Greens pledge to establish Scottish Peace Centre
The Scottish Greens are set to reveal plans for a Scottish Centre for Peace in their manifesto for the upcoming Holyrood elections.
The centre will be tasked with researching peaceful conflict resolution as well as hosting international summits, talks and mediations, including peace negotiations between conflicting parties.
Building on a model established in other countries, particularly Norway, the Scottish centre would seek to contribute to building sustainable, lasting peace in conflict zones throughout the world.
Ahead of the party’s manifesto launch, Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater said:
“Armed conflict affects hundreds of millions of people across the world every day. Scotland may be far from the frontlines but we can, and must, contribute to solutions and play our part in creating lasting global peace. With a strong reputation for internationalism, Scotland is perfectly placed to establish a Centre for Peace, modelled on the success of similar programmes such as those run by our neighbours in Norway.
“The eyes of the world will fall on Glasgow for the COP26 climate summit later this year, set to be one of the most important meetings in human history. The Scottish Greens want to build a meaningful legacy from that moment and establish Scotland as a peaceful, progressive part of the international community. Whilst that will of course be so much easier to do with independence, the establishment of a peace centre is a first step we can and should be taking now.”