TRAINING WORKSHOP ON “NONVIOLENT TRANSFORMATION OF CONFLICT” FOR MANO RIVER REGION YOUTH LEADERS
FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE
FEBRUARY 5-9, 2007
The Africa Programme organized, in partnership with the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies of Fourah Bay College University of Sierra Leone, a five day training workshop for youth leaders of the Mano River Region on Nonviolent Transformation of Conflict from 5-9 February 2007. The workshop was attended by 37 leaders of selected youth organizations from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire. There was also a leader of young fishermen from the Niger Delta Region in Nigeria who had participated in a similar workshop organized in Port Harcourt, Nigeria in November 2005.
The workshop covered the basic theories and methods of nonviolent struggle. It provided a vehicle through which participants can gain full awareness of how it is possible to pursue social and political goals without inflicting violence, bloodshed or injuries—and why this can affect the durability of the results. The participants learned the basics of collective nonviolent action as a method of pursuing justice and transforming conflicts.
Attention was given to how nonviolent struggles have resulted in outcomes of positive, lasting, and mutually acceptable benefits for all parties and emphasis was placed on the role of youth as agents of change in particular struggles, shared through documentary films and the UPEACE book series on non-violence.
The youth leaders were encouraged to develop their own analysis, to practice defining their goals and discuss the potential for transforming conflicts that have often led to killings and violence into opportunities for pressing for fair solutions through nonviolent struggle.
It is envisaged that the training workshop will significantly contribute to strengthening the existing capacity of youths in the Mano River Region to dealing with conflicts in the region.
The workshop was officially opened by the Sierra Leonean Minister for youth and sports and the UPEACE-FBC delegation was granted an audience by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone.
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UPEACE Institute Closing session
On Friday 26th January the UPEACE Institute held the Closing Session with the participation of the Non UPEACE Participants, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, Amr Abdalla, Head of Academic Administration, Carla Ortiz, IT Programmer Alessandro Cordero, Alumni and Student Affairs Officer Laura Arroyo, and Professor of International Law and Human Rights, Juan Amaya.
During the session participants commented about their experience and provided ideas on how to promote the Institute courses. Vice Rector Abdalla thanked all participants for their valuable inputs and invited them to spread the information about courses offered through the Institute.
A few comments from the students were:
Lino Sciarra:
I am happy to have been at UPEACE and am very satisfied with the course. There are things covered in the course that you do that not necessarily learn elsewhere. I liked the practical approach.
I would suggest that you try to attract more people who work with the UN or who are directly affiliated with UN organs to participate in these courses. It is very important for UPEACE students to have these interactions.
Navin Parekh:
It has been a wonderful experience. I participated in the Multiculturalism and Gender course. The interaction with students was great, as was the professor.
Monica Berger:
Amazing experience! The most enriching part was sharing with people from so many countries.
What encourages people to participate in these courses is knowing that they will get to apply what they learn. In my particular case, I saved the money to cover my own costs and come all the way to Costa Rica to obtain these tools from UPEACE.
Desiree Satler:
My experience was wonderful. The coursework was plenty and enough to provoke panic!
I would suggest that you try to better balance training and credit. Also, on the website the description of the course is a bit underdeveloped.
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Global Challenge, Global Climate Solidarity
Climate Change and Vulnerability Conference,
13-14 of February, 2007
The Hague, Netherlands
On Feb. 12 -13, UPEACE convened a conference in The Hague exploring the issue of adaptation to climate change for small island states and low lying regions. This conference will be the first step in a longer-term project to build local capacity to adapt to climate change in these areas, including the creation of an education curriculum on climate change adaptation.
Please refer to the conference webpage <www.upeace.org/climate> and explore the final conference programme, which outlines the speakers and themes for each session. There are also on line interviews with two prominent Dutch experts discussing the issue of climate change and the role of the conference in addressing the challenges posed by climate change.
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University for Peace Model United Nations Conference 2007
It is our pleasure to announce that the University for Peace (UPEACE), will be hosting its 5th Model United Nations Conference (UPMUNC).
The conference, which will focus on the current humanitarian crisis in Darfur, will take place on 22-24 February 2007, at the UPEACE campus, located in Ciudad Colón, Costa Rica.
