EIRENE - Committed to Peace
Lots of people get involved in EIRENE. They help to build peace and justice all over the world, including in Germany. We have volunteers supporting partner organisations in 14 countries around the world - in the global North as well as in the global South. They discover different ways of looking at life and thinking about their own future. And they learn new skills too. And we have peace workers working together with partner organisations on joint projects. This service for peace is made possible by volunteers, paid staff, and a large number of supporters.
What is Peace?
To us, peace means more than just the absence of war and armed violence. It means a world in which everyone - including future generations - can enjoy a good life. Peace means well-being for each and every human being, for each human society, and for our one world as a whole. We cannot imagine this kind of peace without social justice or without care for the environment, bearing in mind that the planet has limits.
The Challenges of our Time
We are a long way from attaining this ideal vision of a just and peaceful world. But we refuse to be discouraged by injustice and exclusion, hatred and violence. Instead we are moved to take action. "The opposite of war is not peace, but service for peace," according to the historian and theologian Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy. For peace is not a static condition. It is a dynamic process, to which everyone has a contribution to make. And we must strive towards it every day. We see working for peace as a holistic task which requires a great deal of persistence.
What is required for Peace
Service for peace needs committed people who work together in international teams which are characterised by mutual trust. Service for peace is neither easy nor comfortable and there are no stock answers. Nonviolence demands creativity, courage, and perseverance.
