http://www.gppac.net/ Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2557 As part of its efforts to connect Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to different peacebuilding and conflict prevention processes, GPPAC has been engaged in making the voices of local organisations from Sierra Leone and Burundi heard at the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) ever since it started work in those countries in 2007.  As a result of this previous work, the PBC invited GPPAC to contribute to the five-year review the Commission was conducting of its work, making GPPAC the only group providing the input of grassroots organisations to the review. To prepare the submission to the PBC, GPPAC held two consultation meetings, one in Burundi and the other in Sierra Leone. The consultations aimed at conducting country specific assessments on the main achievements and challenges of the PBC from the perspective of local CSOs; identifying the main gaps and bottlenecks that prevent the PBC from being more effective; and providing recommendations to enhance its work. The consultations were held on 3 March in Bujumbura, Burundi and on 5 March in Freetown, Sierra Leone. They brought together representatives of CSOs from across both countries, including women and youth groups, business organisations, human rights groups, academics and others. In Sierra Leone, representatives from the government and from the UN team operating in the country also participated in the event. The consultations were organised in cooperation with the Biraturaba Association of Burundi and the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) of Sierra Leone. Darynell Rodriguez Torres, GPPAC's Programme Manager for Interaction and Advocacy, attended both meetings, representing the GPPAC Global Secretariat.  The Peacebuilding Commission, which is an intergovernmental organ, was established as part of a broader peacebuilding architecture that includes the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) and the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF). On 29, 30 and 31 March 2010, a GPPAC delegation will go to the UN to meet with different policy makers involved in the review of the PBC, to deliver the recommendations formulated during the consultations.  Added on March 17, 2010  http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2557 http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2590 On the road to democratic transition, after times of troubles and violence, Guinea today stands between two crucial votes: on 27 June 2010, Guineans were called to vote in the first general multi-party Presidential Election since independence; on 19 September the second round will be held, a run-off which will hopefully result in a democratically elected president for the country. GPPAC's Third National Consultative Meeting was held on 1 and 2 June 2010 in Conakry. Its purpose was to gauge the state of preparedness and to consult with key stakeholders from the government and civil society on the pooling of resources in order to support and promote peaceful, transparent and credible elections. The meeting was significant and effective, and its participants continue to monitor the situation as Guinea continues on its road to democracy Read the full article… http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2590 http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2585 As Argentina suffered one of its coldest winters in memory, heated debates took place during a strategy planning meeting of GPPAC regional network members and a conference on multilateralism and civil society: CRIES (Coordinadora Regional de Investigaciones Económica y Sociales), indoors GPPAC's regional initiator for Latin America and Caribbean, organized both the events.   In short, Preventive Action will become the heart of the activities of the Latin American and Caribbean GPPAC network PLACPaz (Plataforma Latinoamericana y Caribeña para la Prevención de Conflictos y la Construcción de la Paz). Its members came together on 25 and 26 July for a 5-year Strategic Planning Meeting. They reflected on contributions of PLACPaz in recent years, defined key areas, identified strategic directions for the future and refined the strategy for the selection and the prioritisation of partners and stakeholders.   The members see the network as a strong and participatory system, able to provide precious expertise and knowledge. During the meeting, they identified a need for improvement in translating information into action and giving more continuity to the agenda. Moreover, they decided that special attention will be given, in the next decade, to such areas as early warning, early response; diagnostics and analysis; mediation and dialogue; capacity building; and knowledge generation.   As a clear step towards more action, the participants selected a few priority matters which will be developed in the immediate future, including a communication strategy, an operational model for conflict analysis, as well as a fixed series of criteria to follow when selecting partners for Preventive Action.   Shortly after the meeting, a conference offered a series of round table discussions on Multilateralism, Civil Society and Conflict Prevention in the Americas. A diverse group of researchers, diplomats and academics participated in panel discussions, including “The United Nations, Conflict Prevention and Civil Society“, “Conflict Prevention Mechanisms and Civil Society Participation at the CARICOM”, and “Multilateralism, Civil Society and the Prevention of Violence and Armed Conflict Within the Framework of the New Hemispheric Relations”. All debates were fruitful and worthwhile, and the whole conference, together with the previous Strategic Planning Meeting, represented a significant step forward for Preventive Action in Latin America. http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2585 http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2586 21 September, the UN International Day of Peace, is drawing closer! It is a day of ceasefire and non-violence, which has been celebrated annually since 1981. It provides a great opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to engage in practical acts of peace. Every year the GPPAC network encourages people to celebrate together, spreading a worldwide call for peace, and collects examples of events and initiatives which it then publishes in a newsletter: the 2009 edition is available for download here. What are you doing to celebrate this year? We would like to know, and share it on www.peoplebuildingpeace.org! Send an e-mail to Matteo at pbp@conflict-prevention.net, telling us what you are planning, who can participate, and how they can contact you! This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2586 http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2584 Zahid Movlazadeh is the Regional Coordinator for GPPAC Central Asia, The Caucasus, Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa. In