Risks on Possession of small arms and light weapons in Syria

The Permanent Peace Movement  held in collaboration with Noon Organization for peace-building, 

a conference on the possession and use of small arms and light weapons in Syria.

This conference took place in Arjan Rotana Hotel - Beirut on 25 and 26 January

and twenty people attended from Syria and Lebanon.

Regional meeting on "The Risk of Acquisition and spreading the light weapons in MENA Region"

Within the framework of a regional project in partnership with Permanent Peace Movement and the Federal Republic of Germany – Foreign Office; a Regional Meeting under the title of “ Dangers of Small Arms in the Middle East region” was held on the 18^th and the 19^th of December 2013 in the Radisson hotel in Beirut.

The Regional meeting started with a speech by Mr.Carsten Meyer-Wiefhausen; the representative of the German Embassy in Lebanon; who addressed the citizens of the Middle East concerning the dangers of possession, useandspread ofsmall arms and the importance of raising awareness. Mr.Fadi Abi Allam; president of Permanent Peace Movement; emphasized the widespread availability of small arms that explains the growing acts of violence and crimes and that the purchase of weapons in political disputes is almost the equivalent of being drawn into the logic of authoritarian and repressive states.

Abi Allam described the current international situation about the Arms Trade Treaty- ATT and highlighted the importance of its ratification by more than 50 states. However, many more countries still need to ratify, and he emphasized on the role of civil society in advocacy for this topic. He also mentioned that this is important in order to contribute to increased human security conditions and to the spread of a culture of peace and human rights.

The conference participants who were coming from Libya, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine spoke about the situation of their respective countries and the many challenges lying ahead. Some expressed the feeling that addressing the issue of small arms in war and post-war societies was difficult. However, in the following sessions, participants thought about possible strategies to address this issue in their societies.

At the end of this regional meeting; the participants put together local action plans in order to increase awareness in their civil societies and toplay a leading role in raising awareness of the dangers of weapons and pressure for laws regulating the possession and trafficking of arms.

لقاء إقليمي حول مخاطر حيازة وإنتشار الأسلحة الخفيفة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط

نظمت حركة السلام الدائم بالتعاون مع وزارة الخارجية الإلمانية اللقاء الإقليمي حول مخاطر حيازة وإنتشار الأسلحة الخفيفة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط، في فندق الراديسون في بيروت، بحضور ممثلين عن جمعيات المجتمع المدني المعنية من كل من جمهورية مصر العربية وليبيا وسوريا وفلسطين ولبنان.

وإفتتح اللقاء بكلمة ألقاها ممثل سفارة دولة ألمانيا الإتحادية في بيروت كارستن ماير، الذي شدد على ضرورة التعاون الإقليمي والدولي من أجل التوعية على مخاطر إنتشار السلاح وكذلك الضغط من أجل توقيع وإقرار الإتفاقية الدولية الخاصة بمعاهدة تجارة الأسلحة الموقعة في نيويورك في نيسان (أبريل) 2013.

من جهته، ورأى رئيس حركة السلام الدائم فادي أبي علام، في كلمة ترحيبية، أن "الإنتشار الواسع للأسلحة الصغيرة والخفيفة يفسر أفعال العنف وتنامي الجريمة"، لافتاً الى أن "توسّل السلاح في النزاعات السياسية يكاد يعادل الإنجرار إلى منطق الدول الإستبدادية والقمعية".

 وأضاء أبي علام على أسباب ظاهرة السلاح وإستسهال اللجوء إليه في حل كافة الخلافات. وقال إنه على منظمات المجتمع المدني أن تضطلع بدورها في التوعية على مخاطر السلاح والضغط من أجل تعديل القوانين التي تنظم حيازة الأسلحة والإتجار بها، كما عليها مسؤولية العمل على نشر ثقافة حل النزاعات بالطرق السلمية واللاعنفية بما ينسجم مع حقوق الانسان وعلى رأسها الحق في الحياة.

