Letting hands stand out of our sleeves

by Unnsteinn Jóhannson, intern at the Peace Foundation.

 

 

By the Global Peace Index 2011 Iceland is the most peaceful country in the world. Just next to Iceland, New Zealand is the second most peaceful country to live in.

 

As an Icelander I would like to share thoughts about why I think Iceland might get this amazing status in the world.

 

As you walk the streets of Reykjavík, you might notice all the baby strollers sitting out side busy café´s. In the baby strollers toddlers are sleeping and enjoying the fresh and clean air. When you walk a little further you might notice some eight year old kids walking back home from school with a key in their hand, a key to their home. Smiling, laughing and exploring like eight year old kids should do as they walk home, worried mostly about what will be for dinner tonight. “Hope it is not broccoli.”

 

You might decide to go to a public swimming pool, that is heated up with warm geothermal water, sit in the hot tub and listen to the regulars speculate over politics, and talking about every day stuff. They might just ask you some questions and then they are of to do their every day swimming. Mind you, the next person you might meet in the hot tub could be the prime minister, or the president and his wife.

 

As we are a country of 318.000 people you can stumble upon the phone book that includes the whole country. You might find most of the ministers names in it, as well as the “famous” people next to your grandmothers phone number. Everyone is called by there first name, from kids to the president.

 

In 2007 the U.S. government closed down their air force station which was based in Keflavík about 40. minutes from Reykjavík. As of that time Iceland has had no army, or military. We are though involved in agreement with Nato and therefore Iceland is still linked to military actions around the world.

 

The police in Iceland does not carry guns or electroshock guns. Last protest we had was called Búsáhaldabyltingin, or the Household Items revolution. Where, when the protest started becoming violent against the police, most protesters formed a shield around the police man to show people where there in peaceful protests.

 

Iceland is lucky, it is a country full of natural resources, it means that renewable energy provides 100 percent of eletricity production, with about 70 percent coming from hydropower and 30 percent from geothermal power. About 85% of all houses are heated by geothermal energy. In Iceland there are no nuclear power stations.¹

 

This year Newsweek posted an article on the top 10 countries of the best places to be a woman. They included 165 countries and graded each country of 5 criteria, justice, health, education, economics and politics.² Iceland came out on top. Equality has been a big focus in Iceland for many years. Being the first country in the world to vote a female president. We have many women that really are a fantastic role models for younger generations. I would argue that Iceland is not only good for women but just as well man. Gender issues are a topic most are raised up with, talking about it, thinking about what kind of country we want to live in and what it means to be equal.

 

The mayor of Reykjavík Jón Gnarr, since 15th of June 2010 has already joined Mayors for Peace. He wants Reykjavík to become one of the most peaceful cities in the world. One of the things he is working on is to find new solutions on how to work with violence in the city. He aims for Reykjavík to be a violence free city. He has signed a appeal to all governments to work towards peace and human rights.

 

So why do I think Iceland is in the first place of the Global Peace Index? Over all Icelanders are lucky. Living in a country where we do not have to worry about war and a constant conflict where weapons are used. We are lucky to be self sufficient on our electricity and warming our houses. As a small population, we still have a feeling of a tribe. When things get rough, as in natural disasters we have people willing to give a helping hand. No country is perfect and Iceland is not. I could go explaining all the things that we still need to work on. Sometimes it is, good to reflect on what we have already achieved. To be able to look to the future and say we have accomplished many things, and now, let hands stand out of our sleeves and keep on working. (Icelandic saying - Að láta hendur standa fram úr ermum ) Yet we are still working on improving it, getting closer to a more peaceful country, to a more equal country and a place where everyone can live to gather in harmony.