militarization

Contemporary “Worship” of Firearms: Challenging Current Interpretations of the 2nd Amendment

Please join Religions for Peace for a discussion on the evolution of the 2nd amendment and how the civic religion of the United States uses / subverts Judeo-Christian teachings to exalt firearms. We will explore how the interpretation of 2nd amendment as an individual right to bear arms has superseded the unalienable right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” enumerated in the US Declaration of Independence.

*Join Live via Zoom or Facebook

Zoom registration is required but complimentary. Please click here to register.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Mental Health, please visit ngomentalhealth.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns/NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org.

Contemporary “Worship” of Firearms: Challenging Current Interpretations of the 2nd Amendment

Please join Religions for Peace for a discussion on the evolution of the 2nd amendment and how the civic religion of the United States uses / subverts Judeo-Christian teachings to exalt firearms. We will explore how the interpretation of 2nd amendment as an individual right to bear arms has superseded the unalienable right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” enumerated in the US Declaration of Independence.

*Join Live via Zoom or Facebook

Zoom registration is required but complimentary. Please click here to register.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Mental Health, please visit ngomentalhealth.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns/NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org.

Remembering Past Massacres: Honoring the legacy and resilience of the victims

The webinar, part of the ongoing “Remembering Past Massacres” series, will focus on Latin America, with speakers reflecting on the atrocities committed against Indigenous populations in the name of Christianization, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the ruthless military dictatorships in South America during the 1960s-80s, and the 1937 massacre of Haitians in the Dominican Republic.

The webinar will be in Spanish and English.

Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8Rd14QbmQkKa50EyZyGmyQ

Speakers include:

  • Moderator – Rev. Gloria Ulloa Alvarado, WCC President for Latin America
  • Co-facilitator – Rev. Dr. Mikie Roberts, WCC staff

Panellists:

  • Dr. Betty Ruth Lozano Lerma, Colombia
  • Nobel Peace Laureate Mr. Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Argentina
  • Prof. Dr. Jessica Byron-Reid, WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs member, Trinidad and Tobago

More info via social media:

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

Remembering Past Massacres: Honoring the legacy and resilience of the victims

The webinar, part of the ongoing “Remembering Past Massacres” series, will focus on Latin America, with speakers reflecting on the atrocities committed against Indigenous populations in the name of Christianization, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the ruthless military dictatorships in South America during the 1960s-80s, and the 1937 massacre of Haitians in the Dominican Republic.

The webinar will be in Spanish and English.

Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8Rd14QbmQkKa50EyZyGmyQ

Speakers include:

  • Moderator – Rev. Gloria Ulloa Alvarado, WCC President for Latin America
  • Co-facilitator – Rev. Dr. Mikie Roberts, WCC staff

Panellists:

  • Dr. Betty Ruth Lozano Lerma, Colombia
  • Nobel Peace Laureate Mr. Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Argentina
  • Prof. Dr. Jessica Byron-Reid, WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs member, Trinidad and Tobago

More info via social media:

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

Abolition 2000, global civil society network for the elimination of nuclear weapons

PNND members, partners and supporters are invited to participate in the annual meeting of Abolition 2000, the global civil society network for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Abolition 2000 was established in 1995 during the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review and Extension Conference. Over 2000 organizations from around the world have endorsed the Abolition 2000 founding statement which outlines a mix of incremental and comprehensive measures to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world.

Abolition 2000 builds cooperation between civil society and legislators through its partnership with PNND. The Annual Meeting provides an opportunity to share ideas and initiatives, discuss strategy and build cooperation for more effective campaigns and policy actions.

See below for details about the program. Click here to register for the meeting. We invite you to read the PNND Report for the Abolition 2000 meeting. Additionally, in preparation for the annual meeting, Abolition 2000 has interviewed 6 people, from a range of backgrounds in peace and disarmament. They address the theme of the 2021 annual meeting: How do we move from a dysfunctional world to a world free of nuclear weapons? Click here see the interviews: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNLSpPdpFraCBUmKLTTxP9qTX1vviq3jN

The meeting will be held in two sessions of 90 minutes each:

Session 1: Campaign updates and reports. Strategy discussion on challenges and opportunities to advance nuclear abolition. Introduction of proposals.

