To increase the effectiveness of international institutions and to create new institutions at the international and national levels will require committed action by individuals and civil society organizations. We all need to realize that with rights come responsibilities. Change does not occur magically. It occurs because individuals engage with societal problems and take actions to create a better world. Often, change occurs person to person. Each of us can be an agent for change in the world. We are each as powerful as we choose to be.

 We can each start by choosing peace and making a firm commitment to peace with justice. This means that we make peace a central issue and priority in our lives and demonstrate peace in all we do. We can live peace, educate for peace, speak out for peace and support and vote for candidates who call for peace. In choosing peace, we also choose hope rather than ignorance, complacency or despair. Hope gives rise to action, and action in turn gives rise to increased possibility for change and to further hope. It is a spiral in which action deepens commitment, which leads to more action.  Like others who have chosen the path of peace—Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama—we must realize that it will not be a quick or easy journey.  The path will require of you courage, compassion and commitment. The rewards may be few, except your own understanding of the necessity of the journey. The path to peace will require persistence. You may be tempted to leave the path, but what you do for peace you do for humanity. In the struggle for a better world and more decent future, we are not allowed to give up. Our efforts to create a culture of peace are a gift to humanity and the future. What better gift could we give to our fellow citizens of the planet and to future generations than our courage, compassion and commitment in the cause of peace?

(Excerpted from Voices for a Culture of Peace Vol.1 and reprinted with permission from Culture of Peace Press.)