By hosting this conference, our goal is to create an interactive and interdisciplinary venue where students will have the opportunity to meet experts from different fields within the United Nations, thus improving their knowledge and practical skills about decision-making processes.
If you have any questions, please contact Flor Cubero by clicking here
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UPEACE Head Librarian receives scholarship
Flor Cubero, UPEACE Head Librarian has recently received a scholarship to participate in the programme "Thinking outside the Borders: Library Leadership in a World Community". This leadership programme will be held in Phoenix, Arizona, beginning on February 18, 2007.
It will be attended by 15 non-US librarians joining 15 Arizona librarians to explore leadership issues affecting librarians worldwide regardless of their nationality. The programme expects that Arizona librarians share their experiences and that it would be possible to establish mutually-beneficial professional relationships through this leadership program.
The programme is a joint project of the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, the Mortenson Center of the University of Illinois and the Illinois State Library. It is funded by a national leadership grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the primary source of United States federal support for the nations’ 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums.
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News from our Alumni
Julie Earp 
MA in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development Class of 2005
I'm working for NOAA Corps (National Oceanic & Admospheric Administration) and am a commissioned officer. I'm working on a 224' T-AGOS class Navy ship turned into a research ship. And yes, this is in my beloved Hawaii and we'll be studying the new Hawaiian monuments, which are all those Northwestern specs of land in the archipelago. I think bringing Jan's father in to speak with us about marine pollution is what was the inspiration for all of this.
We will sail, if all goes well, 6 February and will be studying marine mammals and tuna populations. I've attached two pictures; one is me on the bridge of the training ship and the other I'm in my officer uniform with my friend Anna Liza. The guy on the left-hand side is a retired merchant marine captain, and navy officer. He's 86 but still gets up and down all the ladders on the ship and even stands midnight to 4 am watches. He is also full of sea stories.
Anyway, I hope all is well at UPEACE. I miss Costa Rica and all the wonderful people I met while I was there. You keep up all your work for peace, love and environment too.
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Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Canadian
Senate,
Senator William Rompkey,
and Senator Raynell Andreychuk
visit UPEACE
On Monday, 22 January 2007, a delegation from the Canadian Senate visited the University for Peace Campus, as part of their visit to Costa Rica.
The delegation was headed by Hon. Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Canadian Senate. Senator Kinsella was accompanied by Senator William Rompkey, Senator Raynell Andreychuk, Janelle Feldstein, Chief of Cabinet of Senator Kinsella, Kerrie Rodier, Assistant to the Senators, H.E. Mario Laguë, Canadian Ambassador and Robert Richard, Counselor of the Canadian Embassy in Costa Rica.
The delegation was greeted by Georges Tsaï, Acting Rector, and other members of senior faculty.
As part of the visit, the Senators were invited to meet with the students of the MA Programme in International Law and Human Rights, to discuss the following topics: The Lovelace case, position in Canada with respect to the American Convention on Human Rights, and the role of civil society in human rights protection in Canada.
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UPEACE Students at the Montevideo Circle meeting
Students enrolled in the elective course "Democracia y Desarrollo en América Latina: Temas Contemporáneos”, taught by Professor Victor Valle, were invited to attend the meeting of the Círculo de Montevideo, which took place in Costa Rica on 26-27 January 2007. It was the final class of the course.
The Montevideo Circle was created in 1996 by former President of Uruguay, Julio María Sanguinetti. At the inaugural meeting, there were speeches by President Oscar Arias, President of Costa Rica, Mr. Julio María Sanguinetti, President of the Fundación Círculo de Montevideo, Mr. Ricardo Lagos, former President of Chile, Mr. Fernando Enrique Cardoso, former President of Brazil and President Alvaro Uribe, President of Colombia.
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Human Rights in Action
In response to the World AIDS Day (December 1), the Human Rights Group distributed red ribbons to faculty, staff and visitors to spread awareness about the growing pandemic disease that has killed over 20 million people worldwide. In the evening, at the open mic performance, we continued collecting donations from the concessions. Students from more than 36 countries celebrated our talents and gave back to our community in order to raise 268.39 USD for AIDS education and prevention.
