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Introduction:
Coexistence must be developed slowly over time, says Sarah Peterson and Angela Khaminwa. This allows people to overcome obstacles such as crime, corruption, and fear. Dialogue and large-scale communication are especially important here.
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This rough transcript provides a text alternative to audio. We apologize for occasional errors and unintelligible sections (which are marked with ???).
Developing Coexistence
Angela Khaminwa and Sarah Peterson
Program Officer for Outreach and Communication, The Coexistence Initiative
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S: Lesson number one is that dialogue and communication is critical for
coexistence and building a state for coexistence. Lesson number two is that
there isn't one way you can define coexistence. To measure coexistence in one
community is difficult because people see and understand coexistence in
different ways. Coexistence when main streamed into social practice, when there
are mixed shops, mixed schools, when there are public services open to both sides, then you have better relations, fewer antagonisms and animosities, and you have a greater
appreciation for living in a diverse society.
Q: And obstacles?
S: That crime and political corruption and fear do tend to serve as obstacles
to building an environment that is engaged in the active embrace of diversity.
Q: Those are pretty big ones.
S: I guess the idea is that if you start small as Angela was saying, if you
start small but build up, there's a greater likelihood that you'll have a
stronger foundation upon which to stand in combating these obstacles. Working
together to fight crime, working together to address the issue of political
corruption, working together to eradicate the fear of one another that so often
impedes cooperation.
A: I think what is important about that story is that coexistence, in
creating a stable society or changing individual beliefs, cannot stand on its
own. It is interlinked with other things such as corruption and crime. Therefore
it becomes a very strong part, or the mainstream of coexistence becomes a very
strong part of other mechanisms either at the community level or the state level, such
as anti-corruption measures or development, education. So that coexistence
itself, that is, changing people's perspective on others and on difference, is
part of a larger picture in creating sustainable peace and sustainable
development.
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