Identify & Get Informed
The greatest challenge that the human race has ever faced still remains: to live in a world free of the threat of violence. Violence is not restricted to times of war; it exists everywhere: in homes, schools and communities. Where there is injustice, there is conflict.
Some argue that much of the conflict in world can be attributed to the existence of an oppressive social system of power that reinforces differences between groups and allows one group to have power or privilege over another group. Conflict at the local and international level can stem from exploitation, poverty, corrupt governance, resource scarcity, and dehumanizing beliefs. One popular theory states that as long as the global system relies on exploitive, oppressive and hierarchical relationships, there will likely exist conflict. Another prevailing conflict theory says that conflict is inherent and constant, but when positively managed it can be a productive force.
On a local level, many grassroots organizations work directly with their communities to counter conflict with prevention strategies through educational campaigns as well as support services for those recovering from violence. Whether individually or in a group, we as global citizens have a responsibility to promote a culture of peace, and resolve differences without resorting to conflict. Topics explored in greater detail in this section are: Youth violence, Arms Control, war children, and genocide.
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APOLOGIES AND REPARATIONS PERSPECTIVE
Over the past few centuries the world has seen their share of human atrocities from the mass colonization and destruction of the majority of the world’s cultures and peoples, particularly that of Indigenous peoples and their lands, to the more than 300 year-long transatlantic slave trade that has systematically devastated the lives of several generations of people worldwide.
So how can we redress these wrongs of the past? One way people have been addressing atrocities of the past is through the use of apologies and reparations. An apology, in this case, is a statement of regret that publicly acknowledges the occurrence and severity of the act of injustice committed; and reparations refers to a practical action that has been taken, such as paying money to the victims, to remedy the wrong that has been done. Both apologies and reparations seek to repair a relationship that has been compromised by some purposeful offense. However, apologies can only symbolically address wrongs that have been committed, while reparations are more tangible representations of the offenders willingness to begin repairing the relationship between offender and offended.
There has been much controversy over the issue of apologies and reparations in many parts of the world where some have questioned the practicality of apologizing and offering reparations to a person or group of people who have been unduly harmed given the fact that these actions are unable to reverse the wrongs that have already been done. In response, some advocates of apologies and reparations put forth that although the victims of offenses warranting an apology and reparations often suffer great degrees of loss in terms of dignity, rights, property, wealth, justice, and their overall well-being, apologies and reparations are meant to signal efforts towards peace and reconciliation that may have otherwise been ignored.
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