The golden adage by Albert Einstein stating, ‘Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding,’ attracts this writer to produce a piece about peace. Yes, understanding one another/each other whoever they may be is of paramount importance in bringing unwavering communal life and stable nation.
Every breath we take every step we make, every span we trek needs to be filled with peace, joy, serenity and tranquility. This can be well secured by discharging respected responsibilities posed to the elderly, senior citizens, women, the youth and all concerned. Yes, achieving peace is something that leaders have to work toward and the society needs to stand on the side of peace loving citizenry and their campaigners.
Ethiopians should walk the talk, discuss peace, serenity and tranquility just not in the same way they have done so far as the country and its people have been through some tumultuous scenarios these days. Everyone has to sing peace songs and recite the lovely lyrics of it thereby helping the nation and they themselves have a restful and intrepid life.
If one requests about whose duty is ensuring lasting peace, they can get an outright response, ‘everyone’s’. Besides, peace has always been among humanity’s highest, even supreme values, and it is more important than all justice.
The legitimacy of a peace process refers to how much public support and legitimacy is the bedrock of peaceful society as it is instrumental in building more sustainable peace. No price has been tagged for peace, unquestionably.
Peace is also seen as concord, or harmony and stillness since it is viewed as peace of mind or quietude. Needless to say, peace is also distinctly put as a state of law or civil government, a state of justice or goodness, a balance or equilibrium of supremacy. True, the components of peace offer a complementary and multi-faceted depiction of it, encompassing political and personal aspects, as well as government provisions that are essential for well-functioning governance and administrative facets.
Looking towards the future, all citizens of the nation should be more optimistic about the prospects for peace due to their decisive place in due course of forming the nation. Peace is an inherently multi-dimensional concept, and requires, first and foremost, broader conceptions of harmony. These include consideration of justice, human rights, and other aspects of human security. Here the overall security in the country and its people, freedom of speech and fairness of the government, among others are respected in the presence of peace, indeed!
In it well recognized that whether individual citizens feel more or less safe relative to what others sense is thus an important element in how people experience peace in their everyday lives.
As the perception of biased state behavior can significantly hinder individuals’ trust in the country, which may have direct implications for peace prospects, public awareness about how to create peace and peaceful coexistence among the society through dissuasion and dialog has to be well embarked on. Yes, it is this time citizens of all walks of life can internalize and put into practice what they are told in practice as to come up with a peaceful and quite stable nation.
People’s appraisal of peace does not necessarily rest upon objective developments or an accurate recollection of the conditions at the end of some sorts of conflicts or disagreements.
Understanding the durable merits of lasting peace in a country where skirmishes are becoming common, be they are sporadic or recurrent, has to be made a culture, and solving problems via close talks and amicable conversations should be well nurtured and truly exercised. In so doing, the vision of creating a stable nation would be made real.
Yes, a predictable course away from conflict and disagreements enhances trust in the government and encourages individuals to invest in their social, economic and political life. On the other hand, a lack of positive prospects for the country’s trajectory could undermine the reconciliatory efforts achieved so far and signal individuals’ fears about the stability of the country.
Surprisingly, it is important to request about how the populace perceives the quality of peace and stability of the nation. Is it the absence of gun sounds, or the intensity of social cohesion and amicable gesture among/between citizens or the safest way possible to carryout activities at every corner of the nation?
The prevalence of peace itself can reply to this concern, indeed, as one is tired of listing the advantages and bounties of peace. Though nature provides human creature with peace and its accessories, the latter is becoming restless all the time to spoil and abuse nonviolent ambiance.
Coming back to Ethiopia, some parts of the nation do these days need special attention as a number of citizens are suffering from lack of peace and security. Keeping this in mind, the government and other concerned bodies are doing all their best to restore peace through various ways. For instance, national dialog has been devised and well employed towards ensuring peace and serenity. It can help the country safeguard foundations for peace by developing a new or revised framework for government-society, people-to-people, tribe-to-tribe, among others, relations.
