Conflict resolution, essential for peace

Nipuni WIMALAPALA

The World Peace Day takes place every September 21, which has been dedicated to peace. It is celebrated everywhere in the world. Peace is basically defined as absence of wars or conflicts.

The World Peace Day celebrations were held in National Library, Colombo, which was organized by a group of University undergraduates called MIHASA foundation together with the National Peace Council (NPC) and Embassy of United States Of America in Colombo.

Undergraduates of Kelaniya University who are following the Peace and Conflict Resolution degree initiated this work and were highly guided by the NPC. A group of 12 students led the event and many other students from different universities such as Moratuwa, Peradeniya and Sri Jayawardenepura gave their helping hand to make the endeavour successful.

The chief guest was Hector Gonsale who represents USA embassy in Colombo and other significant guests were Prof Sarath Kotagama of University of Colombo, Prof Daya Edirisinghe of Kelaniya University, Dr Maneesha Pasqual of University of Colombo, R M B Senanayake of NPC and Lawyer Indika Perera.

Prof Kotagama delivered the main speech focusing on the provisional topic, ‘Greening for Peace’. He pointed out a lot of aspects as to how to minimize the negative outcomes of using science and technology in the development process. He mentioned about the importance of peace, environment and millennium goals.

According to Prof. Kotagama there are different definitions of peace. But basically it is absence of wars and conflicts. The United Nations Organization has implemented the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in 2000 to evaluate the impact of development on environment. Accordingly it has found that man has done a lot of changes to the nature.

Mainly they are destructive changes. Due to the changes, man has achieved more improved living status and economic condition. The result is the natural structure is destructed. As he mentioned, the population growth is incredibly increasing and there is a massive consumption of natural materials. The indicators are not upgraded. There are a lot of climate changes which are basically negative.

Reduction of biodiversity in forests and other natural reservations is highly emphasised. Most natural sources are being destroyed. Thirteen out of 17 fisheries are collapsed or endangered. There is a heavy usage of biocides which harm living organisms. There are both floods and droughts from which thousands of people die and suffer around the world. Living modified organisms (LMO) and Genetically Modified organism (GMO) are produced in a considerable way. It shows how humans interfere in the natural process. Global warming is another destruction which directly affects human beings.

According to Prof Kotagama there are more than 3000 bio chemicals which are harmful to the nature. Waste produced by man is another issue. Man is the only organism of nature who produces waste. Especially e-waste has become a big issue. “Decline of natural resources availability and ecosystems create huge problems. “What I believe is we need science and technology to overcome the problems created by science and technology. So we have to be extremely scientific to solve the remaining issues.”

Dr. Maneesha Pasqual of International Relations Department of Colombo University also expressed her ideas on ‘Importance of peace and conflict resolution in international relations’. She mentioned that there are thousands of people are dying due to the conflicts that occur in different parts of the world. They can be internal conflicts, conflicts between individuals, interstate conflicts or international conflicts. But the result is destruction of human beings. So to keep peace, there should be well established conflict resolution methodologies. States have the responsibility to protect its civilians. In today’s context, whenever there is an internal conflict, it outbreaks to the neighbouring countries and to the whole region and finally it automatically becomes an international issue.