Conflict = Epidemic: How do you treat yourself? Use the advice from the United Nations.
Imagine you get a cold, because you don’t treat
yourself, your cold turns into flu. Flu is contagious; therefore, you are now
contaminating your surroundings. As a result, a good advice is to treat your
cold before it gets worse. Conflicts are like epidemic. If you don’t deal with
them at an early stage, they would probably become more damaging. Nevertheless,
this example concerns only your daily life. Thus, now, imagine you are living
in a country infected by conflicts like in Darfur. Conflicts can take bigger
proportions if they are not taking care of. The United Nations have understood
this issue. Therefore, a few years ago, the international organization has
established Peacekeeping Operations in order to promote peace in countries
devastated by conflicts.
Many celebrities, such as George Clooney, have joined the
movement in order to make people aware of the value of peace and the work of
the UN Peacekeepers.
Many celebrities, such as George Clooney, have joined the
movement in order to make people aware of the value of peace and the work of
the UN Peacekeepers. However, as George Clooney says it in the video,
"peace is certainly more than a celebrity endorsement". That is why,
in order to find a way from conflict into peace, UN Peacekeeping has highlighted
3 basic principles:
- Consent of the parties;
- Impartiality - Non-use of force except in self-defense and defense
of the mandate.[1]
These three basic rules could, actually, be applied by
everyone on a daily basis. Of course, they have to be adapted to the situation.
We do not really defend a mandate, but we certainly can reduce the amount of unnecessary
conflicts. As a result, don't you believe that individuals should try to
establish peace in their daily life; and then, maybe fewer countries would be torn
by conflicts? The epidemic wouldn't spread anymore…
For me it all depends on "which" conflict we are talking about; but when it comes to national or even international conflicts, peace depends on more than just individuals behavior. Years of range and anger can just be pushed away in a few days. People want solutions, changes and without that, unfortunately, the conflict is going to last. I wish it would be that easy, just to tell people to be "nice to each other", but politics, money and governance don't "play nice". I hope one day they will...
For me it all depends on "which" conflict we are talking about; but when it comes to national or even international conflicts, peace depends on more than just individuals behavior. Years of range and anger can just be pushed away in a few days. People want solutions, changes and without that, unfortunately, the conflict is going to last.
ReplyDeleteI wish it would be that easy, just to tell people to be "nice to each other", but politics, money and governance don't "play nice". I hope one day they will...