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Barcelona, 20 September 2021.-  This Monday afternoon, on the eve of the International Day of Peace, ICIP presented the ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2020 to Congolese activist Julienne Lusenge in a ceremony at the Parliament of Catalonia.  Lusenge received the award “for her work in preventing and reducing sexual and gender-based violence, and for strengthening women’s participation in peacebuilding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” a country with high rates of violence against women.

The ceremony was presided over by the President of the Parliament, Laura Borràs, the Minister of Foreign Action and Open Government, Victòria Alsina, and ICIP President Xavier Masllorens, who stressed the importance of fighting resolutely against sexual violence, also here at home: “We in Catalonia cannot allow ourselves to be just another country in this matter.  We have the tools to work more decisively at home to achieve a critical mass to confront this truly shameful pandemic.” Masllorens said he felt honoured to be able to pay tribute to a person like Julienne “committed to the struggle for peace and justice” and noted that this is the tenth ICIP Award, which adds to a list of people and organisations “who have devoted energy and effort to building peace in the face of conflict.”

During the ceremony, a video featuring the award winner’s career was shown, and the journalist specialising in Africa, Xavier Aldekoa, said of Lusenge: “Julienne is, above all, a brave woman – very brave.  Because of her leadership and courage, because of her fight against impunity by exposing, both nationally and internationally, the culprits and perpetrators of violence against women, she has received threats and attacks; nevertheless, she has continued to raise her voice regardless of the consequences.”

In her speech expressing gratitude for the award, Julienne Lusenge dedicated the prize to all Congolese women: “This award is for all the heroic women who constantly work for peace in the Congo and who live with violence every day.  This award gives me the energy to keep on fighting.” The activist defined Congolese women as “agents of change” and summarised the priorities of her struggle at the helm of the organisation SOFEPADI, which provides comprehensive care to survivors of violence: “Educating young women, raising community awareness about non-discrimination and mobilising resources to care for victims.”

The Minister of Foreign Action, Victòria Alsina, paid tribute to Lusenge’s “tireless and titanic work” regarding women’s rights: “Key figures like Julienne inspire us and remind us of the need to continue participating in this struggle.”

In the event’s closing speech, the President of the Parliament, Laura Borràs, praised the creation of ICIP by the Parliament of Catalonia. This feat represents “an example of the real power of the legislative body.” Borràs recalled the ten-year history of the Peace in Progress Award and pointed out that the award presented to Lusenge was the first to honour an individual woman. A recognition well deserved for a “life dedicated to the education, dignity and freedom of women, who suffer violence all over the world,” she said.

Among those attending the ceremony was Capuchin priest Joan Botam, recipient of the ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2015.  In his case, ICIP recognised his role as one of the leading pioneers of pacifism in Catalonia and a staunch defender of interreligious dialogue and religion as a source of peace.

A benchmark in the fight against sexual violence

Lusenge is the founder and current President of the organisation SOFEPADI (Female Solidarity for Integrated Peace and Development), which focuses on victims of sexual and gender-based violence. She is executive director of Fund for Congolese Women, which offers financial and technical support for the empowerment of Congolese women and girls to become agents of change within their families and their communities. She is also the founder of hospital Karibuni Wa Mama, in Bunia, which provides holistic services to sexual violence survivors and their children, having served over 7,000 survivors to date.

Originally from eastern Congo – a region devastated by the war started in 1998 and by atrocities committed by armed groups against local communities and, particularly against women and girls- Lusenge has experienced this violence herself and has emerged as a voice to denounce injustices and support the victims. From the organisations where she works, Lusenge has pushed the Congolese government and the international community to act against sexual violence, put women at the centre of peace and security processes, and foster the political rights of women and girls. She has advocated for the adoption of Resolutions 1820 and 1325 on women rights at the UN Security Council and creating the Special Relator to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Due to her activism and leadership, she has been repeatedly threatened by former members of armed groups, and she has been forced to relocate several times.

ICIP Peace in Progress Award

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 6,000 euros.

In previous editions, the award was granted to the Mexican organisation Cauce Ciudadano (2018), the activist Arcadi Oliveres (2017), Peace Brigades International (2016), the Capuchin friar Joan Botam (2015), WILPF (2014), the ex-general Jovan Divjak (2013), Madres de Soacha (2012), and the struggle of conscientious objectors and “insubmisos” (people who refuse to do military service or any substitute social work) represented by Pepe Beúnza (2011). The same year, 2011, in an extraordinary edition of the award, the Parliament of Catalonia was honoured for representing the continuity and legacy of the institutions “Pau i Treva” and “Consolat de Mar.”

