UN World Peace Day, 21 September 2024

To imagine a Wales and a world where peace reigns is not just to imagine the absence of war. It’s to imagine a place where we all live free from fear, where our rights are respected, and where everybody is equal. It’s to imagine conducting all our relationships – with ourselves, neighbour to neighbour, stranger to stranger, community to community, country to country – with justice and fairness. Imagine if this kind of positive peace was part of our national identity, a value that drove all of what we do.

Ahead of the United Nations Summit of the Future, a global cooperation event held in New York this weekend, Academi Heddwch Cymru (Wales’s Peace Institute) has been working on a paper which explores how Wales can become a Nation of Peace – Cymru fel Cenedl Heddwch. Imagine that.

The paper affirms that the people of Wales have, time and again, undertaken innovative, sometimes world-leading initiatives to promote peace. For example, in 1923 the women of Wales took part in an unprecedented appeal. 390,296 women, signed a peace petition calling on the United States to join and lead the League of Nations. In this way, the women of Wales, stricken with a collective grief following the horrors of the first world war, played a role in the very founding of the United Nations.

How can we build on this proud legacy of peace-making in Wales? How can Wales foster dialogue as a way of life, where people seek cooperation rather than conflict? What kind of pathways would Wales need to build to become a Nation of Peace? And how do we get there?

In a time of escalating global conflict, with deepening divisions and multiple crises facing us, peace can be a dream too difficult to realise, and hope a thing too easy to lose. But we can all contribute to a culture of peace, as a new generation of young peacemakers has stressed. Through the Urdd’s Peace & Goodwill Message, these young people have shown us how ‘Hope is an Action – Gweithred yw Gobaith’. They know that atrocities, wars and violence must be stopped, and know too that cooperation, passion and hope are the driving forces that can lead to a better and peaceful future.

21^st September is the International Day of Peace, providing a day for all of us, world-wide, to commit to peace above all differences and to take action to build a culture of peace. This year marks the 25^th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace. The UN recognised that peace ‘not only is the absence of conflict, but also requires a positive, dynamic participatory process where dialogue is encouraged and conflicts are solved in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation.’

In the forthcoming ‘Wales as a Nation of Peace’ report, Academi Heddwch Cymru also recognises this and considers how promoting peace is fundamental to the delivery of the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, legislation intended to enshrine action towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Welsh law.

This weekend we will be looking towards the Summit of the Future to see how countries from across the globe will cooperate to tackle the challenges of our time and renew their commitments to get delivery of the SDGs back on track. Ahead of the Summit, Philémon Yang, President of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, underscored the need to restore trust and solidarity among nations, adding that people are ‘desperately looking for a glimmer of hope’.

Here in Wales let us hear the voices of the peacemakers who lived here before us chiming with the sage advice of the young peacemakers who live here now. On International Day of Peace let’s all commit to cultivating a culture of peace in Wales and unite behind a vision of Wales as a Nation of Peace.

Academi Heddwch is Wales’s national peace institute. Established formally in 2020, Academi Heddwch was founded as an alliance with every university in Wales, the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, the Learned Society of Wales and the WCIA, with the support of the Peace Movement in Wales, Race Council Wales, Urdd Gobaith Cymru and the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales.
Academi Heddwch aims to extend Wales’s long-standing tradition of peace-making and peace-promotion by developing and coordinating an independent community of researchers in related fields. Funded by Welsh Government, Academi Heddwch works to place peace firmly on Wales’s national agenda as well as on the international stage.
We will be announcing the launch date of the Nation of Peace report on our website very soon: https://www.wcia.org.uk/academiheddwch/

Over the first week of August 2024, WCIA and Academi Heddwch brought debates of world peace to the world of Wales’ National Eisteddfod, hosted by Rhondda Cynon Taff this year in venues around Pontypridd (with a ‘maes’ / main field in Ynysangharad Park) over 3-10 August 2024.

Much focus of discussions and campaigns on current affairs centred on the conflict in Palestine and Israel, particularly for organisations participating in the Peace Tent; whilst the shocking riots that broke out across the UK following the killings in Southport prompted a strong response from Welsh Civil Society, with WCIA leading a ‘Wales Statement of Solidarity and Togetherness‘ signed up to by many organisations over Eisteddfod Week.

During the week, the opening speech for the Eisteddfod itself, from Archdruid Professor Mererid Hopwood (Secretary of Academi Heddwch) conveyed a powerful peace message. The peace heritage story of Wales’ Women’s Peace Petition, exactly a century ago in 1924, proved a popular catalyst for inspiring action – with talks not only on the Maes but in local churches and community spaces.

