Sergio Vieira de Mello was an educated, young man from Brazil when he began working for the United Nations. Throughout his 34-year career, he used his heart, acute intelligence and multilingual abilities (he spoke 7 languages) to risk his life to bring peace, stability, humanitarian aid, and democracy to millions of people and many nations. He worked tirelessly and diplomatically to bring displaced people back into their own countries. He was the quintessential diplomat and humanitarian who consistently worked for the betterment of all of humanity.
It is my hope that many people watch "En Route to Baghdad" and the most recent Sundance 2009 Film Festival Award Winning HBO documentary film "Sergio" and learn both about and from his life. So many people around the world are still alive and are living better lives because of this one man. On 19 August 2003, when he was killed by a car bomb in Iraq, the world lost an intelligent, talented man who also happened to be one of the best and most effective humanitarians who ever lived. As his mother Gilda Santos Vieira de Mello said, "There needs to be more love in this world."
I believe it is up to us all to continue his work, even if it is with the simple idea of bringing the humanitarian aid of peace, love and reconciliation into our own lives and homes, beginning with ourselves. Then, when we and our families go out into the world, we will treat each other with dignity, respect, humanity and love.
To learn more about Sergio Vieira de Mello, read 2003 Pulitzer Prize Winner Samantha Powers' biography, "Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World," watch her book talk at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnYLdH-YEdM, and watch her TEDx Talk at the following link: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/395.
Showing posts with label diplomacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diplomacy. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Looking for Humane, Peaceful Solutions in Gaza and Around the World
Israel and Hamas are both complicit in the current state of war. They both violated the cease-fire agreement. However, Israel is NOT using proportional force. On the one hand, 30 Israeli soldiers are reported to be injured, 2 seriously, and all are receiving medical care. On the other hand, over 460 Palestinians are reported dead and over 2,700 injured, one quarter of them civilians. Many casualties are now without adequate medical care due to the blockade and the inabililty of aide workers to enter due to the Israeli offensive.
The problem with all reports about Gaza is that they cannot be independently verified, as the Israelis are still not allowing foreign media inside Gaza. Hamas is also preventing access to any media already inside Gaza. Expecting journalists to play the childhood game of Telephone is both disingenuous and unconscionable. Journalists should neither be used nor expected to create propoganda as if they're public relations employees. Both sides should allow journalists the freedom to do their job. When independent observers are absent, there is also the danger that atrocities may be committed with impunity. The world should demand accurate, independent information be allowed to be reported. If Israel and Hamas are worried about what people think, they should both be worried about how all of this looks to the outside world.
The UN Security Council should demand an immediate cease fire to allow humanitarian aide workers into Gaza to assist the population. Diplomatic solutions should be sought to immediately lift the blockade allowing basic food and medical supplies to flow to these refugees. Diplomacy should also be utilized to seek a lasting and durable resolution to the homeless status of the Palestinians. Leaving people to live an internment of permanent refugee status is not a peaceful solution that respects their basic human rights.
Terrorism is generally defined as the use of violence, coercion or the threat of violence against civilians for political, religious or other ideological reasons. By this definition, both Hamas and Israel are terrorists. Consistant use of military force against innocent people only breeds anger, contempt and extremism. Our world needs, instead, a more concerted, humane, peaceful, and diplomatic course to mediate these long-term disputes. Gandhi showed that meeting violence with peace creates more sustainable, humane solutions. Both sides in this dispute could learn from his example, as could many other countries, including my own.
Perhaps countries should spend most of their budgets on peace education, instead of defense. I know that I, for one, am sick of seeing a disproportionate percentage of my country's budget spent on defense and war-mongering, instead of education, health care and maintenance of our infrastructure. Countries should require peace education as part of the curriculum, so that by the time children become adults, they would be well-educated in ways to solve their own conflicts peacefully, learn to control their own anger, and would be more likely to require their politicians to use mediation instead of force. As the old saying goes, "you get what you pay for."
Maybe it's our expectations for great leadership that should change. Leading people to death, killing others, and bullying others on the playground of international relations are not what I consider to be the qualities of a great leader. This type of leader should be castigated and impeached. A combination of intelligence, compromise, and use of mediation/diplomacy for peaceful conflict resolution are the hallmark qualities of an exceptional leader. You get what you expect.
EDIT 1/3/09, 11:50pm
I just found a broadcast series about life on both sides of the Gaza Strip entitled Gaza Sderot, Life in Spite of Everything. Here's a link:
http://gaza-sderot.arte.tv/
The problem with all reports about Gaza is that they cannot be independently verified, as the Israelis are still not allowing foreign media inside Gaza. Hamas is also preventing access to any media already inside Gaza. Expecting journalists to play the childhood game of Telephone is both disingenuous and unconscionable. Journalists should neither be used nor expected to create propoganda as if they're public relations employees. Both sides should allow journalists the freedom to do their job. When independent observers are absent, there is also the danger that atrocities may be committed with impunity. The world should demand accurate, independent information be allowed to be reported. If Israel and Hamas are worried about what people think, they should both be worried about how all of this looks to the outside world.
The UN Security Council should demand an immediate cease fire to allow humanitarian aide workers into Gaza to assist the population. Diplomatic solutions should be sought to immediately lift the blockade allowing basic food and medical supplies to flow to these refugees. Diplomacy should also be utilized to seek a lasting and durable resolution to the homeless status of the Palestinians. Leaving people to live an internment of permanent refugee status is not a peaceful solution that respects their basic human rights.
Terrorism is generally defined as the use of violence, coercion or the threat of violence against civilians for political, religious or other ideological reasons. By this definition, both Hamas and Israel are terrorists. Consistant use of military force against innocent people only breeds anger, contempt and extremism. Our world needs, instead, a more concerted, humane, peaceful, and diplomatic course to mediate these long-term disputes. Gandhi showed that meeting violence with peace creates more sustainable, humane solutions. Both sides in this dispute could learn from his example, as could many other countries, including my own.
Perhaps countries should spend most of their budgets on peace education, instead of defense. I know that I, for one, am sick of seeing a disproportionate percentage of my country's budget spent on defense and war-mongering, instead of education, health care and maintenance of our infrastructure. Countries should require peace education as part of the curriculum, so that by the time children become adults, they would be well-educated in ways to solve their own conflicts peacefully, learn to control their own anger, and would be more likely to require their politicians to use mediation instead of force. As the old saying goes, "you get what you pay for."
Maybe it's our expectations for great leadership that should change. Leading people to death, killing others, and bullying others on the playground of international relations are not what I consider to be the qualities of a great leader. This type of leader should be castigated and impeached. A combination of intelligence, compromise, and use of mediation/diplomacy for peaceful conflict resolution are the hallmark qualities of an exceptional leader. You get what you expect.
EDIT 1/3/09, 11:50pm
I just found a broadcast series about life on both sides of the Gaza Strip entitled Gaza Sderot, Life in Spite of Everything. Here's a link:
http://gaza-sderot.arte.tv/
Labels:
diplomacy,
Gandhi,
Gaza,
human rights,
humanitarian aide,
mediation,
peace,
peace education,
United Nations
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