Museums can play a key role in consolidating, sustaining peace

Since 1977, the 18th Day of April every year marks the International Museums Day, a very unique moment for the international Museums community as it raises awareness about museums as an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among people.

The 2023 edition is celebrated under the theme’ “Museums, Sustainability and Wellbeing” and according to the International Council of Museums, this day highlights the fact that Museums are trusted institutions and important threads in our shared social fabric uniquely placed to create a cascading effect to foster positive change.

As Key contributors to the wellbeing and to the sustainable development of our communities, Museums have supported climate action, fostered inclusivity, tackled social isolation and in many aspects improved mental health.

As highlighted in the ICOM Resolution “On sustainability and the implementation of Agenda 2030, Transforming our World” (Kyoto, 2019),  through educational programmes, exhibitions, community outreach and research museums play a tremendous  role in shaping and creating sustainable futures.

Each year since 2020, the International Museum Day supports a set of Goals from the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

In 2023, the focus on Goal 3, 13 and 15:

•    Goal 3 Global Health and Wellbeing: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, in particular concerning mental health and social isolation.

•    Goal 13 Climate Action: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts, adopting low-carbon practices in the Global North and mitigation strategies in the Global South.

•    Goal 15 Life on Land: Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, amplifying the voices of indigenous leaders and raising awareness on the loss of biodiversity.

Though not highlighted as one of the key SDGs under focus this year, SDG 16 that seeks to promote peaceful and inclusive societies, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels is indispensable for Museums to consolidate and sustain peace. Uganda’s history is marked by episodes of both pre and post-independence conflicts that trace their origin from the systemic divisions and the acrimony created by the divide and rule policies that characterized the colonial regime. If there is a deliberate effort to invest in Peace Museums, they can serve as a guarantee of non-reoccurrence given the fact that act as trusted sources of knowledge, are invaluable resources for engaging communities and are ideally positioned to empower the global society to collectively imagine, design and create a sustainable future for all.

The National Memory and Peace Documentation Centre, a facility managed collaboratively by Kitgum District local government and Refugee Law Project would be such a perfect example of a peace museum, and a memory clinic. For survivors, Peace Museums are a place to remember their loved ones with a measure of dignity and for the wider community and the young people in particular, it is a learning space for them to learn why conflicts took place and what can be done to prevent it from occurring again.

The word museum comes very often as permanent or static but Peace museums are neither permanent nor static, they are living museums that are so dynamic and evolves with the narrative of the people that flow through it.

Peace Museums are places where survivors reconnect with their memories, with their losses and in a way, it becomes a big family of many survivors sharing the feeling of belonging.

At peace museums, the value of life is once again elevated which diminishes fear and young people learn to trust each other and build a foundation for reconciliation and democracy.

We need to remember that there are a lot of unaddressed legacies of our dark past as a country, bitterness, anger still lingers in people’s hearts and minds.  The National Transitional Justice Policy adopted in 2019 was a great commitment from the government, however, there is a need of expediting and fast tracking the process of enacting supportive legislations to give life to this policy. Once this legislation is in place, there will be a legal basis to support peace museums in all aspects.

There is, therefore, an urgent need for all stakeholders at different levels to do their part. Forces, the judiciary, the local leaders, religious leaders, cultural leaders, Civil Society and the community all have roles to play in ending impunity, ensuring accountability, justice and achieving national reconciliation which is a foundational cornerstone for sustainable peace.

Jimmy Wamimbi, [email protected]