La Fiesta: Arts That Protects

The team leading the Creating Safer Space research project Art that Protects: Contributions of artistic-cultural initiatives to the self-protection strategies of young people and women in the context of the urban conflict in Medellín, 2022 is visiting Aberystwyth, Wales.

All welcome to the below in-person event.

Thursday, 19 October 2023
Time: 10.30 – 12.00
Venue: Cinema, Aberystwyth Arts Centre

With:

Adriana Diosa and Oscar Manuel Zuluaga (Harlequin and the Jugglers, Colombia)
Beatriz Arias López and Laura Jimenez (University of Antioquia, Colombia)
Berit Bliesemann de Guevara (International Politics, AU)

Financed by the Creating Safer Space network, the research project “Art that Protects” looked at the impact of twenty cultural organisations who work with communities in the city of Medellín, Colombia, in areas which are highly vulnerable and affected by urban violence. The project showed the power of community art in this context. By strengthening social ties, erasing the invisible boundaries that divide neighbourhoods, and empowering marginalised groups, community art creates safer space for communities living amidst violent conflict. As a platform for the inhabitants of the neighbourhood to express themselves, to denounce, to undergo catharsis, and to resist, community-based art becomes the umbrella that protects civilians from violence and creates safer space for life.

This event combines the presentation of the project findings and short video clips from the project-based play “La Fiesta” with elements of live theatre and a discussion with the audience to explore the power of the arts to provide safer space in violent contexts.

All welcome! Please reserve your free ticket on Eventbrite.

New working papers on UCP in Colombia

The Creating Safer Space network has published a new working paper, ‘Unarmed Civilian Protection and Community Self-Protection in Colombia: A Literature Review’. The working paper is written by Laura Jiménez Ospina and Beatriz Elena Arias López at the University of Antioquia, and it is available in both Spanish and English.

The working paper draws upon 617 records that were collected, including academic literature, reports from civil society organisations and audiovisual material. The working paper explores literatures regarding the self-protection mechanisms that exist in Colombia and the communities that have used them; national and international NGOs that support human rights defenders and communities that live in contexts of violence; and other important discussions around UCP and self-protection.

All Creating Safer Space working papers are available here:

Creating Safer Space Working Papers

UCP Research Forum on Asia

The Creating Safer Space team at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, invites you to the third UCP Research Forum on Asia.

12.30 – 2.00 pm UTC (7.30 – 9.00 pm Bangkok time) on Tuesday 26 September
Please use a timezone converter to check your local time.

This time, there will be 2 presentations as follows:

1) “Understanding the Changing Strategy and Practice of Civilian Protection under the Military Junta: A case from Kachin and Northern Shan, Myanmar”
by Nang Seng Law (Nonviolent Peace Force Myanmar)

2) “UCP in southern Thailand: Developing Civilian Protection Guidelines for Violence-prone Communities”
by Fareeda Panjor (Prince of Songkhla University, Pattani, Thailand) and Anchana Heemmina (Director, Duayjai group)

Please Register for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEuc-GtqjIsG9XmWc2KcfZDaiQmNMOaxedM

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Invitation to Film Festival

First Festival CineAndo with my people: participatory video and community cinema

The Creating Safer Space project Community strategies for Unarmed Civilian Protection in South-West Colombia: local experiences and lessons learned is organising a Film Festival focused on participatory video and community cinema. The deadline for applying to show a film at the festival is 8 October 2023.

The “I Festival CineAndo con mi gente: video participativo y cine comunitario” (“First Festival CineAndo with my people: participatory video and community cinema”), which will take place on 15 and 16 November in the city of Cali, Colombia, is an event that brings together amateur filmmakers, students, artists and members of the community to share, explore and celebrate audiovisual creativity that emerges from a collective and collaborative perspectives. The Festival’s main objective is to provide an inclusive space where individual and collective voices come together to share their stories in ways that reflect the reality, diversity and aspirations of their communities.

