The struggles and achievements of women across time and across the world cannot be commemorated in one day. Nonetheless, I take this moment to celebrate and honor the achievements made by women and girls across the GNRC Network and around the world on this important occasion of International Women’s Day.
The theme of this year’s celebrations, “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”, aligns well with GNRC’s mission, vision and work we do across the world. It goes without saying that women are the backbone of the society. As we have witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, women have been at the frontline, helping to curb the spread of the virus while caring for their families and the larger community, and bearing the brunt of the negative economic and social impacts of the crisis.
I take this opportunity to pay special tribute to the women who have supported GNRC work despite the enormous challenges they faced. Many are bridging the divide by assisting underprivileged communities and those most vulnerable, specifically children, young people, and mothers. They are working with faith communities, faith leaders and local governments to ensure services reach communities, and that issues affecting children and youth, including climate change, are addressed. The achievements of the GNRC have been due to their tremendous efforts.
However, much more needs to be done to realize gender parity. Gender based discrimination and harmful social and cultural norms continue to prevent women and girls from achieving their full potential. Women are hit hardest during crises, yet they remain absent in decision-making roles. They continue to be sexual-harassed, abused, and receive low pay.
In 2022, we say this must stop! As we recognize the women and girls who are leading the charge on progress, we must create awareness on gender equality and the importance of having women take their rightful place in decision-making processes. More work is needed in the areas of expanding girls’ education and ending gender-based violence and child marriage. Let us envision a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. Let us strive to promote a world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive for all humanity, for the benefit of future generations.
Gender equality is key to peace and sustainable development. Together, as faith communities, professionals, men, women, boys, and girls, let us create a sustainable future for everyone.
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Arigatou International Geneva organized four focus group meetings with children from Brazil, Indonesia and Portugal in the framework of the G20 Interfaith Forum (IF20) through its Education Working Group.
The IF20 offers an annual platform for religious, faith and interfaith organizations communities to constructively engage with the agendas set by the G20 leaders. For 2021, the G20’s agenda focuses on People Planet Prosperity, and the IF20 dedicates its reflection and dialogue on the theme of A Time to Heal.
To understand the perspectives of children on how education can contribute to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the IF20 Education Working Group, of which Arigatou International Geneva is a member, launched a Global Listening Initiative (GLI). Over 2000 young people aged 14-19 from 26 countries participated in the initiative, identifying actions for educational transformation, and providing key information on their lived experiences in diverse contexts.
The participants were invited to reflect on their experiences of life and education during the Covid-19 pandemic; identify who and what have been most supportive to their learning and well-being; and propose educational policy priorities that can explicitly support their healing, learning and flourishing.
The focus group meetings organized by Arigatou International Geneva brought together 46 children aged 14 to 18 from Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities, and over 12 accompanying adults including teachers, social workers and non-formal educators working with children in the framework faith communities.
The meeting in Brazil was organized in collaboration with Ms. Shirley Jungman and with youth and educators from Lar das Crianças da congragação Israelista Paulista. In Indonesia, in collaboration with Mr. Fendra Kus Nuryadi and Ms. Wati Wardami and with students and educators from eight different schools. In Portugal, it was organized in collaboration with Mrs. Manuela Leal from Apostolate Mouvement of Children, as well as with youth from the Professional School Vértice and the support of Mrs. Caroline Gomes.
On 28th September, an IF20 high-level dialogue took place on Zoom, chaired by the IF20 Vice President, Professor Katherine Marshall. National politicians, interfaith leaders and international educational directors drew on their expertise and experiences and explored how these priorities and proposed action might be meaningfully integrated into relevant contexts. Most importantly, selected young people who took part in the Global Listening Initiative joined global leaders and shared their voices and their rationales for such policy priorities and subsequent action.
Arigatou International Geneva supported the preparation of the children and young people attending the event to be active and engaged participants during the meeting.
The dialogue aimed to discuss policy recommendations together with young people, government representatives, religious leaders and civil society representatives. The meeting moderated by Dr. Katherine Marshall, was attended by the Finland State Secretary, the Deputy Minister of Education of Portugal, a member of the Argentinian Parliament, as well as by the President of the Global Tolerance Council in the UAE, among others.
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Following the success of Arigatou International’s previous online courses, the third round of Ethics Education for Children: A Transformative Pedagogy for Learning to Live Together was conducted from 15-28 June 2021. Sixty-six participants from different countries joined the course, offering a diversity-rich environment that helped prompt fruitful dialogues and a diverse exchange of experiences.
During the course, participants explored how to create safe learning environments for children, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the challenge of school’s closures and distance learning, among other limitations. They discussed the ethical challenges brought by the pandemic and its implications for children and youth in their own contexts and explored ways to empower children in addressing these issues.
Participants were introduced to Arigatou International’s Ethics Education Approach, which presents a transformative pedagogy that places children at the center of the learning process, making them drivers of their own learning and agents of positive change in their communities. During the sessions, participants discussed how educators can empower children by ensuring their meaningful participation and providing physical, emotional and spiritual safety.
