News

CPNN (Culture of Peace News Network) bulletin of April 1, 2019

A GLOBAL YOUTH MOVEMENT ?

Millions of students went on strike from school on March 15 to pressure their governments to address seriously the problem of global warming. Photos from that day on CPNN show their demonstrations around the world: in the UK, Australia, Philippines, Sweden, Italy, Uganda, Belgium, USA, Canada, Portugal, Ukraine, Spain, Chile, Nigeria, France and Bangladesh.

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CPNN (Culture of Peace News Network) bulletin of March 1, 2019

VENEZUELA: WHAT IS HAPPENING?

The commercial media almost without exception continues to support the United States and dozens of its allies in its attacks on Venezuela. Hardly a culture of peace!

In order to present an alternative to this “war propaganda,” we review here a series of articles that give the other side.

We begin with critiques of the commercial media coverage.

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CPNN (Culture of Peace News Network) bulletin of February 1, 2019

SLOW NEWS: PEACE EDUCATION

Several years ago we updated the rules for CPNN articles to say that “unlike in the commercial media they do not have to be ‘breaking news.’ Instead, they may reflect the ‘slow news’ of processes that develop slowly over long periods of time.” The reasoning for this was expressed in an article about CPNN in the Journal of Peace Education: “The commercial media emphasize ‘fast news’ or what they often call ‘breaking news.’ This tends to ignore or mask the fundamental processes that make for deep historical change. The processes of historical change accumulate slowly over time. Only rarely do the contradictions arrive at a point of rupture or revolution, at which time events may take place very rapidly.”

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CPNN (Culture of Peace News Network) bulletin of January 1, 2019

REVIEW OF 2018

As we enter a new year, it is a good time to review the peace initiatives of 2018 and ask if they continue to advance. Let us consider the themes of the monthly bulletins of 2018.

December: Europe meets and marches for peace. The most recent demonstrations are those of the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) in France as analyzed this month in an article from Pressenza. The title,"where democracy is on the march!" , reflects the conviction of the author that the movement is a profound protest against governmental policies that favor big industry and finance instead of the interests of the average citizen. The movement has spread from France and is now active in at least 22 other countries around the world.

November. Nobel Peace Prize: End sexual violence. The fight goes on. This month there were mass rallies protesting violence against women in Argentina (#niunamenos)and Israel, as well as activity under the name #niunamenos in Bolivia. And Amnesty International has devoted its annual reviewto the theme "Oppressive, sexist policies galvanize bold fight for women’s rights in 2018."

October. International Day of Peace. Using the same methodology in 2018 as that used in 2017, we found even more events than ever around the world for the International Day of Peace. The number of events we could find was almost doubled in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

September. Progress towards peace in the Phiippines, Ethiopia, Colombia. Progress continues as shown during the last month,. We have carried an article on the Mindanao Week of Peace in the Philippines, a speech praising the Mother Ambassadors for Peace by the President of Ethiopia, and three articles from Colombia: remarks by the newly-elected President of Colombia to the National Peace Council, opening of the Truth Commission born out of the peace agreement, and an article entitled "Colombia’s rural radio stations are a key to peace."

August. Progress in sustainable development, including reforestation projects, divestment from fossil fuels and progress in renewable energy. Progress continues in recent months in the divestment from fossil fuels as well as in a scientific breakthrough for renewable solar energy. On the other hand, it is not surprising that the international meeting of COP24 was considered by climate activists to have been a failure.

July. Slow news for peace from Africa. In December, we carry no less than 9 articles about the culture of peace coming from NigeriaAngolaNigerCentral African RepublicSouth SudanDarfur West Sudan Cote d’IvoireGabon and Mali, as well as a Report of the Commission on Elections in Africa of the African Union Peace and Security Council.

June. Nuclear disarmament. Unfortunately, there seems to be no progress towards nuclear disarmament since the United Nations canceled the High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament that was scheduled to open on May 14.

May. Korean reunification. Almost every month there is some small progress towards peace in the Korean peninsula. The most recent is the opening of a rail link between the South and North.

April. US students against gun violence. It is not clear if there is progress on this front in the United States, but the students who initiated the March for Our Lives, the American mass movement against gun violence were recently awarded the International Children’s Peace Prize for 2018. They received the prize from Archbishop Desmond Tutu during a special ceremony held in Cape Town, South Africa.

March. Solidarity in Korea, Mexico, UN Alliance of Civilizations. We have mentioned above the progress in Korea. As for Mexico, there is good news that Mexico City has elected its first woman mayor who promised "to lead an honest, open, democratic, austere, inclusive government that acts with, for and for the citizenship, without distinction of party, religion or socioeconomic level, but putting all our effort to make of this, a city of rights, with justice and that diminishes the still serious social inequalities," And we carry an article by a youth participant in the Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations: "# Commit2Dialogue: Partnerships for Prevention and Sustaining Peace."

February. Mass media for peace in Mexico, Colombia, and throughout Africa. The project described in Mexico does not seem to have advanced, but as mentioned above, we carry an articles in the last month about rural radio in Colombia. As for the media for a culture of peace in Africa, we have carried articles from TogoMorocco and Senegal in recent months.

January. Review of 2017. Last year in our review we highlighted the fight against violence to women, progress at the United Nations towards nuclear disarmament and divestment from fossil fuels. As we see above, 2018 shows contijnued progress to combat violece to women and divestment from fossil fuels, but no progress towards nuclear disarmamet.

What was new and especially important last year was the progress as reviewed above towards peace in Korea, Ethiopia/Eritrea and Philippines as well as continued progress in Colombia, a process that we have followed closely for several years now.

      

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

The 815th meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council: Report of the Commission on Elections in Africa

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

France: Yellow Vests (Gilets Jaunes): where Democracy is on the march!

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

 
Argentina: Thousands of women march to the Plaza de Mayo to demand justice for Lucía Pérez

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

 
UNESCO and Angola to establish Biennale of Luanda, a Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace

DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY


Global arms industry: US companies dominate the Top 100; Russian arms industry moves to second place

HUMAN RIGHTS

Amnesty International: Oppressive, sexist policies galvanize bold fight for women’s rights in 2018

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY

France: Culture for Peace Award to The Artists in Exile Workshop

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Mexico: Promoting the subject “Culture of Peace” at all academic levels

Welcoming Remarks

You are welcome to visit the website of the Network of Foundations and Research Institutions for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace in Africa.

The Network was created at the end of the Addis Ababa meeting on September 20 and 21, 2013 with a view to "creating a continental and sustainable peace movement capable of mobilizing African States, the private sector, African artists and leaders, international organizations and regional development actors as well as NGOs and grassroots associations". It is currently composed of 44 African and non-African organizations listed here.

You will find on our website articles, publications, photos and videos concerning the promotion of the Culture of Peace on the African continent. We also keep you informed about upcoming events.

African Union

UNESCO