Barcelona, 16 September 2021.- On Thursday afternoon, ICIP president and director, Xavier Masllorens and Kristian Herbolzheimer respectively, appeared before the Committee on External Action, Transparency and Cooperation of the Parliament of Catalonia to present the institution’s activity reports for the years 2019 and 2020.

In his speech, the president highlighted ICIP’s distinctive profile, “with a clear and defined identity,” as well as its commitment to internationalization and collaboration with other institutes and organizations, despite the global pandemic situation. “ICIP has reacted very well to the new socialization and has maintained or increased some of its most important actions,” said Masllorens. The celebration of the First International Forum for Peacebuilding in Mexico, the collaboration agreement with the Commission for the Clarification of the Truth, Coexistence and Reconciliation of Colombia and the second survey on coexistence and polarization in Catalonia are among the most noteworthy of these accomplishments.

The independence of ICIP: an indispensable condition

For his part, ICIP director Kristian Herbolzheimer defended the independence of the Institute, “an indispensable condition” to carry out the mandate established by law (which implies the creation of synergies between different actors and movements) and provide answers to a changing world. “The nature of conflicts is changing and from the field of peacebuilding we must reinvent and update our agenda to adapt it to the challenges of the 21^st century,” said Herbolzheimer. In this regard, the ICIP director highlighted the celebration of the World Peace Congress that will take place in Barcelona from 15-17 October and announced the intention to work towards a Catalan Peace Congress, which would allow us to bring the agendas of the different social movements up to date and face future challenges, such as the security model debate.

The ICIP director also highlighted the institution’s work in favor of social cohesion in Catalonia and its commitment to dialogue as the way to transform any conflict. “The art of building peace is to make possible what seems impossible and unimaginable,” he said.

The activity presented by ICIP in the annual reports corresponding to the years 2019 and 2020 received almost unanimous support from the spokespersons of the various parliamentary groups. In their speeches, PSC, ERC, Junts per Catalunya, CUP, En Comú Podem, Ciutadans and the Mixed Group expressed their gratitude for the work carried out by ICIP and highlighted its internationalization efforts and the extensive activity maintained at all times, even in the midst of a pandemic, during which the institution has been able to adapt to a virtual format.

ICIP was created by the Parliament of Catalonia in 2007 with the aim of promoting a culture of peace both in Catalan society and internationally, and to ensure that Catalonia plays an active role as an agent of peace in the world.  ICIP is an autonomous organization with its own legal personality.  It serves public administrations, academia and civil society, and reports to Parliament, the Government and the general public.

The International Peace Bureau and the ICIP are the Second World Peace Congress organisers. The event will be held in Barcelona from 15 to 17 October 2021.

Under the title “(Re) imagine Our World. Action for Peace and Justice”, participants from 40 countries will attend this event with face-to-face activities, conferences and workshops, most of which will take place at the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB).

The conference will have a hybrid format, and many of the activities will also be available online. The main goal of the congress is to invigorate international pacifism, be a meeting point for different actors, redefine action for peace, and, as the motto of the congress says, reimagine the world through the prism of a culture of peace.

At the same time, the event seeks to foster synergies between organizations and individuals and between interconnected social movements fighting for global justice: peace and disarmament advocates, feminist and LGBTQIA+ campaigners, ecologists and climate activists, antiracists and indigenous people, human rights defenders and trade unionists.

More than 30 speakers

During the three days of the congress, there will be talks and lectures by more than thirty speakers. Featured names include Noam Chomsky, Vandana Shiva, Jody Williams, Martin Chungong, Wada Masako and Beatrice Fihn.

There will also be different workshops on ‘Peace Economics’, ‘Peace Accords to End Wars’, ‘Nonviolent Journalism for Peace’ or ‘Peace, Racism and Migration’.

The main organizer of the congress is the IPB, an entity that has its headquarters in Berlin and has offices in Barcelona and Geneva.

The office in the Catalan capital has been operating for four years, and from there, the Global Campaign on Military Spending (GCOMS) is managed in collaboration with Centre Delàs.