As part of the course, a webinar was held to reflect on the importance of ethics education for children, particularly during the pandemic. Speakers included Dr. Scherto Gill, Guerrand-Hermes Foundation for Peace; Dr. Xiaoan Li, The Fetzer Institute; Ms. Lilis Musyaropah, Teacher Associated Schools of UNESCO; Prof. Amr Abdalla, University for Peace, and Dr. Vinu Aram, Shanti Ashram.
This series of online courses is part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic to support educators in ensuring children’s social, emotional and spiritual well-being through reflections and tools to foster ethics education. The course was coordinated and facilitated by Mr. Suchith Abeyewickreme, Program Officer of Arigatou International Geneva, Ms. Jane Nyaga, Senior Officer at the Kenya Institute for Curriculum Development, and Ms. Laura Molnar, President of Education for Change, Romania and GNRC member.
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In the framework of Geneva Peace Week 2021, Arigatou International and Safe to Learn organized the workshop Prevention of Violence Against Children in the School Environment to raise awareness of the impact of violence in school settings.
The session highlighted the importance of safe learning environments for children’s development and well-being. Participants helped brainstorm practical and innovative solutions to respond and prevent violence in schools.
The workshop took place on 1 November 2021 with the participation of 50 participants from over 20 countries. Facilitators shared the ethics education framework as a pedagogical tool for creating safe learning environments free of violence and developing competencies in educators to empower children to positively reflect and address violence around them.
The interactive workshop provided opportunities for participants to discuss and challenge social norms and behaviors that condone violence in schools and collectively explore methodological approaches that promote positive practices and inclusive educational spaces.
The workshop was facilitated by Ms. Anne Waichinga, Education and Child Protection Specialist – Kenya; Ms. Laura Molnar, President Education for Change Association – Romania; Mr. Vijayaragavan Gopal, Head of the Youth Leadership Program, Shanti Ashram – India; Ms. Zvonimira Jakic, youth Advisor of the Presidency – Bosnia & Herzegovina; and Ms. Vera Leal, Senior Ethics Education Program Officer, Arigatou International Geneva.
The session was moderated by Ms. Maria Lucia Uribe, Executive Director, Arigatou International Geneva. Concluding remarks were provided by Dr. Chloë Fèvre, Director, Safe to Learn Global Initiative.
Geneva Peace Week is a leading annual forum in the international peacebuilding calendar and the flagship event of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform. The thematic focus on 2021 was “From seeds to systems of peace: Weathering today’s challenges.”
We thank the panel of facilitators for their commitment and support, and the participants for their enthusiastic engagement.
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Arigatou International supported the organization of the Faith and Child Safeguarding Summit a platform for religious institutions, faith-based organizations, academics, and religious leaders to come together, exchange insights, experiences, challenges and best practices on child safeguarding in religious and faith-based contexts.
Spread over 4 days, with 93 international speakers, and nearly 2,000 attendees, this summit ran from 8-11 November 2021 and was specifically designed to help give faith organizations a platform to demonstrate their commitment to child safeguarding.
Ms. Maria Lucia Uribe, Executive Director of Arigatou International Geneva moderated an inter-faith panel titled Faith, Spirituality and Child Safeguarding: An interfaith conversation around preventing Spiritual Abuse on 08 November.
“There is a critical need to protect children who are victims of spiritual abuse, and therefore to create mechanisms or systems to ensure their protection. We also need to empower children to speak up to protect others and to develop their resilience,” she said in her opening remarks.
The discussion included Dr. Denise Ziya Berte, Ph.D., Executive Director at Peaceful Families Project; Rabbi Diana Gerson, Associate Executive Vice President at New York Board of Rabbis, and Dr. Patricia Espinosa Hernández, member of the CEPROME Latin-American Council.
The dialogue focused on spiritual abuse, coercive control and abuse of power in religious institutions. It provided a space for deepening the understanding of spiritual abuse, and for sharing strategies for detecting it and addressing it.
The panel contributed to identifying actionable recommendations and building on promising practices of Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities across the world, to disrupt the chain of harm, reaffirming imperatives for protection, and standing against the perpetration, enabling, or silencing of spiritual abuse.
An inter-faith panel moderated by Ms. Silvia Mazzarelli, Regional Coordinator Global Network of Religions for Children for LAC, and Ms. Vera Leal, Senior Education Officer at Arigatou International Geneva was held on 11 November. The session was titled Enhancing Child Safeguarding in Faith Communities through Child Participation: Multi-faith Perspective Across Regions, and it looked at child participation as a central pillar of child safeguarding.
Members and partners of the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia, shared their experiences on the practical application of child participation and implications on violence prevention and response, in Buddhist, Christian and Muslim communities.
The panel was composed of Mr. Guillermo Niño Fernández, Pastor, Methodist Church of México; Zam Obed, Field Officer, Childslife-Kenya; Ms. Azam Sahih de Matin, founder of the Institute of Education in Virtues for Human Development, and Ms. Opor Srisuwan, Project Coordinator of Assessing Child Protection, International Network of Engaged Buddhists.
The dialogue provided a unique space to explore challenges and opportunities to create religious spaces that are age-appropriate and child-friendly and equip children to stand up and break the silence on their own abuse, while also working with faith leaders, families, and caregivers.
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