Author: whads

The ICIP has announced the call for nominations for the ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2018. This prize aims to publicly recognize individuals, entities or institutions that, in an outstanding and extensive manner, have worked and contributed to the promotion and building of peace.
The ICIP Peace in Progress Award consists of public recognition, a sculpture created by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, artist and activist, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, called Porta del sol, and 4,000 euros.
The deadline for submitting nominations is Friday July 6th. Applications must be submitted in paper format following the standard nomination form at the ICIP office (Carrer Tapineria 10, 3a planta, 08002 Barcelona, Spain). Applications may also be handed in and registered at Spanish post offices or at official organs of the Spanish Public Administration with “registros administrativos”.
Previously granted
The first edition of the award in 2011 recognized the struggle of conscientious objectors and “insubmisos” (people who refuse to do military service or any substitute social work) represented by Pepe Beúnza, the first conscientious objector to compulsory military service for ideological reasons in Spain. The same year, in an extraordinary edition of the award, the Parliament of Catalonia was honored for representing the continuity and legacy of the institutions “Pau i Treva” and “Consolat de Mar.”
Then, in 2012, the ICIP Award was granted to five Madres de Soacha (Mothers of Soacha) for their work in favor of peace and human rights in Colombia. The next year the award was granted to the ex-general born in Belgrade, Jovan Divjak, for his courage in the defense of Sarajevo during the Balkans War and his work in favor of the victims of that conflict.
In 2014, honored the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) for its century-long involvement in the work of women for peace, while in 2015 was granted to the Capuchin friar Joan Botam, promoter of numerous initiatives linked to peace and ecumenism.
In 2016, the ICIP Peace in Progress Award recognized the work carried out by Peace Brigades International in the support and accompaniment of human rights defenders.
In the last edition, in 2017, the award recongnized the catalan activist Arcadi Oliveres.

The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2018 ICIP Peace in Progress Award was Friday 6 July. The ICIP Governing Board –in charge of granting the award– will study the submitted nominations and announce the winner on 21 September, the International Day of Peace. As in the past, an awards ceremony, which is open to the public, will be held sometime in the following months.
The ICIP Peace in Progress Award aims to publicly recognize individuals, entities or institutions that, in an outstanding and extensive manner, have worked for, and contributed to, the promotion and building of peace. The award 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.
Previously granted
The first edition of the award in 2011 recognized the struggle of conscientious objectors and “insubmisos” (people who refuse to do military service or any substitute social work) represented by Pepe Beúnza, the first conscientious objector to compulsory military service for ideological reasons in Spain. The same year, in an extraordinary edition of the award, the Parliament of Catalonia was honored for representing the continuity and legacy of the institutions “Pau i Treva” and “Consolat de Mar.”
Then, in 2012, the ICIP Award was granted to five Madres de Soacha (Mothers of Soacha) for their work in favor of peace and human rights in Colombia. The next year the award was granted to the ex-general born in Belgrade, Jovan Divjak, for his courage in the defense of Sarajevo during the Balkans War and his work in favor of the victims of that conflict.
In 2014, honored the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) for its century-long involvement in the work of women for peace, while in 2015 was granted to the Capuchin friar Joan Botam, promoter of numerous initiatives linked to peace and ecumenism.
In 2016, the ICIP Peace in Progress Award recognized the work carried out by Peace Brigades International in the support and accompaniment of human rights defenders.
In the last edition, in 2017, the award recongnized the catalan activist Arcadi Oliveres.

The ICIP welcomes ETA’s disbandment, confirmed at the Kanbo international conference, in the French Basque Country. This move puts an end to the terrorist organization’s 60 years of existence and opens the door to the possibility of genuine peacebuilding after decades of conflict.
The renunciation of violence as a means to achieve political goals is undoubtedly a triumph of peace. However, positive peace goes beyond the absence of violence and demands the advancement of coexistence based on respect for freedoms, human rights and social justice. The road to a comprehensive peace is long and not without obstacles, and that is why it is essential that the various actors in the conflict continue working to overcome the damage caused by decades of violence and social rupture.
In this sense, we call on Basque society as a whole and on its institutions, as well as on the institutions of the Spanish and French governments, to make every effort necessary to achieve a full reconciliation based on respect and dialogue. It is everyone’s responsibility to take advantage of this historic opportunity to move forward along the desired path. ETA’s disbandment and its prior disarmament were prerequisites for addressing this peace process successfully, but the construction of a collective memory of the conflict, with a narrative that respects and includes the victims, is also necessary. Thus there is still some way to go to overcome so many years of political and social conflict conclusively and effectively.
ICIP has always advocated the need to use peaceful means to achieve political goals and resolve conflicts. The present announcement of ETA’s disbandment is confirmation of the path chosen by Basque society to face the transformation of the conflict through dialogue.

Barcelona, 5 October 2018. – The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize to Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist who has treated thousands of women affected by sexual violence in Congo, and to Nadia Murad, an activist and a victim of sexual abuse perpetrated by ISIS, for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.
It is an exemplary recognition that highlights the great scourge of sexual violence and places a serious human rights violation, which for years has been absent from the analysis of armed conflict, at the forefront of public debate. In the words of ICIP director Kristian Herbolzheimer, the award also “recognizes the efforts, work and sacrifice of civil society actors in countries undergoing conflict and extremely serious situations.”
This Nobel Peace Prize is evidence that the world is becoming aware of the existence and the seriousness of sexual violence as a war crime against women and, at the same time, it is evidence of the need to work towards its eradication through institutions, at both a national and international level.
ICIP has delved into the issue of sexual violence as a weapon of war through the publication of books and reports, and the ICIP Library has an extensive collection on this subject. In fact, Jo seré l’última (“The Last Girl”), by Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad, is among the titles available to library users. The ICIP Library, specializing in peace, conflict, security and human rights, is located at Tapineria 10, 1st floor, in Barcelona.

