UPEACE Welcomes the Class of 2008!!

The University for Peace welcomed the Class of 2008 on 22 August, the first of three days of Orientation for new students. These 114 students arrived in Costa Rica to join the students from the Dual Degree Programme with American University in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, who began their year-long study in January, and the Asian students from the MA in International Peace Studies Dual Campus MA programme. The Class of 2008 is composed of a total of 160 students from 53 countries.

The Orientation began with a welcome from the Rector, who addressed the students on the mission and reach of the entire UPEACE system, explaining to students the extent of the UPEACE system with its activities in all parts of the world. 

The Rector's welcome was followed by short greetings from the Executive Vice Rector  and the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, and a session of questions and answers conducted by the Head of Academic Administration.

This year, Mother Nature made the new UPEACE students experience the hospitality of the Ciudad Colón people in an exceptional way. Heavy rains caused problems with the road to El Rodeo, where the UPEACE campus is located, and the Orientation activities had to be moved to the Ciudad Colón Gymnasium.

Despite the situation, UPEACE spirit was kept at all times and the first day of Orientation concluded with a reception at the old central market of Ciudad Colón, which began with beautiful Folklore dances by the Bribri Children’s Ballet.

Orientation activities concluded with a welcome party for the group of new students in downtown Ciudad Colon. UPEACE staff and students celebrated together the beginning of the new academic year in a night that turned out to be a lot of fun.

After orientation, the 160 UPEACE MA students participated in a three-week Foundation course. The Course engages them in an examination of the major contemporary challenges to peace, sources of conflict and violence, and several key nonviolent mechanisms for conflict transformation and prevention. The course is designed to provide a common foundation for UPEACE students from all of the different MA Programmes. It examines the complex and interconnected challenges to peace and the need for multi-faceted approaches to meeting these challenges.

The first three weeks of the Foundation course took place at "Universidad La Salle" who opened the doors to UPEACE staff and students, due to the conditions of the road to El Rodeo. For the last day of class-14 September- things went  back to normal and the students were able to spend their last lesson of the Foundation Course, on our campus.

UPEACE would like to express its gratitude to Universidad La Salle, where students and staff felt at home.

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Faculty Members Represent UPEACE at the Third Annual Meeting of the Latin American and European Network on Human Rights (LAEHR) in Lima

Gudmundur Eiriksson, Head of the International Law and Human Rights Department, and Natalia Riveros, Coordinator of the Human Rights Centre and Instructor at the International Law and Human Rights Department, attended the third annual meeting of the Latin-American and European Network on Human Rights (LAEHR), which took place in Lima from 2-5 September 2007.

The LAEHR Network was created in August 2005, with funding from the Alfa Programme of the European Commission. The purpose of the Network is to promote intellectual exchange and cooperation between universities and NGOs in Latin America and Europe and to strengthen the capacity-building in the field of human rights of its fifteen member institutions. The Network is coordinated by the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights at Utrecht University.

This year’s annual meeting was organized by the Legal Defense Institute (IDL), a NGO based in Lima. During the annual meeting representatives of member institutions discussed the activities and projects carried out throughout the previous year and presented project proposals for the following year.

In combination with this annual meeting, the IDL organized a thematic meeting on Justice and Human Rights, with special focus on the Inter-American and the European systems of human rights. On 4 September 2007, Ms. Riveros moderated a discussion panel on ‘International Standards in the Administration of Justice: Challenges of Implementation in Latin America and Europe’. On 5 September 2007, Gudmundur Eiriksson participated in a panel discussion on ‘Globalization and Human Rights: Contemporary Challenges of Human Rights Protection’, presenting a paper on The Relationship Between Politics and the Law in the Human Rights Work of the United Nations.

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International Law and Human Rights Department and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Organize a Discussion Panel on The Challenges of Fighting International Terrorism

On 10 September 2007, the Department of International Law and Human Rights and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation organized a discussion panel on the 'Challenges of Fighting International Terrorism' with Dr. Walter Perron, Head of the Law Department at the University of Freiburg, Germany. Dr. Perron is a lawyer, specialized in International Criminal Law and Terrorism.

The discussion panel took place at the Marriott Hotel in San José.  Juan Amaya-Castro, Deputy Head of the Department of International Law and Human Rights and Assistant Professor, participated in the discussion as a panel member. Gudmundur Eiriksson, Head of the International Law and Human Rights Department, moderated the discussion.  Approximately eighty persons (including students, faculty, and special guests) attended the discussion and had the opportunity to ask questions to the panelists.

The Konrad Adenauer Foundation is a political foundation which operates various education centres in Germany and implements development and educational projects in more than 120 countries. 

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UPEACE New Staff

Name:    Thomas Klompmaker

Academic Background:      Master Degree in Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Master Degree in International Peace Studies at UPEACE, Costa Rica

Position:       Project Coordinator

Department: Office of the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs

Job Description:   The Project Coordinator will support the project supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Capacity Building in three regions: Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Horn of Africa; as well as the Central Asia Regional Programme. Regarding the Dutch  project, he will take responsibility for the communication with the Donor government, Regional Leaders, Partner Universities and Headquarters. The Project Coordinator is expected to take care of adequate reporting to the donor government, in continuous cooperation   with  relevant departments at Headquarters (such as the financial department), the regional leaders and the partner universities.

