SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions- Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies.
Introduction
The last two entries in these series spoke about Life on Land, and Life Below Water.
In these write-ups, I spoke about the cruelty of humans to our biological neighbours, extinction and other related concepts. When I wrote these, I wondered how we can be so wicked to other life forms. Now as I write this entry, I am even more perplexed about the cruelty we show to our fellow humans.
Violence is not exclusive to humans. Throughout the animal kingdom, we see organisms fight each other for competition and survival. We see violence between predators and preys. We also see this between predators as a way to ascertain dominance. This is the way of the wild; the survival of the fittest. This is how animal populations are maintained and how nature thrives.
Just like our animal counterparts, conflict is also seen amongst humans. This is normal. The complexities surrounding human behaviour makes conflict inevitable during our prolonged interactions.
So conflict isn’t necessarily the issues. The issue is how do we handle these conflict?
Do we result to violence like our animal compadre? Do we kill each other like it is done in the wild?
No, we shouldn’t. This in fact is the difference between humans; the higher animals as we are called, and the other animals. Our higher cognitive ability means we should handle conflict in a more sophisticated way. This also means we should not succumb so easily to our primal, animal instincts.
But isn’t it quite unfortunate that this is what we see all around us? Wars, belligerence and bloodshed everywhere you turn; in all corners of the world, people are killing people.
The 16th SDG is concerned about this problem. How do we maintain Peace amongst human societies all over the world?
In order to answer this question, we must first understand what Peace and Justice is.
What is Peace?
Peace is not just the absence of conflict. It is much more than that.
Conflict is a part of human interaction. Due to the differences in our values, principles and beliefs, it is expected that we disagree on things.
There are different degrees of conflict. It could be a small dispute between friends or family members, or it could be more serious. Conflict could be between individuals or between groups.
Irrespective of what kind of conflict it is, all disputes start from small scale issues before they escalate. Riots, wars, and other form of confrontations all begin from minor issues.
These conflicts truncate the normal flow of activities. Businesses and schools are affected in such situations.
Peace is a period where people can go about their normal lives without the fear that comes with conflict. People can live freely and interact normally, and fully exercise their fundamental human rights.
What is Justice?
Justice is such a tricky term to define because it has to do with the concepts of Right and Wrong. There is no universally accepted definition of these two and so it becomes hard to explain what justice truly means.
Having said this, it is important to note that justice is related to Law and Order. As we move from country to country, laws change and rules are modified. Justice deals with declaring judgment on the basis of the laws on which a region operates.
For a thing to be just, it must be fair. Everybody should have access to it irrespective of their socioeconomic status or religion.
We live in a world where there is so much unfairness. SDG 16 is concerned with righting these wrongs.
What are Strong Institutions?
This refers to the structures that are put in place to ensure smooth running of human societies. They include NGOs, governments, trade unions, amongst others. The most important of all of these however is the family.
The family plays an integral part in societal issues and I explain how in this write up.
Why Should We Care?
Right now, you may be privileged to live in a place without widespread conflict. The systems work. You can sleep without fear. You know where your loved ones are.
It is easy to see how one enjoying such things can become nonchalant about concepts like conflict and peace. Well, below are a few reason why we all should be bothered:
1. WORLD PEACE: Within the last two centuries, the world has witnessed a lot of wide spread conflict including to World Wars.
The devastation from these event still haunt us even till this day. Alliances and enemies were made and this has done a lot of harm to the international relations and diplomacy amongst countries.
Due to this, once there’s conflict between two nations, other countries indirectly get affected by it.
So, if violence is left unchecked, it is only a matter of time before it consumes people all over the earth.
2. HUNGER: One of the basic amenities we need is food. I explain this in my entry on Zero Hunger. As important as this resource is, during wars it becomes very hard to access food. A lot of people starve and die due to the reduce access to meals.
Agricultural activities are halted as the farmers are either running for their lives or conscripted into the military. Transportation of food also becomes a hassle. We have even seen instances where warring countries intentionally target food sources as a war strategy.
All of these things lead to increased hunger and this is very devastating.
3. FOR THE FUTURE: The whole reason for the Sustainable Development Goals is to help the world become a better place. We cannot achieve these goals in all countries are in turmoil and chaos.
If all these conflicts are left unchecked, the future of humans will be jeopardized.
What Can We Do?
1. BUILD STRONGER FAMILY VALUES: Family is the basic and most important unit of society. The family structure plays a strong role in the way individuals turn our.
A child who grows around abusive and violence, will most likely turn out to be abusive and violent adult. It is quite unfortunate to see that there are many dysfunctional homes in our societies today and the numbers seem to be growing. Divorce is also on the rise. This is a big issue as we have many more children growing up in toxic environments.
There is a need to build strong family ties and imbibe values such as love and tolerance in our young children.
Remember the children of today are the adults of tomorrow.
2. EDUCATION: We need to take the gospel of peace across the world. What better way to do this than through schools?
Peace and Justice needs to be thought across all educational levels.
People need to learn about conflict, violence and its impacts, and amicable ways to settle disputes.
This way, we take a step closer towards achieving the goal.
Conclusion
There is so much diversity amongst humans all over the world. From country to country, customs and cultures differ, religious beliefs vary. All these things are what makes life interesting. The beauty of art the ingenuity of individuals; all these stems from our differences.
Being different is not so bad after all. We must learn to tolerate other people and their beliefs. In all things, remember that you are human before you’re anything else.
