Features
Newsday reporter
On the World Day of Peace, observed on September 21, local and international organizers of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) conference reflected on what peace and justice mean to disenfranchised communities across the Caribbean .
They also encouraged community organizers to get involved in the conversation by submitting a proposal to attend the 29th IPRA conference, to be held at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, St Ann’s from 17-23 May 2023.
Founded in 1964 as an international non-profit scientific association of peace researchers and educators, IPRA members are focused on conflict and its prevention, the successes and failures of building societies based on justice, and the role of resistance in the fight against oppression. , said in a press release. .
The call for conference applications is now open to artists, activists, students, researchers, community organizers and more.
This will be the first time the IPRA conference will be held in the Caribbean and is expected to attract hundreds of peace and justice scholars, educators, activists and artists from around the world for four days of discussions and workshops, the release said.
Dr. Hakim Mohandas Amani Williams, co-chair of the IPRA 2023 Conference Planning Committee and professor/director of Peace and Justice Studies at Gettysburg College believes that Trinidad and Tobago is the perfect place to have this conversation, the release said.
“Growing up in Laventille, I saw the promise and the danger. I saw innovations and different types of violence. This was my basis for studying peace education. Therefore, it is now my honor to bring this international peace conference to TT,” Williams said in the release.
Attillah Springer, co-chairman of the local organizing committee of the IPRA 2023 conference said that now is the time to find solutions.
“For societies like ours living in the shadow of legacy colonial violence and trauma, escalating rates of violence against women and children, and on the brink of climate catastrophe, it is hard to remain optimistic,” Springer said in the release.
“But this is hardly a time for despair. If we are to have any chance of a future, now is the time for us to put our heads together and come up with practical, tangible and achievable solutions.
“We also have a long history of thinkers and doers in TT and our rich culture has been a space for us to resist, rethink and reform our communities and we hope to give this cultural force a chance to excellent at the conference.”
Interested individuals and organizations are invited to submit proposals for plenaries, panels, poster sessions, art exhibitions and installations, video presentations, experiential workshops, restorative justice circles, youth workshops, and song/dance/movement workshops/performances, among others.
Angelique Nixon, also co-chair of the local organizing committee, said the call is under the theme, Rooted Futures: Collective Visions of Peace and Justice.
“We must focus our energies now more than ever on peace and justice; and how we create change and transform harmful cultural norms and violence that affect our families, our youth, our seniors, our most vulnerable communities, our region and our environment,” Nixon said in the release. We have an open call for proposals under the theme, Rooted Futures: Collective Visions of Peace and Justice, and invite submissions on issues involving peace and justice in community organizing, restorative justice and community building, community and movement led by young people. she said.
Proposals, due by October 31, can be submitted at: https://www.ipra2023.org/call-for-proposals.
For more information on IPRA2023 TT: www.ipra2023.org or email [email protected]
