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T. Mtambo: Address to Peace Summit 2023, Session VII-B
Written by Hon. Timothy P. Mtambo, President, Citizens for Transformation (CFT), Malawi
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
Address to Peace Summit 2023
May 2-5, 2023
Preamble
I shall dissect the Peace Ideology and Vision for a Peace Movement in regard to the Role of the UN and UPF on Each Continent from two perspectives.
The first is that the UN has approached the peace initiative from political, human rights and secular values including military peacekeeping initiatives. The second is that the UPF advocates that humanity is one human family created by God, the ultimate reality, and that the highest qualities of human beings are spiritual and moral.
I will argue that the complementarity of the two must form the basis for the global peace movement in what has become a ‘Global Village.’
Introduction
In my examination of the “Peace Ideology and Vision for a Peace Movement: The Role of the UN and UPF on Each Continent,” I shall concentrate on the dichotomy between the Global North and the South particularly that of the African Continent.
Africa alone according to the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, accounts for 35 non-international armed conflicts (NIACs) taking place in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan.
There are further 45, 21 & 6 armed conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, Asia, and Latin America respectively. All these conflicts happening in the Global South with most of them well over 50 years of continuous conflicts.
The UN
The UN according to its Charter of 1945, (Chapter 1, Article: 1.1) was primarily established:
- To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace…
- To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples…
- From the main bodies of the UN, I shall single out the Security Council. I shall return to this point in a moment, but for now suffice to ask:
Seventy-eight years since the establishment of the UN, why do we still have exclusively five Permanent Members of the Security Council?
Currently made up of 193 Member States, the UN, and its work are guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter.
The Universal Peace Federation (UPF)
The UPF is present and active in 160 countries around the world, including 46 in Africa. UPF implements its programs through a global network of institutions and individuals, “Ambassadors for Peace.” The organization operates through national chapters and Peace Councils at various levels. In Africa, the UPF has over 100,000 Ambassadors for Peace
UPF’s Core Values
- Humanity is one human family created by God, the ultimate reality.
- The highest qualities of human beings are spiritual and moral.
- The family is the "school of love and peace."
- Living for the good of others (living for the greater good) is the way to reconcile the divided human family.
- Peace comes from cooperation across the boundaries of ethnicity, religion, and nationality.
UN Success Stories
However, it will be wrong to throw out the ‘baby with bath water.’ The UN has scored some notable successes over the decades such as:
Namibia 1989-1990
Cambodia 1992-1993
Mozambique 1992-1994
El Salvador 1991-1995
Guatemala 1997-1997
E.Slavonia/Croatia 1996-1998
Timor Leste 1999-2002
Sierra Leone 1999-2005
Burundi 2004-2006
Timor Leste 2006-2012
Côte d’Ivoire 2004-2017
Liberia 2003-2018
UN Weaknesses vs UPF Strengths
UN Weaknesses
- Seventy-eight years after the UN’s formation, what justification is there that only the P-5 countries (USA, China, France, Russia, UK) have the power of veto, while the rest are given tokenism membership, suspicion and distrust?
- Lack of Independence and neutrality: There are growing concerns that the UN system is at times susceptible to manipulation by powerful members thereby function like a proxy entity.
- The UN’s global peace strategy is based only on political and secular values, including military peacekeeping initiatives that have not worked in the DR Congo and elsewhere in Africa.
UPF Strengths
- The UPF is global in perspective but focuses on the family unit as a change agent. It believes that the family is the "school of love and peace.”
- Global leaders are made at home because charity also begins at home.
- Addresses humanity in its totality, i.e., soul, spirit, and body.
- The moral and behavioral changes of humanity are at the gut levels of the soul and spirit.
UN Challenged Moments
In my introduction I did not mention the Rwandan Genocide or that of the Darfur in Sudan and the Gukurahundi in the Zimbabwean Mashonaland. These too have a lasting negative legacy both in regional and global peace.
From the time of the Jewish holocaust, the UN and the so-called international community have always said, “Never Again!” but then it happens, ‘again and again.’
If the UN’s core mandate is to foster global peace, shouldn’t we be asking tough questions as to why the UN seems to have failed its peace initiates 78 years after its founding? Or indeed, shouldn’t we be calling for major UN reforms?
Challenges of the UN in Africa
The sad reality about Africa is that it continues to deteriorate more armed conflicts in addition to the already heavily compromised catastrophes by extreme climate conditions in the immediate aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. The UN, the African Union (AU), and regional bodies are all struggling to contain the perpetual armed conflicts in the Congo basin, the Horn of Africa, and the Sahel regions. In Africa, more than 12.5 million are internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in their own countries (World Bank, 2023).
What can the UN do to bring lasting peace to Africa?
The initiative by the Africa Union (AU) on the “African Solutions to African Problems,” was born because of the following reasons:
“The initiative was born out of a strong desire to revive a marginalized and exploited continent that has been undermined by centuries of slavery, colonialism, neo-colonialism, exploitation, oppression, war, and hunger. There is also a growing consensus amongst analysts, policymakers, academics, and civil society representatives on the continent that continental integration is a remedy for African problems.” (Institute for Security Studies, 2008)
What can the UN do…?
It is almost an established fact that foreign interventions in conflict situations have been more of a part of the problem than solution. External or foreign solutions were not viable in Africa since they were either “imported” or “dictated” to Africans. (Institute for Security Studies, 2008).
Therefore, I submit to you that the UN in conjunction with the UPF must begin to recognize and empower local initiatives and interventions to resolve local or regional conflicts. This is a must for each and every continent… No one size fits all approaches.
Recommendations
I further submit to you the urgent need for the UPF strategies and approaches for peace be adopted in the UN stratum.
Understanding the Sources of Conflict in Africa is crucial in shattering lasting peace. “UN and UPF invest in research to understand the root causes of conflicts in each continent.
“At the core of the crisis within Africa’s war-affected countries and regions is the desire to acquire power and secure resources for one group of elites or one ethnonational group at the expense of others,” (Tim Murithi, 2006).
We are all aware that religion continues to be a major source of conflict in most parts of the world. It becomes critical for the UN to integrate the spiritual and religious strategies of UPF in conflict resolutions that emanate religious differences.
Both the UN and the UPF must adopt the strategies of indigenization in conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
Governments to adopt UPF’s comprehensive character/moral education (Hyo Jeong character education curriculum, this is a must (Prevention better than cure).
Establishing and strengthening national and regional infrastructures of peace – National Peace Commissions and the Malawi Peace and Unity Commission which is on advanced stage. (Strong policy, legal and institutional national frameworks) (Prevention better than cure).
Conclusion
Conflicts are inevitable in societies where there are socioeconomic, political, and socio-religious imbalances and hostilities. Human injustices and inequalities are catalysts for conflict and peace instability. Africa, other continents and the world at large (world under God) must connect to higher spiritual powers to address some moral and ethical issues to address religious and spiritually induced conflicts.
The UPF must act as an axle in the UN wheel. This should apply to national and regional or continental infrastructures of peace. Character education key for world peace. I there, call upon both the UN and UPF to develop the spirit of mutualism.
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