Women’s Peace Petition Centenary and Academi Heddwch

Academi Heddwch and the Women’s Peace Petition team held an extensive events programme over Eisteddfod week, with a number of talks on the Eisteddfod Maes (Peace Tent and Societies Tent), a creative workshop in Storyville Books, and a talk in partnership with Cytun (Churches in Wales) on the 1925 Welsh Churches Peace Petition.

Peace Tent programme

The ‘Peace Tent’ on the Eisteddfod Maes is a much-loved annual fixture of the week-long programme, with a heritage itself stretching back to the 1920s (when the Welsh League of Nations Union had a major presence and involvement in Eisteddfodau). The tent now is co-ordinated between CND Cymru (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), Cymdeithas y Cymod, and Academi Heddwch supported by and involving a range of organisations. There was a particularly large gathering in the Peace Tent on the Wednesday for the event ‘From Wales to Gaza: solidarity with Palestine’ (see below). CND Cymru also marked Hiroshima Day on 6th August with a Remembrance event ‘Cofio Hiroshima’.

Visitors to the Peace Tent were asked to take the name of a child from Gaza who had been killed in the recent conflict, and copy the name and age of the child onto a long piece of cloth (below) in brightly coloured textile pens.  They took the slip of paper with the name of the child away with them as an act of remembrance.  This was a simple and moving action, illustrating the extent of the tragedy in Gaza and our grief and indignation at the loss of so much young life. 

Palestine Solidarity Campaign Cymru organised a number of discussions and public events over the course of Eisteddfod week, focusing on the present conflict and humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the Occupied Territories.

Heddwch ar Waith were promoting via the Peace Tent, their campaign and working groups on mapping militarism in Wales, and developing peace ambassadors across local authority areas:

‘Heddwch ar Waith’ / ‘Peace Action Wales‘ is a project funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust to raise awareness of militarism in Wales and to grow a Wales-wide network of people (including young people) working to create a more peaceful and cohesive society also had a presence in the Peace Tent and held events in Pontypridd itself.  People interested in being involved in this network can do so by contacting heddwcharwaithgmail.com.

Yma o Hyd

Welsh singer Dafydd Iwan dedicated a rendition of his much-loved song ‘Yma o Hyd‘ to the victims of the Palestine conflict, with a performance that roused the whole Eisteddfod Maes.

Datganiad Cymru o undod a chydberthynas – Wales statement of solidarity and togetherness

We were shocked by the violent attack that took place in Southport last week and are deeply saddened by the murder of young girls as well as the injuries inflicted on the other victims.  Our sympathies are with the victims, their families and friends. 

Cawsom ein syfrdanu gan yr ymosodiad treisgar a ddigwyddodd yn Southport yr wythnos ddiwethaf ac rydym wedi ein tristau’n fawr gan lofruddiaeth tair merch fach yn ogystal â’r anafiadau a achoswyd i’r dioddefwyr eraill. Cydymdeimlwn â’r dioddefwyr, eu teuluoedd a’u ffrindiau.

The tragic attack in Southport has been used as a vehicle to incite hatred and to attempt to divide communities through the spread of disinformation and lies. The violence, racism and Islamophobia that this has caused does not represent who we are, nor the opinions of the vast majority of the people of Wales.  

Mae’r ymosodiad trasig yn Southport wedi’i ddefnyddio fel cyfrwng i ysgogi casineb ac i geisio rhannu cymunedau trwy ledaenu gwybodaeth anghywir a chelwydd. Nid yw’r trais, yr hiliaeth ac Islamoffobia y mae hyn wedi’u hachosi yn cynrychioli pwy ydym ni, na barn y mwyafrif helaeth o bobl Cymru.

It is not right that people are afraid to attend the mosque for fear of attack, it is not right that a child faces racist slurs from their peers because of the colour of their skin and it is not right that a man threatens a woman for wearing a hijab. These things are happening on streets in Wales. We can do better than this.  

Nid yw’n iawn fod pobl yn ofni mynd i’r mosg rhag ofn ymosodiad, nid yw’n iawn fod plentyn yn wynebu anfri hiliol gan ei gyfoedion oherwydd lliw eu croen ac nid yw’n iawn fod dyn yn bygwth menyw am wisgo hijab. Mae’r pethau hyn yn digwydd ar strydoedd Cymru. Gallwn wneud yn well na hyn.

We stand in solidarity with people experiencing racist hatred, Islamophobia and discrimination. We stand against behaviour which would seek to separate neighbour from neighbour or cast a shadow of otherness on any group of people. 

