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Global Integration Updates
Common Ground for the Common Good
Special News--January 2019
Global Integrity Day
Spotlighting Moral Health for a More Whole World
Health for Peace, Geneva Peace Week, 7 November 2017, United Nations
""You can't just Pontius Pilate 800,000 people."
Romeo Dallaire, Former UN Commander in Rwanda, 1994
(inventing a verb to remember and learn from the Rwandan genocide)
In this Special News Update we focus on integrating integrity and moral health into our work and lives. We begin by calling for the creation of a World Integrity Day to complement International Anti-Corruption Day (9 December). By global integrity we mean living consistently in moral wholeness at all levels--individual, interpersonal, institutional, and international--across sectors and settings, local through global.
We feature Kelly's recent video presentation at the United Nations which overviews Peace Psychology and some of its key contributions for moral health in our work and lives. A key message in this 25 minute video is that in order to build the future we want--e.g., via the UN Sustainable Development Goals--we must be the people we need. Moral wholeness for a more whole world is developed within ourselves and spreads through our actions into our spheres of influence.
See below for more information about the video. We encourage you to watch it, discuss it, and share it with others. And hopefully en route to the creation of World Integrity Day!
Warm greetings from Geneva,
Kelly and Michèle
Featured Resources
Moral Health for a More Whole World
Building the Future We Want--Being the People We Need
Integrity is meaningless
without external referents and accountability.
(quote from the presentation)
Detail from Escher's Circle Limit IV, 1960
Video Overview
What helps or hinders our moral health as we seek to live up to our ethical aspirations and to live harmoniously with others? Psychologist Dr. Kelly O'Donnell addresses this question as he overviews the field of Peace Psychology (first 7 minutes) and presents three of its research-based concepts that are relevant for our work and lives: cognitive dissonance, active bystanders, and intractable conflicts (18 minutes). Other concepts briefly addressed include moral disengagement, willful blindness, and ordinary heroes. Click HERE for the video.
Key Messages
Colleagues across sectors are encouraged:
--to learn more about Peace Psychology and to consider viable ways to connect and contribute to it's many relevant resources;
--to be vigilant as to how personal and institutional "integrity" is vulnerable to self-justification and self-interests;
--and to cultivate lifestyles for “living in truth and peace” as we engage locally through globally in the difficult issues facing our world.
Going Further
--Click HERE to access the powerpoint and notes for this presentation, including 25 core resources and links (slides 28-30).
--See also: Integrity and Accountability for United Nations Staff, UN Special (Part One March 2017 and Part Two April 2017). PDF version for both parts HERE.
--See also: Living in Global Integrity, Global Integration Update, April 2017.
Kelly's Notes
--My presentation on Peace Psychology" (PP) was part of a 75 minute event—Health for Peace—held on 7 November at the United Nations during Geneva Peace Week (GPW). I presented on behalf of the World Federation for Mental Health and was joined by three other presenters from the World Health Organization/Health Program in Emergencies and the Diplomatic Council. The videography was done by Albert Frantz and final editing by Erin O'Donnell.
--This presentation was part of my ongoing efforts to encourage PP and GPW colleagues to connect together. For example, see the handouts from the interactive session on PP and GPW (O’Donnell and Townsend, Peace and Psychology Conference, University of Notre Dame, 11 March 2018, organized by the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence (Division 48 of the American Psychological Association) and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies).
--Geneva Peace Week is held each November in Geneva, with venues primarily at the United Nations and the Maison de la Paix. Now in its fifth year, it is organized by the United Nations Office of Geneva, Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, and the Graduate Institute Geneva. GPW includes five days of events and this year the theme was Building Peace in A Turbulent World. There were 60 events (presentations, symposia, global reports, films, etc.). Last year there were an estimated 5000+ participants representing organizations from civil society, academia, private sector, governments, and United Nations agencies
Image courtesy and (c)2018 ENOD
Final Thought
We think it is time to designate a new UN International Day: Global Integrity Day. It would be a day to reflect, teach, and collaborate on ways to integrate integrity in all we do throughout the entire year. It would be a day to promote the commitment to cultivate lifestyles of integrity. This special day could be convened on 9 January at the beginning of the year or 9 June halfway through the year and as a companion to International Anti-Corruption Day (9 December, end of the year). Let's put the global spotlight on moral health for a more whole world. What are we waiting for?
Member Care Associates Inc. (MCA) is a non-profit, Christian organisation working internationally from Geneva and the USA. MCA's involvement in Global Integration focuses on the wellbeing and effectiveness of personnel and their organizations in the mission, humanitarian, and development sectors as well as global mental health, all with a view towards supporting sustainable development for all people and the planet. Our services include consultation, training, research, developing resources, and publications.
Global Integration is a framework for actively and responsibly engaging in our world--locally to globally. It emphasizes connecting relationally and contributing relevantly on behalf of human wellbeing and the issues facing humanity, in light of our integrity and core values (e.g., ethical, humanitarian, human rights, faith-based).
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