Tuning in to Peace
Sadly, violence is a permanent feature of our time. We see wars between states as well as violent clashes within different countries that drag on for years and increasingly target the civilian population. To this we must add the rise of anonymous daily violence in places where victims outnumber the casualties of many wars.
In light of this distressing reality, the quest for peace grows more imperative and urgent with each passing day: a peace that aspires to something more than the absence of violence and is not content to propose exclusively securitarian solutions that only address the most visible problems. Not only do we need to determine the underlying causes that lead individuals or groups to resort to violence in order to achieve their goals, but we must also activate social, political, economic and diplomatic mechanisms which will ideally abort those dynamics before they erupt into violence, or at least mitigate their effects in order to reach a compromise and find a way out.
We have the analytical capacity to determine the processes that lead to violence and peace. We also have the means to take action before, during and after violence breaks out. What we lack, for the most part, is the active political will to use that knowledge and those resources with multilateral, multidimensional vision in order to secure a fair, global, enduring peace. This is the greatest challenge facing us today.
Over the course of six days, we will debate and analyse these topics with the help of experts in different fields of knowledge and experience.
Coordinated by: IECAH (Institute of Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action)
