Peace, development need to be empowerment: Suu Kyi

Peace, development need to be empowerment: Suu Kyi

Extracts from an address by the Nobel Peace Laureate and
detained opposition leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi,
presented on her behalf by Corazon Aquino, former President
Philippines, to a meeting of Unesco's World Commission on Culture
and Development in Manila last week. Suu Kyi has been an honorary
member of the commission since it was founded in 1992, although
held incommunicado under house arrest since July 1989 family. In
June 1992 the commission issued a public appeal to the Myanmarese
military authorities to free Suu Kyi, pointing out that her
fundamental freedoms under the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, adopted by Myanmar in 1948, had been constantly denied.

MANILA: Peace as a goal is an ideal which will not be
contested by any government or nation, not even the most
belligerent. And the close interdependence of the cultures of
peace and development also finds ready acceptance. But it remains
uncertain how far governments are prepared to concede that
democracy and human rights are indivisible from the culture of
peace and therefore essential to sustained development.

There is evidence that culture and development can be made to
serve as pretext for resisting calls for democracy and human
rights. Moreover, it is widely known that some governments argue
that democracy is a western concept alien to indigenous values;
it has also been asserted that economic development often
conflicts with democratic rights and that the second should give
way to the first. In the light of such arguments, culture and
development need to be carefully examined and defined that they
may not be misused to block the aspirations of peoples.

The view that economic development is essential to peace,
human rights, democracy and cultural pluralism, and the view that
a culture of peace, democracy and human rights is essential to
sustained human development, may seem to differ to only in the
matter of approach. But the difference in approach itself implies
differences of a more fundamental order.

The value systems of those with access to power and of those
far removed from such access cannot be the same. In the matter of
power and privilege the difference between the haves and have-
nots is not merely quantitative: it has far-reaching
psychological and ideological implications.

The alleviation of poverty entails setting in motion processes
which can change the perceptions of all those concerned. It is
not enough merely to provide the poor with material assistance.
They must be sufficiently empowered to change their perception of
themselves as helpless and ineffectual in an uncaring world.

The question of empowerment is central to both culture and
development. It decides who has the means of imposing on a
society the view of what constitutes culture and development. The
more totalitarian a system the more power will be concentrated
in the hands of the ruling elite and the more culture and
development will be used to serve narrow interests. The "national
culture" can become a bizarre graft of selected historical
incidents and distorted social values intended to justify the
policies and actions of those in power.

It is precisely because of the cultural diversity of the world
that it is necessary for nations and peoples to agree on those
basic values which will act as a unifying factor. The value that
democracy and human rights seek to promote can be found in many
cultures. Human beings the world over need freedom and security
to realize their full potential. However, the desire to dominate
and the tendency to adulate the powerful are also common human
traits. A nation may choose a system that leaves the protection
of the freedom and security of the many dependent on the
inclinations of the empowered few; or it may choose institutions
and practices that will empower individuals and organizations to
protect their own freedom and security. The choice will decide
how far a nation will progress along the road to peace and human
development.

There will be as many kinds of democracies as there are
nations which accept it as a form of government. In each country
the democratic system will develop a character that accords with
its needs. But the basic requirement of a genuine democracy is
that the people should be sufficiently empowered to be able to
participate significantly in the governance of their country.

The democratic process provides for political and social
change without violence. The democratic tradition of free
discussion and debate allows for the settlement of differences
without resort to armed conflict. The culture of democracy and
human rights promotes diversity and dynamism without
disintegration; it is indivisible from the cultures of
development peace. It is only by giving firm support to movements
that seek to empower the people through democratic means that the
United Nations and its agencies will truly be able to promote the
cultures of peace and development.

In summary, the true development of human beings involves much
more than mere economic growth. At its heart there must be a
sense of empowerment and inner fulfillment. This alone will
ensure that human and cultural values remain paramount in a world
where political leadership is often synonymous with tyranny and
the rule of a narrow elite. People's participation in social and
political transformation is the central issue of our time. This
can only be achieved through the establishment of societies which
place human worth above power, and liberation above control.

In this paradigm, development requires democracy, the genuine
empowerment of the people. When this is achieved, culture and
development will naturally coalesce to create an environment in
which all are valued, and every kind of human potential can be
realized. The alleviation of poverty involves processes which
change the way in which the poor perceive themselves and their
world. More material assistance is not enough; the poor must have
the sense that they themselves can shape their own future. Most
totalitarian regimes fear change, but the longer they put off
genuine democratic reform the more likely it is that even their
positive contributions will be vitiated: the success of national
policies depends on the willing participation of the people.

-- The Nation