Annual Peace Proposal Stresses Human Dignity and Nuclear Disarmament
Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International
Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), issued his 40th annual peace proposal on January 26, 2022, marking the anniversary of the SGI’s founding in 1975. Titled “Transforming Human History: The Light of Peace and Dignity,” it offers concrete ideas for tackling the climate crisis and achieving inclusive education and nuclear disarmament.
Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative and founder of the Global Movement for the Culture of Peace, comments: “I know of no one who has highlighted the role and responsibility of the United Nations so consistently, relentlessly and substantively for such a long period of time as President Ikeda. For the last 40 years, his annual peace proposals have contained brilliant ideas and suggestions for the good of humanity. I am encouraged he has highlighted empowerment of people as a major element in building the Culture of Peace.”
Concerning humanity’s response to the pandemic, President Ikeda calls for solidarity built on awareness of our interconnectedness and states: “I believe firmly that the key factor determining the direction of history will prove not to have been the virus, but we humans ourselves.”
He
emphasizes the need to address the inequalities the pandemic has exposed, and
that gender
equality and women’s empowerment are key to overcoming the crisis and building a
global society that sustains human dignity.
On environmental issues, he calls for more
coordinated efforts in implementing the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change, Convention on Biological Diversity and Convention to Combat
Desertification, stating: “Climate change, biodiversity and desertification are
deeply intertwined, and solutions are likewise interconnected.”
President Ikeda also proposes creating a youth council to advise the UN on the comprehensive protection of the “global commons,” the environmental resources essential to all humanity.
Concerned about the impact of disruptions to education, the SGI president suggests that the UN Transforming Education Summit planned for September focus on education in emergencies, inclusive education and learning for global citizenship.
Toward the first meeting of States Parties to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) slated for March, he stresses the urgency of “detoxifying” ourselves from nuclear-dependent security doctrines and strongly calls for Japan, other nuclear-dependent states and the nuclear-weapon states to participate as observers, stating: “As more countries that presently feel they cannot sign or ratify the TPNW begin to positively acknowledge its true value and significance, I am confident that this will catalyze the energy and political will needed to put an end to the era of nuclear weapons.”
Click to go to the synopsis and download the full text of the 2022 Peace Proposal, “Transforming Human History: The Light of Peace and Dignity,” in pdf format. For full text of proposals from previous years, go to: https://www.daisakuikeda.org/sub/resources/works/props/.
[Adapted from a press release of the Soka Gakkai International Office of Public Information dated January 26, 2022]
