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Station: India, March 2009
Speech at opening ceremony
The exhibition „Peacebuilders Around the World“ in the context of Peace Education
Inauguration on 6th March 2009, YMCA New Delhi
Speech held by Uli Jäger (Institute of Peace Education, Tuebingen / Germany)
Peace Counts project is a network of well known German journalists and photographers. Their aim is to research on role models for peace, to document their activities in fascinating reports and to make the results available to a wider public. Peace Counts project is searching for answers to the fundamental question: „How to make peace?“ The Peace Counts journalists have gathered stories from 30 conflict regions worldwide. Their reports published in well-known newspapers and magazines reached millions of readers. The Top Eleven reports have been compiled in various exhibitions titled „Peacebuilders Around the World“ which have been displayed in many countries: First in Germany, then in Brasil and China, in Sri Lanka and Macedonia, in the Philippines, in Cote d’Ivoire (in Africa) and in Russia.
Along with these exhibitions the Institute for Peace Education Tuebingen has designed learning arrangements/ settings for peace education. These settings involve a Peace Education Package with posters, cd-roms, podcasts and didactical handbooks for the performance of workshops in conflict-ridden and war-torn regions. The package and the workshops have been carried out in the various regions and are constantly revised in dialogue with the participants. These experiences are being documented and the Peace Counts Community is growing continuously. It is a huge asset for Peace Counts and for peace education in general to have expert colleagues from India joining in.
Peace Education is a global imperative, because hatred and violence between people are unfortunately still part of our daily experience in this world – in Germany, in India and in many other countries. Also war is not yet overcome and hunger, poverty and oppression cost thousands of peoples’ lives every day.
Some believe that education can make an important contribution to peace. „Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world“, said Nelson Mandela. The UNESCO Constitution states: "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed." But this statement must be handled carefully. It is also recognized, that peace is not only a matter of attitudes and behaviour of a few people. And we know that education does not always foster peace. Far too often education is ideologically misused for propaganda, for the deepening of prejudices and for the creation of enemy stereotypes. Therefore a critical and professional peace education is needed.
Of course we have very different concepts and definitions of peace education in Europe, Asia, Africa or America. But I suggest that there is a consensus on at least four challenges for peace education. These are:
(1) The condemnation of past, current and menacing wars,
(2) The resistance against all forms of violence or the fascination of violence (in daily life),
(3) The constructive dealing with conflicts or the perception of conflict as a chance for positive transition,
(4) The development of visions of peace and peaceful living together.
Peace education is based on the conviction that attitudes and behaviour can be changed through education, and that they have an influence on political decisions and structures. It is also a means to further individual participation in society and political processes. Peace education sees the responsibility of the individual, and considers how it can affect political processes. Peace education means inducing, encouraging and accompanying social and political learning processes. Peace education develops learning arrangements/ settings which allow children, young people and adults to experience that conflicts can be solved without violence and that peace is possible. The exhibition „Peacebuilders Around the World“ is a basis of such a setting of peace education.
The exhibition is complemented by audiovisual material and a workshop concept, developed by the Institute for Peace Education Tuebingen throughout the last five years. Hence it is now possible to look into and discuss the reports, photos and inspirations of the exhibition „Peacebuilders around the World“ within the framework of the „Peace Counts on Tour“ project.
We all need role models for a peaceful living together. In every country of this planet there were and there are people, who do not give up when faced with hatred, violence and war. They set an example through their words and through their actions. These are men and women who deeply impress us, because they devote their personality, their skills and their knowledge to something, they themselves do not benefit from. But many other people in their near and far environment do. They help, they comfort, they encourage people and they try to achieve their visions of a better society.
We can find such role models in our everyday life or we learn about them in the media. Role models for a peaceful living together are not impeccable: they err, they make mistakes and they may be doubtful.
But still – or maybe due to that – they have a fascinating charisma to us.
The journalists of the Peace Counts project have portrayed men and women from all parts of the world. Some of these characters, these „heroes of civil society“, we will meet in this exhibition. We have the honour of taking part in their lives through these exciting reports and impressive pictures: Singham’s return to Sri Lanka, Elena Gulmadova and her reconciliation work in Macedonia or Joe Doherty’s engagement for young people in Northern Ireland.
The example of peace builders allows us to learn about the search for peaceful means of conflict resolution and the fight for human rights, about the resistance against oppression and the engagement for poverty alleviation. Learning for peace makes this exhibition particularly valuable.
Peace is not for free. People have to be committed to the struggle for peace. Every society has to constantly design and review its „Roadmap to Peace“. Peace education is called on to arouse people’s interest in peace processes and to promote their qualified participation. The exhibition „Peacebuilders Around the World“ and the workshops by the Institute for Peace Education are a contribution to this, because they present successful examples of peace building. Three of these „best-practice-examples“ are particularly impressive:
– Since many years there is a gruesome civil war in Mindanao, an island belonging to the Philippines. The people of 40 towns in the Philippines have taken their destiny into their own hands by declaring their town a “peace zone” in the middle of a conflict area. The Peace Counts report is about an impressive network of farmers, religious leaders, and politicians. Likewise there are examples of „peace islands“ in Northeast India. What can be achieved by creating such peace zones? How can they be successful?
– Medellín in Columbia is an incredibly dangerous city. Sometimes it’s called the capital of violence. Youth gangs create fear around the city. Day by day young people were killed. But the violence rate has fallen since the creation of the organization “Soccer for Peace“. There are special rules for these soccer matches. What are the reasons for success here? Also in India the enthusiasm for sports is enourmous, although it is probably not for soccer. Is it possible to successfully transfer the experiences from Columbia to India?
– There is a long conflict going on between Israelis and Palestinians. The “School for Peace“ has created a method of constructive get-together and dialogue. In workshops held every week, groups of Palestinians and Israelis from all parts of the Middle East lock themselves in a room to argue for three days. As with real politics, these simulated talks between the groups often fail to reach an agreement. But that is not the school’s goal anyway. It is also not essential to gain the other’s sympathies. Instead, it is much more important to recognize one’s own role in the conflict. What meaning does the search for identity have in constructive conflict management? This question is relevant in every country in which people of different culture and religion live together.
The project „Peace Counts on Tour“ enables the creation of an international network of people from different countries worldwide. Its purpose is the promotion of peace education and the mutual inspiration on how to constructively deal with conflict. Achieving this purpose is only possible with the support of the partner organisations of Peace Counts. The accomplishments of „Brot für die Welt“ („Bread for the world“) and INSAF in India have been extraordinary. They have made the realization of this event possible.