The IPB has a network of 400 members, and the Centre Delàs is part of the board of directors. In Catalonia, in addition to the Centre Delàs, other entities form part of the IPB: Justícia i Pau, Fundipau, Unipau, Escola de Cultura de Pau i Fundació Carta de la Pau dirigida a l’ONU.

The first peace congress in history was held in 1843 in London, then in Paris in 1889 and Rome in 1891 when the IPB was created.

In 2016, these world congresses were restarted with the idea of putting global disarmament on the agenda. This first congress of the new stage was held in Berlin, and the one in Barcelona will be the continuation.

The ICIP Library reopens to the public from this week after the summer holidays and the temporary closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In this new season, the centre will be open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Therefore, at this time, users can renew or repay loans and consult the available fund, which reaches 9,000 volumes.

Likewise, users can contact the centre via email at biblioteca@icip.cat to resolve queries and doubts.

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The ICIP Library is a reference centre in Catalonia specializing in the culture of peace, non-violence, security and conflict.

The Library is located at 10 Tapineria Street, 1st floor of Barcelona. It supports ICIP and researchers and experts in peace and is in constant contact with similar institutions and centres worldwide.

The centre is part of the Generalitat’s network of specialized libraries and is part of the Collective Catalog of Catalan Universities (CCUC).

You can check the online catalog here.

In the municipal plenary session of Friday, 30 July, the City Council of Lleida passed a motion recognising Colombian exiles and migrants living in the city and surrounding area.

The proposal received the support of all the Council’s political groups: ERC-AM, PSC, JxCat Lleida, Comú de Lleida, Cs, and PP, all voted in favour of the motion.

This initiative was launched by the Coordinating Committee of Development NGOs and other solidarity movements in Lleida in coordination with the Catalonia Node in support of the Truth Commission of Colombia and ICIP (International Catalan Institute for Peace).

According to Carme Campoy, board member of the Coordinating Committee of Development NGOs, “the work of the Colombian diaspora – about 3,000 migrants and exiles in Lleida – is an example to follow to promote coexistence, social cohesion and peace.”

“It is essential that the citizens of Lleida and its institutions recognize and support the work towards the building of a stable and lasting peace in Colombia by the diaspora and the victims of the armed conflict living in the city,” she added.

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The dignity of the victims

The motion that has passed focuses on the dignity of the victims and ensures that their processes of resistance and resilience, and their contributions to peace in Colombia and Lleida, are publicly recognized by institutions and host societies.

The approved text “recognizes the contributions of civil society organizations in Lleida to a sustainable and lasting peace in Colombia and support of the Colombian migrant and exiled community.”  It was also agreed to hold a meeting with representatives of the Colombian diaspora and exiles, together with solidarity organizations in Lleida, “to publicly recognize their dignity, work and contributions to peace in Colombia and their host community.”

According to the local census, 2,952 Colombians (1,553 women and 1,399 men) live in Lleida, which amounts to 2.1% of the city’s population.

During the last few months, ICIP and the Catalonia Node have organized several workshops with the Colombian community of Lleida, in coordination with the Department of Education, Cooperation, Civil Rights and Feminism of the Lleida City Council and the Coordinating Committee of Development NGOs.  These workshops provided information about the peace process in Colombia and victims’ rights. Also, they identified the specific needs of the Colombian community in the capital of the comarca of El Segrià.

One of the people who participated in this process is Marina Camargo Jinete, a victim of the conflict who has lived in Alcarràs for three years.  In the presentation of the motion in the plenary session, Camargo spoke of her experience as an exile in El Segrià:

“The Colombian community living in Lleida is very grateful for the warm welcome and hospitality we have received.  We are here to say thank you on behalf of the refugees.  For the Colombian community, this motion is like a tree that gives us shelter and a feeling of belonging, protection and welcoming among the Catalan people,” she said.

María Rosario Vásquez, the spokeswoman of the Catalonia Node, also participated in the plenary session and ended her speech by talking about the restorative effect this motion has for victims living in Catalonia.

An educational process led by ICIP

ICIP was one of the main promoters of the motion that passed on Friday.  The institution has acted as the Technical Secretariat of the Truth Commission of Colombia since 2018.  Its role is to enable any victim of the conflict to provide their testimony and reconstruct historical memory and reconciliation.  It also works to familiarize host societies with the peace process in Colombia and the Colombian people who live among us.  With this goal in mind, fifteen spaces for citizen participation called “nodes” have been created in ten European countries, with the Catalonia node being one of the most active.

