The Association of World Citizens (AWC) expresses deep concern over the rising political tensions and military clashes between Thailand and Cambodia which has led to a large displacement of civilians from the border areas.
On July 24, 2025, Cambodian forces launched artillery attacks on civilian targets in Thai territory, and Thailand responded with airstrikes on Cambodia. Landmines have been set in the contested border areas. The AWC has long been active against the use of landmines. This escalation of Thai-Cambodian tensions risks a destabilization of both governments and societies.
Therefore, the AWC calls for an immediate ceasefire and the start of negotiations in good faith.
Prof. René Wadlow, President of the Association of World Citizens
Education for human rights is a vital need in order to create a universal culture of human rights. Such a culture of human rights can be built around peoples’ needs and current struggles. A human rights culture is more than knowing and respecting the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is a break in the cycle of humiliation, abuses of power and violence in which too many people are caught today. People want to know that they are in full control of their lives and that their society embodies their uniqueness as people with the full development of their personality and sense of dignity.
Knowledge requires appropriate pedagogical techniques for imparting human rights information, and therefore there is a need to train teachers at all levels of formal education in the teaching of human rights. There is a need to develop innovative material for use especially in professional training for the judiciary, law enforcement, military, medical and social work. The need to develop innovative teaching material and techniques is true for the efforts against torture especially on persons held in custody.
In addition to human rights education within formal educational institutions, an emphasis can be placed on popular education and the informal sector. There is a role for writers and anthropologists to collect stories and songs that evoke the historical memory of people about hope, respect, equality and human dignity. Likewise, the media can play an important role both in giving information and in developing respect for human rights and dignity.
Human rights education is an indispensable tool in the empowerment of peoples. Learning of human rights leads to participation, reciprocity and accountability on all levels of society. This strengthens the democratic process as persons become aware of their rights and responsibilities, of the full dimension of equal respect between women and men, and among peoples of different cultural and ethnic identities.
There is much to be done, and many can play a role. Join in this vital effort for human rights education!
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
On May 23, 2025, the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, gave a stark warning about the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in the state of South Sudan. He stated that, “The escalating hostilities in South Sudan portend a real risk of further exacerbating the already dire human rights and humanitarian situation.” It is estimated that some 125,000 persons have been displaced within the country between March and mid-April 2025. In addition, there are refugees present fleeing the armed conflict in the state of Sudan. South Sudan is filled with arms from the long years of civil war: 1956-1972 and 1982-2005 between the north – largely Muslim and Arabized and the south which followed traditional tribal religions with southern leaders largely Christian. In 2011, there was a referendum in which southern Sudan voted to become the independent state of South Sudan. The Association of World Citizens was among the Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) observing the independence referendum.
Since independence, political life has been structured by the tensions between the President, Salva Kiir, and the Vice-president, Rick Machar. There was an armed conflict between the two from December 2013 and August 2015 in which many persons were killed. There were multiple violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses. In addition to the forces under the control of the two political leaders, there are a host of armed militias usually based on ethnic-clanic structures.
In July 2016, internally displaced persons in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, relocating to a cleaner, drier location across town, under the protection of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). (C) Isaac Billy/UN Photo
The UN and the African Union have made efforts to reach peace agreements among the parties, but the provisions of the peace agreements have not been put into practice. There is a lack of trust on all sides. It is difficult to see how progress can be made given the intensity of the resentments. There is no doubt a need for new leadership, but there are no signs of any leaders leaving the scene. Elections are not in the style of the country. South Sudan is a situation which merits observation and reconciliation efforts when possible.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
After the April 22 attack and death of 26 Indian tourists at Pahalgam in the Indian-administered area of Kashmir, tensions between India and Pakistan grew quickly. Pakistan was accused by India of backing the terrorists who had carried out the attack – a charge which Pakistan denied. Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the Indian military “complete operational freedom”. A combination of bellicose rhetoric, domestic pressures, and political agitation led to daily exchanges of armed fire, and the shooting down of Indian jet fighters. The frontiers between the two countries were closed and diplomats withdrawn. The dangers of escalation between the two nuclear-armed countries were obvious to many.
Fortunately, outside voices called for an immediate ceasefire: U.S. President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), and some member governments of the UN Security Council which met in closed session, as well as a good number of Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) involved in conflict resolution efforts such as the International Peace Bureau and the Association of World Citizens (AWC). One must now strive so that the ceasefire will hold.
The next step is to facilitate negotiations between the Indian and Pakistani governments. A first step is to create a number of confidence-building measures so that the ceasefire holds. Then there is a need to develop longer-range negotiations. There are a good number of outstanding issues, such as Kashmir, which go back to the founding of the two countries.
