Timothy Scott, Executive Director, and Apraham Niziblian, Associate Director, JPIC, from the CRC took part in the launching of events that will mark the 50th anniversary of Development and Peace. The opening of the celebrations under the theme of 50 Years of Solidarity was rich with frank discussions on the beginnings of the organization, the successes and the challenges it has met. The future of D&P here in Canada and in the developing countries was also addressed.
Members of the panel shared their relationship with Development and Peace and their attachment to the organization. The panelists were: Sister Mary John Mananzan, a Benedictine Missionary Sister from the Philippines, theologian and activist in her country’s network of women, Luz Estella Cifuentes of Colombia, leader of the National Union of Peasants and coordinator of ACA (Asociacion Campesina de Antioquia), Jihen Chandoul of Tunisia, a member of the Tunisian Observatory of Economy, which works on the understanding of transnational company agreements, and of the Popular movement of the 2011 revolution, as well as Devlin Kuyek, Canadian researcher at GRAIN, an organization that supports small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems.
The CRC is pleased with its past cooperation with the structures of D&P and hopes to strengthen its relations and cooperation with D&P in the coming years. It is in part thanks to the support of religious congregations throughout Canada, members of the CRC, that Development and Peace will undertake concrete actions for the next 50 years.
Website: www.devp.org/en/50years