PRESS STATEMENT
CENTRE FOR PEACE AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN AFRICA (CPCMA)
International Day of Peace – 21st September, 2026
THEME: “Invest in Peace – For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Abuja, Nigeria
Fellow Africans, Friends of Peace,
Today, as the United Nations Peace Bell rings in New York, cast from coins donated by children from 60 nations, the Centre for Peace and Conflict Management in Africa joins the world to mark the 45th International Day of Peace. Established by UN Resolution 36/67 in 1981 and made a permanent day of global ceasefire and non-violence by Resolution 55/282 in 2001, this day reminds us that peace is not an accident. It is an investment.
The 2026 global theme – *“Invest in Peace – For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day”* – could not be more urgent.
THE WORLD AT A CROSSROADS: THE FACTS
Our elders say: _“When the frog dies, the tadpole never holds a funeral.”_ We cannot ignore the death of peace today and expect our children to mourn it tomorrow.
The evidence from the 2026 Global Peace Index (GPI) by the Institute for Economics and Peace is stark:
– Global peacefulness has deteriorated for the 12th consecutive year – the longest decline since the Index began in 2006.
– 99 countries became less peaceful in the past year alone, and 119 countries – 73% of the world – are now less peaceful than in 2007.
– The world is living through 61 active state-based conflicts, the highest number since the end of World War II.
– Deaths from conflict remain at historic highs: over 181,000 people killed in 2025, a six-fold increase since 2008.
– The economic cost of violence rose to $21.81 trillion in 2025 – 10.5% of Global GDP.
– Drone attacks have risen by 11,500% between 2018 and 2025, and AI has compressed targeting from a day to seconds. Machines are now making life-and-death decisions faster than humans can review them.
– Global military spending hit a record $2.9 trillion.
Peace agreements are failing. In the 1970s, 23% of conflicts ended in peace agreements. In the last decade, only 4% did.
AFRICA: THE HEARTBEAT OF THE CRISIS AND THE HOPE
As an African proverb teaches: _“A single bracelet does not jingle”_ – Yoruba proverb. Peace cannot be built by one nation alone.
According to ACLED 2026 and the Africa Peace and Conflict Outlook 2026:
– Africa now hosts more than 50 active armed conflicts, about 40% of all conflicts on earth.
– In the Sahel – Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – jihadist violence has exploded from *63 incidents in 2016 to 2,845 in 2025, with 2,145 already recorded in 2026, putting us on track to exceed 3,000 this year. Over *9,000 deaths were recorded from security incidents in those three countries in 2025 alone.
– Total political violence fatalities in Africa in 2025 exceeded 180,000, with 35% being civilians.
– *Nearly 45 million Africans – 3% of our continent – are forcibly displaced*, up from 19.9 million in 2017. Seven countries account for 85% of this pain: Sudan, DRC, Somalia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, South Sudan and Ethiopia. In seven African nations, between 17% and 28% of the entire population is displaced.
– In Nigeria, conflict remains the dominant driver of displacement, food insecurity and trust deficit.
As the Igbo say: _“Egbe bere, ugo bere; nke si ibe ya ebena, nku kwaa ya”_ – Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch; whichever denies the other its perch, let its wing break. And in Swahili: _“Amani haiji kwa bahati, huletwa kwa juhudi”_ – Peace does not come by chance, it is brought by effort.
OUR CALL: INVESTMENT OVER RHETORIC
Peace is more than the absence of gunfire. It is the presence of justice, inclusion and opportunity.
Therefore, the CPCMA calls for:
1. Investment in Everyday Architects of Peace:* We must fund local peace committees, women mediators, youth leaders, traditional rulers and interfaith actors. As Secretary-General Guterres noted, volunteers and peacemakers are bridging divides where governments fall short.
*2. Investment in Human Security:* Military solutions alone have failed. We demand redirection of resources to education, health, social protection, climate adaptation, and youth employment – the fertile soil where radicalization dies.
3. Investment in African Dialogue:* We call on ECOWAS, the AU, and the Nigerian Government to revive sincere, inclusive negotiation frameworks for the Sahel and for farmer-herder, communal and separatist tensions at home. You cannot shave a man’s head in his absence.
4. Investment in Accountability:* From mining economies funding militias to illicit arms flows, we must cut off the economics of war. Impunity is a wound that never heals.
On this day of ceasefire, we remember that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and that _“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.”_
Peace is not passive. It is a daily choice. It is a deliberate budget line. It is everyone’s work, everywhere, every day.
Let us invest.
Signed:
Noah Ajare / Executive Director]
Centre for Peace and Conflict Management in Africa (CPCMA)
Abuja Nigeria.
Email: centreforpeaceinafrica@gmail.com | https://centreforpeaceinafrica.org
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