Peace is lifeblood of living things especially of human beings, and promotion of peace and security needs to be given due emphasis. A top priority for stability, human security and sustainable development is the issue of peace and peace, no doubt. Thus ensuring peace and security across the nation should not be left only to the government and other concerned bodies working on the area; instead it requires the amalgamated effort of all.
This does mean that finding options and strategies that can contribute to the prevention or resolution of violent conflict and war to enhance security and tranquility. Since sustaining peace is a thoroughly endogenous process, Ethiopia needs to institute national policy whose objective it is to lay the foundations for sustainable peace and serenity. A cardinal point that needs to be addressed then is the role of every individual in closely looking into peace matters. As a process and a goal, building sustainable peace has to be the duty of all citizens.
Unequivocally, the foremost responsibility of government is protecting the life, liberty, and property of its citizens. To this end, working for lasting peace and serenity should be seriously taken into account. It is important to develop strategies and projects based on thorough knowledge of the specific situation at hand when Ethiopians want to work against the dynamics of conflict or insecurity.
Needless to state, there is a need for continuous monitoring of the dynamics of conflict and insecurity via working with all concerned peculiarly with the general public. Experiences from other countries have shown that the most efficient approach when promoting peace and security, for example in support of dialogue, reconciliation or demobilization can bear yummy fruits and confidently provide citizens, Ethiopians in this context. Civil society actors do also have an important role to play here in terms of adjusting conditions to be viable bridges of the government and the general public.
To this end, identifying and addressing the root causes of conflict, rivalry and disagreements needs to come to the forefront. Yes, by promoting peace and security and by having a conflict-sensitive development co-operation, Ethiopians at all corners have to cement unity, fraternity and harmonious way of living.
The most important means in this regard is firmly promoting peace and security, running inclusive developmental activities and undertaking public-oriented development endeavors.
True, promoting dialogue, encouraging security and intensifying structural stability have to be well focused on to help the nation come up with real difference in all aspects.
Establishing a viable framework for peace agendum and close talks would address the negative repercussions of lack of peace and security. Besides, positive peace is transformational in that it is a cross-cutting factor for progress, making it easier for businesses to sell, entrepreneurs and scientists to innovate, individuals to produce, and the government to effectively regulate what is expected of it revolving around the social, economic and even political trajectory of the nation.
Needless to state, sustaining peace is underpinned by an infrastructure composed of institutions, norms, social cultures, attitudes, and capacities spanning different sectors and levels of social organization. This infrastructure needs to be constantly nurtured and updated to adapt to changing contexts and circumstances. Besides, sustaining peace is conceived as a necessarily endogenous process that requires strong and inclusive national ownership and leadership, and sustaining peace is multi-sectoral and all-encompassing, amounting to a meta-policy deserving of attention at the highest levels of the federal as well as state governments.
Sustaining peace seeks to place greater emphasis on detecting and strengthening what is already working, not only what is in disrepair and needs fixing. Even citizens under stress have capacities that need to be nurtured. Moreover, sustaining peace is an ongoing exercise, not a one stop intervention. Contexts change, because of both internal fluctuations and external shocks, requiring a concomitant adjustment in the norms and institutions governing society. As the inability to respond to changes, both internal and external, is an indicator of the weakness of a societal infrastructure for peace, a lot has to be done and the issue of peace has to be well underscored meaningfully managed so as to bring about lasting peace, which is the source of all smooth and lucrative deeds.
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Seen from the perspective of overall peace effort, since sustaining peace cannot simply sit alongside economic, social, or security and even political policies, every citizen has to be part of the national efforts. It must be positioned above all the different sectors and actors, akin to a meta-policy that builds on and accounts for all other policies. Peace first! All policies must be infused with the intention to sustain peace and ensure peaceful scenario, which in turn will make them more durable and coherent. The mandate to sustain peace should be housed at the apex of national and local government structures in Ethiopia. This concern should be well hammered to make a difference.
