Reporting on Conflict | Media Watch Blog

• News source:
• 10 August 2010
• Washington Post
• By Josh Tapper

Contrary to largely gloomy cultural perceptions, growing old brings some benefits, notably emotional and cognitive stability. Laura Carstensen, a Stanford social psychologist, calls this the “well-being paradox.” Although adults older than 65 face challenges to body and brain, the 70s and 80s also bring an abundance of social and emotional knowledge, qualities scientists are beginning to define as wisdom. As Carstensen and another social psychologist, Fredda Blanchard-Fields of the Georgia Institute of Technology, have shown, adults gain a toolbox of social and emotional instincts as they age. According to Blanchard-Fields, seniors acquire a feel, an enhanced sense of knowing right from wrong, and therefore a way to make sound life decisions.

• News source:
• July 2010
• MCC

• News source:
• 2009
• You Tube
• By Mystic Ball: The Movie

Description of the game:

• News source:
• 10 August 2010
• Civicus
• By V.Finn Heinrich

V.Finn Heinrich, CSI’s friend and until the end of 2006 CIVICUS’ Director of Programs, has published online his doctoral dissertation “What Makes Civil Society Strong?“.

The study addresses the most important research questions facing civil society scholars and practitioners today, i.e.

* How to conceptualize and measure civil society?
* How to explain the different strengths of civil societies across the world?
* How to support efforts to strengthen civil society?

The entire dissertation can be downloaded … here

• News source:
• 10 August 2010
• UN New Centre

Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
10 August 2010 – The start of the trial of Omar Khadr – arrested in Afghanistan in 2002 for crimes he allegedly committed as a child – before the United States Military Commission in Guantánamo Bay today could set a precedent jeopardizing the status of child soldiers around the world, a United Nations envoy cautioned.

Mr. Khadr, the last child soldier held in Guantánamo, was 15 years old when he allegedly threw a grenade that killed a US soldier. He faces war crimes charges at his trial.

Radhika Coomaraswamy, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, stressed in a statement that the statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is clear that no one under the age of 18 should be tried for war crimes.

• News source:
• 10 August 2010
• Latin American Herald Tribune

MEXICO CITY – Hundreds of Mexican journalists marched Saturday in this capital and other cities nationwide in defense of freedom of expression and to demand an end to violence, intimidation and harassment.

More than 64 journalists have been killed and 11 more have gone missing since 2000 in Mexico, considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for reporters and one of the nations where those who kill news professionals are least likely to pay for their crimes.

“We don’t want more slain, kidnapped or disappeared colleagues because we don’t want zones of silence in the country. We reject any act of intimidation against freedom of expression because we defend the citizens’ right to (information),” according to a statement to which Efe gained access.

• News source:
• 10 August 2010
• Ekklesia

Christians are being encouraged to “share a little peace with their neighbours”, in the form of a new booklet from the Methodist Church.

Lavishly illustrated, A Gift of Peace features quotes from the Bible as well as reflections on peace from a variety of authors including Lao Tzu, Benjamin Franklin and Mother Theresa of Calcutta.

Churches are encouraged to give the booklets away as well as using them for personal or small group reflection.

• News source:
• 10 August 2010
• Phnom Penh Post
• By Mom Kunthear and Brooke Lewis

THE last time we saw her, Ana, formerly a glamourous young celebrity with a penchant for other women’s husbands, was lying in a hospital bed, stripped of her beauty after being attacked by two jealous wives who poured 5 litres of acid over her face and body.

Fortunately, Ana is a fictional character in a Cambodian soap opera, and she is being touted by the show’s producer as the first television protagonist to become the victim of an acid attack.

Poan Phoung Bopha, producer of Women Tricks, a popular primetime soap opera, said yesterday that she wanted to use Ana to foster a discussion among viewers about acid violence, as the issue is rarely raised in popular culture.

• News source:
• 10 August 2010
• MePeace
• By Eyal Raviv

This is an update about the first annual Muslim Jewish Conference in Vienna – a gathering of young professionals from 25 countries.

The Muslim Jewish Conference is a dream for interfaith dialogue that young students worked hard to realize. The size was right – sixty participants from Indonesia to Israel.

• News source:
• 9 August 2010
• Huffington Post
• USA" "Ninety years ago, on Aug. 26, 1920, women finally won the vote after an excruciating yet nonviolent campaign to gain it."
• By Ellen Snortland

“A man of quality is not threatened by a woman for equality.”

That’s a familiar bumper sticker slogan for some of us. Men are crucial to any social movement, especially the gender equality revolution. That’s kind of a no-brainer, right? I especially want men to stand with us for the 90th anniversary of women’s right to vote on August 26.