The money was donated to the country’s most active programme, “Manos a la obra" (Hands at Work), an outreach project sponsored by the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA; www.unfpa.org) in San Jose. Additionally, the programme educates youth about the prevention of the disease. The Director of the programme, Manuel Sanchez, applauded the UPEACE community for its steadfast commitment to protect human rights and integrity, especially those individuals, who are living with HIV/AIDS. Mr. Sanchez asked to remain in contact with our club and the Centre, hoping to continue working together to educate civil society about AIDS one person at a time.
For more information, please contact Emily Moore (emoore@student.upeace.org).
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Canada Day
By Ginny Collins
While snacking on plates of pancakes and poutine, UPEACE students had the chance to experience a little Canadiana at Canada Eh! The Fiesta on Feb. 2. led by Kimberly Rafuse. The event was organized and carried out with the help of all the Canadian students at UPEACE.
The fiesta began with the singing of the national anthem and the reading of the First Nations Canada creationist story Turtle Island. This was followed by a recital of the poem “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Candice O’Grady who was accompanied on the fiddle by Ross Ryan. Then came an informative slide show titled “Frequently Asked Questions Aboot Canada” followed by a lively round of Canadian Jeopardy. At various points during the event, Canadian students shared their favorite winter moments with the crowd, many of whom had never had the experience of getting their tongue stuck to a metal pole. The day finished off with the showing of the movie “Canadian Bacon”.
Overall, the Canada fiesta was a rousing success due to the enthusiastic participation and support of the UPEACE community. Thanks Eh!
FOR A PICTURE GALLERY CLICK HERE!
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Theatre Presentation
By Ginny Collins
When looking at the methods of creating social change and building peace, arts and especially theatre can be instrumental in both the healing and the reflection process. Not only does it serve as the “rehearsal of life” but also as a way of sparking important dialogue and discussion.
On 25 January, students from the Theatre and Peacebuildling class at UPEACE demonstrated just how influential theater can be. In a performance of collective material, the class presented their learned knowledge to the UPEACE community. The presentation included the creation and modification of human conflict sculptures, some musical performances aimed at social change and a demonstration of forum theatre, whereby a scenario is played out and spectators are asked to replace one of the characters with the aim of solving a problem.
The class was taught by David Korish, co-director of the Costa Rican theatre group Abya Yala.
FOR A PICTURE GALLERY CLICK HERE!
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Students’ Life
Linda Björk
MA IN International Law and the Settlement of Disputes
Class of 2007
When I decided to study at the University for Peace (UPEACE), my decision was based on four factors: the content and structure of the programme I applied for appeal to me; the University is a small multicultural community of around 130 students from 40 countries; professors and staff are highly qualified people from top universities in the world; and the university is young, which means that, I as a student will get an opportunity to take part in its formation and development. All those factors have lived up to my expectations and many more have lightened my path and view during my first term at UPEACE.
For the first three weeks at UPEACE, all students went through the same foundation course, which I found very useful; it gave us introduction to the world’s structure of peace and conflict, which is a good entrance into all programmes at UPEACE. It also gave us, both students and staff, the opportunity to get to know each other before separating into different divisions. Throughout the term we were able to build on that relationship; without a doubt it enriched our time at UPEACE.
After finishing the first term at UPEACE, I thought back and asked my self the question, what surprised me the most? My answer is in three terms: firstly, my hopes became real; secondly, the quality of the readings and teaching we received is outstanding and in multiple forms, which gives us various aspects of the same subject; and finally, if there is a hierarchy among the staff and students at UPEACE, it is not visible. I had options of doing my higher education at another university, but I am thankful today for having had the opportunity to study at UPEACE. At UPEACE we learn something that no literature or lecture can teach us – living in a small community and being in close relationship with people from different cultures. In the corridors we see all colors, we hear all languages, and we smell various sweetness from people around us. We have learned tolerance and respect. The experience, studying at UPEACE will follow me for the rest of my life – it has made a significant impact on my future plans.
I am lucky to be here, and as my hope became true, I have developed a new hope; I wish all of you to find what I found at UPEACE – a valuable path to follow into an exciting future.
All the best,
Linda Björk
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