Anna Bastida (Manresa, 1951), who was a member of the first ICIP Governing Board, in 2008, has died at the age of 67.
Professor of the Department of Didactics of Social Sciences at the University of Barcelona, she is the author of several studies on education for peace in schools, such as Desaprender la guerra. Una visión crítica de la educación para la paz (1994), Els conflictes armats (2003) and Estat de la qüestió de l’educació per a la pau a Catalunya i a la resta de l’Estat espanyol (2009).
The ICIP Governing Board and team are deeply saddened by her passing and would like to express our appreciation for her valuable contribution in the field of education for peace.

The 2018-2019 grant call for networking participation projects and research in the promotion of peace was launched in September, for a total amount of 60,000 euros.
These grants are available to associations, foundations and non-profit cooperatives based in Catalonia whose activity is related to the promotion of peace, peacebuilding, conflict resolution and, in general, the promotion of peace culture.
The deadline to submit grant applications is 2 October 2018.

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 Thursday, the ICIP library hosted the presentation of the Report on the Effective Status of the Implementation of the Colombian Peace Accord, edited by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies of the Notre Dame University, a US research centre dedicated to peace investigations and specialised in the comparative follow-up of peace processes and their implementation.
The event was organised by Borja Paladini, representative of the Kroc Institute in Colombia and Barometer Initiative coordinator for the follow-up of the implementation, and was attended by the directors of ICIP and the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation, Tica Font and Carme Gual, respectively.
This is the first public report on the status of the implementation of the Colombian Peace Accord, signed in November 2016 between the Colombian government and the FARC militias, analysing 558 observable dispositions or commitments (between December 2016 and August 2017) from cross-perspectives: human rights, gender, ethnical and territorial. The result is a qualitative and quantitative analysis, as well as a comparative study of 34 peace accords signed worldwide which were objects of study of the same Kroc Institute. In its general conclusions, the report states that the implementation of the commitments, agreed between the Colombian government and FARC, is being addressed in 251 of the dispositions studied (at different levels), some 45% of the total number, and that this implementation is going through a process of dialogue and negotiation between both parties. For the remaining 55%, implementation has not started yet. The work also concludes, as explained by Borja Paladini, that “the implementation is not stagnated, but is moving forward, each month we see progress, despite the fact it does not meet the expectations of both parties, or those of the people.”
In this context, Paladini states that the construction of peace in Colombia can be seen from two perspectives: one being more positive, the other rather negative. From the positive side, he highlights the end of the armed conflict (ceasefire and abandonment of weapons); mechanisms for implementation of the accord which are already effective, progress at institutional level and in the amnesty for prisoners; and an implementation rhythm which is higher than in other peace accords. On the negative side, the report highlights a lack of political reform as well as in the creation of a Special Jurisdiction for Peace; an approach, focusing on gender and ethnical aspects, is missing; the relative paralysis with respect to the point in the accord, referring to the distribution of land; and a lack of effectiveness in the deployment of guarantees for security and protection. In this sense, Paladini states that “the killings of leaders and combat veterans continue, and people in the territories don´t feel any safer than before, which is a reason for concern.”
To conclude, Paladini claims that there are “strong bases” for the construction of peace in Colombia, but “we need to respond to the existing concerns, because the alarm signal could lead to a gridlock in the peace process, since the implementation processes of the accords are extremely fragile.” As such, the representative of the Kroc Institute in Colombia considers that “peace needs to be understood as something which is built from within the territories” and that “we need to broaden the scope of peace for the population in general, especially for the collectives which are most vulnerable and most affected by the violent conflict.”

ICIP has issued a call for applications for the post of director of the institution. The director’s responsibilities include the management, promotion and supervision of the activities and work carried out by ICIP as well as the economic management and administration of the institution, and the recruitment and management of staff.
The deadline for submission of applications is Wednesday 20 June. Please send applications, including a CV and a cover letter, by email to selecciodireccio.icip@gencat.cat.

The ICIP Library foundation keeps growing, and during this month of December, the centre has acquired new books, most of which available on loan.
The ICIP Library is a centre, specialised in issues of peace culture, security and conflicts, and a reference in Catalonia with respect to these areas. The library gives support to ICIP and to researchers and experts in the peace domain, and is in permanent contact with similar institutes and centres around the world. It is a member of the network of specialised libraries of the Generalitat and is integrated in the Catàleg Col·lectiu de les Universitats Catalanes (CCUC, University Union Catalogue of Catalonia).
Due to the Christmas holidays, the Library will remain closed from 27th December to 5th January, both included. The centre will open its doors again on Monday 8th January, following the regular opening hours.

The ICIP Library has reopened to the public on the 3rd of September from 9.30 to 2 pm from Monday to Friday. From the 18th of September also will be open each Tuesday afternoon, from 3 pm to 6 pm.
The library is is a center specialized in issues of peace culture, security and conflicts, and a benchmark in this field in Catalonia. It is located on Carrer Tapineria 10, 1st floor, in Barcelona.
The library supports ICIP and researchers and experts in the field of peace, and is in permanent contact with similar centers and institutions from around the world. It is part of the network of specialized libraries of the Generalitat and is included in the University Union Catalogue of Catalonia (CCUC).