this article, he tells us how the network in the region has been expanded and strengthened, increasing its quality and effectiveness in a very short time. How it has been, in a word, revitalized. An inspiring experience for the entire network. Two years ago I met with Andre Kamenshikov, the Regional Initiator for GPPAC Western CIS. We had coffee in a Moscow café and we talked about the position and state of the GPPAC in the region. I remember asking many questions, mainly about its composition, internal processes and dynamics. Andre was honest in raising concerns about the added value of the network, its practical use and its ability to effectively respond to existing conflict threats. Many of the network members were questioning the rationale for the existence of the GPPAC in the Western CIS. We tried to deconstruct the key components of the process and extract the main tools that could be used, as Andre called it, to "revitalise" the network in the region. A strong network identity is only possible when the member organisations unite around very practical initiatives which directly address conflict issues. We decided that this was crucial in order to improve the situation in the region. Approximately two years later, the general atmosphere was very different. When the network members came together for a Regional Steering Group meeting in Odessa, Ukraine, in May 2010, most of the members shared a feeling of achieving tangible results and having made a qualitative leap. They had shifted from a rather idle network, based on internal information sharing, to a network which implements a number of practical programmes and projects that are coherent and consolidated. This vital change was made possible as a result of continuous work in identifying needs in the region, assessing the capacity of member organisations and understanding the patterns of interaction and internal processes in the region on many levels. The role of the Regional Secretariat, Non-violence International-CIS was fundamental: it was able to both strategically position itself as a facilitator of relationships between the member organisations, and attract resources for different projects and initiatives implemented in the region. In the past two years, the GPPAC Western CIS has implemented a number of network projects: a Civil Organisations Assessment Mission in Moldova/ Transdniestria (pdf, 5MB); a programme on identifying the social roots of xenophobia in Russia and Ukraine; engagement with and monitoring of the media on hate speech and xenophobia language; and development of an online platform for knowledge sharing, which also serves as a communication space for the members of the regional network. The network also implemented a broad programme on Peace Education and Neighbourhood Culture in Crimea, Ukraine, which was followed by a series of high level experience exchange visits with the GPPAC network in Western Balkans. On top of the efforts of the Global Secretariat in raising funds for specific regional projects, the members of the regional network themselves were very successful in finding additional financial resources to match the existing funding. This combination made it possible to expand most of the activities in the region. During the meeting in Odessa, the members came up with a few important decisions: they refined the network composition and identified more specific guidelines for membership. They also identified the key strategic directions for the regional network for the next few years. One of the decisions taken during the meeting was to adjust the name of the network to existing realities: all participants unanimously agreed that the GPPAC Eastern Europe better represents the nature and composition of the network. The meeting participants agreed that the GPPAC Eastern Europe can share a few success stories with the rest of the network. The successful experience of network revitalization might come in very handy for a few other GPPAC regional networks. Programmatically, the GPPAC Eastern Europe can share a few good examples on how civil society can play an effective and successful role in sustaining a peaceful situation in a multi-cultural and multi-confessional region like the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Ukraine. The plans of the GPPAC Eastern Europe also include sharing knowledge and rich experience on other programmatic directions including Preventive Action, Dialogue, Peace Education and Security. All the members of GPPAC Eastern Europe are confident that the momentum gained by the network during the last two years will continue to translate into practical activities and consolidated network projects to address existing and potential conflicts. Zahid Movlazadeh, Regional Coordinator for GPPAC Central Asia, The Caucasus, Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa: z.movlazadeh@conflict-prevention.net    http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2584 http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2583 Under the Interaction and Advocacy Programme of GPPAC South Asia, a Regional Roundtable on 'Promoting People to People Interaction Through SAARC' was held in Kathmandu, Nepal on July 14-16, 2010. It was organized by the Centre for South Asian Studies (CSAS) in close collaboration with the Global Partnership on Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) and the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS). The event saw participants like the Regional Initiator for GPPAC South Asia. Prof. Amal Jayawardane, Executive Director of the RCSS, Mr. Nishchal N. Pandey, Director of CSAS, Mr. Darynell Rodriguez Torres, Programme Manager Interaction and Advocacy at the GPPAC Global Secretariat in The Hague, The Netherlands, erudite scholars and experts on SAARC issues from South Asia. Mr. Nishchal N. Pandey, the local partner for the event, hosted a reception in honor of the delegates at the Radisson Hotel, Kathmandu which saw Ambassadors from SAARC countries represented in Kathmandu, the Director from the SAARC Secretariat, civil society leaders and journalists attending.   During the Inaugural Session of the meeting, the key-note speaker, a well known Nepali journalist and editor of the Nepali Times Weekly Mr. Kunda Dixit shed light on the shortcomings of SAARC despite its 25-year existence and elaborated on militarized and overly security conscious governmental regulations in the region being a hindrance to more connectivity between countries and its people. Participants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka as well as from Nepal highlighted the importance of promoting track II and track III approaches and initiatives in South Asia which would be a big step forward towards achieving a South Asian Economic Union as envisaged by the leaders of SAARC. Prof. Amal Jayawardane and Mr. Darynell Rodriguez Torres also spoke on the occasion.   