It may be that the current steps back from the nuclear brink will drive home the need for serious negotiations. NGOs in both India and Pakistan may help to see on what issues progress may be made. Those of us on the outside must do all we can to facilitate creative dialogue between Indians and Pakistanis.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
On May 2, 2025, a ship carrying food and medical supplies for the Gaza Strip organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition was attacked by drones in international waters near Malta. The ship was badly damaged and its cargo lost. The ship was appropriately called The Conscience.
Conscience is that inner voice which helps each person to know right from wrong. Every thought and deed has an ethical significance and consequence – what is called in Indian thought Karma. Conscience, this perception of choice between right and wrong, is within each person as a clear guide. A sensitive conscience speaks with a voice of authority so that one can act positively and with justice.
Conscience under attack (C) The Malta Independent
Nonviolent action to protect civilians and to call attention to crucial situations is being increasingly used. There are real dangers involved. In 2010, a similar humanitarian aid ship of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition was attacked by Israeli forces in international waters. Ten persons were killed and many wounded.
Today, many of us have called for the end to the Israeli blockade of supplies to the Gaza Strip, a blockade which began again after the end of a ceasefire on March 18, 2025. Families are struggling to meet their most basic needs of food and medicine. We need to develop creative and positive avenues of action.
On April 22, 2025, four gunmen killed 26 people and injured others in the Kashmir tourist center of Pahalgam, Kashmir, India. The Resistance Front claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, but the group is little known. Indian officials have blamed Pakistan as being behind the attackers saying that Pakistan has a fundamentally criminal disposition in its deep state membership. Pakistan is host to Islamic militants that carry out terrorist raids in India but does not necessarily control them.
As a result of the Pahalgam attack, India has closed its border crossings into Pakistan and suspended India’s 1960 Water Treaty with Pakistan. Anti-Pakistan protests have erupted in India’s capital New Delhi and in several other cities raising fears that anti-Muslim sentiment will grow in India. Pakistan responded by closing its border crossings with India and closed its air space to Indian aircraft.
In 2019, India modified the special self-governing status of Jammu and Kashmir, and security measures have been very tight since. Nevertheless, Kashmir is an important location for tourism within India. Within 48 hours, 90 percent of the tourists in Kashmir left – a blow to farmers who sold their food to tourists and to handicraft makers. The image of a young bride sitting beside her husband’s lifeless body has been viewed multiple times and is fixed into the Indian national consciousness as the symbol of the drama.
As tensions within Jammu and Kashmir have led to armed conflicts between India and Pakistan in the past, the governments of Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and Iran have offered their good offices as mediators. On April 25, Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian Foreign Minister, said that both India and Pakistan are “brother nations” and that Iran was prepared to play a mediation role.
A ‘Beating of Retreat’ ceremony in Wagha, Pakistan, just next to India, on December 5, 2010. (C) Koshy Koshy
It may be that the governments of Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, and Iran are all too involved with advancing their own political interests in world politics to be taken as neutral mediators. Nevertheless, the India-Pakistan tensions are very dangerous and may easily grow worse if steps to reduce tensions are not taken very soon.
As Citizens of the World, we are particularly called to help create a climate for negotiations in good faith and to reduce tensions. Therefore, we need to use our worldwide links in a creative way to reduce tensions. We devote ourselves to the safeguard, restoration, and construction of peace through dialogue, cooperation and reconciliation.
One approach in which World Citizens participate is called Track Two. Track One is official government-to-government diplomacy among instructed representatives of the State although there can be “back channels” and informal contacts among the representatives of governments. Track Two consists of discussions held among non-officials of conflicting parties in an effort to clarify outstanding disputes and to explore the options for resolving them in settings that are less sensitive and often less structured and with less media attention than those associated with official negotiations. Those involved in Track Two talks usually include scholars, senior journalists, former government officials and businesspeople. Depending on the aims and styles of these meetings, the profile of Track Two participants will differ.
The specific purposes of Track Two talks vary, but they are all related to reducing tensions. By informing their respective publics, participants, may indirectly contribute to the formation of new priorities and policies.
Track Two is not the end of the story for insights gained must be incorporated into the positions of government negotiators. There is a little verse by the Quaker economist Kenneth Boulding who participated in many Track Two efforts,
When Track One will not do, We have to travel on Track Two. But for results to be abiding, The Tracks must meet upon some siding.
Today, discussions among Nongovernmental Organizations with avenues of communication to Indian and Pakistani officials should begin now. Time may be in short supply.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
Early April 2025, Finland’s Prime Minister announced the state’s intention to withdraw from the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines, called for short the Ottawa Convention – reflecting the vital role that Canada played in its creation.
