Weltfriedenstag: Auf dem Weg bleiben

Während COVID-19 weiterhin die Welt in Atem hält, droht so manche Friedensbemühung im Keim zu ersticken. Doch gerade in Krisenzeiten ist Friedensförderung dringlicher als sonst. Darauf macht ein großes Bündnis von Friedensorganisationen aus aller Welt in einer gemeinsamen Erklärung zum heutigen Weltfriedenstag aufmerksam. Auch das Konsortium ZFD zählt zu den Unterzeichnenden.

„Der Frieden ist bedroht.“ – Mit dieser Warnung beginnt das Statement „The Time is now: Re-commit to peace“ (Die Zeit ist reif, sich erneut zum Frieden zu verpflichten), das 171 internationale und nationale Friedensorganisationen unterzeichnet haben. Die Warnung ist nicht allein rhetorisches Mittel. Sie fußt auf der Beobachtung, dass die Reaktionen auf die Corona-Krise vielerorts dazu beitragen, Gewalt, Ungerechtigkeit und Ausgrenzung zu verstärken.

In der gemeinsamen Erklärung rufen die Unterzeichnenden daher die internationale Gemeinschaft und die Regierungen aller Länder dazu auf, sich auch in Zeiten der Corona-Krise aktiv zum Frieden zu bekennen. Sämtliche Maßnahmen zur Eindämmung der Pandemie müssen unter den Gesichtspunkten Frieden, Gerechtigkeit und Inklusion gestaltet werden. Bei der Planung und Umsetzung müssen alle gesellschaftlichen Gruppen bedacht und einbezogen werden. Die globale Gesundheitskrise sollte zudem dazu genutzt werden, die Vision einer globalen Partnerschaft, wie sie in der Agenda 2030 für nachhaltige Entwicklung formuliert ist, Wirklichkeit werden zu lassen. Wie der Weg dorthin zu ebnen ist? Auch auf diese Frage gibt die gemeinsame Erklärung Antworten, die Sie im Folgenden im englischen Originalwortlaut nachlesen können.

Die Erklärung wurde anlässlich des heutigen internationalen Friedenstages verfasst und bereits zur Eröffnung der 75. Generalversammlung der Vereinten Nationen in New York am 15. September 2020 veröffentlicht. Das Konsortium Ziviler Friedensdienst hat das Statement zusammen mit seinen Partnern in der „Arbeitsgemeinschaft Frieden und Entwicklung“ (FriEnt) unterzeichnet.

THE TIME IS NOW: RE-COMMIT TO PEACE

A shared statement by peacebuilding organizations
International Day of Peace, 21 September 2020

Peace is under threat. In 1945, the United Nations was founded to ‘save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.’ But the steady progress that has been made towards building, keeping and sustaining peace is now threatened. While COVID-19 and its economic effects have had a direct impact on human lives, some actions by governments and others are making things worse. Responses to crisis that increase violence, injustice and exclusion, that set aside ‘the dignity and worth of the human person’ and ‘the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small,’ will exacerbate development losses and human suffering, leaving many behind. The lessons of the UN Charter are being forgotten.

Our hearts go out to those suffering today, in the sober knowledge that this may turn out to be but a foretaste of the disruptions that may arise in the years to come, including from climate change and environmental degradation, and growing inequalities and exclusion. If we are to meet the challenges of tomorrow, we must recommit to peace today.

Focus on peace, justice and inclusion, both during crises and longer-term. We must re-dedicate ourselves to the vision of a global partnership of all stakeholders to foster peaceful, just and inclusive societies, so clearly articulated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This approach is not only the route to lasting gains in development, human rights and peace, but must be embraced as the foundation of an effective humanitarian and security response in times of crisis.

As organizations devoted to building peace around the world, we call on the international community to take these steps:

• Mainstream peace in the response to COVID-19. It is time to explicitly embed people-centered and sustainable strategies for peace at the heart of the response to COVID-19. We call on the Secretary-General to issue guidance for the UN system to prioritize conflict-sensitive and risk-informed approaches in the planning and monitoring of all activities taken to address COVID-19, and to align these efforts with the relevant longer-term plans to foster peace, justice and inclusion within development frameworks. Furthermore, Member States should support allocating 5% of the funding for the COVID-19 response to ensuring that conflict sensitive and risk-informed approaches are mainstreamed. It is particularly important that support is given to fostering social resilience, including strengthening local, national and international mechanisms for addressing difference and grievances. Building peace is never more important than at times of crisis.

