APPEAL TO HUMANITY
For peaceful and sustainable social development
As nature and society warn us how uncertain and endangered our survival has become, we, the fellow human beings must overcome our unhuman and other damaging ways of thinking and acting;
As inter-religious, inter-national, inter-races and other hatreds, violence, hate speech, discrimination, oppression, torture, and killing of our next human beings, particularly children, women, older people, and other vulnerable groups incite brutal and destructive instincts in men and women and prevent the development of human values so essential for the existence and growth of our society;
As unfortunately, scientific, technological, and other social achievements rather serve to pollute and destroy planet Earth than amend progress and public good; they rather serve the enrichment of the few at the expense of the majority; they rather serve the industry of armament and killing people, annihilating nature and cultural heritage; they rather serve the ways to cause hunger, poverty, violence and other unacceptable forms of human life in fear and destitution;
As humanity is the first and basic value that has potential to overcome evil and build a constructive sustainable development of the Human Race based on peaceful coexistence;
As art like literature can move people towards empathy and humanity and be the joyful messenger of this positive change;
we invite PEN Members and all human beings to join our efforts to empower humanity and found a peaceful and sustainable future of our society in a way as to strive for the following:
- Every day and everywhere, we are human beings and should show humanity to other human beings and living organisms. To be human means to understand, to be tolerant and compassionate, to help and to support the others.
- We must be aware that humanity empowers the common good for all of us. All good that we do for the other will eventually bring benefits to ourselves and such experience will make us grow and strengthen in a positive way.
- Each individual, me and you, we must be the example of humanity no matter how other people act. We should persevere in spite of temporary disregard or ignorance of these values, as long-term humanity is the only way to empowers human beings and societies.
- We must show courage and decision when we strive for goodness in ourselves and the others. Knowledge that this is the only way to empower humanity in the society must always prevail over the oppression and the stifling of human dignity, freedom, and rights.
- Let us help now all those who suffer horror, illness, deprivation, pain, injustice, and other hardships.
- We should particularly defend children, women, seniors, disabled, people with poor access to education and other vulnerable groups, who due to their weaknesses are more exposed to exploitation and abuse.
- We demand that political and economic leaders respect and realize their commitments, legal acts, international agreements, and all other legal and political documents that foster humanity, peace, safety, solidarity, abolishment of deprivation, and application of sustainable development.
- We appeal to all governments and global economic leaders to foster freedom of speech and freedom to create, which guarantee to all the voices regardless of race, nationality or gender to be heard and appreciated.
- We must never forget that we all belong to one human race and are responsible for ourselves, for our fellow men and women as well as for our planet Earth. When in doubt we should always choose the path of humanity and BE HUMAN.
The appeal was written by:
- Bećir Kečanović, M.Sc., director of the IRVD – Institute for Development of Inclusive Society,
- Miroslav Cerar, PhD, full professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana, and politician, former Prime Minister of Slovenia, former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Slovenia,
- Vasilka Sancin, PhD, full professor of international law, Head of the Department of International Law, Director of the Institute for International Law and International Relations, Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana, member and Vice-president of the UN Human Rights Committee (2019-2022), and
- Tanja Tuma, writer, president of Slovene PEN.