Session 2:Discussion of proposals. Abolition 2000 Secretariat report. Fundraising. Affirmation of the Abolition 2000 Coordinating Committee and Global Council. Calendar of upcoming events.

In order to enable participation by organisations and activists around the world, Session 1 will be held twice:
Session 1 (a) is timed to suit participation by those from Asia/Pacific.
Session 1 (b) is timed to suit participation by those from the Americas and Europe.

Click here for more information including the Session times for your location. Click here to register for the meeting.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@gmail.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

Abolition 2000, global civil society network for the elimination of nuclear weapons

PNND members, partners and supporters are invited to participate in the annual meeting of Abolition 2000, the global civil society network for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Abolition 2000 was established in 1995 during the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review and Extension Conference. Over 2000 organizations from around the world have endorsed the Abolition 2000 founding statement which outlines a mix of incremental and comprehensive measures to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world.

Abolition 2000 builds cooperation between civil society and legislators through its partnership with PNND. The Annual Meeting provides an opportunity to share ideas and initiatives, discuss strategy and build cooperation for more effective campaigns and policy actions.

See below for details about the program. Click here to register for the meeting. We invite you to read the PNND Report for the Abolition 2000 meeting. Additionally, in preparation for the annual meeting, Abolition 2000 has interviewed 6 people, from a range of backgrounds in peace and disarmament. They address the theme of the 2021 annual meeting: How do we move from a dysfunctional world to a world free of nuclear weapons? Click here see the interviews: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNLSpPdpFraCBUmKLTTxP9qTX1vviq3jN

The meeting will be held in two sessions of 90 minutes each:

Session 1: Campaign updates and reports. Strategy discussion on challenges and opportunities to advance nuclear abolition. Introduction of proposals.

Session 2:Discussion of proposals. Abolition 2000 Secretariat report. Fundraising. Affirmation of the Abolition 2000 Coordinating Committee and Global Council. Calendar of upcoming events.

In order to enable participation by organisations and activists around the world, Session 1 will be held twice:
Session 1 (a) is timed to suit participation by those from Asia/Pacific.
Session 1 (b) is timed to suit participation by those from the Americas and Europe.

Click here for more information including the Session times for your location. Click here to register for the meeting.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@gmail.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

Civilian Safety in Armed Conflict: Community-based protection, early warning, and conflict preparedness

Civilian Safety in Armed Conflict: Community-based protection, early warning, and conflict preparedness

In this webinar, the second of a two-part series exploring existing efforts to improve the safety of civilians during armed conflict, we at PHAP will be discussing “secondary” prevention programs, in particular those focusing on strengthening communities in conflict-affected areas to reduce the risk of harm and mitigate the effects of armed conflict on civilian populations. We will hear from NGOs active in situations of armed conflict around the word about how they approach building capacity for prevention in communities – what the main considerations are and in which situations they are effective. We will also discuss what other organizations can learn from their approach and the implications this has for the humanitarian community as a whole.

Register here!

Background:

In armed conflict, the humanitarian community continues to witness highly disturbing situations where the safety of civilians is ignored or not addressed, or where civilians are purposely targeted by parties to a conflict. While protection services continue to provide much-needed support to vulnerable and marginalized groups and individuals and respond to protection concerns with remedial service provision, limited progress has been made on contributing to civilians’ safety in armed conflict. As Hugo Slim expressed it in the recent Oxford Lecture Series on Protection: “When you look at protection’s track record through wars, protection is at its weakest here, in this challenge in protecting people from physical harm and unlawful devastating attacks on their persons and homes.”

