🌊 Imagine... An Ocean of Peace That Starts From Below🌊
💡 Imagined Endstate:
A Pacific future where peace is not imposed from outside, but constructed from within, led by youth, rooted in Indigenous sovereignty, and accountable to the lived realities of our region.
📚 Source:
Akbar, O., Baleilevuka, M., Bhagwan, A., Matevesi, N., & Tarte, N. (2025). Discussion Paper Series 02/25: Re-Imagining the Ocean of Peace. The Pacific Dialogue. University of the South Pacific. link
💥 What’s the Big Deal:
Peace in the Pacific cannot be a hollow phrase or a top-down declaration, it must rise from the lived experience of its people. The “Ocean of Peace” initiative by Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka🕊️is noble in ambition, but this youth-led critique argues it will remain aspirational unless it directly addresses unfinished business: decolonization, regional sovereignty, 🌱 youth inclusion, and geopolitical independence.
Through powerful insights grounded in Epeli Hau‘ofa’s vision of Oceania as an interconnected sea of islands, the authors urge Pacific leaders to stop replicating elitist frameworks and instead empower those historically silenced🧭. A place where justice and decolonization are the tides that carry every island toward true freedom and connection.
They argue that youth are not merely the future, they are present agents of peacebuilding, community healing, and resistance🌺. Indigenous knowledge, cultural storytelling, and inclusive governance are not optional add-ons but the very foundations of a real Ocean of Peace. Without naming colonialism, rejecting militarization, and prioritizing regional voices over foreign agendas, this initiative risks becoming just another diplomatic veneer. It’s time to honor Hau‘ofa’s call, to “be the ocean”, and allow peace to be reclaimed by those who live its tides daily🌏.
#OceanOfPeace, #YouthVoices, #DecolonizeThePacific, #EpeliHauofa, #PacificSovereignty, #IslandWisdom, #USPDialogues,#IMSPARK,
