Yesterdays´news

40 Years Since the END Appeal – An Interview with Tair Tairov

The Peace Union of Finland, member of IPB, has published an extensive report on the 40th anniversary of the European Nuclear Disarmament Appeal (END Appeal) that includes the account of Tair Tairov, a former Vice-President of IPB. The appeal, which brought together peace activists from both sides of the Iron Curtain sought to create a nuclear-free and united Europe in the midst of Cold War tensions.

Tairov’s work spans decades. He was not only a member of the END Liaison Committee, but organized peace marches in Europe in support of the INF Treaty, founded the Foundation for Social Innovations and Civic Peace Coalition, and represented the Soviet Peace Committee in the World Peace Council. In the interview, he recalls conversations with Soviet leaders, being arrested for participating in a meeting on human rights, and meeting with international peace leaders around the world. Folke Sundman, a Finnish peace activist  who represented the Peace Union at the END Liason Committee, provides further insights into the significance of the 40th anniversary of the END Appeal in the modern context.

Read the complete publication here.

GDAMS Workshops April 2020

During the Global Days of Action on Military Spending 2020, IPB ran two online webinars.

The first, entitled “The Opportunity Costs of Military Spending: How and Why it’s Time to Rethink our Priorities” was directed toward students and young professionals and organized as an active discussion and brainstorming session. Details on military spending in 12 countries were presented to participants who were then tasked with thinking up solutions that could be taken by individuals and groups to combat the continued growth of military spending at the cost of social budgets. Continue reading “GDAMS Workshops April 2020”

Report: Online World Conference 2020

On April 25, 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, over one thousand activists across the peace, climate, and social movements gathered online to take part in the first ever virtual World Conference: Abolish Nuclear Weapons | Resist and Reverse Climate Change | For Social and Economic Justice. Continue reading “Report: Online World Conference 2020”

IPB Statement: Reaction to the Newest SIPRI Figures

Military Spending on the Rise while Health Budgets Remain Insufficient in Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic

With the release of SIPRI’s newest report, showing global military spending in 2019 at a new high of US$1,917 billion, the International Peace Bureau (IPB) is calling for an end to the military spending pandemic, starting with an annual reduction of military expenditure of 10% and a complete ban on nuclear weapons. Continue reading “IPB Statement: Reaction to the Newest SIPRI Figures”

Join GDAMS 2020!

GDAMS 2020, April 10 – May 9 – HEALTHCARE NOT WARFARE

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has shown the world where humanity’s priorities should lie. This major attack on people’s security across the world shames and discredits global military expenditures and prove them an outrageous waste and loss of opportunities. What the world needs now is to focus all means on vital security threats: healthy living conditions for everyone, which necessarily entails more just, green, peaceful societies. The Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) 2020 bring attention to the vast opportunity costs of the current levels of military spending, 1’82 trillion US$ a year, almost $5 billion per day, $239 per person. When a minority of the global population decides to finance war preparations, we all lose the opportunity to fund policies that tackle our real security threats. Continue reading “Join GDAMS 2020!”

Updates from Latin America: Everyday Wars in the Search for Peace

Written by Patricia Pérez, Executive Director of ILAPyC and IPB Board Member.

Starting in April 2020, we will begin providing regular updates and a platform for the exchange of ideas and opinions that strengthen our actions for peace and citizenship in the Latin America and Caribbean region.

In this part of the world, there are wars, silent conflagrations, on a daily basis; they are brutal, full of immense pain and fear. Many experience fear and inequality within their families – women, children, and many times the elderly, are cornered by cultural bindings, where the “man” has all the rights and the house and its inhabitants revolve around him, his whims, prejudices, and atavisms.

Everyday wars are fought in society, between violent groups that fight to kill or be killed over coveted territories for their illegal businesses trafficking drugs or people.

These types of wars have been dangerously normalized to the point of turning illicit work into a social status.

It is a matter of pride to own the most modern, latest-generation light arms, modern cars, and fashionable clothing that give one “prestige” and recognition with certain social segments that, without belonging to the criminal gangs, look upon these pathetic traits as an opportunity for social advancement.

It is in these vulnerable sectors of society in Latin America where we act everyday with our commitment and activism for peace and human rights, supporting values and principles to construct citizenship.

Peace and Citizenship are the Objectives for the Region

The Latin American Institute for Peace and Citizenship (ILAPyC) is a tool that seeks to provide education and training in every country in the region in order to provide civil society organizations with the best opportunities for success in their objectives.

Our central headquarters is in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and we have an office in Panama City. We also have representatives in New York that tend to our connections with the UN and ECOSOC and further representation in Miami, Colombia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Spain, and South Africa.

ILAPyC forms part of the extraordinary team of NGOs that develop actions and activism for peace in the extensive Latin American region, uniting forces under the IPB umbrella.

