Advocating for Peace

Abstract

"Around 250 armed conflicts were fought in the 20th century, over 110 million people were killed, and many more wounded, crippled and mutilated. The first decade of the new millennium has not shown any change in this pattern. On the contrary, with 9/11 and the ‘war on terror’ other frontlines have been opened and more humans subjected to physical and emotional hardships. ‘Violence puts the brakes on authentic development and impedes the evolution of peoples towards greater socio-economic and spiritual well-being’ Pope Benedict XVI (2009: 52-3) Analyzing the factors which caused these wars and conflicts leads to multilayered and complex explanations. Some of the reasons can be found in structural (including economic, social, cultural and political) issues relating to wealth distribution and inter-ethnic relations, the degree of politicization and ethnic consciousness, sharp economic and social crises, inter-group tensions and the collapse of central authority (Kaldor & Kalyvas, 2009, Kalyvas, 2006, Nagel, 2003). Advocates for peace are usually ‘issue’ or ‘program’ oriented and do not often think in terms of an on-going process of social change in general or peace-building in particular. The resolution of an issue or the initiation of a program are ends in themselves. Thus the primary aim of advocacy is to foster public policies that are supportive of the solution of an issue or program. Since public policies must be viewed as an integral part of the social and economic development process, the kind of advocacy we would like to put forward is that which is participatory. The focus in this approach is on ‘listening’ and ‘cooperation’ rather than on ‘telling what to do’ and presumes a dynamic two-way approach towards communication."(pg 1)