Arua District Woman Member of Parliament, Hon. Moureen Osoru, has said that only education can guarantee the world peace and security as opposed to military might that relies heavily on the barrel of the gun.
Osoru noted that many world leaders have resorted to military responses in trying to seek solutions to conflicts, which she said is not the solution.
“I want to assure all legislators all over the world that peace and security is not won by the barrel of a gun. The leaders have failed to address the root causes of these conflicts; they rush to address the symptoms and not the disease,” she said.
Osoru who is the outgoing President of the Forum of Young Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) made these remarks while speaking at the opening of the general debate of the 140th IPU Assembly on 07 April 2019 in Doha, Qatar, on the theme “Parliaments as platforms to enhance education for peace, security and the rule of law”.
With the growth in violent extremism, terrorism and hate, Osoru reiterated the late Kofi Annan’s call to use education as a mechanism for peace building.
“No one is born a hater. No one is born a violent extremist. Hate is learned. To nip hate in the bud, we need to solve the problem at its root: in the minds and aspirations of young people. Education is the most powerful way to achieve this,” she quoted.
She faulted parliaments for failure to deliver on the laws that guarantee a sustainable future for children through education yet they pass billions of dollars for defence budgets.
“In 2018, the world spent US$1.7 trillion on the military. What if just a fraction of this money was redirected to education? When it comes to our own children and grandchildren where we need to translate this into laws and policies, we are failing to deliver,” she added.
Osoru proposed an inclusive education with curricula that is routinely updated to meet the technological and market demands.
“We update our smartphones every few years; we should do the same with our schools. Young people today will work several jobs before they retire. To have an agile job market, we need an agile education,” Osoru said.
Uganda’s delegation to the Meet is also composed of Hon Latif Sebaggala, Francis Mwijukye, Paul Akamba, Esther Anyakun and Rose Kabagenyi.
The 140th IPU Assembly and related meetings is running from 06– 10 April 2019.
All IPU statutory bodies, including the Governing Council, Standing Committees, Committees on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians and on Middle East Questions, as well as the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Forum of Young MPs, are meeting on this occasion.
