The Sydney Peace Foundation has posted a Peace with Justice Links page (complied by yours truly) bringing together links to resources for those interested in knowing more about peace, conflict, justice, human rights, environmental ethics and more. Visit the full page here: Peace with Justice Links. Here are some highlights and personal favourites:
Why is peace with justice important?
“Peace with justice is a way of thinking and acting which promotes nonviolent solutions to everyday problems and thereby contributes to a civil society.”
Key Concepts
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy provides a valuable summary of present and historical philosophical perspectives on War; on Justice; on Pacifism; on Human Rights; on Environmental Ethics and Ecology – all important intertwining issues related to moving toward more peaceful relations between humans, societies, and with our environment.
Universal Rights and Responsibilities
International declarations of fundamental values and principles useful for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century:
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (English version online)
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Index to 385 Languages
- Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Convention on the Rights of the Child
- The Earth Charter
The Global Peace Index
The Global Peace Index (GPI) is the world’s leading measure of national peacefulness. Now in its sixth year, it ranks 158 nations according to their ‘absence of violence’. The GPI is developed by Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) under the guidance of an international panel of independent experts with data collated and calculated by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). It is composed of 23 indicators, ranging from a nation’s level of military expenditure to its relations with neighbouring countries and the percentage of prison population. The project’s ambition is to go beyond a crude measure of wars—and systematically explore the texture of peace.
Click here for Interactive Maps, Facts and Yearly Results
Peace Research, Journals and Academic Institutes
There is now a general consensus of the importance of the interdisciplinary investigation of peace amongst scholars from a range of disciplines in and around the social sciences, as well as from many influential policymakers around the world. Peace and conflict studies is a social and political science field that crosses a number of academic disciplines including political science, geography, economics, psychology, sociology, international relations, history, anthropology, religious studies, and gender studies.
The International Peace Research Association (IPRA) provides a world-wide network for peace researchers seeking nonviolent ways to resolve conflict. Peace researchers explain how the conditions of peace can be advanced and/or the causes of war and other forms of violence be removed. This is a directory guide to peace research via an interactive map of the world (provided by IPRA)
The Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPACS) is the sister organisation of the Sydney Peace Foundation (and where I did my Masters) at the University of Sydney. CPACS promotes interdisciplinary research and teaching on the causes of conflict and the conditions that affect conflict resolution and peace. Research projects and other activities focus on the resolution of conflict with a view to attaining just societies.
United Nations
These United Nations websites contain comprehensive indexes to peace with justice issues, and associated UN Bodies and resources on:
- Peace and Security
- Development
- Human Rights
- Humanitarian Affairs
- International Law
- More UN Links and Resources
Peace Education
United Nations Cyber School Bus Peace Education provides resources for Students- Learner as Teacher; and also for Teachers- Teacher as Learner. It also provides curriculum resources for teaching Peace Education: Unit 1 (8-12) – ecological thinking and respect for life Unit 2 (11-16) – tolerance and respect for dignity and identity Unit 3 (12+) – critical thinking and active non-violence Unit 4 (14+) – social justice and civic responsibility Unit 5 (14+) – leadership and global citizenship
Get Active
Communities all over the world are actively working toward more peaceful, socially just and ecologically sustainable way of being in our world. These communities can take the form of government or non-government organisations; profit, non-profits or social businesses; religious, non-religious and inter-religious charities, activist organisations, peace tourism, fair trade, and many other forms. Here are a few:
Amnesty International are a global movement of over 3 million people committed to defending those who are denied justice or freedom.
Oxfam Working with communities for more than 50 years, and Oxfam provide people with the skills and resources to help them create their own solutions to poverty. Their inspiring work can be seen in initiatives from their Fair Trade products and shops, to their Grow campaign, the latter which encourages investment in small-scale farmers with sustainable techniques (like using organic fertilisers and drip irrigation techniques) to help produce enough to feed a growing population, without pushing our climate further out of control.
The Pachamama Alliance Indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest working to preserve their lands and culture and, using insights gained from their work, educating and inspiring people around the world to bring forth a thriving, just and sustainable world. Their Changing the Dream Symposiums aim to awaken a transformed global vision: an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on this planet.
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“Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free.”
– Dalai Lama, Nobel Laurent and recipient of the Sydney Peace Foundation Gold Medal.
Please visit the Sydney Peace Foundation website for more links & resources, our peace blog, and information on upcoming events.
