scholarly journals Creating a Space for Peace-making: Burundi and Beyond

Refuge ◽  
1997 ◽  
pp. 20-21
Author(s):  
Tim Wichert
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Central Committee ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
International Volunteers ◽  
Mennonite Central Committee

Mennonites and Quakers have historically renounced the use of violence for resolving conflicts. From 1994 to 1997 the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) ran a program of civilian peacemaking in Burundi at the request of local Quakers. Their goals were modest, hoping that international volunteers could assist in reducing the level of violence and creating space for positive things to happen. Lessons learned were discussed at a seminar hosted by the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva in May 1997.

scholarly journals Fetishizing Dialogue and Commodifying Peacemaking

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-152
Author(s):  
Mahdi Tourage
Keyword(s):  
Central Committee ◽  
Sign Systems ◽  
Student Exchange ◽  
Mennonite Central Committee ◽  
Ongoing Dialogue ◽  
Research Institute

This paper assesses the ongoing dialogue and student exchangebetween the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and one ofthe most violent institutions in Iran, the Imam Khomeini Educationand Research Institute (IKERI). I will use this relationshipbetween theMCC and IKERI to examine the broader question ofinterreligious transnational dialogue and peacemaking.After a brief background of this somewhat “secretive” dialogue/student exchange, I will evaluate its effects. Of particular interestwill be the following questions: How do we responsibly shapeMuslim–non-Muslim dialogue for peace and understanding in aglobal context that is inevitably shaped by an imbalance of powerand representation? How are the acts of resistance undertaken bythe disenfranchised local/diasporic Iranian communities and thesustained systematic violence against them impacted by a peacefulfaith community such as the Mennonites? How does the absolutizationof “dialogue” coupled with self-proclaimed theologicalmandates effectively strip away the archives of violence from livingmemories and histories?What can examining the decade-longdialogue between the MCC and IKERI reveal about the mechanismsof perpetuation and dissimulation of imperial dominationand control? How can transnational interreligious interventions bethe nexus for infusing sensitivity and expecting accountability?I argue that a fetishization of dialogue and a commodification ofpeacemaking took place between the MCC and IKERI, resultingin the patronage of the sign systems of existing normative ideologiesof violence ...

Designing and Implementing a Quality Physical Education Policy: Successes, Setbacks, and Lessons Learned From the Quality Physical Education Policy Project in Mexico

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 823-834
Author(s):  
Alejandra Jáuregui ◽  
Selene Pacheco-Miranda ◽  
Armando García-Olvera ◽  
Emanuel Orozco-Núñez
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Education Policy ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
National Strategy ◽  
United Nations Educational ◽  
National Team ◽  
Cultural Organization ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Physical Education Policy

Background: Quality physical education (QPE) is part of a whole-of-school approach for school-based physical activity promotion. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization QPE Policy Project supported 4 countries to develop QPE policies. The authors summarize the process, progress, successes, setbacks, and lessons learned during the implementation of the project in Mexico. Methods: The project was developed from August 2016 to April 2018 following the methodology proposed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Adaptations to the methodology were made to meet local needs. Results and Discussion: The project successfully implemented the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization methodology and prepared a national strategy for the provision of QPE in Mexico. The national strategy progressed despite the change in presidential administration. Successes included the use of a QPE policy evaluation framework, the inclusion of stakeholders representing extreme PE views and from all regions in the country, and the presence of international agencies in the national team. Setbacks included difficulties in engaging key organizations and a weak communication campaign. Lessons learned are discussed. Conclusions: The QPE project in Mexico served as a pilot project to test the feasibility of implementing a QPE policy revision process. The experience and lessons learned in Mexico can be drawn on to inform the work of other stakeholders interested in advocating for a national QPE policy.

scholarly journals Contemporary challenges on access to medicines: beyond the UNSG High-Level Panel

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 2435-2439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Bermudez
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Current System ◽  
Access To Medicines ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
The World ◽  
High Level

Abstract Within the context of the recently released United Nations Secretary-General´s Report of the High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines, the author reviews issues related to the context and discussions on access to medicines and the conflict between trade and health during the last decades. These issues have been relevant and outstanding in Global Health, especially questioning the current system of innovation, R&D and IP protection. Lessons learned from the HLP Report are highlighted and the need to further discuss and implement concrete actions, as the world has moved from the MDGs to the SDGs, demand strong actions derived from the United Nations and a strong interaction with other key stakeholders. Affordability and unaffordability of new technologies are discussed, making clear that we need to implement bold actions in order to ensure access to medicines as a human right.

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