{"id":7064,"date":"2016-09-28T08:16:53","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T12:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=7064"},"modified":"2019-10-12T10:41:42","modified_gmt":"2019-10-12T14:41:42","slug":"african-union-call-to-silence-the-guns-on-internationaldayofpeace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=7064","title":{"rendered":"African Union: Call to \u2018silence the guns\u2019 on #InternationalDayofPeace"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION<\/p>\n

An article from Independent Online – South Africa<\/a><\/p>\n

Johannesburg \u2013 The Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Nkosozana Dlamini-Zuma, has called for the \u201csilencing of the guns\u201d in Africa as the world commemorates International Day of Peace. \u201cToday, Africa joins the rest of the world in marking the International Day of Peace or \u2013 Peace Day. Today, the African Union is engaging its Member States, and all its partners at political, institutional, private sector, civil society and community levels, to encourage all citizens to rally to the core of \u2018silencing the guns\u2019 campaign in Africa by 2020,\u201d read a Wednesday press release by the AUC Peace and Security department.<\/p>\n

\"African<\/a>
\ncaption: The Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Nkosozana Dlamini-Zuma, has called for the silencing of the guns in Africa as the world commemorates International Day of Peace. File picture: Salvatore Nolfi. Credit: EPA
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This year\u2019s theme for Peace Day is: \u201cThe Sustainable Development Goals; Building Blocks for Peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many AU Member States and their leaders are increasingly taking ownership of the SDGs, but more importantly of Agenda 2063: Africa\u2019s blueprint for economic growth and social transformation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, let us not forget that for as long as the gunfire continues to disrupt the tranquility of our blossoming societies and haunt the safety and security of our citizens, particularly of our women and girls, we will not achieve these noble aspirations for our people,\u201d said Dlamini-Zuma.<\/p>\n

(Article continued in the right column)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Question for this article<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
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What has happened this year (2016) for the International Day of Peace?<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

(Article continued from the left column)<\/p>\n

It is with this in mind that, the African Union declared 2016 the, \u201cYear of Human Rights with particular focus on the Rights of Women\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is disheartening that, in 2016, I continue to receive reports of incidences of sexual violence meted out against women and girls as a weapon of war, most recently from South Sudan, Central African Republic, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo,\u201d said the AUC chairperson.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, I would like to reiterate the African Union\u2019s zero tolerance of sexual and gender-based violence and exploitation. Sexual and gender-based violence has no place in our world: we must fight them relentlessly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we commemorate Peace Day, the AU wishes to acknowledge efforts by Member States to minimise violence during elections,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to encourage political leaders and their supporters to use legal and peaceful means to address elections-related disputes. It is through these methods that we entrench and deepen our culture of democracy and peace on the continent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe AU Commission is also pleased with the establishment of the Mediation Support Unit, which will provide logistical and technical support in our mediation initiatives led by our Special Envoys.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to enhance our initiatives in structural conflict prevention as well as increasing our post-conflict reconstruction and development programmes in countries such as South Sudan, Central African Republic and Somalia,\u201d said Dlamini-Zuma.<\/p>\n

The AU further commended the decision by Heads of State and Government to establish the Peace Fund, as well as to support 25 per cent of peace operation funding on the continent. This will provide predictable and sustainable funds to drive the goal of silencing the guns by 2020.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION An article from Independent Online – South Africa Johannesburg \u2013 The Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Nkosozana Dlamini-Zuma, has called for the \u201csilencing of the guns\u201d in Africa as the world commemorates International Day of Peace. \u201cToday, Africa joins the rest of the world in marking the International Day … Continue reading African Union: Call to \u2018silence the guns\u2019 on #InternationalDayofPeace<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92,15],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-7064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-information","tag-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7064\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}