PEACE TOWN
Each IIPT Peace Town or Village will support a positive and dynamic concept of peace that goes beyond the traditional passive notion of peace as simply the absence of conflict. A Peace Town or Village will therefore be actively committed to promoting values of:
- tolerance
- non-violence
- gender equality
- human rights
- youth empowerment
- environmental awareness
- sustainable social and economic development.
Lou D’Amore
IIPT has had a concept of positive peace since its founding – following from one of my articles –
IIPT’s concept of “Peace” from the start has been a positive concept that goes beyond the notion of simply the absence of war. It embraces six dimensions:
- Peace and tranquility within ourselves;
- Peace with others, from our neighbors next door to our neighbors in the global village;
- Collaboration among nations
- Peace with nature and our common home – planet earth;
- Peace with past generations – by which we honor our respective cultures, heritage and achievements of past generations;
- Peace with future generations – through sustainable lifestyles and practices; and
- Peace with our Creator – by practicing the universal principle of all faiths and
- humanists: do unto others as we would have them do unto ourselves;
- Bringing us full circle to ‘peace and tranquility within ourselves’
Suggestions for the Municipality
- Use the occasion of Peace Week 2018 to build awareness of: “The 1st Peace Town in the Caribbean” status
- Determine through debates/discussions, what the Municipality would want a Peace Town to mean for Mandeville
- Determine the potential benefits and design a plan to achieve them…to include timeline, budget, funding strategies, etc
- Put a stakeholders committee together to flesh out this plan(Possibly chaired by former mayor Ramsay, during whose tenure the town was designated
- Consider placing billboards at all 3 entrances indicting that this is a Peace Town.
