Recently the United Nations marked the International Day of Friendship in a world wreaked and ruined by wars and violence, mainly the bloody conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the crisis in the West African country of Niger where the Presidential Security Division ousted the legally elected President and the African Union is threatening to take even military action to restore democracy.
The world needs to remember that in conflict resolution, friendly dialogue is more effective and lasting. For a solution to be found through such a dialogue, the parties involved need to be conscious that the view is always relative and never absolute. That means their viewpoint is limited, with such an attitude, it is possible to come to a compromise consensus and reconciliation. It will be a win-win solution and not the normal win-lose solution. That means one plus one will make three—something new acceptable to all parties. If most countries follow this mission of dialogue with an open mind, the world could be saved from a disaster with the prevention of the loss of life or injuries to hundreds of thousands of people as we saw in the ethnic war and two Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) led revolutions in 1971 and 1988.
Even now the Government led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the splintered Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is facing an Aragalaya or public protest which forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee from Sri Lanka in a secret flight in July last year. The Aragalaya is still continuing with the unprecedented escalation of cost of living, tens of thousands of farmer families are facing famine due to the prolonged drought and some families are surviving on three meals of manioc a day. Last Monday, the Cabinet decided to provide water from the Samanalawewa reservoir, but farmers are continuing their protests and insisting they will continue till the water is provided. Some farmers say it is already too late as more than 40 per cent of their cultivation has been destroyed by influential rice mill mudalalis’ are making millions.
In a statement to mark the International Day of Friendship, the UN says our world faces many challenges, crises and forces of division — such as poverty, violence, and human rights abuses — among many others — that undermine peace, security, development and social harmony among the world’s peoples. To confront those crises and challenges, their root causes must be addressed by promoting and defending a shared spirit of human solidarity that takes many forms — the simplest of which is friendship.
Through friendship — by accumulating bonds of camaraderie and developing strong ties of trust — we can contribute to the fundamental shifts that are urgently needed to achieve lasting stability, weave a safety net that will protect us all, and generate passion for a better world where all are united for the greater good.
The International Day of Friendship was proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.
The resolution places emphasis on involving young people, as future leaders, in community activities that include different cultures and promote international understanding and respect for diversity.
To mark the International Day of Friendship, the UN encourages governments, international organizations and civil society groups to hold events, activities and initiatives that contribute to the efforts of the international community towards promoting a dialogue among civilizations, solidarity, mutual understanding and reconciliation.
The International Day of Friendship is an initiative that follows on the proposal made by UNESCO defining the Culture of Peace as a set of values, attitudes and behaviours that reject violence and endeavour to prevent conflicts by addressing their root causes with a view to solving problems. It was then adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1997. According to Lebanese-American writer, poet, visual artist and philosopher Khalil Gibran - In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things, the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. He also says out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. The Catholic Church’s greatest philosopher, St. Thomas Aquinas, says there is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.