On July 16, the participants visited the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and Pacific under the Office for Disarmament Affairs and acquired information on the activities of the Centre. Likewise, they visited the SAARC Secretariat and discussed the work both of the Secretariat and of SAARC itself, with Director of SAARC Secretariat from Nepal, Mr. Niranjan Man Singh Basnyat. They also visited the Secretariat's library and made a pledge to regularly send publications of their respective institutes and universities to the library which is commonly used by South Asian researchers, academics, and students.    http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2583 http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2544 Institutionalizing initiatives for peace can help resolve conflict in a peaceful way. The participants of a seminar on Infrastructures for Peace on the cliffs of the Rift Valley agreed that strengthening existing or new peace initiatives can lead to cooperative conflict solving in non-violent ways. Over sixty participants from fifteen African countries participated in this seminar, jointly organized by UNDP, GPPAC, NPI-Africa and WANEP . Participants represented national government agencies, civil society organizations and local UNDP offices. GPPAC's chairman Emmanuel Bombande, Executive Director of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding, was one of the two main facilitators of the event that took place from 2 to 4 February 2010 in Naivasha, Kenya. UNDP staff from New York as well as GPPAC representatives from The Hague also participated. Infrastructures for Peace looks at institutionalizing the response mechanisms to conflicts in order to transform those conflicts in a peaceful way. Part of such Infrastructures can be Local or national Peace Councils, where multiple stakeholders come together in dialogue or mediation. Stakeholders can be traditional chiefs, religious leaders, authorities and unions. The seminar began by examining the meaning and elements of Infrastructures for Peace. On the second day participants discussed the roles of government and civil society in such institutionalization. The final discussions were on the next steps and how to develop the infrastructures in the different countries. Ghana and Kenya, plagued by violence in the past, served as examples of building their own architectures for peace. In both countries, these infrastructures are believed to have resulted in violence prevention. Participants concluded that thorough research, assessments and analyses need to accompany the development of Infrastructures for peace. Several countries, such as Togo, announced steps to institutionalize new initiatives, or link existing activities on peace building, dialogue or mediation.Added on February 18, 2010Background documents:  1 .Concept note Infrastructures for peace seminar 15 Dec 2009 2. Infrastructures for Peace 3. A peace architecture for Ghana - amended 26 April 2007 4. Local Peacebuilding in Ghana 5. Final version of Peace policy - Kenya 6. Local Peace and Development Committees in Kenya 7. District Code of Conduct Monitoring Committees in Sierra Leone 8. Local peace Councils     http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2544 http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2577 On May 19, 2010, a meeting took place between Russian President Medvedev and representatives of CSOs working in the North Caucasus. The meeting was organized by the Presidential Council on the Development of Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights, headed by Ms. Ella Pamfilova. Four members of the GPPAC network took part, along with around twenty other CSO representatives involved in the implementation of youth programs in sub-regions of the North Caucasus such as the Chechen republic, the Republic of Dagestan, the Republic of North Ossetia and Stavropol.  The experience gained in the implementation of these projects and the development of network activities among the various organisations enabled them to develop and present to the authorities an alternative youth policy. The main objective of such a youth policy in the North Caucasus is to engage young people not as passive objects of activities designed by others, but as active subjects of community development programs on a local level. GPPAC has been supporting these network building and advocacy efforts.  A. Kamenshikov, Regional Initiator GPPAC Eastern Europe   http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2577 http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2574 The idea of having an exchange visit of peace education practitioners and policymakers came about during a conversation between two GPPAC Peace Education Working Group members at the International Peace Education Conference in Nairobi in the early days of December 2008. While talking about their own experiences, Irina Brunova-Kalisetska from the Ukraine and Ivana Gayovich from Montenegro realised that the multicultural context in which they implement peace education and peaceful coexistence projects was similar on many levels. A year and a half later, after intensive planning and successful fundraising in both regions, the first part of the exchange programme took place in Podgorica, Montenegro.  Click here to read the full articleAdded on 23 June 2010 http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2574 http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2565 On the eve of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference that will take place May 3-28 at the United Nations in New York, thousands of NGO representatives and engaged citizens from around the world will come together to participate in a series of actions and events calling for nuclear weapons abolition. After the failure of the 2005 Review Conference, expectations from citizens around the world are high, calling for the Conference to take serious steps towards the abolition of nuclear weapons and make the most of the current global momentum enhanced by President Obama's calls for a world without nuclear weapons. Many members of GPPAC in Northeast Asia, a region where nuclear disarmament is a high priority, are in New York to hold a series of activities around the NPT Review Conference. This will include several workshops on Northeast Asian issues, including disarmament, military spending and nuclear weapon free zones. Furthermore, Regional Secretariat for Northeast Asia, Peace Boat, is also bringing a delegation of atomic bomb survivors to New York as part of its Global Voyage for a Nuclear-Free World - Peace Boat Hibakusha Project. The group set sail from Yokohama, Japan on April 16 on the third such voyage, where they will be visiting 22 ports in 20 countries to give testimonies of their experiences of the atomic bomb and spread their messages from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the world. For more details of activities by GPPAC Northeast Asia members around the NPT, including follow up events, click here http://www.gppac.net/page.php?id=1#par2565