Written By: Dr. Ozioma Ozoemena

No doubt, the essence of peace building is to prevent conflict and create peace. A suggestion was made that peace has two different concepts-negative peace and positive peace. Negative peace refers to mere absence of violence, but positive peace is said to be a stable social equilibrium in which the surfacing of new disputes cannot escalate into violence and war.

Conflict may contribute to a dynamic and innovative society, once it is not violence. Since it is increasingly acknowledged that social conflict is inevitable, some approaches to peace building have shifted the emphasis from the root causes of social conflict to good governance and peaceful settlement of dispute mechanisms.

In conflict resolution, Non Governmental Organizations embark on problem solving seminars aimed at internal conflicts like the religious crises in Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi and Plateau States. Indeed, what conflict resolution offers is more than enough theoretical and practical ways of developing peace in conflict environments. These can be exploited at several levels so as to channel global, regional and national norms of interdependence, human security and democratization into unstable local environments.

It is therefore in this situation that NGOs contribution to the process of conflict resolution is very critical. NGOs play the role of facilitating a linkage between global and regional organization, thereby resolving one of the most serious problems of the conflict resolution genre related to the trickle up and down effect of conflict. This is because NGOs conduct humanitarian, developmental, human rights, and conflict resolution activities that enhance the process of peace making.

NGOs place in peace building in the society cannot be over emphasized. The inadequacies of first generation approaches to conflict resolution, both nationally and globally has called for settlements to be based upon just political orders that promote democracy and human rights, new norms, participatory governance structures, civil society, international tribunals and truth commissions.

Thus, under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), disarming, repatriating refugees, building a consensus for peace and moderate local political leadership appear to be important issues in building peace. Since this is based on conflict resolution and perspectives of conflict, it requires deep access into local environments and grassroots processes rather than top-down approaches.

NGOs can always provide these conditions as a result of their official and human security oriented base. As we commemorate 2019 world peace day, we beckon on all to reflect and reaffirm our absolute commitment to the UNESCO’S Pledge for Peace.

UNESCO’s pledge for peace is a code of ethics for a Culture of Peace Program, which goes thus: I pledge in my daily life, in my family, my work, my community, my country and my region, to:  Respect the life and dignity of each human being without discrimination or prejudice as well as practice active non-violence, rejecting violence in all its forms, including physical, sexual, psychological, economical and social, in particular towards the most deprived and vulnerable such as children and adolescents.

It equally pledges to one’s time and material resources in a spirit of generosity to put an end to exclusion, injustice, political and economic oppression and to defend freedom of expression and cultural diversity, giving preference always to dialogue and listening without engaging in fanaticism, defamation and the rejection of others.

Another pledge is to promote consumer behavior that is responsible and development practices that respect all forms of life and preserve the balance of nature on the planet, in addition to contribute to the development of one’s community, with the full participation of women and respect for democratic principles, in order to create together new forms of solidarity. Be a peace maker where ever you find yourself!

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