Groups push for peaceful days

THE international Forty Days of Peace are underway until late-February.

Members of Compassionate Ballarat and Let’s Talk Peace Ballarat are promoting the campaign’s messages against militarism, racism, and poverty, alongside the global Charter for Compassion.

“Compassion is seeing suffering and taking resourced action to alleviate that,” said Compassionate Ballarat member Dr Lynne Reeder.

“Peaceful people create peaceful societies. We do have the capacity to behave in ways that bring peace to our families, to ourselves, and communities.

“It’s the pebble in the pond that creates ripples globally, and makes a big difference. We need to be aware of the potential for our own impact.”

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons’ second anniversary was last week, and Dr Reeder publicly interviewed Dr Marianne Hanson, co-chair of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Australia.

“It’s an important day to celebrate,” Dr Reeder said. “We’ve been very fortunate in having a world-leading person speak to us about this treaty, the importance of grassroots campaigns and how they can make a difference.

“Because nuclear weapons are illegal, there’s a lot of leverage to go to financial organisations to ask them not to finance nuclear weapons.”

Let’s Talk Peace Ballarat co-convenor Madonna Quixley said a common focus for both organisations is educating young people and encouraging them to be their most compassionate selves.

Ballarat is a Compassionate City signing onto the Charter for Compassion in 2019. The 40 Days of Peace were inspired by the messages of Martin Luther King.