Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast (6°49 N – 5°17’W) © Yann Arthus-Bertrand.
Notre Dame de la Paix, on the Ivory Coast, is one of the biggest churches in the world. As in many cultures, the white dove symbolises peace and love here. The dove first became an unambiguous international symbol of peace in 1949, when Picasso’s lithograph of a white dove was used on posters for the first peace congress in Paris and Prague. The symbol for SDG 16 features a dove sitting on a gavel, the type of small hammer used by judges when delivering verdicts in court. Justice and equality before the law are prerequisites for peace.
Notre Dame de la Paix, on the Ivory Coast, is one of the biggest churches in the world. As in many cultures, the white dove symbolises peace and love here. The dove first became an unambiguous international symbol of peace in 1949, when Picasso’s lithograph of a white dove was used on posters for the first peace congress in Paris and Prague. The symbol for SDG 16 features a dove sitting on a gavel, the type of small hammer used by judges when delivering verdicts in court. Justice and equality before the law are prerequisites for peace.
GOAL BY 2030: MAKE THE WORLD A MORE PEACEFUL PLACE, WITH A SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER RISK OF BEING MURDERED, KILLED IN WAR OR EXPOSED TO PHYSICAL, SEXUAL AND MENTAL VIOLENCE.
All forms of trafficking, abuse, torture and exploitation must be stopped. We must build societies that are fair and work for all.
Although we have made progress, more people have been affected by violent conflict in recent years. Wars don’t just kill and maim soldiers. War means rape, looting and famine (crops are destroyed or there is nobody to cultivate the fields). It means the collapse of road, water and electricity systems. It means bombed out schools and hospitals. War inflicts such damage on living conditions that it keeps on killing people for years after the fighting stops.
Denmark is one of the countries where it is forbidden to hit children – including as part of their upbringing. In many countries, especially the poorest ones, up to 80% of children suffer physical and psychological violence at home and are not protected by the law.
Just laws and courts are far from universal. By 2030, everyone must have equal entitlement to a fair trial. All forms of corruption and bribery must be reduced significantly. Millions of people are born without an official identity, which makes it harder for them to assert their right to vote, own land or even open a bank account. By 2030, everybody must have a legal identity and their fundamental freedoms must be protected.
