How can we maintain peace in our society?

How can we maintain peace in our society?

Obviously, this is a very difficult question to answer. In order to maintain peace in our society, we actually need to create peace in the first place. As you probably know, there are a lot of current conflict zones in Africa, and while the number of active zones is falling year-on-year, a lot of work still needs to be done to create true peace. That being said, we have been very successful at maintaining peace in conflict zones when the combat has ceased.

Dialogue

What many people fail to realize is that peace in Africa is not a case of simply wishing for it. If that was the case, we would have had a peaceful planet for centuries now. In order to achieve peace in Africa, we need to be proactive in what we do. A lot of armed conflicts are solved through nothing more than discussions. Obviously, these discussions should not be ‘one sided’. Both sides need to gain something from the discussions, or it is not going to work. Days such as World Peace Day from the UN have worked incredibly hard to encourage people simply to talk.

Infrastructure investments

Once the fighting has been toned down a little, investment in certain areas has helped to maintain peace. After all, conflict is less likely to break out in developed areas. It is important that the money goes directly to the area, though. In the past, several countries have opted to give money to certain governments in Africa in the hope that it would filter down to the poorer regions. It doesn’t. This means that many aid workers are dealing with projects directly, often putting themselves in the ‘line of fire’ to improve the lives of people there for generations to come.

Awareness

All of this begins with awareness, though. Not hope. Awareness and an active desire to create peace. If everybody had an active desire to create peace on this planet, then we would have achieved it a long, long time ago.