North East Institute of Social Sciences and Research (NEISSR), Dimapur organized Peace Knit, in collaboration with Peace Channel, Dimapur as part of a NEISSR fest celebration on 11th December 2021at 9.30 a.m. on the theme “Storytelling for Peacebuilding in Communities.” The seminar had threefold objectives, namely: to locate the place of storytelling in the peacebuilding approaches of John Paul Lederach; to know how storytelling can counter stereotypes and build empathy and genuine relationship in communities; to have a greater understanding of how storytelling can be promoted as an effective tool for peacebuilding in communities.

The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict – Southeast Asia (GPPAC-SEA) have launched a new book, Peace Conflict Transformation in Southeast Asia, which you can pdf download from our website here(3.09 MB) .

This book was edited and led by Prof. Dr. Zam Askandar of the Southeast Asia Conflict Studies Network (SEACSN), part of the Regional Steering Group members in (GPPAC-SEA).

This project, animated by Strengthening Human Rights and Peace Research and Education in ASEAN/Southeast Asia (SHAPE-SEA), SEACSN, and AUN-Human Rights Education (AUN-HRE), runs parallel to, builds on, and strengthens the current efforts in GPPAC-SEA in the past years to develop practitioners' training modules and capacity development program on conflict transformation in Southeast Asia. The content of this book not only draws from the academic work of scholars but lived experiences of practitioners, civil society, and community peacebuilders who are working 24/7 on building on existing local capacities for peace and on transforming the roots of conflicts across the region.

In August, we posted on our Facebook page that our development partner, Dreikönigsaktion der Katholischen Jungschar (DKA Austria), recently conducted a "Stop Child Labor" campaign. We had posted that you could view the very creative mosaic that they had created.

We just received another update that we would like to share with you. Martina Clara Podeprel, Advocacy & Campaigns for DKA, wrote the following:

Altogether we have received around 5000 submissions from symbolic hands against child labour. We encourage you to visit the website, and even though it is in German, you can view the mosaic with all the photos and also you can zoom in and see each picture: https://www.kinderarbeitstoppen.at/mach-mit

We had three appointments with high-level political decision-makers in Austria during June and July to hand over the mosaic photo wall with your contributions.

A statement from the Leadership Circle of IMPACT
April 21, 2021

We, members of the Leadership Circle of IMPACT (Imagining Together Platform for Arts, Culture and Conflict Transformation), condemn the undermining of steps toward democracy and the violent suppression of peaceful protests in Myanmar. IMPACT is a diverse collective working globally to illuminate and strengthen the field of arts, culture, and conflict transformation, and believing in a world where dignity, vibrancy, creativity, and fairness must inscribe our relationships with one another and with the natural world. We are horrified at the turn of events in Myanmar. We write in support of the demands of the people of Myanmar for an end to the military’s reign of terror, and in solidarity with our colleagues at the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute in the Philippines, who have reached out to us regarding artists and other peacebuilders in Myanmar with whom they’ve worked over the years. The Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute (MPI) included the following in a published statement:

The Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute is appalled by the escalation of violence in Myanmar at the hands of the country’s military. The killing of demonstrators, arbitrary arrests, and reported torture of prisoners violate fundamental human rights and stand in clear defiance of calls throughout the world for restraint, dialogue, and a return to Myanmar’s democratic path.  

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, as of April 21, 739 peaceful demonstrators have been killed by the junta, and 3,331 have been arrested, charged or sentenced. The MPI statement reports that there are many more cases of missing [individuals] or disappearances as families do not know where their loved ones are. Two Members of Parliament of the duly elected democratic government were tortured and killed.

A March 28 statement by United Nations officials Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and Michelle Bachelet, High Commissioner for Human Rights, proclaims, “We must ensure accountability for past crimes and deter the most serious international crimes from being committed…The failure to address the… crimes the military has committed in the past, including against Rohingya and other minorities, has brought Myanmar to this terrible pass… There is no way forward without accountability and fundamental reform of the military.”

We ask others to join us as we speak out in solidarity with Myanmar’s people, including the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities, appealing for an immediate ceasefire and an end to both the violations of human rights and impunity for perpetrators of these atrocities. Please encourage your colleagues, friends and others in your networks to stand with the people of Myanmar in their steadfast struggle to find creative paths toward the vibrant democratic future they imagine.

Signed by IMPACT Leadership Circle members:

Armine Avetisyan, Brandeis University, Armenia/USA
Cynthia Cohen, Brandeis University, USA
Emilie Diouf, Brandeis University, Senegal/ USA
Ellada Evangelou, Artistic Director, Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival, Cyprus
Germaine Ingram, USA
Dijana Milosevic, Co-founder, DAH Theatre, Serbia
Carmen Olaechea, Fundación Cambio Democrático/Fundación Crear Vale la Pena, Argentina/Suiza
Lee Pearlman, Tel Aviv
Emily Forsyth Queen, Independent Consultant, USA
Toni Shapiro-Phim, Brandeis University, USA
Polly. O. Walker, PhD, Director, Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies at Juniata College

Resources

Assistance Association for Political Prisoners

Additional ways to support the resistance in Myanmar

Updated news from Myanmar and links to specific online campaigns

“Myanmar: Top UN officials condemn military’s ‘shameful, cowardly’ attacks on peaceful protesters” 

IMPACT