KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY PROF. DR IBRAHIM BANGURA BUILDING SUSTAINABLE PEACE TO ENHANCE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

International Day of Peace 2026

Theme: Peace Is a Choice We Make Every Day

Peace Society, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone

Monday, 21st September 2026

.SALUTATIONS

The Peace Society;

Distinguished Guests and Members of the Academic Community;

Colleagues and Students;

Ladies and Gentlemen: Good Morning.

1. OPENING
2. Peace is one of humanity’s quietest achievements. We often recognise its value most clearly when we lose it.
3. However, the true measure of peace is not simply that a nation is no longer at war. It is what that nation can build because peace exists.
4. Sierra Leone understands both sides of that truth. We know what conflict can destroy.
5. We also know what peace makes possible. Peace allows children to learn, families to plan, businesses to grow, institutions to strengthen, communities to rebuild trust, and a nation to imagine a future beyond the wounds of its past.
6. That is why peace must never become ordinary to us. And it must never become passive.
7. The question before us is not only whether we can preserve the peace we worked so hard to secure. The more demanding question is: What will we build with it?
8. I am deeply honoured to join the Peace Society of Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, as we commemorate the International Day of Peace.
9. I commend the Peace Society and the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, which is also my department, for creating this important platform for reflection.
10. There is perhaps no more appropriate place for this conversation than a university: a place devoted to knowledge, critical inquiry, dialogue and the pursuit of a better society.
11. For me, today carries an added significance. 21st September is also my birthday. I have often reflected on the coincidence that the world pauses to consider peace on the day I celebrate another year of life.
12. Birthdays encourage us to count our years. Experience teaches us to ask what we have done with them. What have we learned? Whom have we served? What have we helped to build?
13. Those are personal questions for me today, but they are also questions for Sierra Leone: What have we done with our peace? And what will we build with it now?
14. Our theme, “Peace Is a Choice We Make Every Day,” reminds us that peace is not merely an international aspiration. It is a daily civic practice.
15. Our subject, “Building Sustainable Peace to Enhance Social Development,” takes us further. It asks how peace can become the foundation for dignity, justice, opportunity, trust and human progress.
16. The next generation of peacebuilding in Sierra Leone must therefore be about more than keeping the peace. It must be about making peace deliver.

III. BEYOND THE ABSENCE OF WAR

Distinguished Scholars, Ladies and gentlemen,

16. Peace has traditionally been understood as the absence of armed conflict. That understanding matters, but it is incomplete.
17. A society can be free from war while its people feel insecure or excluded. Its institutions may function yet remain distrusted. Its economy may grow while inequality deepens and entire communities feel forgotten.
18. Peace scholars distinguish between negative peace, the absence of direct violence, and positive peace, the presence of justice, dignity, social cohesion, legitimate institutions and the capacity to resolve disputes peacefully. Sustainable peace requires both.
19. It is not enough to silence the guns. We must also address the conditions that make people reach for them in the first place.
20. Peace has to mean something to the graduate seeking opportunity, the mother seeking healthcare for her child, the farmer seeking a decent livelihood, and the community that wants to know it has not been forgotten.
21. It must mean that every citizen, whatever their ethnicity, region, religion, gender, disability or political affiliation, can believe that Sierra Leone belongs to them too.
22. That is where peace, dignity and development meet.
23. LESSONS FROM THE FIELD

