PEACE DAY 2016: What comes first? Demilitarization? or Development?

Sustainable Development Goals

According to the official UN site, this year's #PeaceDay theme is: "Sustainable Development Goals: Building Blocks for Peace."

This caught my attention because of the (close but not total) overlap between the Sustainable Development Goals and the elements of the "Alternative Global Security System" proposed by World Beyond War.

Moreover, in recent weeks, I have been putting more and more effort into interacting with the Twitter streams with peace activists in countries all over the world, and I see a strong interest in the Sustainable Development Goals. 

The Sustainable Development Goals are:

(1) No Poverty
(2) No Hunger
(3) Good Health
(4) Quality Education (See Education for Peace? or "Education IS Peace"?)
(5) Gender Equality (See Gender Equity and Peace: Let's ALL have a say in conflict resolution)
(6) Clean Water and Sanitation
(7) Renewable Energy
(8) Good Jobs and Economic Growth
(9) Innovation and Infrastructure (See SOLAR PANELS: A Force for Peace in Africa?)
(10) Reduced Inequalities
(11) Sustainable Cities/Communities
(12) Responsible Consumption
(13) Climate Action (See Peace Day 2016: 3 Ways Climate Action is Vital)
(14) Life Below Water (See Pacific Fisheries' Futile Conflict: How about sharing?)
(15) Life On Land (See SDG 15 and Peace: "We are but one thread ... ")
(16) Peace and Justice (See SDGs: Does US Militarism Harm "Peace and Justice" (and Other) Efforts?)
(17) Partnerships for the Goals

My hypothesis is that it will benefit us antiwar activists in the US to attend to and reflect upon the importance of these Sustainable Development Goals to achieving the goal of ending war.

Goal #10 -- reduced inequalities -- is one I've already made some effort to think about -- but I need to go deeper.

Moreover, I plan to spend time each week between now and September looking closely at each of the specific goals, and inviting comment on how they might fit into a unified global effort to put a stop to armed conflict and move toward peaceful development for everyone.


Related posts

In 2015, the UN International Day of Peace on September 21 nudged me to think about what -- if anything -- I feel I really know about peace and the movement for peace. Here are 10 things that are true for me . . . .

(See #PeaceDay 2015 - Ten Thoughts on Peace)







How might an uprising against inequality and dismantling the military-industrial complex dovetail?

(See WHERE'S MINE? Inequality in the US and the Military-Industrial Complex )







What value might be obtained by having a really high quality "channel" on social media that people can tune in to for news and ideas about war abolition?

(See #NOwar - Permanently Trending on Twitter? YES!)