In the last few years, there has been a push by both humanitarian agencies and donors to examine how we can prevent and protect civilians from physical harm during conflict. Key questions remain: what does prevention mean and look like within our protection of civilians programming? Where does civilian safety “fit” within the humanitarian architecture?

There are, however, several existing approaches to mitigate and reduce risk in armed conflict for the civilian population, including how to prevent violence from happening in the first place and how to strengthen civilian self-protection strategies through community-based initiatives. This two-part webinar series aims to provide an overview of the range of strategies currently undertaken by national and international civil society organizations, UN agencies, and donors, providing examples of good practice, and discuss how such efforts can be advanced and systematized in the wider humanitarian community.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Migration, please visit ngo-migration.org.

Civilian Safety in Armed Conflict: Community-based protection, early warning, and conflict preparedness

Civilian Safety in Armed Conflict: Community-based protection, early warning, and conflict preparedness

In this webinar, the second of a two-part series exploring existing efforts to improve the safety of civilians during armed conflict, we at PHAP will be discussing “secondary” prevention programs, in particular those focusing on strengthening communities in conflict-affected areas to reduce the risk of harm and mitigate the effects of armed conflict on civilian populations. We will hear from NGOs active in situations of armed conflict around the word about how they approach building capacity for prevention in communities – what the main considerations are and in which situations they are effective. We will also discuss what other organizations can learn from their approach and the implications this has for the humanitarian community as a whole.

Register here!

Background:

In armed conflict, the humanitarian community continues to witness highly disturbing situations where the safety of civilians is ignored or not addressed, or where civilians are purposely targeted by parties to a conflict. While protection services continue to provide much-needed support to vulnerable and marginalized groups and individuals and respond to protection concerns with remedial service provision, limited progress has been made on contributing to civilians’ safety in armed conflict. As Hugo Slim expressed it in the recent Oxford Lecture Series on Protection: “When you look at protection’s track record through wars, protection is at its weakest here, in this challenge in protecting people from physical harm and unlawful devastating attacks on their persons and homes.”

In the last few years, there has been a push by both humanitarian agencies and donors to examine how we can prevent and protect civilians from physical harm during conflict. Key questions remain: what does prevention mean and look like within our protection of civilians programming? Where does civilian safety “fit” within the humanitarian architecture?

There are, however, several existing approaches to mitigate and reduce risk in armed conflict for the civilian population, including how to prevent violence from happening in the first place and how to strengthen civilian self-protection strategies through community-based initiatives. This two-part webinar series aims to provide an overview of the range of strategies currently undertaken by national and international civil society organizations, UN agencies, and donors, providing examples of good practice, and discuss how such efforts can be advanced and systematized in the wider humanitarian community.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Migration, please visit ngo-migration.org.

Intergenerational Dialogue on Gender, Peace and Disarmament

UNFOLD ZEROYouth Fusion and Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND) cordially invite you to join an inter-generational dialogue on March 8 highlighting the roles of women in the peace, disarmament and security fields, and the importance of including gender approaches to these issues in order to build more effective and sustainable security for all.

The dialogue will be conducted in four mini-panels, each one with a highly experienced woman leader and a youth advocate introducing the sub-topics: Women in disarmament, Shifting security frameworks from nuclear deterrence to common security, Disarmament and sustainability, Nuclear disarmament and a feminist foreign policy, and Nuclear disarmament & grassroots/interfaith action.

The event will also include the launch of the PNND Gender, Peace and Security program, which consolidates and builds upon the work PNND has been doing on gender and nuclear disarmament since their establishment in 2003.

We welcome both women and men to the event. A gender approach is about inclusivity, cooperation and expanding our notions of security. It is not about setting women against, or in competition with, men.

The dialogue will be held by zoom on International Women’s Day, Monday March 8 at 18:30 CET (12:30 Eastern Time USA/Canada). Click here to register.

Speakers

Moderator: Michaela Sorensen (Denmark), UN Youth Association of Denmark. PNND Program Officer on Gender, Peace and Security.

