'One Year After the Invasion: The Need for Just Peace in Ukraine' Forum

On February 24, 2022, the world witnessed the deadly full-scale invasion by Russia of its neighboring country, Ukraine. To continue to raise awareness and discuss steps the international community can take, Peace Boat and Palsystem co-organized the "One Year After the Invasion: The Need for Just Peace in Ukraine” Forum on February 23, 2023. Four partners from and working in Ukraine, Andre Kamenshikov, Kateryna Gryniuk, Mariia Levchenko and Kai Brand Jacobsen, shared a contextual and detailed report of the current situation in Ukraine, and recommendations for what citizens, governments and organizations around the world can do for just and lasting peace in Ukraine. All four are members of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), a worldwide network of local peacebuilding organizations in which Peace Boat plays a central role. In addition, Mariia, Andre and Kai are directly involved in the Peace Support Ukraine initiative, implementing peacebuilding and nonviolence support on the ground in Ukraine even now in the midst of war.

^{Andre Kamenshikov, GPPAC Eastern Europe Regional Representative}

Building Lasting Peace

While most mass media globally are focusing on military strategy, weapons to Ukraine and Russia, and the daily outcomes and impact of fighting on the ground, panelists raised the critical questions of what can be done to end the war and ensure a lasting peace in Ukraine and more broadly in Europe. Andre Kamenshikov, GPPAC Eastern Europe Regional Representative, added that while the large-scale invasion of Ukraine started last year, the armed conflict has actually continued for eight years, beginning in 2014 when Russia contentiously annexed Crimea and gave arms to separatists in the region of Donbas. Andre argued that in terms of long-term objectives, Russia lost the war on the first day as Ukrainians showed robust resistance and solidarity even in the eastern and southern regions where the predominantly Russian-speaking population of Ukraine also joined in resistance and opposition to the invasion. Moving forward, the speakers addressed the critical need to realize the potential for the war to escalate and intensify further – something that citizens and governments should be proactively working to prevent. Kai Brand-Jacobsen from the Department of Peace Operations at the Peace Action, Training and Research Institute of Romania (PATRIR) spoke of the very real risk that, however the war ends, it could give rise to continued and lasting division and escalation of military budgets and confrontation in Europe and beyond; something which could lead to even larger-scale war in the future. 

^{Kai Brand-Jacobsen, PATRIR}

Reflecting on the situation in Ukraine after more than a year of war, Mariia Levchenko, Peacebuilding Officer with PATRIR, and this year’s winner of the Luxembourg International Peace Prize for her extraordinary efforts and work for peace in Ukraine, attested to the fact that despite a year of fierce fighting and uncertainty, Ukrainians still continue to show a high level of solidarity and resilience. Mariia reported that Ukranians have survived through the arduous winter by the principle “To live without electricity – not without dignity”. She explained that despite Russia’s attempt in the final quarter of last year to undermine civilians' lives by attacking infrastructure such as electric power stations and distribution grids, forcing Ukrainians to celebrate Christmas in the dark, people have survived by supporting each other. When blackouts became increasingly common, residents of apartment buildings started to extend their warmth and care by leaving small packages of food or water for those who happened to be in for example a lift during the blackout. 

^{Mariia Levchenko, PATRIR} 

Supporting Peacebuilding Efforts

While the war intensifies and 3,6 million Ukrainians continue to be internally displaced and millions more remain as refugees across Europe and abroad, media attention and the scale of support needed to deal with the humanitarian impact of the war are faltering, Kai Brand Jacobsen noted. It is precisely in this situation that external support must not decrease, he urged. In addition to humanitarian aid, it is also vital to provide concrete, real support to peacebuilding efforts on the ground in Ukraine, to nonviolent resistance to the invasion and occupation in Ukraine and nonviolent resistance and opposition to the war in Russia and Belarus. The international community also needs to think and engage actively to see how to lay the foundations for current and future peacebuilding. “The impact of support and unity from the international community is crucial in achieving sustainable peace in Ukraine.” “We need to create a political agenda for global support and sustainable peacebuilding. We must be bold in promoting our movement.” Kai and GPPAC Project Coordinator Kateryna Gryniuk concluded. 

Kateryna Gryniuk provided an example of the network’s peacebuilding efforts to strengthen social cohesion, resilience, and unity of Ukrainian society through mediation and psychological support in local communities. Mariia and Kai also elaborated on the work of the Peace Support Ukraine program, led by organisations across Ukraine and working even in the midst of war to introduce trauma-informed education into schools, train youth on trauma first aid, and support peacebuilding and nonviolence on the ground. The need to prevent further escalation of violence, strengthen opposition to the war in Russia and Belarus, address the massive impact of trauma across Ukraine, and to rebuild the architecture for security and peace in Europe, were also identified as priorities. Here, peace education was also identified as something absolutely essential – both in Ukraine and in countries around the world. 

^{Kateryna Gryniuk, GPPAC}

The second part of the Forum consisted of a relay talk under the theme ‘Efforts in Japan and messages from citizen groups.’ It presented seven speakers from various institutions, such as the United Nations Information Center (UNIC), PAL System Tokyo, and Peace Boat Disaster Relief. Nemoto Kaoru, Director of the United Nations Information Center in Tokyo, reported on the impact on Ukraine, and introduced the activities of various organizations in Japan, including those of the UNIC Tokyo. This was followed by a statement by Kobayashi Shingo of Peace Boat Disaster Relief. He emphasized the need for more humanitarian aid and the importance of distributing aid without discrimination, saying, "Everyone has the right to receive humanitarian aid, and humanitarian aid is directed to people, not countries”. To conclude the evening, representatives of Peace Boat and PAL System shared their closing remarks.