I want to talk about peacebuilding and inclusive peace. My main point is that peace begins in the minds of people, and people, communities, societies must be allowed to participate in peace for it to be sustainable. Peace means a lot more than just the absence of war.
The names and places associated with the atrocities that stain the world’s recent history are only too well-known: Guernica, Babi Yar, Sharpeville, Treblinka, Hiroshima, Halabja, Rwanda, Srebrenica and, more recently, Aleppo and Yemen, to name but a few. The memories of those who have suffered are as painful as the list is long.
Lately, the world has tended to present itself in increasingly darker shades. In many places, democracy is questioned, women’s rights are threatened, and the multilateral system that has taken decades to build is undermined.