Introduction to the PNND Gender, Peace and Security Program: Vanda Proskova (Czech Republic). Vice-Chair, PragueVision Institute for Sustainable Security. PNND Program Officer on Gender, Peace and Security.

Closing Comments: Alyn Ware (Czech Republic/New Zealand), PNND Global Coordinator.

 

Youth speakers

  • Kehkashan Basu, (UAE/Canada) Founder of Green Hope Foundation, UN Human Rights Champion, Winner of the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize & Winner of the First-Ever Voices Youth Gorbachev-Shultz Legacy Award for Nuclear Disarmament 
  • Vanessa Lanteigne, (Canada) National Coordinator of Voice of Women, One of the winners in the 2020 UN #75Words4Disarmament Youth Challenge
  • Lejla Hasandedic-Dapo, (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Europe Liaison Officer for United Religions Initiative. Board member of European Interfaith Youth Network
  • Yasmeen Silva, (USA) Partnerships Manager for Beyond the Bomb, Team member of the 2020 Count the Nuclear Weapons Money action in New York
  • Nico Edwards, (Sweden/UK) PNND Gender, Peace and Security Program Officer

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For information on the NGO Committee on Peace (Vienna), contact the Chair: Helga Kerschbaum | Pax Romana | helga.kerschbaum@aon.at

Intergenerational Dialogue on Gender, Peace and Disarmament

UNFOLD ZEROYouth Fusion and Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND) cordially invite you to join an inter-generational dialogue on March 8 highlighting the roles of women in the peace, disarmament and security fields, and the importance of including gender approaches to these issues in order to build more effective and sustainable security for all.

The dialogue will be conducted in four mini-panels, each one with a highly experienced woman leader and a youth advocate introducing the sub-topics: Women in disarmament, Shifting security frameworks from nuclear deterrence to common security, Disarmament and sustainability, Nuclear disarmament and a feminist foreign policy, and Nuclear disarmament & grassroots/interfaith action.

The event will also include the launch of the PNND Gender, Peace and Security program, which consolidates and builds upon the work PNND has been doing on gender and nuclear disarmament since their establishment in 2003.

We welcome both women and men to the event. A gender approach is about inclusivity, cooperation and expanding our notions of security. It is not about setting women against, or in competition with, men.

The dialogue will be held by zoom on International Women’s Day, Monday March 8 at 18:30 CET (12:30 Eastern Time USA/Canada). Click here to register.

Speakers

Moderator: Michaela Sorensen (Denmark), UN Youth Association of Denmark. PNND Program Officer on Gender, Peace and Security.

Introduction to the PNND Gender, Peace and Security Program: Vanda Proskova (Czech Republic). Vice-Chair, PragueVision Institute for Sustainable Security. PNND Program Officer on Gender, Peace and Security.

Closing Comments: Alyn Ware (Czech Republic/New Zealand), PNND Global Coordinator.

 

Youth speakers

  • Kehkashan Basu, (UAE/Canada) Founder of Green Hope Foundation, UN Human Rights Champion, Winner of the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize & Winner of the First-Ever Voices Youth Gorbachev-Shultz Legacy Award for Nuclear Disarmament 
  • Vanessa Lanteigne, (Canada) National Coordinator of Voice of Women, One of the winners in the 2020 UN #75Words4Disarmament Youth Challenge
  • Lejla Hasandedic-Dapo, (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Europe Liaison Officer for United Religions Initiative. Board member of European Interfaith Youth Network
  • Yasmeen Silva, (USA) Partnerships Manager for Beyond the Bomb, Team member of the 2020 Count the Nuclear Weapons Money action in New York
  • Nico Edwards, (Sweden/UK) PNND Gender, Peace and Security Program Officer

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For information on the NGO Committee on Peace (Vienna), contact the Chair: Helga Kerschbaum | Pax Romana | helga.kerschbaum@aon.at

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