In one of the Peace month events I attended, we were asked how can you contribute to achieving peace? It seems so easy to answer. Just give a cliche albeit like I will not be violent to anyone or I will strive to achieve inner peace. But are these answers valid? Do they really contribute to peace?

How is peace defined? Scholars through the years have debated this issue and currently there are three kinds of peace. The most common one is that peace is the absence of violence. Note that this definitions allows for conflicts. Conflicts are an innate part of the the human experience and help us learn. In a peaceful situation, conflicts are resolved in a nonviolent way.

The second one builds up on the first and seemingly borrows from the WHO comprehensive definition of health: Peace is the ideal state of harmony and not just the absence of violence. This definition agrees that violence should be absent but if people are not in harmony with themselves, others or their environment, then there is no peace. It is an encompassing definition which then allows concerns such as health and environment to be concerns also of peace workers. Peace is not limited anymore to just eradication of war and disarmament. Peace work is now making the environment not just safe but promote human growth and development and harmonious living.

The last one is the trickiest one for me. Peace is not just a state but it is a capacity of an individual. That is a peaceful individual is not just in harmony with ones' self and his or her surroundings but is able to handle situations in peaceful ways. This definition again adds another dimension to peace work. After (or while) ensuring peace within a person, he or she must then learn to live and act peacefully.

Based on these definitions, achieving peace or peace work covers almost anything a "good" person can do. These definitions also imply that peace work cannot be the work of just a single individual. Peace is a complex entity which demands a comprehensive approach. Thus it entails the contribution of every peace-seeking individual.So those cliche answers are valid. Vague and general but valid. In my case, I can answer that as a health worker I will strive to ensure the right to health as health is a necessary component in achieving peace.

Sadly, health workers around the world are ignorant of this health-peace concept. That by being health workers they are peace workers. That they are potentially the most powerful bloc of peace workers as they not just treat individuals but if they apply the biopsychosocial approach, they can treat communities. Commitment to preserve the health of an individual should spread to preserving the health of the community he or she lives in. As violence would eventually come into play, health work then covers prevention of violence and achievement of a certain peace.