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Miss World contestants call for “world peace” – but this time it’s in support of World Vision Australia’s ‘Peace on Earth Pledge’

Three Australian Miss World contestants – Esma Voloder, Taylah Cannon and Jenayah Elliott – have joined in calling for world peace, but not as part of the competition.

Instead, they were in Canberra for World Vision Australia on Thursday to voice their support for the organisation’s Peace on Earth Pledge in which signatories agree to do at least one of 10 options – such as buying a toy for a child displaced by conflict, getting to know their neighbours or taking a stand against racism – in a bid to foster peace in their own families and communities as well as globally.

Peace Pledge

Taylah Cannon, Miss World Australia 2018, Esma Voloder, Miss World Australia 2017, and Jenayah Elliott Miss World Australia runner-up in 2019 are supporting World Vision’s Peace on Earth Pledge initiative. PICTURE: Courtesy World Vision Australia

The call comes as World Vision releases a new report – Crisis Averted – which found that the high levels of conflict around the globe were a key factor in creating the current unprecedented humaniatarian crisis.

It cited UN data showing that 86 per cent of humanitarian needs globally between 2002-2013 occurred in situations of confliict and violence, a figure which has climbed as high as 97 per cent in some subsequent years thanks to the conflict in Syria.

The report also shows that in 2018, forced displacement reached its highest level in human history with 70.8 million people driven from their homes – a figure which equates to well over half of the estimated 131.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in 2019.

It recommends Australia, which currently sits at number 13 among donor nations in terms of its giving to conflict resolution and prevention – spending $US22.3 milliion annually compared to world leader Germany which spends $US675.7 million, scale up its funding in this area. It also recommends it looks to fund programs that “meaningfully involve children and young people” and that work with faith leaders.

Voloder, who was crowned Miss World Australia in 2017, was herself born in a refugee camp after her parents fled the 1992-95 war in Bosnia.

“There’s a lot of talk about peace, but not enough action,” she said. “We have to have faith in world peace, not just wish for it, but do something about it. This Peace Pledge is a tangible action that anyone can do, whether a child or parent, young or old, a CEO or a retiree.”

She said that while “some might say that a Miss World Australia winner talking about peace is a cliché”, we are living “in a time of ugly wars and attitudes, where peace should be the ultimate goal and is needed more than ever”.

“If lending my support to the peace pledge helps draw more attention to world peace, then maybe it’s a cliché we need. That’s why we are signing this pledge – doing something real to make it happen, from donating food to a food bank, helping vulnerable children displaced by war.”

Caelin Briggs, World Vision’s senior policy advisor on conflict and displacement and author of the Crisis Averted report, said war and conflict were the overwhelming factor fuelling the world’s current humanitarian crises.

“Building peace around the world also starts with building peace at home,” she said. “It’s for this reason that our Peace on Earth Pledge gives people a range of ways to contribute, from building peace in their families and neighbourhood, to asking the Australian Government to ramp up its conflict prevention efforts on the world stage.”

Briggs says that while more humanitarian aid is desperately needed, Australia also must do more to break the cycle of conflict and violence around the world.

“Conflict prevention and peacebuilding offer valuable ways forward, but the Australian Government is falling behind its peers in funding these crucial areas,” she said.

~ www.worldvision.com.au/peacepledge

 

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