Through the screening of videos, short films and other audiovisual works, the festival offers a platform for the presentation of productions resulting from the active participation andcollaboration of different actors. These audiovisual creations can address a wide range of local and global issues, including analysis of socio-cultural situations, reflections on society and personal experiences.

The festival is not limited to the screening of films. It also encourages interaction and dialogue through conversations, talks and interactive workshops. These spaces seek to allow participants to explore a series of topics such as differences and similarities between community cinema and participatory video, learnings and lessons, and challenges of collaborative audiovisual production techniques.

In addition to celebrating creativity and participation, the festival also has a commemorative
component as it makes memory of social leaders and communities who have been victims of the conflict in the country. In so doing, the Festival also provides opportunities for reflection on issues such as human rights, social justice and historical memory. In this sense, the festival can include screenings that pay homage to territorial leaders and debates that promote reflection on social change through cinema and audiovisuals.

More information about how to make an application to show a video at the Festival is available here:

First Festival CineAndo with my people: participatory video and community cinema

Application Form

Newsletter from “The Social Process of Guarantees of Antioquia, Colombia” project

The research team of the Creating Safer Space project The Social Process of Guarantees of Antioquia, Colombia has produced a newsletter, which details their fieldwork with indigenous and peasant communities in Bajo Cauca.

Group of women leaders of the Almendros 2 Indigenous Community, El Bagre 2023

The research team carried out ‘word circles’ with the communities, in order to “deepen the information on the protection and self-protection strategies planned and executed by the ethnic communities and peasant organizations, and the results they have obtained, recognizing the individual and collective practices, motivations and lessons learned”. The research team also accompanied the installation of white flags as a self-protection mechanism.

The newsletter details the findings of the fieldwork, and is available here:
Spanish (original)
English (google translated, so please be aware it may contain inaccuracies)

UCP Research Forum on Asia

The Creating Safer Space team at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, invites you to the second UCP Research Forum on Asia.

This month, Arfiansyah (International Centre for Aceh and Indian Ocean Studies) and Delsy Ronnie (Nonviolent Peaceforce) will share experiences and insights from their research project, “Exploring Local Infrastructures and Initiatives for Civilian (Self) Protection in Papua amidst Violent Conflict”.

7.30 – 9.00 pm Bangkok time (12.30 – 2.00 pm UTC) on Wednesday 23 August
Please use a timezone converter to check your local time.

The session will be held in English.

Please register for this online Zoom event here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwofuqrpzgiGdfslGBqoXnqTWFTaN-0EFQh

Research Café: The Centrality of Relationships to Nonviolence and UCP

The aim of the network-wide Creating Safer Space Research Café is to enable people in different parts of the world to exchange knowledge and to help build a community of Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) researchers and practitioners.

At the next Research Café, Louise Ridden and Felicity Gray will present their research on the Unarmed Civilian Protection in theory and in practice, and the similarities and differences they found in the work.

2.00 – 3.30 pm UTC on Monday 21 August

Please use a timezone converter to check your local time.

The session will be held in English and Spanish with simultaneous translation.

Please register for this online Zoom event here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkduihqzgsHNLpCgxv5JPo3dMLDbUDK6vk

Fieldwork update from “The Social Process of Guarantees of Antioquia, Colombia” project

The research team of the Creating Safer Space project The Social Process of Guarantees of Antioquia, Colombia spent time in El Bagre with the Indigenous communities of the Senú people and Almendros 2, accompanying a tour of their territory and the installation of white flags as a self-protection mechanism.

This work supports the Indigenous communities’ organizational processes and humanitarian experiences by supporting proposals for building peace within the territory.