Rydym yn sefyll mewn undod â phobl sy’n profi casineb hiliol, Islamoffobia a gwahaniaethu. Rydym yn sefyll yn erbyn ymddygiad a fyddai’n ceisio gwahanu cymydog oddi wrth gymydog neu daflu cysgod arallrwydd ar unrhyw grŵp o bobl.

Wales has a strong and proud history of welcome, diversity and inclusion. If Wales is to help address the great challenges we face – climate and nature emergency, widening economic inequality, war and other injustices – then we need a society that is built on kindness, connection and respect.

Mae gan Gymru hanes cryf a balch o groeso, amrywiaeth a chynhwysiant. Os yw Cymru am helpu i fynd i’r afael â’r heriau mawr sy’n ein hwynebu – newid hinsawdd, tŵf anghydraddoldeb economaidd, rhyfel ac anghyfiawnderau eraill – yna mae arnom angen cymdeithas sydd wedi’i hadeiladu ar garedigrwydd, cysylltiad a pharch.

We ask all people of Wales to value one another and to remember that our strength comes from our openness compassion, and a willingness to come together as friends, neighbours, and colleagues – we are all humans on this one planet we share regardless of skin colour, religious belief or nationality.  

Gofynnwn i holl bobl Cymru werthfawrogi ein gilydd a chofio bod ein cryfder yn dod o’n didwylledd, ein tosturi a’n parodrwydd i ddod at ein gilydd fel ffrindiau, cymdogion a chydweithwyr – rydyn ni i gyd yn fodau dynol ar yr un blaned hon rydym ni’n ei rhannu waeth beth fo lliw’r croen, cred grefyddol neu genedligrwydd.

We all want a fairer and more peaceful world – this can only be achieved if we choose togetherness over division, dignity over dehumanisation, love over hate, kindness over cruelty.   

Rydym ni i gyd eisiau byd tecach a mwy heddychlon – dim ond os ydym yn dewis undod dros raniad, urddas dros ddad-ddyneiddio, cariad dros gasineb, caredigrwydd dros greulondeb, y gellir cyflawni hyn.

As you walk the streets of Wales today, please be kind, smile, say hello and remember: ‘we have far more in common than that which divides us’. 

Wrth i chi gerdded strydoedd Cymru heddiw, byddwch yn garedig, gwenwch, dywedwch helo a chofiwch, ‘mae gennym lawer mwy yn gyffredin na’r hyn sy’n ein rhannu’.

Cefnogir gan – Supported by:

Abergavenny & District Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Aberystwyth Nature Connection & Forest Bathing

Academi Heddwch Cymru

Adferiad

Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales

Amgueddfa Torfaen Museum

Amnesty International UK / Cymru

Amnesty Monmouthshire

Anglesey Sea Zoo Marine Conservation Centre

Artes Mundi 

ArtISan Avenue

Asylum Justice

Asylum Matters

Awel Amen Tawe

Benthyg Cymru

Beth Winter former MP Cynon Valley

Bethan Sayed former MS 

Bevan Foundation

Cadwch Gymru’n Daclus – Keep Wales Tidy

Caerphilly for Palestine

CAFOD South Wales

Campaign for National Parks

Canolfan y Dechnoleg Amgen – Centre for Alternative Technology

Cardiff Civic Society

Cardiff People’s Assembly

Cardiff Quakers

Cardiff Reading Room

Cardiff Stop the War Coalition

Cardiff Women’s Aid

Cardigan Extinction Rebellion

Care & Repair Cardiff & the Vale

Care & Repair Cymru

Care & Repair Monmouthshire & Torfaen

Care & Repair Powys

Caredig Ltd

Christine Chapman former AM for Cynon Valley

Circular Newport

Citizens Cymru Wales

Climate and Community

Climate Cymru 

Climate Shop

Clynfyw Care Farm

CND Cymru

Coastal Housing Group

Colegau Cymru

Common Cause Foundation

Community Housing Cymru

Council for Wales of Voluntary Youth Services

Crynwyr Cymru – Quakers in Wales

Cwtch Mawr

Cyfarfod Crynwyr Rhanbarth De Cymru – South Wales Area Quaker Meeting

Cyfarfod Crynwyr Tyddewi 

Cymbrogi

Cymdeithas Cludiant Cymunedol | Community Transport Association  

Cymdeithas Eryri Snowdonia Society

Cymdeithas y Cymod

Cymdeithas Ymddireidolaethau Datblygu Cymru – Development Trusts Association Wales

Cymdeithas yr Iaith

Cymorth Cristnogol Cymru / Christian Aid Wales

Cymorth Cymru

Cymru Queers for Palestine

Cynnal Cymru – Sustain Wales

Dant y Llew CIC 

Datblygiadau Egni Gwledig (DEG)

