WTD2024: Naturefriends for Peace

27 September 2024

Only sustainable tourism promotes a culture of peace!

On the occasion of today's World Tourism Day, Naturefriends International (NFI) emphasises its call for a sustainable transformation of tourism as part of the shift towards a culture of peace and cooperation.

"Tourism and Peace" is the motto of today's World Tourism Day, which is celebrated every year on 27 September and this time focuses on the peace-building potential of tourism. But can tourism as it is currently practised actually realise this potential? Isn’t it first necessary to transform tourism, as Naturefriends and many other NGOs have been demanding for many years? And above all, isn't peace needed to make tourism possible at all?

Resolution "Naturefriends for Peace"

The 10th Annual Conference of the Naturefriends International (NFI) in Heerlen, the Netherlands on 14th of September 2024 passed their Resolution, saying:

„The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine launched in 2022 and Israel's military response to the Hamas terrorist attack in October 2023 led to numerous public calls for peace. All calls were unanimous in their objective: the weapons should be silenced, and civilian suffering ended. However, there were and still are differing opinions how these goals should be achieved and who bears responsibility for the devasting conflicts. Economic boycott of Russia, support for Ukraine, protection of the Palestinian civil population versus total extinction of the Hamas movement? Each of these aspects divides the peace movement and thus prevents a common all-encompassing position.“

Five key measures to support

At the end of the resolution "Naturefriends demand:

the immediate stop of the military and other warlike action on all sides;
the immediate start of negotiations under a neutral facilitating institution like for example the United Nations, which is accepted by the conflicting parties;
the support of refugees, war resisters, and the civil population suffering from military and warlike action;
the support of peace activists worldwide;
the signing and ratification of the “Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons” by all governments.“

More on:

Resolution "Naturefriends for Peace": https://www.nf-int.org/sites/default/files/presse/aussendungen/2024-09/Resolution%20Naturefriends%20for%20Peace.pdf

World Tourism Day 2024: https://www.unwto.org/world-tourism-day-2024


Address
Keywords	peace though tourism
Target group(s)	NGOs, Partnerships, Networks , Governments & Administrations
Topics	Good Governance & CSR