Today marks the International Day of Peace. It is a date established in 1981. Twenty years later, it was unanimously designated by the United Nations General Assembly as a time of non-violence and universal cease-fire. It offers us an opportunity for reflection on—and rededication to—the principles of peace and the work of building a just and non-violent world. This year, that opportunity feels both vital and urgent.
In 2023, the United Nations’ theme for International Day of Peace is Actions for Peace: Our Ambition for the #GlobalGoals. This theme, referencing the United Nations’ 17 interconnected Sustainable Development Goals, is a call to recognize our individual and collective responsibility to foster peace. Such a call is familiar to Quakers. Through our peace testimony, we are led to work personally and in community to support peace and to help remove the occasion of war.
This work is never easy. Eighteen months into the war in Ukraine, the struggle for peace feels particularly difficult.
We firmly believe lawmakers can play a constructive role in helping to end violence in Ukraine and worldwide. But only if they make new choices.
Despite the challenges before us, Friends are called to listen deeply to the Spirit and discern a path that promotes peace with justice. Even when we do not have all the answers, we know war is not the answer. At FCNL, the peace testimony continues to inspire us to “seek peace and pursue it” (Psalms 34:14)—especially during times of war.
Since Russia’s March 2022 invasion of Ukraine, FCNL has worked alongside other Quaker agencies and faith leaders to condemn Russia’s illegal and brutal invasion and to urge all parties to seek a diplomatic end to the war, respond to humanitarian needs, prevent and address war crimes, and construct a path toward sustainable peace for all.
We recognize that the United States has a significant role to play in ending the war in Ukraine and mitigating the risk of further escalation and harm to civilians. Unfortunately, Congress seems to believe that they have only two options: provide Ukraine with unchecked military aid or provide no support at all.
Congress should reject this false dichotomy, which dismisses the need and opportunity to support humanitarian aid and nonviolent responses and overlooks the vital elements of effective diplomacy, negotiations, and conflict resolution. These approaches are critical to securing a just and sustainable peace for the region. As Friends worldwide affirmed in the global Quaker Statement on the Peace Testimony and Ukraine: “By definition, peacemaking often involves engaging with people making war and understanding the reasons they do so.”
Congress can realign its spending priorities over the long term to better invest in people, peace, and the planet over weapons and war.
FCNL continues to urge Congress to increase its support for the difficult work of finding a diplomatic resolution to the war while reducing its dependence on a militarized approach. This includes investing in assistance for the humanitarian and refugee emergencies created by the war and in more robust nonviolent civilian responses to the conflict. Congress should also prioritize working to protect civilians, strengthening oversight on security assistance to Ukraine, and increasing restrictions on the transfer of cluster munitions and other indiscriminate weapons, which pose an extreme risk to civilians.
We firmly believe lawmakers can play a constructive role in helping to end violence in Ukraine and worldwide. But only if they make new choices.
Legislators currently have opportunities before them to reduce violence in Sudan and Yemen. Congress can realign its spending priorities over the long term to better invest in people, peace, and the planet over weapons and war.
This year, FCNL’s grassroots Advocacy Teams across the country have been lobbying their members of Congress for increased investment in peacebuilding. They are educating lawmakers on critical and effective nonviolent approaches to U.S. foreign policy that help prevent and resolve conflict. I was inspired to see this past August we held a record-breaking 113 constituent lobby visits—all urging their members of Congress to Invest in Peace!
I hope you will join me in speaking out for peace, diplomacy, and non-violence on this International Day of Peace. I hope that you will act in your own communities and engage with FCNL in the collective work of fostering peace.
We have one such opportunity coming up on Nov. 15-19. I invite you to join FCNL and advocates from around the country in Washington, D.C., or online at FCNL’s Annual Meeting and Quaker Public Policy Institute. Together, we will lobby Congress for continued investment in international peacebuilding and remind us all that war is never the answer.
