Swords into plowshares
About this blog
Swords into Plowshares is the blog of the Peacemaking Program and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations of the Presbyterian Mission Agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Seeking peace. Striving for justice. Together.
Recent posts
- Hold Sudanese Human Rights Violators Accountable!
- US remarks at high-level talks on trafficking
- Three Prayer Concerns - May 16
- Three Prayer Concerns - May 9
- A New Method of Healing for a Wounded World
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May 2012
May 28, 2012Torture Awareness Month 2012
Torture Awareness Month is just around the corner, and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is providing leadership to a national coalition of religious and human rights organizations in organizing a series of coordinated activities in the final week of June.
One important opportunity to engage your congregation and community in this effort is holding a local vigil on Tuesday, June 26, to mark the UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims. The coalition has just published an Organizer’s Toolkit with testimony from torture survivors, a poem written by a Guantanamo prisoner, and a template media advisory ...
May 24, 2012
Mayan Renaissance
I attended my first film premiere during the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples.
Mayan Renaissance features Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum and shares 4000 years of Mayan wisdom and hisory. This powerful and inspiring film tells the story of the Mayan people: the rise and glory of the Mayan civilization; the arrival of the Spanish and 500 years of oppression and resistance; the efforts of the Mayans to regain their voice and shape their own future; the creation of an indigenous political party; Rigoberta Menchu's campaigns for President; the people's vision for the future; and ...
May 23, 2012
Red Hands continue their work
We just learned that in the past two months, Cote d'Ivoire, Malaysia, and Niger have ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in armed conflict.
The international consensus that children are children and not soldiers continues to grow.
Thanks be to all who have made Red Hands.
Thanks be to God!
May 17, 2012
Do one thing for diversity and inclusion
Can you do one thing for diversity and inclusion on May 21? What will it be?
In 2001, UNESCO adopted the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and in December 2002, the UN General Assembly, in its resolution 57/249, declared May 21 to be the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.
The day provides us with an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the values of cultural diversity and to learn to live together better.
On the occasion of UN World Day for Cultural Diversity, UNESCO and the UN Alliance of Civilizations are sponsoring a global campaign ...
May 15, 2012
Palestinian prisoners, Israel agree to end of hunger strike
Here are a number of reports about the end of the hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners. Thanks are in order for this development and for all who helped make it possible. Prayers are in order for those who have been on the hunger strike – for their health and wellbeing – for their nonviolent witness. Work is in order to recognize and respect the human rights of Palestinians. The effort to establish a just and durable peace for Palestinians and Israelis continues.