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tive role which civil initiatives can have in building peace. It

also underlined the critical role women and youth can play

in reconciliation. Moreover, while it stressed that individual

policies must depend on specific circumstances and vary from

country to country, it emphasized the overwhelming impor-

tance of agreeing on general policy priorities.

The commission’s report enabled the Commonwealth to

develop a number of tenets to underpin its work in this area.

The first is the Commonwealth’s fundamental values, espe-

cially human rights. Of particular importance is respect for the

right of others to hold and express a view, even if one does not

respect or share the doctrine, belief or view espoused.

The second tenet underpinning the Commonwealth’s work

in this field is that ethnic and/or religious identities are rarely

the root causes of conflict: rather, people fight to wrest power

or maintain hegemony.

Thirdly, we recognize that humiliation can add insult to

injury, leading to frustration and violence. Addressing these

emotions, and where possible their causes, is vital for finding

lasting solutions.

Fourth, the Commonwealth’s approach is based on

dialogue, negotiation and consensus. Processes that use this

approach are essential, as military paths cannot themselves

create sustainable solutions.

Finally, the Commonwealth recognizes that individuals

have multiple identities. People do not live, feel or act out

singular identities, such as ‘Muslim’, ‘Westerner’, ‘Lawyer’ or

‘Teacher’, and should not be labelled in such a singular way.

Individuals should be encouraged to explore their own multi-

ple or cosmopolitan identities.

A key difference in the Commonwealth’s work from other

initiatives is this notion of multiple identities. The concept

provides a different way for individuals to think about them-

selves and others that has the potential to be more helpful in

dealing with conflicts. It presents an argument that there is

a need for more dialogue and discussion on the richness of

human identities and the counterproductive nature of placing

people in rigidly separated identity boxes linked with reli-

gion or community, regardless of how positively each religion

or community is described. The importance of individuals’

cosmopolitan identities also demands greater recognition,

without denying that other identities can comfortably coexist.

CPP takes a different perspective by encouraging people

to think of themselves and others in terms of their multiple

identities. It further considers the importance of addressing

grievances and humiliation to bring about a lasting peace. It

does not consider clashes on the basis of religion to be inevi-

table. Instead, from the Commonwealth perspective, each

nation is first and foremost a society of individuals that have

multiple sources of affiliation and many bases on which to

relate to each other.

There is a need for much more dialogue and discussion on

the richness of human identities and also on the need to avoid

placing people in rigidly separated boxes, linked with reli-

gion or community. The cultivation of a non-denominational

national identity can also be very important in providing polit-

ical cohesion within a country, without denying the claims

of broader identities that people may also wish to pursue

linked with continental loyalties or even the shared human

identity that all enjoy. Policies here have to pay particular

attention to the nature and content of school education, as

well as public discussion. The avoidance of sectarian divisions

within a nation can be a very important component of the civil

approach to peace.

Faith has been used throughout history to promote the

interests of those with destructive aims. As a legitimizing

discourse for violence, faith has an advantage over purely

political ideologies because of its ability to justify, inspire,

empower – and not be proved wrong. This is due to the tran-

scendental nature of belief, the inspiration of religious hope

and the centrality of faith. Convinced by their leaders that

their way of life or their belief system is superior to others,

individuals can be easily persuaded that their fundamental

values and way of life are under threat. Once the threat has

been internalized and a powerful sense of fear generated, it is

a small step to believing that violence is justified and that a

war must be waged to preserve their pre-ordained way of life.

Systematically engineered violence makes effective – and

often lethal – use of selected group identities with adver-

sarial attitudes towards other groups, combined with the

downplaying of many other identities that individuals also

have, including the broad commonality of our shared human-

ity. For example, the recruitment of terrorist activists and the

creation of a climate where violent deeds are tolerated by a

large section of a normally peaceful population undoubtedly

rely on impassioned advocacies of violence and the emotional

evocation of a special group identity, to the exclusion of all

other affiliations.

The challenges of global violence and hatred are by no

means new to governments and the international community.

Image: Commonwealth Secretariat

Nabeel Goheer presenting Civil Paths to Peace at the South American

Business Forum in Buenos Aires, Argentina

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