International Day of Living Together in Peace
The International Day of Living Together in Peace, commemorated every year on 16th May, is a UN International Day designed to regularly mobilize the efforts of the international community to promote peace, tolerance, inclusion, understanding and solidarity. The Day “aims to uphold the desire to live and act together, united in differences and diversity, in order to build a sustainable world of peace, solidarity and harmony.” Achieving peace is one of the major goals of the 2030 Agenda and a precondition for sustainable development and for the common good.
Despite increasing connectivity and interdependence between the world’s nations, societies and cultures, human relations do not appear to have become stronger. It seems that everywhere we look, conflict and violence continue to erupt - from Yemen to Myanmar, from Syria to Sudan, from Haiti to Ukraine. Indeed, according to the United Nations, we are currently facing the highest number of violent conflicts since the end of World War II in 1945, and an alarming 2 billion people – one quarter of all humanity – live in conflict-affected areas.
These conflicts are shaking the foundations of the international order, leading to senseless loss of life, massive destruction, unacceptable violations of human rights, and skyrocketing food, fuel, and fertilizer prices that spell disaster for developing countries. 84 million people have been forcibly displaced because of conflict, violence, and human rights violations, and this year, an estimated 274 million will need humanitarian assistance due to conflict.
However, achieving true peace entails much more than laying down arms, and this bring us to the question of what exactly we mean when we talk about peace. Johan Galtung, a recognised Norwegian scholar and researcher, defined two aspects of peace: negative and positive. The former means that there is no war, no violent conflict between states or within states. The latter means no war or violent conflict combined with a situation where there is equity, justice, and development, as well as respect for human rights and the planet.
As the absence of war does not guarantee that people do not suffer psychological violence, repression, injustice, discrimination, and a lack of access to their rights and basic necessities, it is not enough for peace to only be defined by negative peace. The absence of conflict is merely the baseline from which sustainable peace can be built. We must therefore adopt a broader understanding of peace, the one encapsulated in the idea of positive peace.
True, lasting peace requires the creation of societies where all individuals are treated equally and are able to flourish, regardless of race, sex, language, or religion. This means that people’s human rights are respected and that their needs are met through equal access to housing, health care, education, etc. It also means ensuring equal access to justice for all as conflicts and occurrences of injustice can only be resolved if people are able to obtain protection and redress. This requires building institutions and justice systems that are effective, accountable and inclusive, as enshrined in Sustainable Development Goal 16.
It is also worth noting that equity, justice, and respect for human rights are not only essential components of peace, but their absence also has the potential to lead to further conflicts and instability. To exclude and to discriminate not only violates human rights, but also causes resentment and animosity, and could give rise to violence.
At Social Value International, our mission is to change the way society accounts for value because we believe that using a broader definition of value, one that places social and environmental impacts at its core, will help protect people and the planet and thus help us achieve the SDGs. Our ultimate vision is of a world where decision-making, ways of working and resource allocation are based on the principles of accounting for value, which leads to increased equality and wellbeing and reduced environmental degradation. These are all integral to achieving and maintaining true peace, as we noted, and in this way, the social value movement can play an important role in realizing the 2030 Agenda and “the sustainable world of peace, solidarity and harmony” envisioned in the aim of the International Day of Living Together in Peace.