Celebrating Positive Peace

By Rotary International

The Positive Peace rally in New York City on the International Day of Peace. Photo by KseniyaPhotography

By Ana Cutter Patel, Executive Director, Outward Bound Peacebuilding, and a 2016 Rotary Peace Fellow at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Peace can be described as positive or negative. Negative peace refers to the absence of violence. Positive peace describes the attitudes, institutions and structures that, when strengthened, can lead to a more peaceful society. The Positive Peace framework developed by Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) identifies eight factors that create peaceful societies. They are:

A well-functioning government

a sound business environment

the equitable distribution of resources

low levels of corruption

high levels of human capital

the acceptance of the rights of others

the free flow of information

good relations with neighbors

Mexico conference spawns idea
In May 2017, IEP and Outward Bound Peacebuilding (OBCP) successfully collaborated on a Rotary-supported conference bringing together 300 peacebuilders in Mexico to learn about the Positive Peace framework. The event showcased the strengths of both our organizations – IEP, a global think tank dedicated to peace as a tangible measure of human well-being and OBCP, an organization committed to experiential learning and conflict transformation. At the conference, through an …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

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