10 March 2009

Eames-Bradley Report

This Report is to be welcomed. Now that it is in public domain, it is an opportunity for all to engage with it in a meaningful way.
The following are some of my reflections

a) Education.
The report is vague about the kind of curricula that would help young people in school not just understand the conflict but also provide them with the necessary skills to help create a more peaceful and nonkilling society. Our current Minister for Peace campaign calls for Peace and Affective Education (relating to emotional development) to be given a more significant status in current education policy. Peace education should include helping young people acquire the necessary nonviolence skills to work towards peaceful conflict transformation.
There is also a need to bring this into the curricula of further education colleges and universities. Every effort should be made to ensure that the wider community are given the facilities to help in their adult education in peace formation. The Ministry for Peace campaign also calls for the need to empower local communities to develop their own initiatives for peace and reconciliation. One way of doing this is to have Peace Trainers to help individuals and communities achieve their Peace goals.

b) Socio-Economic impact
More facilities should be provided to help those who are unemployed, and those who for no fault of their own are unemployable. The latter do not fit into our current system. They become marginalised, and feel alienated and forgotten about. They are angry and often drift into anti- social behaviour at enormous cost to society.
Learn and Grow is an organisation that advocates establishing local centres which are not about exams, or skill assessments, but where people can begin to own and feel at home, and where they can begin to get their lives together, learn new interests to help them develop as fully mature human beings.

c) Churches, Faith and non Faith traditions
These could be seen to work together more for a truly integrated, inclusive and less racist society. They could help promote more inclusive schooling for all.

d) Legacy Commission tenure of Office
What happens at the end of their five year term of office? A Minister for Peace could be appointed to continue with some, if not all of its work?

e) The relationship between the local and the global
In what ways can we help create a more sustainable peaceful world? What steps can we take to reduce the level of violence both at home and abroad? How do we deal with the impact of global issues on our own community here e.g. war, nuclear and conventional weapons, poverty, and the environment etc. (Charter for a World Without Violence)

Kevin Cassidy