• Prioritize inclusion in analysis and action. Prioritizing the meaningful inclusion and public participation of all groups, including women and girls, youth, and local communities, is vital to our peace and development efforts. Recent months have starkly demonstrated the disproportionate impact of entrenched and systemic patterns of exclusion at times of crisis. Increases in gender-based violence and race-based abuses (as highlighted in the recent Human Rights Council resolution on people of African descent), are evidence of this. Additionally, civic space must be protected and guaranteed. Inclusion is just as important in the midst of crisis as in longer term efforts, and critical to developing more effective approaches that can have a lasting impact.

• Make space for building peace. We support the Secretary-General’s call for a global cease-fire to enable humanitarian access and make space for building peace. But governments and other international actors can do more to step aside from the machinery of war. Cease-fire efforts can be expanded to make the choice to avoid all forms of violent coercion. Military spending should be reduced, and nuclear weapons eliminated, freeing up critical resources to save lives and support the most vulnerable. Within countries, governments must avoid using state violence as a response to large-scale unemployment and displacement, and state and nonstate actors alike should eschew violence as a shortcut to achieving political and economic ends.

• Reaffirm multilateralism and international norms as a safeguard for the most vulnerable. At times of global crisis, in an environment of increasing fragility and fragmentation, it is vital to reaffirm international norms, to support responsible trade, reduce arms flows, promote constructive financial, tax and investment practices and bolster adherence to international human rights and humanitarian law. In crisis, more than ever, states should seek to uphold a rules-based system, the underpinning of an enabling environment that privileges the long-term development, peace and dignity of all people and communities.

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Das Statement wurde von den folgenden internationalen und nationalen Friedensorganisationen unterzeichnet:

+Peace / ACCORD / ACT Alliance / AFRICAN YOUTH ACTION NETWORK-AYAN / Africans Rising for Justice, Peace and Dignity / Agrupación de Familiares de Ejecutados Políticos - Chile / All Anglophone Union for Peace and Development (AAUPD) / Alliance for Conflict Transformation (ACT) / Alliance for Peacebuilding / Alyansa ng Kabataang Mindanao para sa Kapayapaan (AKMK) / American Friends Service Committee - AFSC / Asociación Española para el Derecho Internacional de los Derechos Humanos / associat.tunisienne des droits de l enfant / Association For Promotion Sustainable Development / ASSOCIATION RAYONS DE SOLEIL / Badhon Manob Unnayan Sangstha / CAFSO-WRAG for Development / Camp for Peace Liberia / Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers) / Care and Development Centre / Carrefour Développement (CAR.D) / Casa Generalizia della Societa del Sacro Cuore / CENADEP / Center on Conscience & War / Centre de Défense des Droits de l'Homme et Démocratie / centre des jeunes bolingo, CJB / Centre d'études stratégiques et de sécurité internationale (CESSI) / Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies / Centre for Sustainable Development and Education in Africa / Centre for Youth and Development / Centre pour la Gouvernance (CEGO) / CESAMORG / CESSI / CHARI-CONGO / Church of the Brethren, Office of Peacebuilding and Policy / Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (CSPPS) / Community Empowerment for Progress Organization-CEPO / Community Empowerment for Progress Organization-CEPO, South Sudan / Community of Christ (British Isles) / Community of Christ Europe / Comunidad Ecuménica Martin Luther King / Conciliation Resources / Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd / Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation / Denver Justice and Peace Committee (DJPC) / Dirigentes de mi Comunidad ( DICOMU ) / Epikeia Observatorio Universitario de Derechos Humanos / Female Prisoners Support Trust / Femme Affranchie pour le Développement Durable et la Protection de l'Environnement -FADPE- / Forum des femmes oeuvrant pour la gouvernance des ressources naturelles en RDC "FFGRN" / Forum National sur la Dette et la Pauvreté (FNDP) / Franciscans International / Friends Committee on National Legislation / Friends World Committee for Consultation – World Office (Quakers) / FriEnt-Working Group on Peace and Development / Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa / Gender Network and women's rights "GEDROFE" / Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect / Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ / Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) / Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) / Global Peace and Development Organization / Globethics.net / Glokala Sjuhärad Association, Sweden / Great Lakes Peacebuilding Initiative -GLPI / Greenspring Development Initiative / Helping Hand for Survivors / Interfaith Forum for Peace Harmony and Solidarity / International Alert / International Center on Conflict & Negotiation / International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) / International Federation for Peace and Sustainable Development / Interpeace / Inwelle Study and Resource Centre / Jerusalem Peacebuilders / Just Peace Advocates / KENYA ECONOMIC YOUTH NETWORK (KEYNET) / Loretto Community (Sisters of Loretto) / Maison des Organisations de la Société Civile (MOSC) / Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns / Mennonite Central Committee United Nations Office / Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute Foundation, Inc. / Minnesota Peace Project / MISERE, SORS! / Modern Advocacy Humanitarian Social and Rehabilitation Association (MAHSRA) / Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies / MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology / Nigerian Women Agro Allied Farmers Association / Nonviolent Peaceforce / North Country Access to Health Care Committee / Nova Scotia Voice of Women for Peace / NYU Center on International Cooperation / NYU Peace Research and Education Program / Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad de Los Andes / Observatorio por el Cierre de la Escuela de las Américas - SOAW Chile / Odbor za ljudska prava / Office of Peace, Justice, and Ecological Integrity/Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth / Our Lady of Perpetual Help Initiative (OLPHI) / Pacific Conference of Churches / PartnersGlobal / Pax Christi International / Peace And Justice Alliance / Peace Direct / Peace Initiative Network / PEACE WARRIORS ORGANISATION / Peacifica / Peckham Rights! / Phoenix Nonviolence TruthForce / Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) / Quaker Peace & Social Witness / Quaker Service Australia / Quaker Service Norway / Quaker United Nations Office / Quäker-Hilfe Stiftung / REFADEC / Regina Peace Council / Regional Center for International Development Cooperation (RCIDC) / Religions for Peace / Religions for Peace International / REPAOC / Réseau "Jeunes dans le Monde pour la Paix" - RJMP/ASBL- / RESEAU FEMMES ET PAIX / RIKO (Council for International Conflict Resolution) / Saferworld / School of the Americas Watch (SOAWatch) / Science for Peace Canada / SCOFIELD ASSOCIATES / Search for Common Ground / SECURITAS CONGO / SecurityWomen / SEMA / Sisters of Charity Federation / Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Congregational Leadership / Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Western Province Leadership / Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy / Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace / Social Economic and Governance Promotion Centre (SEGP) / Solidarité avec les Victimes et pour la Paix-SOVIP / Solutions for Humanity International (SFH) / STOP FUELLING WAR / swisspeace / Talitha Project, Tonga / The Anglican Communion / The Carter Center / The Cora di Brazzà Foundation / The Graduate Institute of Peace Studies, Kyung Hee University (S. Korea) / The Lutheran World Federation / The Metta Center for Nonviolence / The Peacebuilding Project / The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia / The United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society / Transparency, Accountability & Participation (TAP) Network / Trippinz Care Inc / Trippinz Care International Foundation / Ukana West 2 Community Based Health Initiative (CBHI) / Union des Amis Socio Culturels d'Action en Développement (UNASCAD) / Unitarian Universalist Association / United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries / United Network of Youth for Peace and Diplomacy UNYPD / Universal Rights Network / VIVAT International / War Prevention Initiative / WASH-Net Sierra Leone / Win Without War / Women for Peace and Gender Equality Initiative / Women in Alternative Action-WAA Cameroon / Women's International League for Peace and Freedom WILPF/DRC / World Federalist Movement - Canada / World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy (WFM/IGP) / Youth and Small Holder Farmers Association / Youth for change initiative YOFCI

Foto: Wikimedia Commons / Metilsteiner