As some of my readers know, I’ve been a goodwill ambassador for the National Women’s History Project for a few years now. I beat the drum at the beginning of every August to encourage all people — not only women — to mark August 26 in some way. Ninety years ago, on Aug. 26, 1920, women finally won the vote after an excruciating yet nonviolent campaign to gain it.

• News source:
• 4 August 2010
• # The Patriotic Vanguard, Sierra Leone
• By Tony Bee

Former Expo Times editor Dr Ibrahim Seaga Shaw, aka Tech, now Senior Research Fellow at the University of the West of England (UK) was among five peace research academics elected to represent the Africa region in the International Peace Research Association Governing Council (IPRA) at the organization’s biennal conference hosted by the University of Sydney between 6th and 10th July 2010…

IPRA, which has about 1400 individual members and many associate group members worldwide, is an international non-governmental organisation seeking to advance trans-disciplinary research into the conditions of sustainable peace and the causes of war and other forms of violence…

In addition to presenting two academic papers on human rights journalism, and peace journalism and education at the Sydney IPRA conference, Dr Shaw was the co-convener of the Peace Journalism Commission which brought together 26 paper presenters from internationally diverse backgrounds (Europe, Asia, Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and North America). He was also endorsed to continue in this capacity to help organise the next IPRA conference billed to take place in 2012 in Hiroshima, Japan.

• News source:

5th ASIA PACIFIC MEDIATION FORUM (APMF) EVENT
ASIA PACIFIC MEDIATION LEADERSHIP SUMMIT:
‘FROM TALK TO ACTION’.
BANGKOK, JULY 6, 7 & 8, 2011

The first ever Asia Pacific Mediation Leadership Summit will be hosted by the Asia Pacific Mediation Forum (APMF) in Bangkok, 6, 7 and 8 July, 2011, in collaboration with key organisations in Bangkok and in other countries in the Asia Pacific region. Please note that the date has been moved because of the political unrest in Thailand. The APMF proposes to act as the umbrella organisation for this and future leadership meetings, as it has representatives from a wide range of countries and organisations in the Asia Pacific region on its Steering Committee and has conducted four successful conferences in the region (Australia, Singapore, Fiji & Malaysia) since 2001. One of our APMF Executive members, Martine Miller, has agreed to convene the Summit with support from the other Executive members.

We seek to collaborate with a range of organisations in this and future initiatives and invite relevant organisations in the region to contact us to express interest. Please note that this activity is not-for-profit.

Purpose: To bring together experienced conflict resolution and mediation practitioners, researchers, educators, trainers and policy makers from different cultural, organisational and professional backgrounds who are culturally fluent, creative and innovative, want to contribute (and build on) their knowledge and expertise, and are prepared to play a leadership role in transforming the way that conflicts are handled in the Asia Pacific region.

Aims:
1. To identify challenges, build capacity and promote collaboration, cross-cultural awareness and understanding regarding approaches to conflict and mediation in the region.
2. To mine the collective depths of the participants’ knowledge and experience and strategise for change initiatives that can expand the field and promote peace in the region.
3. To produce concrete, written outcomes from focused, facilitated roundtable discussions that can be implemented by organisations, and which have real potential to impact on and transform the mediation and conflict resolution fields in culturally fluent ways.

Draft format for the Summit

1. We propose to identify key themes, and sub-themes, in collaboration with the participants, in advance of the meeting via an interactive internet site and/or an on-line survey.
2. We will identify and invite an inspirational keynote speaker for each of the chosen themes to identify key issues and their relevance to the Asia Pacific region in order to stimulate round-table discussions.
3. We will identify and invite expert facilitators and recorders who can focus and inspire a number of round table discussions over three days; each table will focus on a different topic and identify specific and achievable outcomes.
4. We will invite participants to forward a 2000 word paper prior to the Summit which will be distributed on a CD to all participants. Authors will be able to choose to have their paper peer reviewed for possible inclusion in an edited book after the Summit.

The themes will be developed with the participants on-line prior to the conference via a special interactive website – they need to be cross-cutting and of interest to people from all fields of practice in the Asia-Pacific region.

We would be pleased to receive an indication of interest from organisations who wish to collaborate with us in this event and from individual mediators who are interested in attending the Summit. We will be posting information onto the APMF website (see address below) and circulating more specific details about the Summit by email in the next few weeks.

Please circulate this information to others in your network.

Asia Pacific Mediation Forum: http://www.apmec.unisa.edu.au