Demilitarization is not a dirty word, nonviolence is not inaction, and building sustainable peace is not for the faint of heart

[Tony Nuspl]

 by Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1997)

excerpt from a longer article:

One part of being able to create that world is reclaiming and reasserting the meaning of “world peace.”  It isn’t meditation, a rainbow with a dove flying over it, or singing peace songs.  Nonviolence is not inaction and building sustainable peace must be understood as hard work every single day.  We must all be active participants in change for the good.  It doesn’t matter what issues people choose to work on – it could be global warming, an end to militarism, an end to poverty, or HIV/Aids for example.

Now, with globalization where all aspects of life are increasingly and more rapidly interconnected around the world, it is time to move away from state-centric security to security based on the individual – “human security” not “national security.”  The human security framework understands “security” as directing policies and resources toward meeting the basic needs of the majority of people on the planet:  providing decent housing, education, access to medical care, employment with dignity, protection of civil and human rights and governments that respond to the needs of citizens. It means creating a world where people live with freedom from want and freedom from fear.

What matters is that we all work on issues we feel passionate about and that our actions are for the benefit of everyone.  By doing that our combined efforts enhance human security.  We also must talk about our work in the context of human security so that people become familiar with the concept and understand the various elements that contribute to promoting and protecting human security.

Another aspect of creating a world based on human security not national security is to tackle demilitarization and the glorification of violence head on.  It is an abomination that with the current global economic shake-down, countries still managed to find billions of dollars for weapons and the military while at the same time they are cutting funds for education, health care, job training, social services –the elements of daily life that are the basis of human security.

Demilitarization is not a dirty word.  Civil society and national nongovernmental organization should confront demilitarization in our own countries.

http://warisacrime.org/content/demilitarization-not-dirty-word

[date accessed 24 Aug 2012]