You can follow this work on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Scholars at Risk: Understanding vulnerability and violence faced by Myanmar refugee scholars in northern Thailand

Since the 2021 military coup in Myanmar, the regime’s brutality and political turmoil have escalated, leading to increased suffering and intensified oppression. Thousands of individuals have been killed, detained, or forced to flee their homes in order to escape the junta’s brutality. Many of these individuals have sought refuge in neighbouring Thailand, undertaking perilous journeys both with and without proper documentation. However, those without proper documents face significant limitations and risks, including the threat of being searched, arrested, and deported. To address these challenges and shed light on the experiences of refugees in Northern Thailand, the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) and Nonviolent Peaceforce Myanmar collaborated with local scholars to explore protection mechanisms and resilience in these exile communities.

*Three-finger Flower strike: A symbol of non-violent resistance against the dictatorship*

PROJECT TEAM

Dr Chayan Vaddhanaputi, Regional Center for Social Sciences and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Chiangmai University, Thailand (co-principal investigator)
Nonviolent Peaceforce Myanmar (co-principal investigator)
Kyaw Kyaw, Nonviolent Peaceforce Myanmar (project researcher)

*Prof. Chayan Vaddhanaputi giving a lecture*

RESEARCH OUTPUTS

Report: Understanding Practices of Protection and Resilience

The project has produced a report, Understanding Practices of Protection and Resilience: Co-producing knowledge among Myanmar scholars-in-exile, edited by Aung Kyaw Thein and Elliot Lodge.

Using multimedia approaches to increase visibility of and preference for Unarmed Civilian Protection approaches

While Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) approaches have proven to be effective in managing conflicts and protecting civilians trapped in conflicts, their application remains low in Kenya. This can be partly attributed to the low awareness and understanding of what UCP entails. Even in circumstances where UCP has been applied, those engaging with these methods are often not aware that they are using UCP approaches, and the unconscious application of the methods may affect the effectiveness of their interventions. The aim of this project was therefore to address low awareness and low uptake of UCP in managing conflicts in Uasin Gishu and Nairobi counties of Kenya. Drawing on research findings and good practices around UCP in the management of conflict by state and non-state actors, the project increased the understanding, visibility, preference for, and advocacy of UCP. The project responded to perennial conflicts in two counties. In Uasin Gishu County in the North Rift Valley the main causes of conflict are political tensions, cattle rustling, and contestation over natural resources such as water and pasture. In Nairobi, the main causes of conflict are struggles over scarce resources and job opportunities among young people and ethnic groups living in the Kibera, Mathare, and Kariobangi informal settlements as well as widespread discrimination based on ethnic origin and nepotism.

*AWCFS holding dialogue with women in Laikipia County on Peace and Security issues and their role in peace building. Photograph by AWCFS.*

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

The project produced radio programmes to create awareness of, advocate for, and educate communities on the approaches and benefits of UCP. These were aimed at communities, state actors, development partners, and civil society organisations (CSOs). The radio shows were aired on Kitwek FM Station that broadcasts to Uasin Gishu and other counties, and Ghetto FM radio that broadcasts in Nairobi, especially targeting populations in the informal settlements and low-income areas of the city.
The project conducted two training workshops, each two days long, to build the capacity of selected media practitioners working in the two counties, Uasin Gishu and Nairobi. The workshops enabled the media practitioners to learn about UCP and about how to use the acquired knowledge to promote UCP as an approach to conflict management. The selected journalists had all reported on conflict before. These journalists were then invited to disseminate the findings of the two Creating Safer Space projects in Kenya, Strengthening Local Capacities for Unarmed Civilian Protection in Uasin Gishu led by Rural Women Peace Link (RWPL) and Nonviolent Artivism Against Police Brutality led by the Peace Tree Network (PTN).
The project documented and showcased in-depth stories of change of how UCP approaches have been used to successfully manage conflicts in Uasin Gishu and Nairobi counties.

PROJECT TEAM

Arthur Okwemba, African Woman and Child Feature Service (project lead)

Ruth Omukhango, African Woman and Child Feature Service

PROJECT OUTPUTS

Publication

The project has published a report, UCP in Action: Using peaceful and unarmed responses to conflict management. This contains six short articles that show how people in different parts of Kenya are using unarmed civilian protection to protect themselves and others in different contexts of violence.