International seminar: “Drugs, policies and violence”
The 23rd and 24th October the ICIP and Casa Amèrica Catalunya held the international seminar Drugs, policies and violence: From a global consensus to new approaches, which brought together experts in the policies on drug production, trafficking and use.
The discussions focused on issues such as the historical perspective on drug control; new policies in the field (with a special look at the innovative initiatives adopted in countries such as Uruguay and Portugal); the money generated by the trafficking of these substances and its impact on the world economy; the infiltration of drug trafficking in the powers of the state; and hardline measures in anti-drug policies versus the opportunities and risks of measures to decriminalize these substances.
Cauce Ciudadano, ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2018
Coinciding with the International Day of Peace, celebrated on 21 September, the International Catalan Institute for Peace announced the winner of the eighth edition of the ICIP Peace in Progress Award. After evaluating the different nominees, the ICIP Governing Board decided to grant the ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2018 to the Mexican organization Cauce Ciudadano “for its work in the prevention of violence and the construction of peaceful alternatives for youth in settings characterized by crime, especially drug trafficking.”
Cauce Ciudadano is an organization founded in 2000 by young former gang members, with the goal of offering comprehensive support and opportunities to other teens that experience and/or generate violence in settings characterized by social exclusion and a strong presence of drug trafficking and criminal groups. The organization focuses on socio-educational and socio-community work in schools, public spaces, juvenile detention facilities and penitentiaries, with the aim of training young people as agents of social change. Since its inception, the organization has assisted 230,000 people and, in a country like Mexico, characterized by the war on drugs, Cauce Ciudadano has designed a model for the prevention of violence from a human rights perspective, with an emphasis on health promotion, attention to the damage caused and rehabilitation.
The ICIP Peace in Progress Award is granted by agreement of the Governing Board of ICIP and consists of public recognition, a sculpture created by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, artist and activist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, called Porta del Sol, and a financial prize of 4,000 euros. The award is presented at an institutional award ceremony which takes place annually at the Catalan Parliament.
Third edition of the ICIP Hip Hop for Peace Contest
The call for entries for the third edition of the ICIP Hip Hop for Peace Contest was launched in September. The contest aims to give visibility to the commitment and creativity of young people in the field of peace culture.
As in previous editions, the contest has two categories. The first one is open to students in secondary school, vocational training school and senior high school in Catalonia; the second category is open to young people between the ages of 12 and 25 who participate in youth, cultural, civic or social-educational action centers or organizations in Catalonia. In both cases, participating groups must have at least three members.
To participate, groups must compose a hip-hop piece with original rhymes and make a video recording of its performance lasting no more than four minutes. The lyrics of the songs must be related to the celebration of diversity; coexistence in urban areas or schools; criticism of violence; the denunciation of human rights violations; solidarity with people who are trapped by, or fleeing, armed conflict; or the role of youth in peacebuilding.
The deadline for submitting videos is 30 January 2019, coinciding with the commemoration of the School Day of Nonviolence and Peace (DENIP).
The contest is being organized in conjunction with the Department of Education and the Directorate-General for Youth of the Generalitat of Catalonia.
Last publications
– Que regni la llibertat. Paraules de Nelson Mandela, by Henry Russell. Published in Catalan by the ICIP and Angle Editorial in “Clàssics de la pau i la noviolència” collection.
– Peaceland. La resolución de conflictos y las políticas cotidianas en las intervenciones internacionales, by Séverine Autesserre. Published in Spanish by the ICIP and Edicions Bellaterra in “Paz y seguridad” collection.
– National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights, by Steven Patrick Landry. Report 14/2018
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