This month’s Sustainable Development Goal the Local Peace Economy is working on is # 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. What’s the goal here? Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

The United Nations is the one main institution that needs to be strengthen, because it remains the only place on Earth where all the world’s nations can gather together, discuss common problems, and find shared solutions that benefit all of humanity. The mandate of the United Nations is to maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace; without using force.  Continue reading →

For decades corporate profits have risen, yet workers did not share in those profits. In those years corporation also kept wages flat so that their employee’s income could not keep pace with the rising cost of living. Since the 1980s these corporate practices have amassed wealth for shareholders, or 1% capitalism and has turned the middle class into the working poor. Roughly half of the world’s population constitute the working poor; that is men and women who are working yet they are not earning enough to lift themselves and their families out of living week to week and in debt. The majority of poor people do not live in the poorest countries; they live in Middle Income Countries. What many perceive as essential ingredients for a successful middleclass life: to make enough money to support a home and a family, put money in the bank for retirement, health care and good education for their kids or themselves, vacations are out of reach. Profit sharing can lift the working poor back to the middleclass.

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This month’s Sustainable Development Goal the Local Peace Economy is working on is Sustained and inclusive economic growth can drive progress, create decent jobs for and improve living standards.

Roughly half of the world’s population, men and women who are working, but they are not earning enough to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. This is not just poor countries. “We should not forget that the majority of poor people do not live in the poorest countries; they live in Middle Income Countries.  If they don’t receive the support they need, the development prospects of heavily indebted Middle-Income Countries will be seriously compromised,” said  UN Secretary-General António Guterres  at a recent High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). Countries met in the General Assembly Hall to examine how recovery policies can reverse the pandemic’s negative impacts on the common goal of creating a more equitable future for all people and the planet.

The answer is easy to a more equitable future for all people and the planet: business need to profit share and become employee owned. There were records profits for corporations during the pandemic, thanks to government money, yet workers share of the profits wasn’t enough to cover the rising costs of their bills. A report from the Brookings Institute found that while top retailers’ profits have “soared” during the coronavirus pandemic, pay for frontline workers has barely budged.  Continue reading →

The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is celebrated globally on 9 August. It marks the date of the inaugural session of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1982. This year’s theme: “The Role of Indigenous Women in the Preservation and Transmission of Traditional Knowledge”. Indigenous women are the backbone of indigenous peoples’ communities and play a crucial role in the preservation and transmission of traditional ancestral knowledge. They have an integral collective and community role as carers of natural resources and keepers of scientific knowledge. Many indigenous women are also taking the lead in the defense of lands and territories and advocating for indigenous peoples’ collective rights worldwide.

In the San Francisco Bay Area Sogorea Te’ Land Trust an urban Indigenous women-led land trust that facilitates the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people.

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This month’s Sustainable Development Goal the Local Peace Economy is working on is #4 Quality Education: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.  Education enables upward socioeconomic mobility, is a key to escaping poverty and is crucial to fostering tolerance and more peaceful societies.

Over the past decade, major progress has been made towards increasing access to education and school enrollment rates at all levels, particularly for girls. Nevertheless, about 258 million children and youth were still out of school in 2018 — nearly one fifth of the global population in that age group. The global adult literacy rate (aged 15 years and older) was 86 per cent in 2018, while the youth literacy rate (15 to 24 years) was 92 per cent.

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