Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection, and our time for reflection leader is Martha Inés Romero, secretary general of Pax Christi International.
Presiding Officer and members of the Scottish Parliament, thank you for the opportunity to lead time for reflection today. Good afternoon, everyone. I am Martha Inés Romero, a Colombian peace practitioner serving the Pax Christi International movement as secretary general.
Pax Christi is a global peace movement that has been working worldwide since 1945. Today, 80 years later, we continue promoting peace by active non-violence and education and by promoting human rights, restorative justice, ecological sustainability and reconciliation. The peace that is sought by Pax Christi stems from a recognition of the innate dignity of all of the planet and of every human person, and the autonomous rights of peoples. Pax Christi International has promoted a spirituality that is rooted in an absolute belief in the dignity and worth of every human and the observance of social justice.
With a network of over 100 grass-roots organisations globally, Pax Christi addresses the root causes and consequences of violent conflicts, scaling local community voices from the peripheries in global conversations at the decision-making tables for context-specific solutions. Pax Christi has a fundamental message: only through non-violence can we build a more peaceful world.
In many places around the world, the humanitarian crisis is severe, and people are suffering the causes of the increasing budgets for war and the many interests in natural resources through extractivism—mining, agrobusinesses and others—not for the common good, but for corporates’ interests. We accompany those communities in Latin America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region to defend their right to live their culture in their lands.
Pax Christi International promotes a global ethic of non-violence through its Catholic non-violence initiative and is also a steadfast advocate for nuclear disarmament. With the working group on disarmament and integral human security, we campaign for the elimination of nuclear weapons and the promotion of a nuclear-free world, supporting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, raising awareness of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear warfare, and collaborating with other peace organisations—we belong to the Nobel peace prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons—to lobby Governments and the United Nations for concrete steps towards integral disarmament of nuclear and small weapons.
Those issues could be discussed in more detail at the parliamentary reception this evening in an event that is co-sponsored by Pax Christi Scotland, the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, Justice for Colombia Scotland and the Catholic Bishops Justice and Peace Commission. All members of the Scottish Parliament are especially invited.
Thank you very much for your attention. Tapadh leibh.
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