WUNRN
Cora Weiss - Jan. 19. 2012 - NGO DPI Briefing
CULTURE
OF PEACE - AMPLIFYIG THE UNSEEN & UNHEARD VOICES OF PEACE - GENDER
A Culture of Peace is
not only the absence of war but the presence of human security and justice.
1. How do you get from
a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace?
2. And don’t we need
another UN resolution, with your help, that would help us get there?
The NY and Moscow
General Assemblies just drafted a Joint Declaration saying that “Nuclear
weapons do not bring security- … and do nothing to enhance human security.
Nuclear Power, the evil twin of nuclear weapons – poses a threat to life on
earth.” They say “No to Nuclear!” If all the hundreds of Occupies adopt that
Declaration would that contribute to a Culture of Peace?
The Hague Agenda for Peace and Justice for the 21st Century…World without war http://www.haguepeace.org/ says: A culture of peace will be achieved when citizens of the world understand global problems, have the skills to resolve conflicts and struggle for justice non-violently, live by international standards of human rights and equity, appreciate cultural diversity, and respect the Earth and each other. Such learning can only be achieved with systematic education for peace.
“In order to combat
the culture of violence we need a radically different education- one that does
not glorify war but educates for peace, non violence and international
cooperation”. Many people invoked Martin Luther King. Did they know he believed
that, “A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order d
say of war, this way of settling differences is not just.”
Peace education is
teaching for and about: human rights, gender equality, disarmament, social and
economic justice, sustainable development, non violence, international law, and
traditional peace practices. How did your grandmother settle her differences
with your grandpa…kill him?
If there was a
problem, my grandmother used to say, eat first and talk later. She should have
taught conflict resolution. Peace education requires participation, critical
inquiry and reflection.
Security Council
resolution, 1325, on Women Peace and Security also calls for
Participation…participation of women at all levels of governance and at all
peace-making tables. Would that contribute to a Culture of Peace?
Three remarkable women
are Nobelles…peace laureates for their peacemaking achievements.
Yemen’s Tawakkul
Karman spoke directly to the unseen people and unheard voices of peace when she
said, “To all those women whom history and the severity of ruling systems have
made unseen, …who have made sacrifices, who are stumbling on the path to
freedom……..I say thank you.
Leymah Gbowee of
Liberia said, “…women used to be the silent victims and objects of men’s
powers….women are throwing down the walls of repressive traditions with the
invincible power of non-violence….” Read their Nobel speeches.
Does recognizing women
as Nobel Peace laureates contribute to a Culture of Peace?…you bet.
Steven Pinker’s op ed,
War Really is Going out of Style, provoked a remarkable dialogue in the NYTimes
as to whether we really live in less violent times. Counting the dead no longer
can define violence and war. The Culture of Violence today is filled with the
hungry, the poor, the violated, unemployed, people without health care, without
education, those subject to economic and sexual exploitation, people suffering
from nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, radiation victims from Hiroshima
and Nagasaki. And add those exposed to the nuclear power meltdown at Fukushima
who are considered contagious from radiation poison.
We still have the
Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads with over 20,000 nuclear weapons.
Torture is practiced
widely and victims barely survive. Drones kill in what Dr Robert J Lifton
calls, “numbed technological violence”. The killer pulls the trigger thousands
of miles away from the targeted victim. Is that a Culture of Peace? Is it a
Culture of Peace to spend, according to Brown University, $3.7 trillion for the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? That comes to $12,000 per American. $1Billion
spent on the military creates and a half times fewer jobs than spending on
education. Which represents the Culture of Peace?
No chance you could be
raped in front of your family and community without guns. 875 million small arms
in circulation and an additional 7-8million more made each year. Billions are
spent in arms transfers. Achieving the MDG’s would be between 40-$60B a year
from 2011-2015.
Which would help a
Culture of Peace?
A woman arrested in
Bahrain begged Nick Kristof…”don’t sell them arms. When you sell arms to
dictators who are repressing people seeking democracy you ruin the reputation
of America”.
SANTIAGO DECLARATION
ON THE HUMAN RIGHT TO PEACE
Do we have a Human
Right to peace? The Charter says We the peoples…. determined to save succeeding
generations from the scourge of war…The Universal Declaration says we have the
right to education, to life, to a roof over our heads, etc. If all those rights
were fully implemented we might have a culture of peace. But nowhere does it
say we have a right to peace.
A group of Spanish
lawyers has drafted a resolution on the Human Right to Peace. The Santiago
Declaration. This civil society initiated, civil society drafted and vetted
resolution with Articles and obligations has machinery for monitoring, is
before the Human Rights Advisory Committee.
The Declaration will
be used by an open ended Drafting Group which will report out their findings in
June to the Human Rights Council. Civil society and supporting countries have
moved this process forward. Some notable countries oppose it. We need to be
sure the Advisory Council seeks civil society opinion. You need to follow this
process. Once the imprimatur of the UN is on it, we can use it.
Included is the right
to education for peace: the right to human security and to live in a safe and a
healthy environment; right to food; to development and a sustainable
environment; it says that weapons that damage the environment, especially,
radioactive are contrary to international humanitarian law; etc.
It is a gendered
declaration. Women are included. Santiago Declaration: http://www.aedidh.org/sites/default/files/Santiago-Declaration-en.pdf