People, Planet … and Peace

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Last Updated on September 20, 2019.

A shared statement by peacebuilding organizations 

International Day of Peace, 21 September 2019 

The United Nations (UN) was founded to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” Now, 75 years later, will we reaffirm our commitment to collective action, centered on a vision of a peaceful and prosperous world for all? 

The global economic cost of violence now exceeds 14 trillion USD per annum. By the end of 2018, over 70 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations. If current trends persist, by 2030 more than half of the world’s poor will be living in countries affected by high levels of violence, and the aspirations of millions for a better life will go unmet. 

Recent research and analysis, from the World Bank and the UN among others, has demonstrated that neither economic growth alone, nor securitized and militarized approaches, can bring sustainable peace. In an interdependent world, increasingly impacted by the self-inflicted scourges of climate change and inequality, we need to redouble our collective efforts to prevent violent conflict by addressing its roots, and in structuring our response to crisis in ways that support local capacities, respect human rights and align with long-term plans to build sustainable peace. 

The coming year provides many opportunities for Member States to recommit to peace, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit; the 2019 Climate Action Summit; the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Women’s Conference; the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325; and the review of the Peacebuilding Architecture and impending report by the UN Secretary-General on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace. As Member States gather for the 74th UN General Assembly, our organizations devoted to building peace around the world call on the international community to: 

  • Move from commitments to action on peace in the 2030 Agenda and across the three UN pillars: One of the main achievements of the 2030 Agenda was to commit to a radically different approach to development, particularly in conflict-affected and transitional environments. Fostering people-centered social, economic and political inclusion, ensuring access to justice and human rights, strengthening the social fabric and delivering good governance have repeatedly been shown to be essential to achieving prosperity and peace, universally and at all levels of development. We call on Member States to accelerate their commitment to peace, the gateway to achieving the SDGs. 
  • Align crisis response with longer term prevention and peacebuilding efforts: If we are to move beyond late-stage, reactive, expensive and often ineffective responses to complex crises, including where climate change and migration are factors, governments need to fully embrace a commitment to preventive action by fostering resilience. Resilient societies are just and inclusive, where the relationships between individuals, their communities and the state are based on trust and the respect, protection and fulfillment of everyone’s human rights, and where there are robust mechanisms for addressing inequality, difference and grievances. When a crisis response is nonetheless required, we call on relevant actors to structure and implement such interventions in a way that does no harm, is people-centered and holistic, and explicitly aligns with longer term efforts to sustain peace. 
  • Protect and support civil society in fostering sustainable peace: Social, political and economic changes that contribute to increasing peace are more robust if they are owned, implemented and sustained by local actors, including youth and women. Nevertheless, civil society inclusion continues to be under threat around the world, with onerous restrictions imposed on the ability of civil society groups to be effective, speak out and access funding. We call on Member States to recommit their support for and partnership with local and community actors, and for the UN system to model inclusion in all its local and global processes. 
  • Think local and act global: recommit to multilateralism as a safeguard for the most vulnerable: National implementation alone will not suffice to achieve the SDGs or to address the global challenges of climate change and inequality. This is particularly the case with issues of peace, where fostering the external drivers of peace, justice and inclusion requires concerted action by states, as duty holders, to strengthen adherence to international humanitarian law, support responsible trade, reduce arms flows, and promote constructive financial, tax and investment practices. Member States should also seek to strengthen a rules-based system that creates a more effective enabling environment that privileges the long-term peace, development and human rights of all people and communities. 

People, Planet … and Peace 

A shared statement by peacebuilding organizations 

International Day of Peace, 21 September 2019 

Accountability Lab 

ACT Alliance 

African Youth Action Network – AYAN 

All Anglophone Union for Peace and Development (AAUPD) 

Alliance for Conflict Transformation (ACT) 

Alliance for Peacebuilding 

American Friends Service Committee 

Baha’i International Community 

Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum 

Bangladesh Model Youth Parliament 

Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha (BNPS) 

Brain Builders International 

Camp for Peace Liberia 

Canadian Friends Service Committee 

Care and Development Centre 

Causeway Institute for Peace-building and Conflict Resolution International 

Centre de Défense des Droits de l’Homme et Démocratie (CDHD) 

Centre de Documentation et de Formation sur les Droits de l’Homme (CDFDH) 