In this context, ICIP has proposed the promotion of municipal motions in support of victims living abroad.  Lleida has become the first city to support this initiative and has thus become an international model for other cities and international institutions.

“There is little awareness that people are living among us who have been victims of war and who have had to rebuild their social and professional life in a foreign country.  We want to recognize the courage and dignity of these people and facilitate their integration in Lleida,” says Ana Isabel Barrera, also a Colombian victim and a technician in ICIP’s area of Memory, Coexistence and Reconciliation.

A historic peace agreement

After fifty years of war, on 26 September 2016, the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group signed a historic Peace Agreement.

As a result of the Agreement, the Commission for the Clarification of the Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition was created to identify the causes of the armed conflict and guarantee the right of victims and society to truth, justice and reparation and thus prevent new wars.  The Commission will present its report at the end of this year.

According to the Truth Commission, of the more than five million Colombians living abroad, at least 500,000 are war victims.

Equality and care are among ICIP’s intrinsic values, and a gender perspective is a cross-cutting tool that guides the institution’s action throughout its various action lines. That is why ICIP has also decided to create its first Gender Equality Plan (available in Catalan), developed in a participatory manner by the fifteen people who make up the staff.

The plan will be valid until 2025 and has been designed with the following objectives:

• To ensure effective equal opportunities for ICIPemployees;
• To promote the integration of the gender perspective into ICIP’s organizational culture and management;
• To promote the values of gender equality, inclusiveness and respect for plurality among the staff and with external companies and individuals with whom ICIP works.

Methodology used

The elaboration of the ICIP Equality Plan has been carried out following the methodology proposed by the Directorate-General of Equality of the Department of Labor, Social Affairs and Families of the Government of Catalonia, and considering current regulations at the state regional level.

The plan has been elaborated based on the diagnosis carried out between October 2020 and February 2021 and considered current regulations regarding equal opportunities between women and men in the workplace and equality plans. It includes a total of 32 measures covering ten thematic areas.

To implement the plan, a negotiating committee has been set up, consisting of a representative of the institution, the employees’ representative and two additional members, with secretarial and coordinating roles, who are experts in inequality issues.

The ICIP Gender Equality Plan applies to anyone who works at ICIP: employees, regardless of their relationship with the organization, the members of the Governing Board, students doing internships at the institution and also third parties that provide services to ICIP, either through a contract awarded to them or through the company that they work for.

The ICIP, in collaboration with the Nido Catalunya in support of the Colombian Truth Commission, has organized in Lleida, with the support of the City Council, a couple of workshops to promote the recognition of the victims of the Colombian conflict exiled in Catalonia.

These workshops are a pilot test that will soon be extended to Barcelona and are expected to adapt in other municipalities in Catalonia and Europe.

The workshops took place at the Balàfia Civic Center on April 24 and May 16. The first of the workshops focused on the comprehensive system of truth, justice, reparation and non-repetition for Colombian people living in Catalonia. The second focused on recognition to make visible the impacts of the Colombian armed conflict and the migration process of exiled people and contribute to the dignification of the victims.

The workshops aim to provide a general context and sufficient tools to understand and recognize the comprehensive system and spaces for participation for victims abroad.

“They seek to generate and strengthen spaces for participation, dialogue and listening among the exiled population and the Colombian diaspora, social organizations and local governments that contribute to actions of recognition to the victims of the Colombian armed conflict”, explains Ana Isabel Osorio, a technician in the area of “Memory, coexistence and reconciliation” of the ICIP.

The activity was facilitated by Maria del Rosario Vásquez and Bibiana Lopera of the Nido Catalunya, supporting the Colombian Truth Commission.

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More workshops in June

A third workshop is planned for June in Lleida.

Following this participatory process, the aim is to have an institutional declaration approved by the City Council of the capital of Segrià to make visible the impacts of the Colombian armed conflict and the migration process of exiled people and contribute to the dignification of victims who had to flee Colombia because of the armed conflict.

Another of these workshops is also planned to be organized in Barcelona in June. These activities aim to strengthen the dialogue between local actors (Colombian population, social organizations and academia and local governments) and contribute to the dissemination of the final report that the Colombian Truth Commission will publish at the end of this year.

The process of recognizing the victims is part of the work carried out by the ICIP as the Technical Secretariat of the Colombian Truth Commission in Europe.

