POSITIVE PEACE A Blueprint for post-pandemic recovery -Soter

 Published as theme article in Fr. Agnelo's Call, January 2021

POSITIVE PEACE

A Blueprint for post-pandemic recovery

With the spirit of Christmas still in the air, there could be no better time to reflect on the topic of ‘Positive Peace’ which the nativity story is all about. Besides the bright new shining Star which captures the attention of the three wise men, it is the message of angels to the shepherds in the mountain side, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests”, which sums up the purpose of God’s intervention on earth. It is the message of Peace which the birth of Jesus, the son of God, brings to a world torn with wars, civil unrest, rapes, drug abuse, hunger, disease, and other conflicts. Pope Francis in his message for the 2018 World Peace Day had said, “Peace which the angels proclaimed to the shepherds on Christmas night, is a profound aspiration for everyone, for each individual and all peoples, and especially for those who most keenly suffer its absence.”

 

Since that breaking news from Bethlehem to the world two thousand years ago, the world has made significant strides in science and technology. The connectivity of humankind enabled by digital technology has brought information and work places to the living rooms for the privileged, and has made virtual relationships possible with those whom we desire to be in touch anywhere in the world. The ability for nations to keep surveillance, not only on other nations but also on their own citizens, is employed as never before to strengthen security. Technology has even been developed to detect natural disasters and minimise loss of lives and property. In the field of health and medicine, the once unthought of is now possible. But along with it has also come the abuse of science and technology to inflict violence and suffering by those seeking political power and a control on the economy.

 

Economic prosperity alone cannot guarantee Peace

This twenty-first century world was under an illusion that only a world war could disrupt peacefulness and spoil the story of economic growth and progress. The advancement in science and technology and a thriving economy were seen as the ultimate answer to lasting peace. Though biological warfare was seen as a possible threat, the confidence in the ability of science and technology to provide answers to such a crisis made this threat sound remote, until the emergence of Covid19 which locked down the world and wrecked the global economy. This latest global health crisis has demonstrated how an interconnected, fragile and complex global socio-economic system can collapse, people’s freedom of movement and rights and liberties can be revoked overnight, and modes of travel stalled all in just a matter of weeks.

 

With the world lacking a credible approach to deal with the Covid19 crisis, some research projections point out that civil conflicts can be expected to rise, resulting in a sharp decline of Positive Peace. For the common man, peace is mostly perceived as the absence of violence and military conflict. However, we need to understand that this is ‘Negative Peace’, which is not sufficient to build resilient societies. Pope Francis says, “Peace in society cannot be understood as pacification or the mere absence of violence resulting from the domination of one part of society over others. Nor does true peace act as a pretext for justifying a social structure which silences or appeases the poor, so that the more affluent can placidly support their lifestyle while others have to make do as they can. Demands involving the distribution of wealth, concern for the poor and human rights cannot be suppressed under the guise of creating a consensus on paper or a transient peace for a contented minority. The dignity of the human person and the common good rank higher than the comfort of those who refuse to renounce their privileges. When these values are threatened, a prophetic voice must be raised.” (Evangelii Gaudium, 218) This more holistic idea of peace is called ‘Positive Peace’, ‘Just Peace’ or ‘Sustainable Peace’ by scholars and practitioners.

The Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Óscar Arias Sánchez, in his acceptance speech stated that “Peace is not the product of a victory or a command. It has no finishing line, no final deadline, no fixed definition of achievement. Peace is a never-ending process, the work of many decisions... It cannot ignore our differences or overlook our common interests. It requires us to work and live together.” The absence of such holistic peace has huge repercussions for a nation’s economy which in turn hampers the Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI). The quality of life or well-being of a country is determined on 3 factors namely, basic literacy rate, infant mortality, and life expectancy at age one. To measure the costs of conflict, the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP) has developed a framework to determine the Economic Value of Peace (EVP). This framework when applied to 163 countries has shown that there are at least two major trends in the cost of violence. The first being that in countries which experienced dramatic increase in conflict there is a corresponding impact on their economies. On the other hand, there are significant economic gains in countries which have experienced peace.