Derek Walker – Comisiynydd Cenedlaethau’r Dyfodol Cymru – Future Generations Commissioner for Wales

Disability Labour

Disability Wales

Displaced People in Action (DPIA)

Diverse Cymru

Dolen Cymru Lesotho

Egni Cooperative

Extinction Rebellion Cymru

EYST Wales 

Faith in Families

FareShare Cymru

Ffair Jobs CIC

Ffotogallery Wales Ltd

Ffynnone Community Resilience

Foothold Cymru

Forest Bathing – Shinrin Yoku Guided Sessions

Friends of the Earth Pontypridd

Glitter Cymru 

Global Justice Now

Grange Pavilion CIO

Green Squirrel CIC

Growing Space Pontypridd

Gwyrddni

Hay Community Resilience Initiative

Hay Public Library.org

Heddwch ar Waith (Peace Action Wales)

Heddwch Nain / Mamgu (Grandmother’s Peace)

Heledd Fychan MS

HOME4U CARDIFF

Human Rights Stakeholder Group (HRSG) Wales

Institute of Welsh Affairs

Jill Evans former MEP

Learning Disability Wales

Llanw

Maindee Unlimited

Mick Antoniw MS

Monmouthshire Housing

Morning Star

MS Society Cymru

National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) – Wales

National Theatre Wales

Natur Pontypridd

Neo

Newport Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Nkechi Allen Dawson (Race Council Cymru)

Nomad Reading Darllen Nomad C.B.C.

North Wales Housing Association

Oasis One World Choir

Our Food 1200

Oxfam Cymru

Pete’s Shop Limited

Platfform for Change

Remembering Srebrenica Wales

Repair Cafe Wales

Rhondda Cynon Taf Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Rhondda Cynon Taff Trades Union Council

RSP Sprinkler Systems

Seas The Opportunity Ltd

Size of Wales | Maint Cymru

Skills and Volunteering Cymru (SVC)

Social Farms & Gardens Cymru

Stop Climate Chaos Cymru

Stop the War Cymru

Stori Cymru

Sub-Sahara Advisory Panel

Sustainable Wales

Tai Pawb

Tai Tarian

Tempo Time Credits

The Bottega Project CIC

The Canopi CIC 

The Co-production Network for Wales

The Fabulous Facilitator 

The Mentor Ring

The One Planet Centre

The Sustainable Studio 

The Welsh Centre for International Affairs

Thomas Dunn – Advisor Climate Cymru

Tir Natur

Tir Pontypridd

Torfaen Access Forum

TPAS Cymru

Trans Pride Cardiff

Trawsnewid

Trivallis

Undod Chwith Cymru

Urdd Gobaith Cymru

Valleys to Coast

Wales Council for Voluntary Action

Wales Somaliland Community

Wellbeing Economy Cymru

Welsh Labour Grassroots

Welsh Refugee Council

WEN Wales

Wild Roots Kitchen & Bar

Y Siop Fach Sero CIC

Zoë Binning Ltd.

Over Spring 2023, WCIA have been proud to participate in a UK-wide programme initiative ‘Our Heritage Our Stories‘, managed through Glasgow University alongside a range of partners, and funded through the AHRC (Arts & Humanioties Research Council).

OHOS’ funding has enabled WCIA to run a weekly programme of Wednesday afternoon ‘Archiveathons’ drop-in sessions over May to July 2024, and to recruit a group of student placements (via Cardiuff University), supported through the Temple Friends network.

Students have been able to progress a range of projects (see links below) ranging from digitisation of WCIA’s Hidden Histories publications, to researching the heritage of refugee and sanctuary movements in Wales.

The OHOS programme is supporting heritage bodies UK-wide in moving ‘Towards a National Collection‘ – identifying ways to pool the resources, knowledge and digitised materials produced by heritage and community organisations throughout the 4 nations, to reach the widest possible audiences through using AI (Artifical Intelligence) to connect collections. As one of WCIA’s student placements suggested, ‘a google for heritage’!

WCIA are a small organisation in a big project – why? WCIA’s contribution to OHOS aims to share practice and ideas that can be adapted and adopted by other small organisations in similar circulstances. How can small bodies with minimal staffing. harness the energies of volunteers and community goodwill to contribute towards preserving and understanding the UK’s rich heritage? How can we digitised and integrate our materials into nationally accessible programmes, portals or partnerships, so that they can be found beyond our usual spheres of reach? In a world where websites and online resources are replaced every few years, how can digital materials be conserved and accessible 10-20-50 years hence?

