International Day of Peace 2012: Sustainable Peace for a Sustainable Future

By Brooke Edwards

October 3, 2019

Last Updated: September 21, 2012

International Day of PeaceToday is the International Day of Peace, when the United Nations calls on "combatants around the world to put down their weapons and try to find peaceful solutions to their conflicts."

This year's theme is "Sustainable Peace for a Sustainable Future." From the UN's website:

It highlights the fact that we cannot possibly think about building a sustainable future if there is no sustainable peace. Armed conflicts attack the very pillars of sustainable development, robbing people of the opportunity to develop, to create jobs, to safeguard the environment, to fight poverty, to reduce the risk from disasters, to advance social equity and to ensure that everyone has enough to eat.

I absolutely agree that armed conflicts make sustainable development efforts difficult, if not impossible.

But I think the reverse is also true: we cannot possibly have sustainable peace without sustainable development. How could peace possibly be sustained when 925 million people in the world are hungry?

Are you peaceful when you miss lunch by an hour? I know I'm certainly not. Imagine if you were starving, or watching your children, your elderly, your community starve.

Since I don't have to fight to feed my own family, I work to help impoverished families around the world gain the ability to feed themselves and lift themselves out of poverty using methods that last. Deep down, I believe it's the best way I can personally help bring peace to the world.

What do you do to promote peace? Tell me in the comments section below.