plus background on ‘entry points’ (relevant UN resolutions they have supported, and IPU resolutions their parliaments have supported) in order to assist civil society advocates.

Actions and commitments arising from, or announced at, the Oct 11-12 conference include:

1. Abolition 2000 has established a working group on the 2018 UNHLC which is open to anyone to join.This will provide a basis for building cooperation amongst civil society on actions and plans for the 2018 UNHLC;

2. PNND is organising an event at the Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in St Petersburg to promote the ban treaty, nuclear-risk reduction measures and the 2018 UNHLC;

3. The Abolition 2000 Youth Network and PNND are organising an international youth conference on the 2018 UNHLC. The youth conference will take place in Prague, Czech Republic on Nov 28-29, 2017;

4. UNFOLD ZERO maintains a webpage dedicated to the 2018 UN High-Level Conference. This includes all relevant documents, reports and actions;

5. The Abolition 2000 Youth Network is planning a global Reach HIGH for a nuclear-weapon-free world video, which will involve youth around the world lifting a peace sign high and then passing it to youth video video connection (more detailed explanation to follow). The final video will be shown during the Prep Com for the 2018 UNHLC in New York on March 28;

6. PNND has just produced a Parliamentary Action Plan for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World which includes parliamentary actions to support the 2018 UNHLC;

7. UNFOLD ZERO and PNND will produce a civil society action guide for the 2018 UNHLC;

8. PNND, Mayors for Peace and Religions for Peace will present the joint appeal ‘A Nuclear-Weapon-Free World: Our Common Good‘ to the President of the 2018 UNHLC and participating governments at the UNHLC Preparatory Meeting in New York on March 28. Additional mayors, parliamentarians and religious leaders can be invited to endorse before March 25, 2018.

9. World Future Council, PNND, Basel Peace Office and the Abolition 2000 working group on the 2018 UNHLC are planning an action ‘Count the nuclear weapons budget‘ in New York over the three days of the UNHLC. Celebrities, youth and peace activists will count 1 million mock $1 million notes = $1 trillion dollars (the nuclear weapons budget for the next decade).

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global, United Nations,

Walk2Peace – worldwide pilgrimage to world peace

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An email to CPNN From walk2peace

Greetings, my name is Albin and last year I began a worldwide pilgrimage to world peace. The pilgrimage is part of the growing movements of young citizen who knows that a peaceful world is possible in our lifetime, if we unite our efforts to transform ourselves, our community and our world.

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Question related to this article:
 

Youth initiatives for a culture of peace, How can we ensure they get the attention and funding they deserve?

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I would like to reach out my hands to your organization.

We are so many that want nothing but a world in peace. Let’s unite and make it happen. I am always happy to connect with more organizations and the compassionate people behind them.

If you have any local offices in Belgrade, Sofia or Istanbul I would love to visit them on my way. In the future the peacewalk will cross all continents and I hope to meet you at some point.

Here is an invitation to our new years celebration in Istanbul:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1439145646141336/

Sending you my hearts full support here from Serbia.

Wishes for a peaceful world

Albin

www.walk2peace.world

global, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2017

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

Press release from the Official website of the Nobel Prize

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2017 to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). The organization is receiving the award for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.

We live in a world where the risk of nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has been for a long time. Some states are modernizing their nuclear arsenals, and there is a real danger that more countries will try to procure nuclear weapons, as exemplified by North Korea. Nuclear weapons pose a constant threat to humanity and all life on earth. Through binding international agreements, the international community has previously adopted prohibitions against land mines, cluster munitions and biological and chemical weapons. Nuclear weapons are even more destructive, but have not yet been made the object of a similar international legal prohibition.

Through its work, ICAN has helped to fill this legal gap. An important argument in the rationale for prohibiting nuclear weapons is the unacceptable human suffering that a nuclear war will cause. ICAN is a coalition of non-governmental organizations from around 100 different countries around the globe. The coalition has been a driving force in prevailing upon the world’s nations to pledge to cooperate with all relevant stakeholders in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons. To date, 108 states have made such a commitment, known as the Humanitarian Pledge.

Furthermore, ICAN has been the leading civil society actor in the endeavour to achieve a prohibition of nuclear weapons under international law. On 7 July 2017, 122 of the UN member states acceded to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. As soon as the treaty has been ratified by 50 states, the ban on nuclear weapons will enter into force and will be binding under international law for all the countries that are party to the treaty.

