The word peace means no wars nor violence to me.

I would like to see the world today surrounded in peace. No matter which country in anywhere in this world, I would like to see those citizens of the country live in peace and harmony forever. There would be no wars, battles, fights nor even a small discrimination among different races and skin colours. In my country, Malaysia, we all live in peace and harmony even though the citizens consist of different races and ethnics, such as Malay, Chinese, Indian and also the indigenous people who live in the small villages in Sabah and Sarawak.

The greatest challenge that the human race has ever faced still remains: to live in a world free of the threat of violence. Violence is not restricted to times of war; it exists everywhere: in homes, schools and communities. Where there is injustice, there is conflict.

Some argue that much of the conflict in world can be attributed to the existence of an oppressive social system of power that reinforces differences between groups and allows one group to have power or privilege over another group. Conflict at the local and international level can stem from exploitation, poverty, corrupt governance, resource scarcity, and dehumanizing beliefs. One popular theory states that as long as the global system relies on exploitive, oppressive and hierarchical relationships, there will likely exist conflict. Another prevailing conflict theory says that conflict is inherent and constant, but when positively managed it can be a productive force. On a local level, many grassroots organizations work directly with their communities to counter conflict with prevention strategies through educational campaigns as well as support services for those recovering from violence. Whether individually or in a group, we as global citizens have a responsibility to promote a culture of peace, and resolve differences without resorting to conflict. Topics explored in greater detail in this section are: Youth violence, Arms Control, war children, and genocide. Over the past few centuries the world has seen their share of human atrocities from the mass colonization and destruction of the majority of the worlds cultures and peoples, particularly that of Indigenous peoples and their lands, to the more than 300 year-long transatlantic slave trade that has systematically

devastated the lives of several generations of people worldwide. So how can we redress these wrongs of the past? One way people have been addressing atrocities of the past is through the use of apologies and reparations. An apology, in this case, is a statement of regret that publicly acknowledges the occurrence and severity of the act of injustice committed; and reparations refers to a practical action that has been taken, such as paying money to the victims, to remedy the wrong that has been done. Both apologies and reparations seek to repair a relationship that has been compromised by some purposeful offense. However, apologies can only symbolically address wrongs that have been committed, while reparations are more tangible representations of the offenders willingness to begin repairing the relationship between offender and offended. There has been much controversy over the issue of apologies and reparations in many parts of the world where some have questioned the practicality of apologizing and offering reparations to a person or group of people who have been unduly harmed given the fact that these actions are unable to reverse the wrongs that have already been done. In response, some advocates of apologies and reparations put forth that although the victims of offenses warranting an apology and reparations often suffer great degrees of loss in terms of dignity, rights, property, wealth, justice, and their overall well-being, apologies and reparations are meant to signal efforts towards peace and reconciliation that may have otherwise been ignored.

Here are some statistics that I gained from my research through the Internet and some other sources. A World Health Organization (WHO) report estimates the cost of interpersonal violence in the United States at more than 300 dolars billion per year. The cost to victims was estimated at more than 500 dolars billion per year. Combined, this is the equivalent to nearly 10 percent of the countrys Gross Domestic Product (GDP) [The Economic Dimensions of Interpersonal Violence, World Health Organization, 2004].

United States youth homicide rates are more than 10 times that of other leading industrial nations, on par with the rates in developing countries and those experiencing rapid social and economic changes. This statistic is provided by the World Report on Violence and Health, World Health Organization, 2002. Direct expenditures for corrections (for examples-prisons and jails) by local, state and federal governments between 1982 and 2005 increased 619 percent to 65 dolars billion per year. This statistic is provided by the Direct Expenditures by Criminal Justice Function, 1982-2005, Bureau of Justice Statistics. In 2005, 5,686 young people ages 10 to 24 were murdered--an average of 16 each day. This fact was provided by the Youth Violence Facts at a Glance, Summer 2008, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One in six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape, and 10% of sexual assault victims are men. This statistic is provided by 2004 National Crime Victimization Survey. In 2007, approximately 14,000 terrorist incidents occurred worldwide, and deaths caused increased to 22,000 persons. This statistic is provided by the Report on Terrorist Incidents, 2006 (issued April 2008), National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). Persons under the age of 25 accounted for 50 percent of those arrested for murder and 65 percent of those arrested for robbery in 2006. This fact is provided by the Youth Violence Facts at a Glance, Summer 2008, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Worldwide, an estimated 1.6 million people lost their lives to violence in 2000. About half were suicides, one-third were homicides, and one-fifth were casualties of armed conflict. This fact is provided by the World Report on Violence and Health, World Health Organization, in 2002.

In 2001, there were approximately 21,000 homicides and 31,000 suicides, and nearly 1.8 million people were assaulted, while about 323,000 harmed themselves and were treated in hospital emergency departments. This fact is provided by the Surveillance for Fatal and Nonfatal Injuries 2001, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Vital Statistics System. Nearly 60 percent of boys who researchers classified as bullies in grades six through nine were convicted of at least one crime by the age of 24. Even more dramatic, 40 percent of them had three or more convictions by age 24. This statistic is provided by the Bullying Prevention is Crime Prevention, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2003. Among children in sixth through tenth grade, more than 3.2 million--nearly one in six are victims of bullying each year, while 3.7 million bully other children. This statistic is also provided by the Bullying Prevention is Crime Prevention, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2003. Seventeen percent of high school girls have been abused physically- twelve percent of high school girls have been abused sexually. This fact is provided by The Formative Years: Pathways to Substance Abuse Among Girls and Young Women Ages 8-22, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 2003. About 1 in 3 high school students say they have been in a physical fight in the past year, and about 1 in 8 of those students required medical attention for their injuries. This fact is provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth risk behavior surveillance United States, 2001. In- CDC Surveillance Summaries, June 28, 2002. MMWR, 51(SS-4). Domestic Violence is the single greatest cause of injury to women. This fact is provided by the Journal of Amer. Med. Association. In 2005, there were 191,670 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assaults in the United States. This fact is provided by 2005 National Crime Victimization Survey. Each year, women experience about 4.8 million intimate partner related physical assaults and rapes. This statistic is provided by CDC Intimate Partner Violence Fact Sheet, 2006. As many as 324,000 women each year experience

intimate partner violence during their pregnancy. This statistic is provided by Gazmararian JA, Petersen R, Spitz AM, Goodwin MM, Saltzman LE, Marks JS. Violence and reproductive health; current knowledge and future research directions. Maternal and Child Health Journal 2000;4(2):79-84. According to the World Health Organization violence is a leading worldwide public health problem. This fact is provided by the World Report on Violence and Health, World Health Organization 2002. Among women murdered by an intimate partner, 44 percent visited an emergency room in the two years prior to their deaths. This fact is provided by "Predicting Future among Women in Abusive Relationships." The Journal of Trauma Injury, Infection and Critical Care, 2004. Federal family violence prevention services program were under-funded by 48,000,000 dolars in 2005. This fact is provided by the Campaign for funding to end violence against women. Children in adult jails commit suicide eight times as often as their counterparts in juvenile facilities. In addition, children in adult facilities are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted, and twice as likely to be beaten by jail staff. This statistic is provided by the Childrens Defense Fund, 1998.