Center for Development of Civil Society 

Centre for Human Rights and Climate Change Research, Nigeria 

Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies 

Center for Peace, Research and Development (CEPRAD Consultancy) 

Centre for Sustainable Development and Education in Africa (CSDEA) 

Centre of Studies for Peace and Development (CEPAD) 

CHALLENGES Int; Action for Sustainable Development 

Christian Aid 

Church of the Brethren Office of Peacebuilding and Policy 

Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (CSPPS) 

Community Empowerment for Progress Organization-CEPO, South Sudan 

Conciliation Resources 

Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd 

Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace 

Cordaid 

Council for International Conflict Resolution 

Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation 

Democracy and Development Associates-Sierra Leone (DADA-SL) 

Dirigentes de mi Comunidad (Dicomu) 

Empathy Surplus Project 

Epikeia Universitary Human Rights Observatory 

Friends Committee on National Legislation 

Friends Women’s Association 

Friends World Committee for Consultation – World Office (Quakers) 

FriEnt – Working Group on Peace and Development 

Fryshuset 

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect 

Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ 

Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) 

Global Peace and Development Organization 

Globethics.net Foundation 

Great Lakes Peacebuilding Institute (GLPI) 

Healing and Rebuilding Our Country (HROC-Burundi) 

Helping Hand for Survivors (HHS) 

Héritiers de la Justice 

Human Rights Committee Leskovac, Serbia 

Human Rights Observatory of the University of Los Andes 

Igarapé Institute 

International Alert 

International Association of Liberal Religious Women (IALRW) 

International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) 

Interpeace 

Jewish World Watch 

Kenya Economic Youth Network (KEYNET) 

Kenya Muslim Youth Alliance (KMYA) 

Loyola Institute of Peace and International Relations (LIPI) 

Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns 

Mennonite Central Committee 

Mercy Corps 

Ministry for Peace and Reconciliation under the Cross (Mi-PAREC) 

Minnesota Peace Project 

Modern Advocacy Humanitarian Social and Rehabilitation Association (MAHSRA) 

Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights 

Nigerian Coalition for the International Criminal Court (NCICC) 

Nonviolent Peaceforce 

NYU Center on International Cooperation 

OMNIA Institute for Contextual Leadership, Chicago, Illinois 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Initiative, Port Harcourt, Nigeria 

PartnersGlobal 

PAX 

Pax Christi International 

Pax Christi Korea 

Peace Direct 

PEACE Foundation Melanesia 

Peace Warriors Organisation (PWO) – KENYA 

PeaceNexus Foundation 

Peacifica 

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 

Quäker-Hilfe Stiftung 

Quaker Council for European Affairs 

Quaker Service Australia 

Quaker Service Norway 

Quaker United Nations Office 

Quakers in Britain 

Regional Center for International Development Cooperation (RCIDC) 

Rwanda Women’s Network 

Saferworld 

Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled 

Search for Common Ground 

SecurityWomen 

Self-Help Association for Rural people through Eduction & Entrepreneurship 

SenosAyuda 

Sisters of Charity Federation 

Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur 

Society of Catholic Medical Missionaries 

Society of the Sacred Heart 

Solutions for Humanity International (SFH) 

Somali Conservation organization (SCO) 

Spanish Society for International Human Rights Law (SSIHRL) 

STAND: The Student-Led Movement to End Mass Atrocities 

Success Capital Organisation 

Swisspeace 

The Carter Center 

The Center for Global Nonkilling 

The Center for International Ethics at Central Michigan University 

The Cora di Brazzà Foundation 

The Faith and Justice Network of the Mano River Basin Countries (FJN) 

The Graduate Institute of Peace Studies, Kyung Hee University (South Korea) 

The International Federation for Peace and Sustainable Development 

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia 

The Stanley Foundation 

Trippinz Care Inc 

Union des Amis Socio- Culturels d’Action en Développement (UNASCAD) 

Unitarian Universalist Association 

United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries 

United Youth for Growth and Development (Advocacy Centre) 

Universal Rights Network 

VIVAT International 

Win Without War 

Women for Peace and Gender Equality Initiative (WOPEGEE) 

World Council of Churches – Commission of the Churches on International Affairs 

World Federalist Movement – Institute for Global Policy (WFM-IGP) 

World Society of Victimology 

September 20, 2019