We are proud members of IPB

We feel intimately connected to the principles and objectives of IPB and express our recognition and gratitude for our colleagues who manage the passionate organization that we are proud to be part of.

We in the Latin America and Caribbean region pursue the idea that our founding fathers set in motion in 1891/92 during the Universal Peace Congress that gave form to IPB. The history of great and committed activists and leaders guides us, those such as Bajer, Ducommun, Gobat, and the 13 members of IPB that have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

We are inspired by the memory of Berta Von Suttner, the great Adolf Heilberg, and those that worked hard to bring IPB back to life like Wolf, MacBride, Herz, Santi Booth, McReynolds and the beloved Colin Archer who has worked hard for our region. We owe a special mention to our teacher and guide, Alicia Cabezudo, whose commitment has left a permanent mark on the course of our work every day.

In future updates, we will share stories about what we do, with whom, and what is happening in our area with respect to peace. This will include how we search for strategies for peace and how we use them.

Currently, the Covid-19 pandemic has spread uncertainty over the entire planet. Together, without rejection or discrimination against the infected, taking health precautions, let’s draw on the best of our history. There have been many times that there didn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel and we found one.

I extend a hug to everyone, from the elbow and from the heart.

-Patricia Pérez

IPB Statement: Peace and Global Ceasefire Appeal Absent from the G20 Online Summit

The world’s oldest peace NGO and Nobel Peace Laureate, the International Peace Bureau, regrets that the G20 missed an opportunity to support the call for an ‘immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world’ and that this failure constitutes ‘the missing link’ from the G20’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue reading “IPB Statement: Peace and Global Ceasefire Appeal Absent from the G20 Online Summit”

IPB Supports António Guterres’ Call for a #GlobalCeaseFireNow

On March 23, 2020, António Guterres addressed the world with a powerful message of unity against a common enemy: COVID-19. Now more than ever before, world leaders are seeing the need to use limited resources to protect their people; not by funding the military and ongoing conflicts, but by investing in healthcare and the well-being of all citizens. Continue reading “IPB Supports António Guterres’ Call for a #GlobalCeaseFireNow”

Health Care Instead of Military Exercises

With the recent WHO declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic, concerns are higher than ever about the rapid global spread of the disease with precautions being taken to limit travel, large gatherings, and panic. Nonetheless, one of the largest military drills in Europe since the Cold War is still set to unfold in the coming months, Defender 2020 Europe. The exercises planned to bring together 37,000 soldiers and 7,000 national guardsmen from NATO countries for exercises across Europe to simulate a wartime scenario.

Criticism of the drills are plentiful: putting a stress on European transportation systems, which will prioritize military relocation over civilians and risks damaging roads and the surrounding environment, as well as contributing to climate change; raising the alarm and directing threats toward Russia in the East, including drills near their border in the Baltic countries; and the further militarization of Europe, which takes resources away from social programs to fund forces that make the continent more dangerous, rather than safer.

Recently, however, one concern has risen above the rest: the spread of Covid-19. Similar military exercises have already been cancelled: the remainder of the “Exercise Cold Response 20” in the Arctic Circle was cancelled this week by the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, as has the remainder of the “Exercise Juniper Cobra 20” between the US and Israel (the second such exercises between the two states to be cancelled).

As of March 12, the US has decided to “reduce” its participation in Defender 2020 due to COVID-19, admitting that the virus has already forced the Army Europe commander, Lt. Gen. Christopher Cavoli to self-quarantine after possibly being infected. Nonetheless, the scale of this reduction remains unknown and the primary focus remains on their “highest priority training objectives.” Meanwhile, Poland’s Chief of General Staff has tested positive for COVID-19 following his return from an army gathering in Germany.

It is clear that these military exercises go against the advice of national and international health institutions as well as governments themselves. The large gatherings of military forces not only risks spreading the disease between soldiers, but also the larger population of Europe, given that the soldiers will not be completely isolated from the rest of the population. There is nothing about Defender 2020 that distinguishes it from similar military drills that have already been cancelled – in fact, the larger scale of the drills and involvement of a greater number of countries only risks increased exposure and cases of transmission across Europe.

Similarly, the resources committed to the Defender 2020 drills could be much more effectively used to combat the actual threat to Europe – the spread of the pandemic. Imagine if governments could commit the money they would have spent to run ineffective drills to strengthening their health systems, providing testing equipment, investing in research to fight the virus, and ensure health institutions have the necessary equipment to treat those already infected.

If the case against Defender 2020 wasn’t already strong enough, the COVID-19 virus should be the final nail in the coffin. It is time to cancel the exercises and look for alternative, more effective strategies to maintain peace in Europe.