International Day of Living Together in Peace

  The Chairperson of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU), H.E. Ambassador Rebecca Amuge Otengo, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Uganda to the AU, on behalf of the PSC, joins the rest of the international community in commemorating the International Day of Living Together in Peace, a day in which Member States are encouraged to identify conditions conducive to the promotion of a culture of tolerance, unity in diversity, peace and living together in harmony. The PSC seizes the opportunity to encourage all Member States to redouble their efforts to promote peaceful, diverse, tolerant and inclusive communities and societies. The PSC also encourages Member States, political parties, civil society organizations, the media, community and faith leaders, to embrace and promote the culture of tolerance and appreciation of the value of unity in diversity within the letter and spirit of the ‘Nelson Mandela Decade for Reconciliation in Africa (2014-2024)...

  The Principles for Peace Initiative has identified three additional forwardlooking frontiers that have great potential to upset or facilitate efforts move towards sustainable peacemaking. They touch upon issues of economic well-being, the digital world and environmental crises. Across all of these is a common concern with sustaining engagements. Each section below highlights these challenges and how the Covenant's principles can change the narrative. They also sketch some of the initial programmatic and policy implications that will shape engagements with stakeholders in these communities to realise the broader potential of the Peacemaking Covenant .  The 21stcentury digital space is integral to modern political, economic and social life worldwide. Digital technologies transcend geographical borders and open new venues for global connection and cooperation, with enormous potential to develop new ideas and create new spaces of encounters and empowerment. They also, however,...

  Embracing integrated and hybrid solutions strives to enhance the local legitimacy of and support for peacemaking initiatives. To do so recognises the latter's complex, context-specific and adaptive nature and the need to improve the horizontal integration of activities by diverse external (international, transnational and regional) actors, to embed solutions within local norms, institutions and traditions and to harmonise short- and long-term processes of transformation.  National governments and political institutions must be responsible and accountable to the population for delivering essential and basic services and representing the aims and aspirations of the entire polity. The development of functioning and efficient institutions is inevitably a hybrid process, intertwined with global and regional developments, shared histories, gender dynamics, and economic, environmental, or geopolitical structures and forces that can exacerbate or help resolve conflicts. - Implicati...

  The principle of subsidiarity reorients relations between local actors and other power centres following the logic of "as local as possible, as global as necessary". It places a central focus on national, subnational and local leadership to drive peace processes that are responsive and accountable to the needs of local communities. Subsidiarity involves new ways of understanding accountability and responsibility for the successful outcomes of any peace process . Who responsible for making peace sustainable? How can they be held accountable and to whom? Ultimately, local actors and individuals , including political elites, social groups and business actors , are responsible for the sustainabilityof peace processes . Each must also acknowledge that they are part of larger political, socio-economic and gendered dynamics that fuelled conflict and tensions in the first place, and that local conflicts and insecurities do not exist in isolation nor emerge in a vacuum. The id...

  In 2017, the United Nations declared 16 May the International Day of Living Together in Peace, to promote peace, tolerance, inclusion, understanding, and solidarity across the world. Each year on this day, we reaffirm our commitment to international cooperation as our approach to solving challenges of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all. Today, we are facing the most challenging crisis since the Second World War. COVID-19 poses a serious threat to maintenance of international peace and security - potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence that would undermine our ability to fight the disease. The United Nations has called for an immediate global ceasefire to work together on the actual fight – defeating the pandemic. It is time to silence the guns and bring hope to those who are most vulnerable. Over 100 Member States, diverse regional organizations...

  Promoting pluralism and embracing diversity across communal, political, social, economic and gender divides, ensuring Fair and equal participation inpublic life and providing equitable access to institutions and services , are key foundations for sustainable peace . A pluralistic approach will not strive to eliminate differences and produce uniformity, or to simply promote tolerance in cold coexistence , but to accept differences as enriching for society and reinforcing a sense of belonging for all social groups. The Peacemaking Covenant sees pluralism as a tool that empowers everyone to participate meaningfully, including those who otherwise remain at the margins, to cocreate outcomes that respect the dignity of all. Pluralism shifts from inclusion as token representation to authentic political processes that value the contributions of all, support the expression of diverse views and priorities for society, and create a fair space of influence for diverse groups. Inclusio...

 Living in freedom from fear is a basic human need and right. There can be no peace without security. A stable and secure political order requires accountable security institutions to provide security as a public good, to respect Humanrights Law and Humanitarian Law and to follow agreed principles governing the use of force in society. Security institutions and forces must have sufficient capacity, clear mandates and missions, and regulatory oversight to meet the evolving security needs of a population moving towards sustainable peace . Ending violent conflict and creating a secure and safe environment for political, social and economic life to flourish are vital for meaningful and durable peacemaking efforts to take root and should be the primary goal of peace operations. Development and military assistance should respect the dignity of affected populations and align with concrete, locally led efforts to address the underlying drivers of violence, including social and economic is...