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. Is it our imagination or was the day not marked this year by actions that were stronger and more widespread than ever before?
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), one of the civil society coalitions that supported the development of the United Nations Treaty to ban nuclear weapons. To quote the Nobel Committee, “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.”
Saturday, November 4, 2017 in Paris
The Mandela Institute is organizing an International Conference on “The Challenges of the Opposition in Africa”, on November 4, 2017 in Paris. Its aim is to reflect, with political actors and civil society, on a peaceful democratic governance approach in order to avoid post-electoral conflicts that are very damaging to Africa’s development. It is a constructive dialogue between the Power, the Opposition and the Civil Society on the consolidation of democratic institutions and the construction of a just society.
This bulletin deals with African issues of peace and security through the decisions and resolutions of the African Union (mainly by its Peace and Security Council) and those of the United Nations. He also discusses security issues through the international press.
(June 1 to August 31, 2017)
The government of Colombia and the FARC guerilla movement have agreed on a ceasefire and plan for demobilization. The bilateral ceasefire and surrender of the weapons will begin with the signing of the final peace agreement (expected in July) and this last point will have a term development of 180 days. A monitoring group composed of delegates from the UN will be created by the FARC and the Colombian government to verify the delivery of the guns. Also announced was the creation of areas and camps for demobilized guerrillas and commitment by the authorities.