Ladies and Gentlemen,

23. Some of the most important lessons I have learned about peace did not come from books or conference rooms. They came from the field.
24. My work has brought me into contact with societies confronting conflict, displacement, fragile institutions and the difficult task of rebuilding trust after violence.
25. My experience in countries such as South Sudan has been particularly instructive. Behind the language of policy and peace agreements, you encounter people: young people imagining a future beyond conflict; former combatants rebuilding civilian lives; women holding communities together; and displaced families seeking the chance to begin again.
26. Those encounters remind us that peacebuilding is not primarily about programmes, reports or agreements. It is about people.
27. A peace agreement can be negotiated at the highest political level, but peace still has to reach the community. People must see themselves in it. They must be heard. Their dignity must be respected. And they must believe that peace will make a difference in their lives.
28. The field has also taught me that security alone is not enough. You can disarm a young person, but if that young person has no education, no livelihood, no opportunity and no sense of belonging, you have addressed the weapon without addressing the conditions around it.
29. Disarmament must connect with reintegration and livelihoods. Security must connect with justice. Peacebuilding must connect with education, healthcare and economic opportunity. Otherwise, we may stop violence without removing the conditions that allow it to return.
30. There is another lesson that has stayed with me: trust takes much longer to rebuild than infrastructure.
31. A road or school can be reconstructed. A government office can reopen. But restoring trust between citizens, communities and institutions can take years.
32. Trust grows when people are treated fairly, grievances are heard, institutions work, leaders act responsibly, and citizens believe that the rules apply to everyone.
33. The strongest architecture of peace is not fear. It is trust.
34. PEACE DEVELOPMENT AND THE SOCIAL CONTRACT

Distinguished Scholars, Ladies and Gentlemen,

34. At the heart of sustainable peace lies a functioning social contract.
35. For me, that contract becomes real when a citizen can say: “My country sees me. Its institutions will treat me fairly. My voice matters. And my children have a place in its future.”
36. When people believe this, trust grows. When they stop believing it, alienation grows. That is why peace and development cannot be separated.
37. Conflict destroys development, but development deficits also weaken peace. When young people lack opportunity, communities feel excluded, essential services remain inaccessible, or grievances go unresolved, the social contract comes under pressure.
38. Peace creates the space for development. Development, in turn, must reinforce peace.
39. But development must also be fair. A country can grow economically and still accumulate grievances if citizens believe that opportunity, justice and public resources are distributed unfairly.
40. We must therefore ask not only, “How much development have we achieved?” but also, “Who is benefiting, and who is being left behind?”
41. Are rural communities benefiting? Are young people and women participating fully? Are persons with disabilities included? Can communities across the country see themselves in national progress? These are development questions, but they are also peacebuilding questions.
42. Five foundations are central to sustainable peace: justice, opportunity, inclusion, strong institutions and social cohesion.
43. Justice gives people peaceful ways to resolve grievances. Opportunity gives people hope. Inclusion tells citizens that they belong. Strong institutions provide fairness and continuity. Social cohesion allows us to remain one people even when we disagree.
44. Future peacebuilding will increasingly concern land, climate, natural resources and livelihoods. It must therefore be development-centred: investing in people before grievances become crises, creating opportunity before hopelessness takes hold, and strengthening institutions before public confidence is lost.
45. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MEMORY
46. For Sierra Leone, this conversation carries particular significance. Our experience reminds us that peace is precious because we know what its absence can cost.
47. But remembering conflict should not mean remaining imprisoned by it. We must remember sufficiently to prevent repetition, but reconcile sufficiently to enable coexistence.
48. A generation of Sierra Leoneans has grown up with no personal memory of the civil war. That is one of the greatest achievements of our peace. Yet the lessons purchased at such enormous human cost must not disappear.
49. Memory must teach us where intolerance, exclusion and unresolved grievances can lead. It must help us build institutions and relationships that make renewed violence less conceivable and less attractive.
50. Our duty is not simply to remember the past. It is to convert its lessons into protection for the future.