وتخلل المؤتمر الذي استمر على مدى يومين، مداخلات من قبل المشاركين من الدول العربية الذين عرضوا لتجاربهم الوطنية الخاصة، على أن ينتهي المؤتمر مساء اليوم الخميس بوضع  خطط عمل مستقبلية للتصدي لظاهرة حيازة وإنتشار الأسلحة الخفيفة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط.

نشاطات مشروع " مسارات الديمقراطية و تمكين الشباب في لبنان"

استكمالاً لنشاطات مشروع "مسارات الديمقراطية و تمكين الشباب في لبنان" وبالتعاون مع جمعية "فكرة" و المجلس الاعلى للطفولة، عقد اجتماع في مقر #حركة_السلام_الدائم في المكلس من اجل متابعة مراحل المشروع و تحديد الخطوات اللاحقة، على غرار تنظيم ورش عمل حول المناصرة وحقوق الطفل ونشاطات ثقافية أخرى.

A series of activities for Permanent Peace Movement in the "International Day of Peace"

International Day of Peace 2013

Permanent Peace Movement organizes on the International Day of Peace, which falls on September 21, a variety of educational, training and entertainment activities , involving a large number of volunteers , students and civil society activists from several Lebanese regions.

In this context, PPM  organizes a youth camp entitled: " bridges of peace " , involving more than 30  of Permanent Peace Movement Volunteers , at Al Ramliyeh – Mount Lebanon . The camp runs from September 20 to 22.

Theatre of Babel hosts on September 27 a presentation of the play " Beirut – Tarik al Jadide ", written and directed by Yahya Jaber and Ziad Itani representation , to be attended by about 300 students and teachers from various Lebanese regions. The Play is comedian one and speaks about Beirut memory and specifically Tarik al Jadide area, and will open a discussion about the individual and collective memory of the country and the importance of reconciliation and strengthening civil peace.

In the first of October , the PPM regulating a  play called “E-mail Maryam” for Gisele Hashim Zarad , , on the stage of secondary Laure Moghaizel School in Ashrafieh. The play is directed for children and includes guidance for parents and children alike , about the dangers to use the Internet and how to deal with it.

In the same context, Madame Aoun Secondary School, located in Furn al Shoubak hosts a Play called “demonstration"  “Al- Mouzahara”, on the fourth of October 2013, the play is written and represented by the Volunteers of Permanent Peace Movement, in addition to a number of students . Performing address the role that could be played by the Lebanese youth in the process of change and peace-building and conflict resolution through peaceful means, in line with the values ​​that the Permanent Peace Movement seeks to put in place and circulated through the entire activities , workshops and training camps organized throughout the year. The play will be also presented in “Barja” area, mid - October.

President Of PPM: Mr. Fadi Abi Allam was present

This weekend, GPPAC members from Lebanon and Ghana and a representative of its Global Secretariat are attending an expert meeting on the European Union (EU) and the League of Arab States (LAS):

The EU and the LAS are stepping up their co-operation on a range of issues, including energy, culture, empowerment of women, legal affairs, human rights, humanitarian assistance, electoral process, crisis management and early warning. In addition, recent EU-LAS declarations and the joint work programme underlined the importance of civil society, in particular in light of current regional transformations.

In this context, the European Union, The League of Arab States and the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) have organized the expert-level meeting ‘European Union – League of Arab States co-operation and the EU response to changes in the Arab region: Views from Civil Society.’ The meeting is taking place now in Veletta, Malta, and seeks to:

• Gather analysis from civil society experts from the Middle East and North Africa region and Europe on the key challenges of peaceful transformation in the Arab world, the EU's response to these regional transformations and EU-LAS cooperation in developing regional and joint responses
• Discuss the relationship between regional organizations and civil society in addressing these regional issues

Participants include representatives of the EU and the LAS and civil society representatives. GPPAC will be represented by Fadi Abi Allam, GPPAC’s Regional Representative in the Middle East and North Africa and founder of the Permanent Peace Movement (PPM), Chukwuemeka B. Eze, Programs Director at W-A-N-E-P, and Darynell Rodríguez Torres, GPPAC’s Programme Manager Policy and Advocacy.

(picture is from a previous meeting of GPPAC representatives with the LAS at their headquarters in Cairo)