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Question related to this article:

Can we abolish all nuclear weapons?

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The Norwegian Nobel Committee is aware that an international legal prohibition will not in itself eliminate a single nuclear weapon, and that so far neither the states that already have nuclear weapons nor their closest allies support the nuclear weapon ban treaty. The Committee wishes to emphasize that the next steps towards attaining a world free of nuclear weapons must involve the nuclear-armed states. This year’s Peace Prize is therefore also a call upon these states to initiate serious negotiations with a view to the gradual, balanced and carefully monitored elimination of the almost 15,000 nuclear weapons in the world. Five of the states that currently have nuclear weapons – the USA, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China – have already committed to this objective through their accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of 1970. The Non-Proliferation Treaty will remain the primary international legal instrument for promoting nuclear disarmament and preventing the further spread of such weapons.

It is now 71 years since the UN General Assembly, in its very first resolution, advocated the importance of nuclear disarmament and a nuclear weapon-free world. With this year’s award, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to pay tribute to ICAN for giving new momentum to the efforts to achieve this goal.

The decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2017 to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons has a solid grounding in Alfred Nobel’s will. The will specifies three different criteria for awarding the Peace Prize: the promotion of fraternity between nations, the advancement of disarmament and arms control and the holding and promotion of peace congresses. ICAN works vigorously to achieve nuclear disarmament. ICAN and a majority of UN member states have contributed to fraternity between nations by supporting the Humanitarian Pledge. And through its inspiring and innovative support for the UN negotiations on a treaty banning nuclear weapons, ICAN has played a major part in bringing about what in our day and age is equivalent to an international peace congress.

It is the firm conviction of the Norwegian Nobel Committee that ICAN, more than anyone else, has in the past year given the efforts to achieve a world without nuclear weapons a new direction and new vigour.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global

UNESCO: Second International Conference on Youth Volunteering and Dialogue: Preventing Violent Extremism and Strengthening Social Inclusion

. . TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY . .

An article from UNESCO

The Second International Conference on Youth Volunteering and Dialogue: Preventing Violent Extremism and Strengthening Social Inclusion, was held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris between 24 and 27 September. The conference, organized in partnership with UNESCO Beirut, aims at fostering the vital values of solidarity, empathy, critical thinking, social engagement and meaningful civic participation.


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The Conference focuses on four thematic areas:

• Refugees and Migration: Youth volunteers spearheading inclusion

• The importance of intercultural education

• The role of the media and social media in constructing positive dialogue

• Youth engagement with cultural heritage and the arts.

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Question for this article

Islamic extremism, how should it be opposed?.

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More than a hundred youth volunteers from around the world participated in the conference, representing the UNESCO Global Citizenship Youth Network in the Arab States, the Scouts Movement, and the United Nations Volunteers. The participants exchanged meaningful dialogue on each other’s work on social entrepreneurship and civic engagement, and participated in organized workshops related to the thematic areas. In addition, they also participated techniques workshop on the Human Library, Drama Therapy and Sports against Violence, featured by experts in the field. At the final stage of the conference, the youth participants presented their pitches for their future commitments and initiatives that are in line with the purposes of the conference.

The conference also presented an award ceremony for the winners of the UNESCO “if I were” Global Youth Contest. The contest was launched on social media in Arabic, English, French and Spanish and was open from 24 February to 12 March 2017. UNESCO received 837 submissions, from 117 countries around the world. The contest allowed participants to have the opportunity to imagine themselves in someone else’s shoes: they could choose to be anyone with a simple camera. Ten contestants from different countries made the final list. The initiative is part of the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Programme for a Culture of Peace and Dialogue, funded by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. UNESCO Headquarters and UNESCO Regional Office in Beirut implemented the initiative in collaboration with the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue (KACND).

The initiative is rooted in the International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2013-2022) for which UNESCO has been designated lead agency by the United Nations General Assembly. It also contributes to UNESCO’s operational strategy on youth 2014-2021, recognizing “youth as equal partners and actors for development and peace”, in line with the social, ethical and humanitarian engagement in the promotion of volunteering undertaken by the Government of Saudi Arabia.

global, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY, United Nations,