‘Without peace, development will falter. Without justice, hope will wither. Without inclusion, we will all be left behind.' Photo: United Nations General Assembly Hall, Basil D Soufi
Let us see what Peace can do: A shared statement organised by the Quaker United Nations Office
‘No solutions will be sustainable unless they are inclusive and equitable.’
The International Day of Peace falls on 21 September each year and serves as a day devoted to strengthening commitments towards peace and non-violence. This is the sixth year that Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) has facilitated the creation and distribution of a sign-on statement supported by peacebuilding organisations across the world, to engage member states and the UN system. The following 2021 statement brought together over 200 organisations, calling on the international community to refocus on peace, justice and inclusion in development, crisis response and efforts to address climate change and its impacts.
‘Without peace, development will falter. Without justice, hope will wither. Without inclusion, we will all be left behind.
Can we find our way back? Eighteen months into a global pandemic, our hearts go out to those who are suffering. We are in awe of the extraordinary efforts by so many to save lives and offer comfort. Yet, in too many ways, humanity has fallen short. Covid-19 has shown us the fragility of our institutions and the fault lines in international cooperation, just as the need for unified action is more urgent than ever in the face of the expanding climate emergency.
In 1945, the United Nations was founded to “promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom”. But the steady progress that has been made is now at risk, not only from the challenges we face, but also from the way we respond to them. Responses to crisis that increase violence, injustice and exclusion will exacerbate development losses and human suffering, leaving many behind.
As we face the stark human-made realities of a warming planet, we must redouble our peace efforts, to help mediate and navigate the immense shifts in power and resources that will be needed to forestall further avoidable temperature rise, to prevent and resolve the conflicts that may be exacerbated or precipitated by environmental destruction; and to prepare the path to a more sustainable, peaceful, and equitable future. We must re-dedicate ourselves to the 2030 Agenda vision of a global partnership of all stakeholders to foster peace, justice, and inclusion, not just in development, but as a goal to unite all efforts to transform our world and respond to the challenges we face. Peace is not an add-on: peace is the way.
As organisations devoted to building peace and justice around the world, we call on the international community to:
• Refocus on peace, justice and inclusion, in development, in crisis response and in addressing the climate emergency. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals show that development gains are only sustainable if accompanied by efforts by all governments to foster peace, justice, and inclusion. We know that for crisis response to be effective, it needs to be transformative, rooted in the needs of affected communities, and tied to long-term efforts to further peace, development, and human rights. Now we need to embed these lessons in all our actions to address the climate emergency and its root causes. As governments come together this year, we urge delegates to recall that no technical or political solutions will be sustainable unless they are inclusive and equitable, foster trust, include mechanisms to address grievances and promote resilience, respect human rights, and leave no one behind.
• Mainstream and step up investment in peace. Meeting the challenges that the world now faces will require significant resources. These investments will have a more sustainable impact when they are crafted to foster peace, justice and inclusion as an integral part of their health, humanitarian, economic, or security objectives. We call on member states to mainstream conflict sensitive and risk informed approaches that are people-centered and promote long-term sustainable peace in all funding for crisis response and development, and in that spirit to support the upcoming UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Financing for Peacebuilding.
• Prioritize inclusion and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms. The inclusion and participation of all people is vital, including women, youth, minorities, indigenous peoples, and those with disabilities. This year has been witness to a deeper focus on entrenched and systemic patterns of intersectional exclusion, including racism, as highlighted in the establishment of a Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. We support the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Agenda Towards Transformative Change for Racial Justice and Equality. The bedrock of sustainable development is inclusion, and it is just as important amid crisis where engaging endogenous capacities and perspectives is critical.
• Step away from securitized responses. This month marks the twentieth anniversary of 9/11. The horror of that moment stays with us, and we continue to grieve. And we also grieve for all the lives lost since then. The preoccupation with counterterrorism has not made the world any safer. We have seen increasingly militarized and violent reactions to political dissent, the normalization of torture and extrajudicial killing, and international relations determined more by the perceived security needs of a few, rather than the right to peace and development of the many. Violence is never the answer. As our communities are ever more buffeted by change, governments must protect civic space, become more accountable and inclusive, and respect international humanitarian and human rights law.’
Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) works with diplomats, officials, and civil society to support a UN that prioritises peace and prevents war. For the full list of signatories to the statement, which includes Quakers in Britain, see https://bit.ly/3CGINCw.