 

Relevance of Positive Peace to India’s post-pandemic recovery

In 2016 the United Nations in its Charter on Peace introduced the concept ‘Sustaining Peace’ for the first time. This signalled a fundamental shift in the way it approaches peace and conflict. This year's theme chosen by the U.N. for the World Peace Day on September 21 was ‘Shaping Peace Together’. It encouraged people to spread compassion, kindness, and hope in the face of the Covid19 pandemic. The United Nation’s new focus has been on preventing conflicts by identifying the various factors that foster peace. In this regard, the IEP’s Positive Peace framework helps to track and identify the multitude of factors that help realise this agenda. IEP defines Positive Peace as the “attitudes, institutions and structures which create and sustain peaceful societies.”  It identifies 8 pillars which help promote peaceful societies, namely, ‘a well-functioning government, equitable distribution of resources, free flow of information, good relations with neighbours, high levels of human capitals, acceptance of the rights of others, low levels of corruption and a sound business environment.’ It is these indicators which will help us as citizens to analyse India’s socio-economic recovery from the pandemic. Presently, it appears that the country is lagging in several of the indicators listed in the positive peace framework.

According to a research analysis published by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEC) in its Global Peace Index 2020, the economic preconditions in India are shown to be partly favourable to post-Covid19 economic recovery. However, India’s ranking when it comes to Positive Peace is dismally low. Some of the factors which could threaten Positive Peace in the post-pandemic situation is the substantial contraction of business activity and economic output, resulting in large scale unemployment and poverty. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has also warned that some vulnerable societies are facing a ‘crisis within a crisis’ with a threat of famine adding to the chances of Covid19 infections.

As citizens of India, we need to understand that schemes and doles of the government as social welfare and economy boosting measures are not sufficient to ensure peace. Though the country has climbed 2 spots to 139 on the Global Peace Index 2020, the study warns that the tension between different political, ethnic and religious groups remains a significant threat to peacefulness in the country. It has cited the Citizenship Amendment Act and the tensions between the Muslims and Hindus as the major cause for turbulence. The consequences of misplaced social and economic priorities need to be understood with the country’s standing at 94 among 107 nations on the Global Hunger Index 2020, much below Bangladesh and Pakistan. The Georgetown University’s Institute for Women 2019 report, ranks India at 133 from among 167 countries.  On the Global Economic Freedom Index 2020, the country has fallen 26 spots and stands at 105 from among 162 nations. IMF forecasts that India's GDP will plunge 10.3 per cent this fiscal year ending on March 31, 2021, the biggest contraction since independence. We already see how the nation’s focus is being diverted from its domestic crisis to the tensions on the international borders thereby causing public money to be diverted for enhancing military capability.

 

Positive Peace – a community responsibility

The post-covid19 phase will be far more challenging for us as citizens and not just for the Governments. It is not sufficient for us to merely focus on external peace between States and Nations. “Promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels” is one of the U. N’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs). Peace building, and particularly local peacebuilding, is needed more than ever if the world is going to meet these SDGs. The struggle towards ensuring peace has to begin within each one of us. The suicides, communal riots, rapes and other evils we see in our society are more than often a manifestation of this war with oneself which then gets acted out in public.

In this pandemic crisis, our evaluation of the laws, policies and programs of our Governments and the Civil Society initiatives must be based on the 8 indicators listed by the IEC as crucial for attaining Positive Peace. Reaching out with food provisions to the needy may be important, but at the same time this outreach must also extend to focussing on the mental health of the needy, particularly the senior citizens who are tied down within their homes because of health restrictions. Rather than being resentful and fearful of migrants in our community, we need to reach out and extend ourselves to understand their cultures, assets and needs, and more so to realise how their migration contributes not only to their prosperity but also to the prosperity of the society as a whole. We need to rid our families from addictions of all types, chemical and process addictions, as this will minimise law and order problems in our society.