“It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”
-Eleanor Roosevelt. [1]
Peace can be defined as the absence of wars, sectarian, ethnic, and religious problems and conflicts and hate speech, and equal rights for all members of society, which creates an atmosphere of safety and stability and helps development and renaissance.
Living together in peace is “accepting differences and having the ability to listen to, recognize, respect and appreciate others, as well as living in a peaceful and united way”.
This includes the acceptance of all religions and races, the equal rights and duties for all individuals, one’s entitlement to a good job and a decent life, and the equality of all before the law.
Given the importance of this matter, the United Nations General Assembly declared May 16 the International Day of Living Together in Peace, to make it clear that this day requires the efforts of most countries around the world to promote tolerance, solidarity, peace, and harmony.
This day invites countries to further promote cooperation and reconciliation, through working with all parties; including local communities, faith leaders, and other relevant actors in order to find effective measures that will enable us one day, despite all differences, to achieve a world of peace and solidarity. [2]
Also read: International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace.
The widespread hate speech at the present time is one of the most common causes of problems and crises, due to the spread of feelings which may not immediately incite violence, but sow the seeds of intolerance and anger that encourage discrimination and hostility based on race, religion or gender, and gives legitimacy to acts of violence.
In addition, the existence of stereotypes and prejudices against the rest of the people is one of the matters that may increase problems, so there must be wise management of ethnic and religious diversity, by helping everyone perform their rituals and customs in comfort and safety, and in the presence of a law that protects everyone and equals them regardless of their different ethnic or religious affiliations. [3]
Living in peace and security is of great significance at the level of the individual and society, as peace does not only mean the absence of conflicts and wars but also requires a set of attitudes and values that are based on full respect for sovereignty, human rights, accepting the opinion of the other and coexistence among different cultures and civilizations. It is no secret that all peoples of the world are waiting for peace, that achieves their dreams and aspirations and secures for everyone a decent life away from intolerance, discrimination, and violence.
Having peace around the world accomplishes a lot of things; as it helps the peoples of the world to learn, acquire and disseminate culture, and build civilizations, in addition, the conducive environment achieved promotes creativity and production, reflecting positively on life of the individual and society.
In the end, needless to say, peace lifts humanity towards the level of civilized social existence, while wars lead it to barbarism. [4]
On the Arab Countries’ level, perhaps what most hinders the implementation of the living together in peace principle are issues like bullying and gender inequality, as bullying is an undesirable aggressive phenomenon that involves violence and aggressive behavior done by an individual or group of individuals against others, and it may take several forms, physical, verbal, social, psychological and electronic.
Children are often the victims of this harmful behavior, which results in a generation that lacks self-confidence and concentration, negatively affecting the academic achievement of these children in the future, and leading to a generation that knows no language other than violence. [5]
As for gender equality, according to the Gender Development Index (GDI), the Arab States region has the second widest gender gap in the world after South Asia, and at the current rate, this gap is estimated to take another 153 years to close.
As a direct result of gender inequalities, women and girls achieved 14.4% less in human development than men over the past 20 years.
As for work, the Arab region has the world’s lowest rate of female economic participation (26% compared to the global average of 56%). By contrast, the male labor force participation rate, at 76%, is above the global average of 74%. These numbers have remained stubbornly resistant to change despite increasing levels of education amongst women. In addition to the limited participation of women in managerial positions, which often reflects negatively on the decisions taken.
From the above, we conclude that the Arab region, in general, requires a lot of work to implement the principle of living together in peace, in view of their issues, which impedes the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the principle of living together in peace continues to elude the Arab countries. [6]
Upon the values and principles of our initiative, we believe that living together in peace is only possible when equality between men and women is achieved at all levels, as peace is closely linked to women’s access to their rights. In addition to the message that the initiative seeks to spread, which is the right of all people, regardless of their races or religions, to live in good and healthy conditions that secure a decent life for them.
♀️ Uplifting Syrian Women Initiative aims at sustainable peace building in Syria through targeting women and providing them with free online courses, workshops, discussion sessions and trainings, with a view to achieving the goals of Gender Equality, Quality Education and Decent Work and Economic Growth, which all fall into the interest of society as a whole and serve the purpose of rebuilding it.