Concert of the Peace 2019

The Peace Concert is the activity during which the FHB Foundation intends to bring together a larger number of people than previous concerts. It is a concert whose entrance will be free. It has planned to attract at least 15,000 spectators from the Yamoussoukro District, mainly young people to John Paul II Square for a show rich in sounds, images and lights with nearly 20 Ivorian artists and musical groups of international and national classes from 7pm to dawn on Friday, November 15, 2019, declared "National Day of Peace" by the State of Côte d'Ivoire.
There are four reasons for choosing Yamoussoukro:

  • it is the birthplace of the "Sage of Africa" and the political capital of Côte d'Ivoire,
  • it is the cradle of the concept of a culture of peace created 30 years ago at the International Congress organized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) on the theme: "Peace in the minds of men", precisely from 26 June to 1 July 1989 at the headquarters of the FHB Foundation.
  • it is a tourist destination par excellence with its many assets in terms of hotels, gastronomy, living environment and history.
  • and finally it is a city with a high concentration of students with institutions of excellence such as the Lycée Scientifique and the Institut National Polytechnique Houphouët-Boigny (INPHB).

Indeed, the Autonomous District of Yamoussoukro has about 300,000 inhabitants, 56.46% of whom are less than 20 years old. Through this concert, we specifically target the younger generation, essentially the generation born after the death of President Houphouët-Boigny, namely young people under the age of 25. They are our core target. We want to make them better acquainted with this exceptional man, "builder of modern Côte d'Ivoire" and "Artisan of dialogue".

Commemorative days of the Birthday of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny

The Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research invites you on October 17 and 18, 2019 to attend the commemorative days of the birth of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, according to the following programme:

Thursday, October 17, 2019

10 am – 6 pm: Study day at the Foundation’s headquarters.

Theme: Félix Houphouët-Boigny :

  • The Man of Culture
  • The Pan-Africanist

Friday, October 18, 2019

10 am: Mass of thanksgiving in the Church of Saint Augustine of Yamoussoukro

5 pm: Book signing ceremony at the Foundation’s bookstore.

8 pm: Dinner gala at the Foundation’s headquarters.

Presentation of prizes to the winners of the second edition of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Research Prize.

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

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE

In our survey this year we found 655 actions for the International Day of Peace that took place throughout the world. It is more or less the same number as last year, although we counted them in a different way this year.

The theme this year, decided by the United Nations, was climate action for peace. In this way the theme of peace was linked to the enormous mobilizations against climate change that took place this month throughout the world.

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Biennale of Luanda – Pan-African Forum for the culture of peace

This Biennale is part of UNESCO’s operational strategy for Priority Africa (2014-2021), which aims to “provide African responses to the transformations affecting their economies and societies”.

The Luanda Biennale will focus on four main areas:

  • Ideas Forum and a Youth Forum,
  • Festival of Cultures,
  • Coalition of Cultures and Sports for Peace in Africa,
  • Coalition of Partners for a Culture of Peace in Africa.

The first edition of the Biennale will take place from September 18-22, 2019 in Luanda, Angola and will bring together representatives of governments, civil society, the private sector, the artistic and scientific community, academic institutions and international organizations.

Concept note

CPNN (Culture of Peace News Network) Bulletin of May 1, 2019

PRESS FREEDOM UNDER ATTACK

Freedom of the press is under attack around the world, with the biggest deterioration in North and South America. And the most spectacular and dangerous example is the arrest of Julian Assange of Wikileaks and the threat that he he may be extradited and tried by a kangaroo court in the United States.

According to Bruce Shapiro, the executive director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University School of Journalism, the very essence of the press freedoms in the United States is under attack in the U.S. attempt to extradite and try Assange. He calls it an “attempt to criminalize investigative reporting.”

Not only freedom of the press, but also democracy, human rights and peace are under attack.

Daniel Ellsberg, himself the courageous whistle-blower of the Pentagon Papers that revealed the lies of the Vietnam War, puts it this way: “Without whistleblowers we would not have a democracy. And there have to be people to distribute work and publish it. Julian Assange has done that in a way in which other publishers have not been willing to. . . . it is now up to us to make sure that the First Amendment is preserved.”

United Nations experts, including the UN Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial executions, the UN independent expert on the right to privacy, and the UN Special Rapporteur on torture warned that the arrest and threatened extradition of Assange is a violation of his human rights, “including his freedom of expression, his right to a fair trial, and the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

An example of how Wikileaks revelations promoted democracy comes from Kenya. Writing in Al Jazeera, Patrick Gathara describes how a report about government corruption was suppressed by that same government, but was obtained and revealed by Julian Assange and Wikileaks. Gathara states that  “For once, Kenyans were afforded an unvarnished and detailed glimpse of the amount of national wealth that was being stolen by the very people tasked with protecting it.”

The list of Wikileaks evelations of government corruption is quite long, and it takes the journalist Alison Weir 8,000 words to describe them in the article we have reprinted in CPNN. Wikileads revealed “the U.S. government’s cover-up of torture, cruelty, the killing of civilians, spying on its own citizens and others. It exposed Democratic Party cheating and manipulation, the fraudulence of ‘Russiagate.’ It unmasked Israeli plans to keep Gaza on the brink of collapse, to use violence against Palestinian nonviolence, to make war upon civilians.” And the list could be even longer, if one includes examples like the corruption in Kenya mentioned above.

Although the United States is exerting pressure behind the scenes, the arrest was due to the actions of the governments of Ecuador and the UK.
For Noam Chomsky, it shows the global reach of the American empire: “why should the United States have the power to control what others are doing elsewhere in the world? I mean, it’s an outlandish situation. It goes on all the time.”

Fortunately, many people are taking positive steps to support Assange. In CPNN, we have carried several articles of support from Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire. On January 7 she nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. And after his arrest in April, she demanded the right to visit him in prison.

Mairead Maguire reminds us that the actions of Assange are an important contribution to peace: “By Julians courageous actions and others like him, we could see full well the atrocities of war. . . . I live in an era where people like Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and anyone willing to open our eyes to the atrocities of war, is likely to be haunted like an animal by Governments, punished and silenced.  . . .. This man is paying a high price to end war and  for peace and nonviolence and we should all  remember that.”

      

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION


2019 World Press Freedom Index – A cycle of fear

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Photo essay: Climate Change Protests Sweep Europe

WOMEN’S EQUALITY


UNCSW63’s positive outcomes for women’s human rights

EDUCATION FOR PEACE

National Campaign for Peace Education launched in Cameroon

DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY

Statement on Escalating Tensions in Venezuela Issued by the Caribbean Community

HUMAN RIGHTS

South Africa Launches Plan to Combat Xenophobia and Racism

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY

Haiti – Dominican Republic : “For a culture of peace theme of the week of the diaspora

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION

Benin: The Youth Movement for the Preservation of Peace and Democracy