New peace network for Wales
'The network is there to stand up for injustice, listening to the voice of organisations and the people of Wales.’
Two organisations with Quaker roots are behind a new campaigning network in Wales. It has been set up to map the rise of militarism in the country, and bring people together to challenge it.
Heddwch ar Waith (Peace Action) will also establish methods of distributing and spreading information on nonviolence, and build a network of lobbyists for justice.
The initiative was launched in May by Cymdeithas y Cymod, the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR) in Wales, and CND Cymru. The network is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.
Rhun Dafydd, from the Peace Action Wales steering group, said: ‘Peace Action Wales is a golden opportunity for peace and justice organisations to make a real difference to communities in Wales and beyond. Working as part of the international campaign to act meaningfully for peace, the network is there to stand up for injustice, listening to the voice of organisations and the people of Wales.’
‘The intention of creating the Peace Action Wales network is to increase the capacity to campaign for peace and justice and try to bring to fruition the desire for a nation that puts people and community before profit and greed for power.’
The rise of militarism in schools has long been a concern of Friends in Wales, where there is a strong tradition of peace activism. The Peace Pledge Union told the Friend last year that it had heard from more concerned teachers asking for resources to present an alternative view. Recent years have also seen increasing cooperation between peace and human rights groups on ‘everyday militarism’. Cymdeithas y Cymod worked with the Peace Pledge Union and Forces Watch on two years of research on militarism in Welsh schools, which led to a joint report in 2021. The report concluded that military visits to schools were acting as a ‘fig-leaf’ for armed forces recruitment. Meanwhile new figures published by the MoD show a forty-three per cent increase in military sexual offence investigations in the last year. Some campaigners are concerned that statistics such as this, and the armed forces poor record on mental health, are not represented to potential recruits.
The FoR was started by Henry Hodgkin, a British Quaker, and Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze, a German Lutheran.
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