The Convention, which came into force on March 1, 1999, prohibits the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel landmines. Over the decades, such anti-personnel mines have caused civilian harm, often of children, long after the hostilities have ended as they can be set off many years after they have been placed. The Convention has also advanced mine clearing operations, thus significantly reducing landmine-related harm and bolstered assistance for survivors.
As of March 2025, 165 states have ratified or acceded to the Convention. However, some major military powers including the USA, China, the Russian Federation, India, and Pakistan are still outside the treaty. Given the armed conflict in Ukraine, some states which have a land frontier with the Russian Federation have also indicated that they have started a withdrawal process: Finland with 1,340 km of frontier with the Russian Federation, Estonia with 294 km, Latvia with 284 km, Lithuania with 297 and Poland with 232 km.
In the same spirit as the Landmine Convention, a combination of progressive states such as Norway and Ireland and a combination of Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) including the Association of World Citizens (AWC) worked for the creation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions which came into force in August 2010. This Convention bans the use, production, and transfer of cluster munitions and sets deadlines for stockpile destruction and clearance of contaminated land.
Landmines and explosive remnants of a war site in South Sudan (C) UNMISS
Cluster munitions are warheads that scatter scores of smaller bombs. Many of these sub-munitions fail to detonate on impact, leaving them scattered on the ground ready to kill or maim when disturbed or handled. Reports from humanitarian organizations and mine-clearing groups have shown that civilians make up the vast majority of the victims of cluster bombs, especially children attracted by their small size and often bright colors.
The issue of the indiscriminate impact of cluster bombs was raised by the representative of the Quaker United Nations (UN) Office in Geneva and by me for the Association of World Citizens, starting in 1979. (1) Many of the same NGOs active on anti-personnel mines were also active on the cluster bomb issue – a combination of disarmament and humanitarian groups.
The withdrawal of states from the Landmine Convention is a dangerous weakening of an important arms control effort. Thus, as Citizens of the World, we ask states tempted to withdraw from the Convention on Landmines to reconsider their position. We call upon the government of Canada to reaffirm its support for the Ottawa Convention.
Note
(1) See René Wadlow, “Banning Cluster Bombs: Light in the Darkness of Conflicts”, Journal of Humanitarian Medicine, Palermo, Italy, July-September 2010.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
Recent violence and growing tensions along religious, ethnic and social class lines in Syria have highlighted the need to create a framework for cooperation among civil society groups. The Peacebuilding Section of the United Nations (UN) Secretariat was created because of the difficulties of creating a peaceful and just society after a period of armed conflict. It has been noted that violence often starts up again if strong measures of reconciliation and cooperative action are not undertaken as soon as the armed conflict ends. A spirit of revenge is often present, especially among those who consider themselves as victims. Thus, there needs to an interweaving of economic improvement with social reconciliation and the creation of trust among factions.
The long, multi-layered conflict in Syria from 2011 to the departure of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 had increased tensions among groups, but the tensions were already there, clashing over values and interests. “Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation” wrote Khalil Gibran in The Garden of the Prophet thinking about his home country Lebanon, but it can also be said of neighboring Syria.
External countries had quickly stepped into the armed conflict after 2011 projecting their rivalries onto Syria and jockeying for regional preeminence. Syrian civil society members had cooperated during the efforts of mediation during the early years of the conflict. The first mediator was Mr. Kofi Annan as the joint envoy of the UN and the League of Arab States in February 2012.
Kofi Annan (C) Magyar ENSZ Társaság
Kofi Annan, a former UN Secretary General, had spent his entire career in the UN system and was a seasoned mediator. From his discussions and observations, he proposed first steps based on a ceasefire with effective UN supervision, a release of arbitrarily detained persons, increased humanitarian aid, and freedom of association within Syria. The implementation of his proposals did not follow, and he resigned his mandate on August 2, 2012.
I knew somewhat Kofi Annan and knew better some members of his staff. I also knew fairly well the Secretary General of the League of Arab States Nabil al-Araby, a longtime Ambassador of Egypt to the UN in Geneva. Thus, on behalf of the Association of World Citizens (AWC), I became involved with the armed conflict in Syria.
I had discussions with Dr. Faysal Khabbaz Hamouri, the Ambassador of Syria to the UN in Geneva, to see what issues might be negotiable and if an agenda could be fixed. I also had discussions with Syrian Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) members who had come to Geneva because of the negotiations. NGO representatives, such as I for the AWC, have no standing as official mediators but can play some role through their contacts with diplomats and UN Secretariat members. From these discussions, I came to realize how deeply divided was the Syrian community involved in the political aspects of the armed conflict. There were no public negotiations in Geneva after 2015. In September 2015, Russian military troops started their heavy support of the al-Assad government.