The activities have the support of The Catalan Agency for Cooperation to the Development (Agència Catalana de Cooperació al Desenvolupament – ACCD).

Citizen marches, homicides and disappearances, plus political tension, reveal the new dimension of the conflict in Colombia: a conflict about change, where diverse demands and expectations converge and clash with the establishment that resists change.

The 2016 Peace Agreement between the government and the FARC rebel group is a key reference point for this dispute.  Unlike agreements elsewhere in the world, in Havana, no significant concessions were negotiated for the rebels, but rather the conditions to undertake structural reforms that were long delayed in the country, largely under the excuse of war.  In fact, once the FARC handed in their weapons and became involved in political life, the influence of the former guerrilla group became marginal.  Thus, the myths created by those opposed to the agreement about the threat of Castro-Chavismo and the FARC as a Trojan horse that would lead the country to a left-wing authoritarian regime have collapsed.

The current conflict can also be analyzed from a global perspective, where the health, economic and ecological crises strain institutional capacities to offer solutions that benefit the population as a whole.  A citizenry that has lost hope in the progress of society and that suffers and despairs because of the growing gap between privileged minorities and excluded majorities.

Some sectors advocate profound transformations in our way of understanding the world and the role we human beings play in it and, consequently, push for new economic, social and cultural models.  Meanwhile, other sectors, reluctant to change, cling to the idea of a past in which order prevailed in the face of what they perceive as a future of chaos.

In a way, this conflict transcends the historical debates between right and left because there are progressive and conservative sectors in both groups.  And because, faced with the uncertainty of the future and the lack of economic and political references, political dogmas lose strength due to the rigidity of their analysis.

At this global crossroads there are two fundamental issues: the quality of democracy and public security policies.

Democratic culture and institutions are fundamental to channel the social and political conflicts inherent to the human condition.  But they can only perform this function if the public trusts them.  This trust is undermined in many countries because the institutions fail to respond to the needs of the majority and are perceived as instruments for consolidating the privileges of a few minorities.  In some countries, there are even doubts as to whether the state has become an instrument of organized crime.

In this context, the concept of security takes on special relevance: What do we understand by security?  Whose security and against what?  If the state does not allow different political proposals to be settled through democratic channels, the security forces become a protective arm of the status quo, whether in Venezuela, Hong Kong, the United States or Colombia.

Thus, what is happening in Colombia these days is the local expression of a broader phenomenon.  It is an outburst of exasperation by those who fear a darker future or who no longer have anything to lose.  It is also a new case of digital battles for the control of the narrative, where each side wields a video to reinforce their position and delegitimize that of the other, without taking into consideration the overall picture.

Five decades of armed conflict weigh heavily.  A Colombian political culture marked by violence has little tolerance and little experience in dealing with discrepancy and alternation of power.  Now that the war with the FARC is over, there is no reason why the country cannot face a brighter future and bring about an improvement in living conditions for the whole of society.

The country needs a new peace framework.  The 2016 agreement is a starting point that calls for new deliberations, at all levels, to identify and agree on a path towards a better future: one where peace does not germinate in furrows of pain – as the national anthem suggests – but as a result of collective and inclusive effort and commitment.

Kristian Herbolzheimer, director of the ICIP

May 12, 2021

Public security policies are being questioned locally and globally, from different contexts that present a diverse conflictology.  In countries with armed conflict, in countries with chronic violence and also in places where it could be said that there is no context of generalized violence, security is currently a much discussed and debated notion because the strategies deployed in its name are not effectively managing to deal with social conflicts or to prevent violences.  On the contrary, they often limit freedoms and the free exercise of human rights, reinforcing existing vulnerabilities or even generating new violent dynamics.

The classic approaches to security, of a state-centered and military nature, have been challenged by a plurality of schools and academic currents grouped under the name of “critical security studies” (feminist security, human security, green theory, securitization, emancipation, post-structuralism, post-colonialism and decoloniality…). 

In this context we detect two strategic challenges: the need to facilitate dialogue between different approaches to thinking when reflecting on a new security model and, at the same time, that these approaches be connected to specific practical experiences.

With the aim to face these challenges, the ICIP call for proposals for a report on the interaction between alternative approaches, both theoretical and practical, that are developed in response to the traditional security model.

Those interested in participating in the call must submit their proposals via email to smartinez@icip.cat, to the attention of Sandra Martínez, with “Security Report” in the subject line.

The deadline for submitting proposals is 26 May 2021.