The Concept of Jai Jagat
Thousands of marchers committed to nonviolent change
all over the World will march from India, Belgium, France, Germany, Sweden,
Mali, Senegal, Spain and other countries to Geneva (Switzerland). They will
meet in Geneva between September 25th and October 3rd, 2020, in the city that
symbolizes peaceful coexistence and that is home to many UN organizations.
Geneva city and canton have both agreed to welcome the marchers for a week-long
People's Action Forum to facilitate the dialogue about the conflicts and issues
that local people worldwide are facing as a result of a violent, inequitable
economy, polarizing politics and an accelerating arms race that is making peace
a distant dream.
Jai Jagat: The
Vision
Jai Jagat means "Victory to an Inclusive and Peaceful World"
where no one is left behind -- no person, no group, no nation, no individual.
Jai Jagat is working towards a new global model of bottom
up development, certain that greater
social, political, economic, and ecological inclusion is the only way to
achieve peace and the foundation for a just way of living together.
The
Jai Jagat campaign is built on the legacy of leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi,
Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, the suffragette leader,
Emmeline Pankhurst the environmentalist Rachel Carson and many others. Just as each of them used
nonviolent strategies in uniting people globally especially for those whose
rights had been deprived, nonviolence originated in their individual
commitment, and led them to fight for justice while sowing the seeds of
peace.
Nonviolence as
a Citizen’s Choice..#Bethechange
Active nonviolence is a choice for every citizen. Most people want peace,
but in an oppressive and conflict-ridden society, this can seem like an
insurmountable challenge. Choosing nonviolent conflict resolution in the
family, community, workplace, and society helps to break the cycle of meeting
violence with violence and to create nonviolent strategies for change.
#Bethechange expresses the choice that all of us as individuals help create a
peaceful and sustainable world.
Jai Jagat: The
Campaign – www.jaijagat2020.org
People are
encouraged to move…to march and to use different channels, such as art,
music, drama, social networking, literature, journalism, and education, to
counter the violence of politics and the media, with nonviolent and positive
action.
It is those at
the bottom of the socio-economic hierarchy that are key in the Jai Jagat
campaign –people from indigenous communities, socially discriminated groups;
small farmers and landless communities; refugees and those in war zones; the
ecologically displaced.
The focus of
the Geneva action and the marches in 2019-2020 will be on young people who will
bring forward the grievances of the most marginalized, with the aim of finding
constructive ways to address and engage with the United Nations organizations
for creating a more peaceful and just world.
The four areas
of constructive engagement with people and the United Nations are:
(1) reducing
poverty,
(2) decreasing
social exclusion,
(3) improving
ecological harmony, and
(4) halting
conflict and violence.
The United
Nations agreed in 2015 to pursue Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that
re-introduce people, not profits as the center of international development. It
sets 17 targets to be reached by 2030, for all 193 countries that are
signatories. While Jai Jagat values each of the SDGs, we realise that unless
people at the grassroots are consulted by their Governments and the civil
society gets involved in realizing the SDGs, these goals will not be made
concrete and will not be implemented. It requires people’s bottom up engagement
and problem solving that will lead to sustainable solutions.
Call
to Action
“Bottom-up”economic
development and political representation requires leadership and engagement and
inclusion of local people across the world. The final Call to Action will be
finalized through a process of consultation. What follows is indicative of some
of the expected actions.
1.Develop
a new generation of young leaders at the local level that have the skills and
capacities to address the above concerns.
2.Network
with concerned individuals/organizations to educate, and advocate for greater
impact on the UN and National Governments making them accountable to local
people and participatory processes of decision-making.
3.Organize
and Identify local initiatives to increase local sovereignty that can guide
policies and programs of National Governments.
4.Organize
civil society to use nonviolent action to make National Governments
accountable.
5.Initiate
ways and means for women and youth to lead peacebuilding processes.
6.Identify
cases where people are actively engaging in their own development and
strengthen people’s economies that are equitable, sustainable and nonviolent.
7.Make
civil society presence more significant in decision-making in global
organizations.
8.Come
together and make financial institutions more accountable.