Last Appointment:     Junior Policy Adviser for the Dutch Government on the implementation of the law on integration of migrants.

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Executive Vice Rector Visits Asia and Europe

UPEACE’s Executive Vice Rector, Georges Tsaï, visited Asia and Europe this month with the aim of strengthening partnerships and promoting various UPEACE programmes.

In Asia, Mr. Tsaï visited Jakarta, Bangkok and Tokyo to promote the with Ateneo de Manila University supported by the Nippon Foundation.  Representatives of the Foundation accompanied Mr. Tsaï in this promotional tour.  The visits were successful and media articles have been, and will be, published.

To view one of the published articles please go to: http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/02/national
/national_30047394.php

The Dual MA in International Peace Studies programme is specifically designed for individuals of all Asian countries.  Deadline for applying to this MA programme for 2008-09 is 15 October 2007.

For more information about this MA Programme please click here>>

The other part of the mission took place in Europe, where Mr. Tsaï attended the meeting of the Board of the Alliance for the University for Peace in The Hague. This organization supports UPEACE thanks to its main donor, the National Postcode Loterij of the Netherlands. The meeting was very useful and new opportunities are being explored for further support to UPEACE’s Scholarship Fund. Also in The Hague, a meeting took place to explore the possible establishment of an Institute of International Law in this city. There is interest from several key actors including city officials. Appropriate follow-up will be given to this initiative.

Mr. Tsaï also spent some time in UPEACE’s Geneva Office. The staff at the Office is pursuing several potential joint activities in Geneva and other parts of the world. Finally, the Executive Vice Rector held a meeting in Bern with the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation, one of UPEACE’s major donors, with the purpose of briefing some new officials on our activities.

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Dr. Victor Valle, Dean for Latin America and the Caribbean Programme, and Head of Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, attends an International Conference in Korea

From 13 to 17 September 2007, Dr. Victor Valle attended the "2007 International Conference of History-Related NGOs" in Seoul, Republic of Korea. The purpose of the conference, which brought together scholars, politicians and practitioners of more than 15 countries, was to understand causes of international conflicts and territorial problems, discuss the potential role of civil societies in peaceful solutions of those problems, and promote international cooperation and civil society networking about peace building and conflict settlement.

The event was coordinated by Professor Sungho Kang, scholar at Kyung Hee University, and member of Global Common Society International.

The Conference included an Opening Symposium about “The Role of Civil Society in Promoting Historical Reconciliation in the 21st Century”. The presenters in this symposium were Thomas Hetzer, from Germany, Member of the National Board of German Young Democrats; Peter Li, Emeritus Professor of Rutgers University - New Jersey, USA, and Victor Valle, UPEACE Professor. To access the text of the descriptive essay that Dr. Valle presented, titled "An Educational Model for Peace Building and Conflict Prevention", click here>>>

There was also a Symposium entitled "Promotion of International Cooperation and Role of NGOs in Peace Building and Conflict Resolution" moderated by Dr. Valle and that had the participation of Dr. Kamarulzaman Asakandar, from Malaysia, Dr. Yu-An Rao, from People's Republic of China, Dr. Chinsoo Bae, from Republic of Korea an Dr. Rebecca N. Mbuh, from Cameroon/USA. Dr. Mbuh  is a professor of Sookmyung Women's University in Korea and co-author of a recent book "Women in the New Millenium - The Global Revolution", published in 2006 by Hamilton Books - USA. One copy of the book was handed to the UPEACE Library.

The last day of the Conference included a guided field-trip to the De-militarized Zone where, in loco, foreign participants had the opportunity to witness the absurdity of the last vestige of the "cold war" confrontation.

The Conference provided the opporunity to disseminate among participats information about the Dual Campus MA Programme in International Peace Studies that UPEACE offers for Asian citizens with the funding of the Nippon Fundation and the academic collaboration of Ateneo de Manila University.

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Narinder Kakar to serve as IUCN Permanent
Observer to the UN

UPEACE and IUCN have entered into a cooperative agreement whereby Narinder Kakar, Executive Director of UPEACE New York Office also serves concurrently as the Permanent Observer of IUCN to the United Nations.  UPEACE and IUCN now have a joint office in New York, which serves as an opportunity to open possibilities for substantive collaboration between the two institutions.

IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is the world’s largest network of 83 States, 110 government agencies, over 800 NGOs and some 10,000 scientists and experts in a unique world-wide partnership.  Its mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies around the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.

Mr. Kakar presented his letter of designation to the UN Secretary-General on the 16th of August 2007. 

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UPEACE Students celebrated International Day of Peace

Last Friday, 21 September, UPEACE students gathered at cafeteria to commemorate the International Day of Peace. Mr. Georges Tsai, Executive Vice Rector, in his message to staff and students stated: “ The presence of our students at our campus brings all the UPEACE community together, sharing a common attachment to peace. We are all committed to strengthening the mechanisms that enable human beings to attain and maintain a life without violent conflict.

The International Day of Peace is more than a mere date on our calendar reminding us to reflect on the meaning of peace; it should encourage to make the pursuit of peace a daily commitment, in things big and small.”

At lunch time, students organized a minute of silence, the projection of a video, and an art activity.

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Click here to see an article about the Liberian TRC project on the front page of the New York Times.  The article mentions Ahmed Sirleaf,  UPEACE Alumnus of the MA in International Law and the Settlement of Disputes, 2006

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