Besides, peace processes share core principles of best practice, including wide public participation and fair representation of views and interests, but they are not always easily compatible. The imperatives of making peace may bring in stakeholders who appear ill-suited for leadership and administration, but can be well managed so long as everyone is doing for the sake of the wellbeing and stability of the same nation. Such realities do not contradict the potential for transformation of conflict actors, but they underscore the challenges of including controversial actors in constitutionally assigned government.
Basically, a peace process can be well fostered through wider public participation, representation and performance as elements of their legitimacy, transparency and accountability that potentially satisfy the requirements and parameters measuring peace and its dimensions. If all the processes and required procedures are right, the effort geared towards coming up with peace and peaceful scenario would be easy to reap. In such a way, it will be possible create harmonious society and peace can be sustained.
It is well comprehended that a peace process may involve all walks of life since no one can determine about the coolness and soothing state of mind on behalf of others. Truly speaking, at this specific juncture, the political elite, civil society and the people of Ethiopia in general face a difficult choice between adopting strategies to make the best of this constitution via amending it or rejecting its legitimacy altogether if lack of peace and security issues are tied with this concern, perhaps.
Anyway, whatsoever cause might be cited as a fueling factor exacerbating lack of peace across the nation, close talks and wider public discussions are the ever incomparable avenues to get all sorts of disagreement and conflict dried forever. The major point that has to be well swallowed is that all Ethiopians’ willingness to compromise is greater than it has been at any time since the start of the peace process. Even this increased willingness and heartily move to compromise provides policymakers with greater room to maneuver. For that reason, the time is ripe to deal with lasting peace and national consensus. In order to frame such a process more positively for all Ethiopians, a long journey has been toured.
Understanding that public support for violence increases in an environment of greater pain and suffering, everyone has to sing the songs of peace and togetherness. No doubt, lack of normal personal or group interaction would potentially encourages misperception and the desire to portray the other side negatively. Such a daunting scenario has to be well addressed.
In principle, political and security stability has the advantage of reducing the appeal of violence and improving the prospects for Ethiopian democracy by reducing threat perception. For all stable and pleasing life in Ethiopia, peace first, peace second and peace third as only progress and state of flourishing in the peace process can sustain stability and serenity and tranquility.
This is said not out of the blue, but in the absence of progress toward sustained stability and lasting peace, it is highly unlikely that Ethiopians will find their way to democracy, equality, freedom and good governance. If they do manage to produce a democracy under such adverse conditions, the country will be built on unwavering foundation.
Good, an Ethiopian transition to democracy and equality is likely to increase tolerance for dissent, reduce misperception, and thereby positively contributing to the goal of peace building and national consensus. Today, willingness to compromise is greater than it has been at any time since the country has badly demanded coexistence and firm social cohesion. Peace is in the minds of everyone, all human race and creatures of the planet; hence undertaking activities to nurture peace has to be a routine of the former.
As women, the youth, the elderly and others take on active roles before, during and after conflicts, they all have to work towards conflict prevention, build peace during conflict, deliver humanitarian support, and participate in post-conflict peace, truth and reconciliation processes. The national dialog is exercised towards facilitating the transition from war to peace is more than a means to end armed hostilities, disagreements and rivalry. Any conflict and dispute has to end through dialog and amicable discussions.
In a nutshell, public participation in peace processes should be well understood within the wider context of the right to effective participation in governance and decision-making. Principally, since no one can come and act accordingly to provide Ethiopians with peace and peaceful atmosphere, all citizens have to work for peace and serenity.
Plus to that, the assignment of ensuring peace and security should not be left only to the government, line ministries, and bodies working on the area; instead it requires the amalgamated effort of all. We all shall sing peace songs all the time and understand one another as peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by sympathetic mode!
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
BY MENGESHA AMARE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 9 MAY 2024
