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LET’S CONFORM TO 8 PILLARS OF PEACE

27/09/2020 15:47:00 By Alex Nxumalo

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Wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, science without humanity, knowledge without character, politics without principle, commerce without morality, worship without sacrifice.” – Mahatma Gandhi’s s seven deadly sins.

I am increasingly, by the day, becoming convinced and sadly disillusioned that as a country, unless and until we rise above being slaves to some of the above (or more) quoted human frailties, we will continue to struggle in attaining or experiencing national prosperity, maintaining any tangible, cohesive, social fabric, as well as live under a peaceful political hegemony. In my opinion, as well as that of a growing number of our compatriots, a lot of whom I interact or correspond with, it is relentlessly becoming clearer, that is, judging from the plethora of problems we incessantly face in the country, it is a fallacy to delude ourselves, falsely thinking that there is real peace in our country.

system

If any semblance of peace still exists (as some in our society, especially those who benefit from the system of governance tell anyone who cares to give the man ear, claim it does) it is at the least, superficial and illusionary. Beneath the veneer of outward signs of peace, lies an increasingly growing resentment and frustration from the populace at how we are governed.

What exactly constitutes ‘peace’ in a country? Within what framework is a peaceful country described? What qualities should any country exhibit in order to be classified as peaceful? Before I continue with the theme of this article, may I share with the reader, extracts from an article which was written by Margaret P. Clark, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, titled ‘What makes for a peaceful nation’.

It is sourced from https://wilpfact.wordpress.com/2013/10/03/what-makes-for-a-peaceful-nation/amp/ : The Pillars of Peace is a new conceptual framework for understanding and describing the factors that create peaceful societies. Developed by the Institute for Economics and Peace, it was launched September 10 at the United Nations in Geneva. The discussion used the report as a basis to explore a new approach for increasing resilience and wellbeing and the necessity for positive peace to be included on the post-2015 development agenda. According to the article, “This framework defines national characteristics that are most closely associated with peace and has been derived from a process of statistical analysis.

The Pillars of Peace provides a framework for assessing the positive peace factors that create peaceful societies. The Pillars of Peace is an eight-part taxonomy as follows:

1. A well-functioning government: Based on several factors, from how governments are elected and the political culture they engender, to the quality of the public services they deliver and their political stability. Strong relationships across a number of these indicators and sub-indicators demonstrate the interdependent nature of the various governance indicators. These measures are consistently linked to peace.

2. Sound business environment: The strength of economic conditions as well as the formal institutions that support the operation of the private sector determine the soundness of the business environment. Business competitiveness and economic freedom are both associated with the most peaceful countries, as is the presence of regulatory systems that are conducive to business operation.

3. Equitable distribution of resources: This refers to income distribution but more importantly to whether there is equity and access to resources such as education and health. The UN’s Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) correlates with the GPI and even more strongly with the GPI’s internal peace measure.

4. Acceptance of the rights of others: This category is designed to include both the formal laws that guarantee basic human rights and freedoms as well as the informal social and cultural norms that relate to behaviours of citizens.

These factors can be seen as proxies for tolerance between different ethnic, linguistic, religious, and socio-economic groups within a country. A commitment to human rights and freedom are key characteristics of peaceful countries, a claim supported by very strong correlations with several indexes measuring human rights. Also important are societal attitudes towards fellow citizens, minorities, ethnic groups, genders and foreigners.

5. Good relations with neighbours: This refers to the relations between individuals and communities as well as to cross-border relations. Countries with positive external relations are more peaceful and tend to be more politically stable, have better functioning governments, are regionally integrated and have low levels of organised internal conflict.

6. Free flow of information: This captures the extent to which citizens can gain access to information, whether the media is free and independent, as well as how well-informed citizens are and the extent of their engagement in the political process. Peaceful countries tend to have free and independent media which disseminates information in a way that leads to greater openness and helps individuals and civil society work together. This leads to better decision- making and rational responses in times of crisis.

7. High levels of human capital: Abroad human capital base increases the pool of human capital which in turn improves economic productivity, enables political participation, and increases social capital.

Education in many ways is a fundamental building block through which societies can build resilience and develop mechanisms to learn and adapt. Mean years of schooling is closely associated with the most peaceful countries, however tertiary levels of education and the percentage of government spending dedicated to education is not statistically as important.

8. Low levels of corruption: In societies with high corruption, resources are inefficiently allocated, often leading to a lack of funding for essential services. The resulting inequality can lead to civil unrest and in extreme situations can be the catalyst for more violence. Low corruption, by contrast, can enhance confidence and trust in institutions, which in turn helps to create informal institutions that enhance peace. Now deaxr reader, after reading through and comparing what the above states, can one safely describe our country as ‘peaceful’? I leave that to the reader to decide.

Some people erroneously describe the absence of war or conflict in a country, as a sign that there is peace in that particular country. As can be seen from the above extracts from the website, there is more to a country being classified as peaceful, than meets the eye. If one has been resident in our for country for a number of years, it starkly evident that in order to be classified as a peaceful country, there is ample evidence supporting a need for change of mindset and the introduction of a type of governance that will subscribe to the eight Pillars of Peace. As things stand, we are woefully off the mark! One thing well-known about emaSwati, is their uncanny, baffling and often taken advantage of, ability of suffering in silence (kubindvwa kubonwa with emaSwati). The bad guys have committed a plethora of unforgivable escapades, knowing very well that not a whimper of determined resistance, outcry or any ‘enough is enough’ stance, would be forthcoming from the hapless citizens. Sad, is it not? We cannot call ourselves a peaceful country when we have adopted negative tenets like greed, abuse of power by politicians and institutions that should - constitutionally and morally - uphold the rule of law. Deeply rooted in our hearts is relentless hate and despise for our less privileged, fellow compatriots. Those of our people who still have their morals intact, who condemn corrupt practices that have become the new norm and Swati way of life are called names, harassed and despised.

opinions

We - lately - persistently suffer from lack of tolerance, especially for differing opinions; some of our leaders have become conceited and suffer from consequential attitudes. There (allegedly) now exists opposing factions even in respected institutions like Parliament which, ethically, should be working together for the common good of taking our nation to greater heights. Such and more negative practices that we have adopted are dangerously and relentlessly taking the country down the road to perdition and destruction. Kwentekani? What has gone wrong with our society, ye maSwati akitsi? Why are we destroying this once beautiful country, which had so much potential? Why have we stooped to such base, appalling, low levels of human character? What happened to the famous, Swati, spirit of Ubuntu? I weep when I observe how even the church has (with the exception of a few, handful of the older traditional churches, which still uphold tenets of true Christianity) joined the moral decay bandwagon, shamefully participating in worldly and carnal pleasures, desecrating the very foundations of true Christianity our Lord Christ so diligently taught, preached and laid the foundations for us to follow.