Concerted Action for Sustainable Peace: Cases of the "Legislate Peace" Project

HWPL is conducting the "Legislate Peace" (LP) project, an initiative to garner support for the DPCW and achieve its adoption at the international level. Starting this year, we have launched new campaigns to bring fresh energy to our society that has grown weary of the pandemic.

Online Study Group on the DPCW Handbook

One of the campaigns is an online study group on the DPCW Handbook. This handbook explains the 10 articles and 38 clauses of the DPCW in detail. The study aims to teach citizens about the values and spirit of peace embodied in each article and urge them to support the DPCW.

The idea of the handbook was first suggested at the 7th International Law Peace Committee Meeting in 2019 and was developed step by step even in the midst of the pandemic. As a result, the handbook was finalized in October 2020. The handbook includes content on each article of the DPCW as well as related international issues, which can open in-depth discussions on why peace is necessary and how it can be achieved.

Dr. Mizanur Rahman, dean and professor of law at the University of Dhaka, recruited law school students from 14 universities in Bangladesh and India and held online study sessions using the DPCW Handbook.

Q. Why did you introduce the DPCW Handbook as a textbook of education?
I think that the DPCW Handbook enables us to systematically teach international law and the essence of peace to these students and others. And that enables these students to become lecturers in the following course.

Q. Please tell us how you felt while hosting the DPCW Handbook Discussion Project.
It was very interesting to see how these students become lecturers in international [laws] and ambassadors of peace while they talked to others the DPCW Handbook and how they become ambassadors of peace in the whole world.

Q. Do you have any plans after the DPCW Handbook Discussion Project?
Obviously I do have, because after the instructions in the DPCW Handbook on peace, I want to become a lecturer in DPCW Handbook and inculcate the message of DPCW peace through my students. So I will be a lecturer not only at my home, but I want to reach out to the students elsewhere in other cities and in the region as such.

The DPCW handbook online study sessions have been held in 20 schools in Bangladesh, India, and Tunisia since November 2020. Students analyzed and explored the DPCW through discussions and presentations, while legal experts and professors participated as mentors.

Mr. Arifur Rahman, Bangladesh, Department of Law, University of Dhaka/Student

Q. Please feel free to tell us what you felt special about participating in the DPCW Handbook Discussion Project.
Joining the six month-long DPCW Handbook Discussion Project was a wonderful peace learning experience for me. The whole course was quite special. But one thing that I will always particularly cherish about this course was its particular focus on the importance of peace education. Throughout this Discussion Project, I came to learn about the importance of peace education through the DPCW. And I was persuaded to believe how the importance of peace education can be an effective tool to end the war all over the world.

I joined this course with some brilliant mentors and enthusiastic learners from home and abroad. Throughout this project, I was trained on the importance of peace education by putting the various human rights crisis in the context. I believe that the knowledge that I have gained from this course will be great contribution for the society and I feel really really great about participating this course for this reason.

Q. Please tell us what your future plans are.
I am currently final year law student at University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and as I have also graduated from the DPCW course, I aim to join the “Peace Education and Culture Based on the DPCW for Citizens” as a lecturer to spread the importance of peace education among the ordinary people. Because I believe DPCW has the potentiality to end the crisis like the ongoing Rohingya crisis we are facing in Bangladesh or the current human rights crisis in Afghanistan. And that's why I aim to teach the ordinary people about the peace education particularly people in Bangladesh, Afghanistan, or various other countries like that all over the world. Thank you. Like Arifur Rahman said, HWPL is planning on expanding its educational program on the DPCW Handbook to include the general public. Peace Culture Education will not only enhance citizens' understanding of international law but also shed light on steps that they need to take to create a peaceful future.

Online Seminar on Human Rights to seek solutions to the issues of human rights

Since September of last year, HWPL has held webinars inviting people from different walks of life to seek solutions to the issues of human rights violations that have emerged during the pandemic. The webinars were held on topics such as domestic violence, women's rights, and religious minorities, and attended by over 2,300 people in 75 countries.

HWPL is offering a peace platform where governments, local organizations, and citizens can interact and work together to resolve issues that threaten peace in everyday life. We will continue to provide the platform to create a synergy of peace among various sectors and organizations across the globe. In line with implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16, "Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions," and Goal 17, "Partnerships for the Goals," in Mali, Africa, HWPL has had discussions with Malian government officials and civic groups since November 2020. As a result, a peace policy proposal was submitted to the Malian government in September this year.