PEace is no longer just the absence of violence.
Our Focus
Promote Peace Foundation is focused on measurable and sustainable improvements in Positive Peace in cooperation with Rotary clubs across the United States. Positive Peace helps with Negative Peace.
What is negative and positive peace? Read on...
Negative Peace
Sounds bad, right? But it's what most people think about when they think peace. Negative peace is the absence (negation) of violence, war, or crime. But, there is a lot more to peace than just the lack of bad things and that is where Positive Peace requires understanding. What is positive peace?
(breath in deeply, hold... slowly exhale, then read on....)
Positive Peace
- Positive Peace is defined as the attitudes, institutions, and structures that, when strengthened, lead to a more peaceful society. Positive Peace describes an optimum environment for human potential to flourish. The Institue for Economics and Peace (IEP) has identified eight pillars of positive peace they are:
* Low levels of corruption
* Acceptance of the rights of others
* Free flow of Information
* Sound business environment
* High levels of human capital
* Equitable distribution of resources
* Good Relations with neighbors
* Well functioning governnment
- Positive Peace pillars let peace flourish and help prevent war, crime, and violence. They are interrelated so that when one pillar fails the others may suffer and lead to undesirable outcomes.
- Rotary has seven areas of focus that map across the eight pillars of positive peace. These are:
* Providing Clean Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
* Saving Mothers and Children
* Fighting Disease
* Supporting Education
* Growing Local Economies
* Protectng the Enironment
and
Those six areas of focus ultimately support Rotary's seventh area:
* Promoting Peace
Peace is no longer a mythical dream or a protesting chant against war. Because even without war, violence and crime. One may not find peace when struggling economically, worried about disease, without clean water, etc.
Peace is a process to creating a sustainable quality of life for all humans.