1st Conference on International Development Cooperation: ‘Armed Conflicts, Cooperation and Human Rights’.

Talks in PDF

12 December 2024

The Miguel Hernández University, the Valencian NGDO Coordinating Committee, the Local Council for Development Cooperation and the Elche City Council organised the conference ‘Armed Conflicts, Human Rights and Cooperation’, which took place from 13 to 15 November in the Atzavares building of the Elche Campus and the Plaça de Baix lecture hall in the centre of the city.

In addition to the direct effects of armed violence, such as deaths and the destruction of cities and infrastructures, other consequences are of concern, such as the generation and permanence of rejection and hatred between opposing communities, population displacement, with the difficulties that this entails on a social, economic and cultural level, etc. Furthermore, the new characteristics of conflicts, such as technological changes (use of drones, live broadcasts, disinformation, cyber-attacks, etc.) or the increase in conflicts waged by non-state actors, represent new perspectives and new challenges for dealing with them. With all of this, International Cooperation is affected by its potential for prevention and its role as a possible solution.

Under the above premises, the aim of this conference is to open a space for reflection on armed conflicts, their impact on human rights and the exercise of the freedoms protected by them, and the role that International Development Cooperation can play in their prevention and eradication. As a result, it is hoped to provide participants with different tools for knowledge and understanding of the contexts, causes and consequences of existing armed conflicts in the world, with a view to formulating possible ways to build peace. At the heart of these aims is the role of International Cooperation, as well as the consideration of the defence of Human Rights and freedom of the press as essential pillars to be protected in situations of armed conflict.

The conference was organised by a committee made up of representatives from Elche City Council, the Miguel Hernández University, the Valencian NGDO Coordinating Committee and the NGDOs themselves from the Local Council for Development Cooperation. In addition, a book is being prepared with the collaboration of the UMH Chair of Audiovisual Prospective of the Valencian Audiovisual Council on the exhibition of the Elche-born Pablo Miranzo with images of the front in Ukraine, which was inaugurated on 13 November at 18h in the UMH classroom in the Plaza de Baix.

The conference was designed to achieve the widest possible participation among those interested in the topics to be discussed.

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