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Collaboration for global peace and development 14 Oct 2015

In September, world leaders gathered at the United Nations headquarters in New York to discuss and strategise on the way forward for the realization of the seventeen cardinal points of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also referred to as “Agenda 2030”. The importance of the collaboration between Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the achievement of these global developmental goals cannot be over-appreciated. Both institutions have come together under the "Atoms for Peace and Development" initiative.

In the period preceding World War II (WWII), the scientific study of atoms was solely directed towards the invention and production of weapons of mass murder and destruction. The result was the horror of the atomic catastrophes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Today, the story seems to have changed significantly for good; and we are witnessing a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah in the Bible where he said, "And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks...."(Isaiah 2:4).

Today, we are witnessing the post-WWII channeling of scientific researches on the atom and nuclear energy for purposeful human needs, such as in agriculture, electricity generation and radio-pharmaceutical production. This is a commendable development and all men and women of goodwill are called upon to support and actively promote this project of making the world a peaceful and safe abode for all. Indeed, the atom has now become a veritable instrument for global peace and development. IAEA and FAO are truly committed in their efforts to bringing about a new world where hunger, malnutrition and disease would no longer be burdens to humankind.

The spate of violence and prevalence of wars in the world today is of great concern to all who earnestly long for a new world devoid of violence and wars. The atrocities and wickedness unleashed on mankind in the theatres of war in the Middle East, Ukraine and Africa appear to dim every hope of a realisation of the desired new world.

There is need for a new approach in the global search for world peace and harmonious existence among nations and peoples of the world. The United Nations and the continental and regional bodies should all work together to promote increased literacy among the citizens of developing countries. Ignorance and fanaticism are “Siamese twins” that have been blamed for most of the wars and insurgencies raging in the Middle East, Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria. The kind of education available to the poor masses in most developing countries, especially in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, is mainly in the form of religious indoctrination, which in some cases breeds radicalization in the youth, with its anti-social consequences.

There is a compelling need, therefore, to promote proper and balanced education in developing countries, which should be made mandatory for young people. The curriculum for this basic education should aim to inform and de-radicalize the minds of these young people, to be attuned to the core values of globalization and tolerance. Such values must include the common brotherhood of all mankind as expressed through unconditional respect for human life, dignity and rights.

Limited or insufficient compassion is another factor that promotes violence and wars in our present-day world. The level of wickedness and barbarity displayed by insurgents in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and Nigeria have shocked the world and thrown open global discussions on man's inhumanity to fellow man. It has shown the bestial, base nature of man at display at a scale never seen since the end of WWII.

Again, part of the solution to this remains proper and mandatory education, respect for human rights and promotion of tolerance. Compassion, by its nature, is a virtue which imposes the necessity of the duty of care and benevolence on the rich and the strong for the benefit of the poor and the weak. Compassion demands that the rich and developed nations should readily share part of their resources with the less privileged nations and people living in extreme poverty.

Another factor that results in global conflicts is the dispute over limited resources. The resources of the earth are collectively owned by all of mankind for their survival and wellbeing. In some cases, the distributions of these resources within and among nations were based on criteria and circumstances that were dictated more by greed and power than by natural justice. No wonder, Nelson Mandela once remarked that, “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity; it is an act of justice”.

The effect is a world that is replete with contradictions and man-made inequalities; a world in which millions of households are ravaged by hunger and diseases and without shelters; whereas billions of dollars are wasted every year on wars.

Compassion, therefore, should be promoted among nations and their citizens, to constantly appeal to conscience and the virtues of care and benevolence towards the less privileged members of our human family as we strive towards global peace, justice and all the other goals in the new sustainable development agenda.