Today, it is difficult to know what those of us who are not Syrians and who are outside of Syria can do to help build a society of social cohesion in Syria. The wider Middle East is filled with violence and tensions among Israelis and Palestinians, in Lebanon, Yemen and Iran. We have to keep our spirits open for new possibilities of positive action.
(C) Khaled Fozan
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
The United Nations (UN) Charter begins with the promising words “We the Peoples…”. However, thereafter the peoples’ voice fades and that of governments takes over. Yet today, Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) with consultative status with the UN play an effective role in shaping global policy. Many NGOs are transnational with members in different countries and cultures. This is one of their strengths and helps the UN to serve better all peoples.
For NGOs, there is a need to look outside the framework of the existing UN system to grasp the importance of new issues. This was the case in the late 1960s when some NGOs began to raise the issue of the environment and ecological protection before these issues were on the governmental agenda for action. Today, such an issue is the increasing amount of rural productive land that is falling under the control of urban elites, sometimes urban elites in other countries. Landownership inevitably deals with the distribution of power within a society. No development project, no matter how small or how technical, is without an impact on the distribution of power. A new well dug in a village is not simply an added social service. The new well calls into question the power of those who controlled access to water prior to digging the new well.
Although in many countries there are unions of agricultural workers, peasant leagues, agricultural cooperatives, and rural credit unions, it is nevertheless generally true that rural organizations have rarely achieved the degree of national power that has been reached by industrial workers’ unions.
A Sudanese farmer harvesting sorghum plants from seeds donated by the Food and Agriculture Organization. (C) Fred Noy/UN Photo
One answer to why the rural poor stay poor is that they are rarely well organized. Especially the least powerful among the rural poor – the tenant farmers, the landless laborers, the untouchables, the members of tribal societies – are the least well organized, the most easily divided and blocked. The economic and political power structure in many countries does not encourage the active participation of small, marginal farmers and rural workers. If measures are not taken to facilitate the peaceful participation of the rural poor, it is likely that the rural poor will turn to armed violence.
It is true that nonviolent techniques have been used to organize the powerless in rural areas. One of the first actions of Mahatma Gandhi on his return to India from South Africa was to investigate and then mediate the struggle of the rural indigo pickers. Cesar Chavez was a leading advocate of nonviolence in his efforts to organize agricultural workers in the western United States. In Sri Lanka, the Sarvodaya movement has applied Buddhist values of compassion to construct a social and economic infrastructure based on a strong community spirit.
The role of the marginalized in rural areas is not a new problem but it is one that has not received the attention it deserves. NGOs can help to focus on the issue within the UN system and so advance reform measures.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
On March 18, 2025, Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip killed over 400 Palestinians, including women and children, and wounding more than 500, ending a ceasefire which had begun on January 19, 2025.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resumed the fighting pointing to Hamas’s unwillingness to release the remaining hostages. He has long insisted that attacks on the Gaza Strip would continue until Hamas is destroyed. He has indicated that the March attack was only the beginning. Some analysts see renewed combat as imminent with the conditions of life in the Gaza Strip, already bad, getting worse. Violence among Palestinians and Israeli Jewish settlers on the West Bank also seems to be growing. In such a negative atmosphere, are negotiations possible?
With no progress in government-led talks, are Track Two discussions a way to advance?
The phrase “Track Two” was coined in 1982 by Joseph Montville of the United States (U.S.) Foreign Service Institute to describe methods of diplomacy that are outside the formal diplomatic system but with people in middle-level-leadership positions who have skills of negotiation and compromise. Track Two provides a type of flexibility not available in formal governmental settings. Track Two are discussions held by non-officials of conflicting parties in an effort to clarify outstanding disputes and to explore the options for resolving them in settings that are less sensitive, less structured, and with less media attention than those associated with official negotiations. The non-officials involved usually include scholars, senior journalists, former government officials, retired military officers, and businesspeople. Depending on the aims and the styles of these meetings, the profile and expertise of Track Two participants will differ.
Joseph Montville (C) C-SPAN
With governmental negotiations at a standstill, the Association of World Citizens (AWC) has suggested the possibility of Track Two efforts to see on what issues negotiations might be possible. As an earlier AWC proposal stated,
The role of Track Two dialogues can be modest. The goal is not to change the basic views or philosophies of the participants. The goal is that the decisions of participants on crucial issues will be made with finer perceptions of the views and intentions of others.
National political leaders often have a short attention span for issues unless there are strong domestic reasons for remaining involved. Therefore, World Citizens need a longer-range vision and must be willing to take measures which do not give immediate results. However, each effort helps to build an infrastructure of people used to discussion and clear communication. For World Citizens, Track Two approaches are infused with a vision of the good society with an emphasis on human development, and a broadly-based civil society.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
Association of World Citizens 