VII. A VISION OF PEACE THAT DELIVERS

Ladies and Gentlemen,

50. If our experience has taught us what conflict can destroy, it should also make us ambitious about what peace can build.
51. I envision a Sierra Leone where peace is experienced not only as national stability, but as dignity in the everyday life of the citizen.
52. I envision a nation where the circumstances of a child’s birth do not become the boundaries of that child’s ambition; where education equips young people not merely to obtain certificates, but to think, create and solve problems; where agriculture creates prosperity; and where talent and enterprise are rewarded.
53. I envision a Sierra Leone where women participate fully in shaping our economy, institutions, communities and national life; where persons with disabilities are recognised for their contribution; where healthcare protects families; where development reaches every community; and where public institutions command confidence because citizens experience them as competent, fair and accountable.
54. I envision a nation where our diversity is no longer easily converted into division; where our common citizenship is stronger than the identities that sometimes separate us; where political competition does not require national fragmentation; where disagreement does not become hatred; where public service means service to the country; and where institutions are stronger than personalities.
55. Trust cannot be demanded. It must be earned through fairness, competence, integrity and results.
56. This is why Sierra Leone’s next phase of development must bring peacebuilding and nation-building closer together.
57. Every school we improve, every meaningful opportunity we create, every community we connect to development, every grievance we resolve lawfully, and every citizen we treat fairly strengthens peace.
58. The Sierra Leone we must continue to build is peaceful and productive, united and just, inclusive and ambitious.
59. It is a country where a young Sierra Leonean can look towards the future and say: “I do not have to abandon hope in my country to imagine a better life. I can help build that better life here.”
60. When citizens believe in the future of their country, they have something worth building. And when they have something worth building, they have something worth protecting.

VIII. DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP AND DAILY PEACE

Distinguished Scholars, Ladies and Gentlemen,

61. The Sierra Leone I have described cannot be built by pretending that we will always agree.
62. Human societies are plural. We differ in our interests, values, identities and aspirations. Those differences are natural and can even be productive.
63. The challenge is not to eliminate disagreement. It is to learn how to disagree without destroying one another.
64. Can I disagree with you without insulting you? Can I oppose your politics without questioning your humanity? Can we compete for power without damaging the institutions we will all need when the competition is over? Can we win without humiliating others, and lose while continuing to work for our country?
65. These questions matter because our citizenship must be bigger than our partisanship. No political party can build Sierra Leone alone. No ethnic group, region or generation can build Sierra Leone alone. We need one another. And we must build peace before a crisis begins.
66. Peace is often built quietly: by the traditional leader who resolves a dispute; the religious leader who lowers tension; the women’s organisation that brings divided communities together; the youth leader who channels frustration constructively; and the institution that listens before a grievance becomes a crisis.
67. Successful peacebuilding does not always produce headlines. Sometimes it is a grievance heard before it becomes anger, a false story corrected before it causes harm, or a young person given an opportunity before hopelessness takes hold.
68. Sometimes the greatest success in peacebuilding is the conflict that never happened.
69. A CHARGE TO YOUNG PEOPLE
70. Let me speak directly to the young people here today.
71. We frequently describe you as “the leaders of tomorrow.” But you are not simply future citizens. You are citizens now. You already shape public discourse, culture, technology and community life.
72. You must be recognised not only as beneficiaries of peacebuilding, but as agents of peace and social transformation.
73. That requires investment in education, skills, employment and enterprise, as well as meaningful opportunities to influence the decisions that shape your lives.
74. In an age of artificial intelligence, climate change, changing labour markets and social media, education must teach you to think, question, solve problems, create and lead.
75. And I ask this of your generation: do not inherit divisions that do not serve you. Do not allow ethnicity to decide whom you respect.
76. Do not allow region to decide whom you trust. Do not allow politics to decide whom you consider Sierra Leonean. And do not allow social media to do your thinking for you.
77. Read. Question. Verify. Listen. Engage with people who disagree with you. Form your own judgement. Prepare yourselves not simply to occupy positions, but to carry responsibility.
78. Communication itself has become an arena of peace and conflict. A rumour can travel faster than an institution can respond, and a manipulated image can provoke outrage before the truth catches up. Every citizen with a smartphone now has the power to publish.
79. Before we forward something, we must ask: Is it true? Are we informing people, or inflaming them? Peace can be built, or damaged, both online and offline.
80. FROM KNOWLEDGE TO IMPACT

