Initiatives and projects for living in peace
The rise in the importance and influence of ICT in conflict mediation and transformation processes marked the debates at the 1st International Congress: Conflict, Conflict Resolution and Peace organised by the UOC’s Campus for Peace and Solidarity. The ability of new technologies to open up new spaces for dialogue and negotiation and the use to which they can be put in the field of conflict resolution has had a bearing on many of the projects presented and debated at the congress.
The former Director-General of the UNESCO, Federico Mayor Zaragoza was confident that the use of new technologies would aid the creation of a participative democracy.
In his keynote speech, Federico Mayor Zaragoza denounced the lack of quality in western democracies and stressed that justice has been replaced by large-scale patronage. The former Director-General of the UNESCO showed his support for the publicising of conflicts to mobilise public opinion.
Federico Mayor Zaragoza stressed the potential of ICT to help develop a democracy guided by universal values to negotiate the culture of violence.
The former Director-General of the UNESCO issued another warning when he pointed out that a significant part of the world – the developing countries – is tired of waiting. This situation was confirmed dramatically by the Iraqi association leader Basil Albadri, who stressed that Iraq is tired and exhausted following years and years of the Saddam Hussein dictatorship, with the complicity of the United States, and after more than 3 years of American military intervention.
Federico Mayor Zaragoza & Imma Tubella
Basil Albadri & Eduard Vinyamata
Nelsa Curbelo