On 25, 26 and 27 September, ICIP organized the First International Forum on Peacebuilding in Mexico together with Taula per Mèxic and the Mexican organization Serapaz. The event brought together forty speakers and more than a hundred attendees from the academic and cultural worlds, social activism, institutions and journalism. Three days of discussions about the opportunities and glimmers of hope that have recently emerged in Mexico to advance in peacebuilding, in a country with extremely high rates of violence: homicides, extortions, kidnappings, enforced disappearances and numerous human rights violations.
A number of experts participated in the Forum in order to address the current challenges that Mexico faces in various areas: from security, migration analysis, struggles for the defense of land and territory, the situation regarding freedom of the press and the need to make progress in the areas of truth, justice and reparation for victims.
The celebration of the Forum coincided with the fifth anniversary of the disappearance of 43 students in Ayotzinapa, in Iguala, an emblematic case of impunity, corruption and the lack of truth and justice that exists in the country. The father of one of the young students, Epifanio Álvarez, participated in the conference, bringing Barcelona his struggle and that of the thousands of families with relatives who have disappeared. Also participating was Yolanda Álvarez, mother of a person who disappeared in 2008 at the hands of the military and present director of Colectivo Búscame, an organization for relatives of disappeared persons.
The opening session of the Forum, on Wednesday, 25 September, was attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alfred Bosch, the general director of Cooperation, Manel Vila, the Deputy Mayor of Barcelona, Laura Pérez Castaño, along with representatives of ICIP, Taula per Mèxic and Serapaz.
Videos of the Forum sessions are available on the ICIP YouTube channel.
Speakers participating in the Forum include representatives of the Collective for the Analysis of Security with Democracy (CASEDE), CIDOB, the Oaxaca Consortium for Parliamentary Dialogue, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Service for Peace and Justice (SERPAJ), the Center for Research and Advanced Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS), the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, the Institute for Integrated Transitions, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame and the Human Rights Institute of Catalonia.
The Government of Catalonia, the Barcelona City Council and Casa Amèrica Catalunya collaborated in the organization of the Forum.
The event is part of the ICIP work program “Violence outside the context of war.”
Coinciding with the celebration of the Forum, ICIP has published the monograph “Mexico: tracing opportunities for peace” in the Peace in Progress journal. It is available in English, Catalan and Spanish.