Distinguished Scholars, Ladies and Gentlemen,

79. This brings me back to Fourah Bay College. A university is not simply a repository of knowledge. It is a laboratory for citizenship.
80. It should be a place where people encounter ideas they disagree with without seeking to silence those who hold them. Intellectual freedom, pluralism, evidence and respectful disagreement are not threats to peace. They are part of its infrastructure.
81. Fourah Bay College carries an extraordinary intellectual tradition. But history is not merely something to admire. History creates responsibility.
82. I therefore challenge our Peace and Conflict Studies community: let us make Fourah Bay College a place where Sierra Leone does not only study conflict after it happens, but identifies the pressures that could produce conflict before they become crises.
83. Let us strengthen our contribution to prevention, early warning, mediation, peace research and youth leadership. Let our students engage communities, and let our research inform policy.
84. Sierra Leone should not always look elsewhere for peacebuilding knowledge. We have our own history, scholars, practitioners and lessons earned through difficult experience. We paid a high price for those lessons. We should study them, use them and share them.
85. And because instability does not respect borders, we must place our national experience within a regional responsibility.
86. The peace of Sierra Leone is connected to the stability of West Africa. Prevention, diplomacy, early warning and regional cooperation are therefore not optional. They are essential.
87. THE PEACE WE BUILD TODAY

Ladies and Gentlemen,

87. Today’s theme returns peace to each one of us.
88. Peace is chosen when we listen before judging; verify before sharing; debate ideas without demonising people; refuse to turn identity into a reason for exclusion; pursue justice through institutions rather than vengeance; and use language to calm rather than inflame.
89. The most important question is not, “Do I want peace?” Most people will answer yes.
90. The more demanding question is: “What am I willing to do differently to make peace possible?” That is where peacebuilding becomes real.
91. As I celebrate another year of life today, I find myself asking less, “What have I achieved?” and more, “What have I contributed?”
92. What is the value of knowledge if it does not solve problems, experience if it is not placed at the service of others, or leadership if people’s lives do not improve?
93. After more than two decades across academia, peacebuilding, governance, human rights, security and development, I have come to a simple conclusion: our work must improve the human condition.
94. Knowledge must help us solve problems. Leadership must serve. Institutions must work for people. Development must be something citizens can feel in their lives.
95. The Sierra Leone I have described will not be built by one government, one institution, one political party or one generation.
96. Nation-building is a relay across generations. Each generation receives something. Each generation adds something. And each generation passes something on.
97. Our generation inherited the hard-won gift of peace. History will ask us: What did we build with it?
98. Did we turn peace into opportunity? Did we strengthen our institutions? Did we widen the circle of belonging?
99. Did we give young people reason to believe? Did we leave Sierra Leone more united, more just and more capable than we found it?
100. If you will allow me one birthday wish today, it is also a wish for my country: a Sierra Leone at peace with itself.
101. A country where our diversity is a source of strength, not suspicion; where every child can aspire; where every young person can imagine a future; where women have every opportunity to contribute and lead; where institutions earn trust; where development reaches communities; and where every citizen can say: “I belong here. My voice matters. My future matters. I have a stake in this country.”
102. Because peace survives when people have a stake in it.
103. To the young people here today: do not just inherit Sierra Leone. Help build it. Do not just inherit its peace. Protect it.
104. Do not spend all your energy describing its problems. Prepare yourselves to solve them. And do not let yesterday’s divisions determine tomorrow’s possibilities.
105. Sierra Leone has already shown that a nation can emerge from devastating conflict and rebuild. Our next challenge is to show what a nation can build with peace.
106. Peace may be quiet, but everything we hope to build depends upon it: our schools, our economy, our institutions, our democracy, our families and the hopes of the next generation.
107. Peace is not simply something we inherit. It is something we build, protect and renew.
108. So, on this International Day of Peace, let us choose dialogue over dehumanisation; inclusion over exclusion; justice over vengeance; evidence over misinformation; civic responsibility over indifference; and opportunity over hopelessness.
109. And let this be our commitment: let history say not only that our generation inherited peace, but that we gave that peace purpose and turned it into progress for our people.
110. That is our challenge. That is our responsibility. And that is the future we must continue to build together.

May God bless Fourah Bay College.

May God bless the people of Sierra Leone.

And may God continue to keep our nation in peace.

I thank you very much.