Find out more about the outputs of WCIA’s OHOS project, and the experiences of our Temple Friends and student placements below:

WCIA’s part in OHOS project

Student Placements May-July 2024

Temple Friends Heritage Volunteering

Maryam Ginwalla has recently completed a student insight placement with WCIA, through Cardiff University’s Centre for Student Life. Here she reflects on her work experience, and shares some of her outputs.

From May to July 2024, I had the opportunity to volunteer with the WCIA in the Temple of Peace to work on a project that was very meaningful to me. The team at WCIA allowed me to incorporate my own interests and areas of my other volunteering into my project with them, which I am very thankful for. My role was an insight into the Peace Heritage of Wales, for which I researched Wales’ links with refugees and sanctuary movements.

I started my project by outlining my key ideas, deciding which communities I was going to focus on. I originally was going to do a timeline, however the WCIA website already has a timeline of refugees in Wales, dating back to WW1. Instead of expanding the already existing information of the refugee groups on the timeline, I instead decided to focus on communities that weren’t on the timeline but are still predominantly large communities across Wales. This led me to choose the Yemeni, Ukrainian, Palestinian, Bangladeshi, Kurdish and Sudanese communities.

Most of my time doing this project was spent researching about the different communities, and I created a list of questions for myself that allowed me to stay on track when doing my research. These questions also meant that I was including a similar range of information across my research, making it consistent. After I had researched and written it out, I then uploaded it all to the WCIA editing page, where I learnt how to create hyperlinks that were embedded in my texts, along with creating buttons to go onto a separate page.

This insight opportunity has been extremely valuable, as I study history at university and have really enjoyed learning about how the Temple of Peace archives their material and also digitise it. My project has also allowed me to learn more about my interests and combine it with a form of history- researching the histories of these marginalised communities and their link within Wales is extremely relevant to future histories that will be written about the diverse community across Wales.

I want to extend a huge thank you to the team at WCIA and the Temple of Peace for being so welcoming and inviting us along to many events within the Temple, such as Temple Tours, helping to restore the National Garden of Peace and going through the archives in the attic! This project specifically wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Craig Owen and Sam Mutter, as instead of making me do any project, they helped to create one for me out of my interests.

Rhiannon Day, MA International Public Relations and Communications, Cardiff University.

Rhiannon has been undertaking an internship supporting the updating and digitisation of WCIA’s Hidden Histories feature articles, being uploaded as PDFs to People’s Collection Wales for long-term access into the future, with printed versions at the Temple of Peace, so that these publications remain beyond the lifespan of the existing WCIA website. This work is part of WCIA’s contribution towards ‘Our Heritage Our Stories‘, who have kindly funded this internship.

Learning from the Placement

After completing my undergraduate degree in International Studies last year in Canada, I knew that I wanted to get involved in the work of internationalism particularly related to Wales when I arrived to start my Master’s degree at Cardiff University. This role with the Welsh Centre of International Affairs not only fulfilled my desire to get involved in the community, but also to use my undergraduate degree in a meaningful way, applying my knowledge and skills to real-world projects focusing on peace and cooperation. Overall, this internship has not only provided me with digital content management skills, but also gave me insights into the rich history of Wales and the impactful work of the WCIA and the Temple of Peace in Cardiff.

One of my primary responsibilities as the Digital Heritage Intern was to edit and repackage the Hidden Histories work done by insights, interns, and staff of the WCIA in the past. To start, I conducted a comprehensive audit of the WCIA’s content, detailing the specific tasks needed for each piece of work: the length, status of content on a scale of 1-3, the bilingual status, the content included in each story, and a ‘to-do’ list for each piece. Because of the nature of the content, there was a lot of work to be done to ensure that each piece of work had not only working links and up-to-date information, but also making sure that the edits that were being done were protected from future website updates that may affect the content. Following the audit, I designed a new logo for the Hidden Histories project, ensuring it reflected the essence of the initiative. After many conversations with the staff at the WCIA, a few Procreate tutorials, and some trial and error, the new logo is a bilingual graphic of the Temple of Peace facade, tying the pdf’s into a cohesive compilation of content. I then created a template for each of the pieces, incorporating the new logo on the title pages, graphics, and overall organisation to maintain a consistent and professional look throughout. My next step was to prioritise each piece of content by its usage frequency, identifying the ‘most-used’ materials to focus efforts effectively. Throughout the process, I ensured all content remained engaging, interesting, and appropriate for the WCIA’s audience. Additionally, I developed a systematic approach to document the procedures and templates, keeping detailed spreadsheets and timetables with notes, making the project easily reproducible for future interns, ensuring its sustainability and continued success.

Not only did this experience give me insights into the organisation needed to conduct a project like this one, but it also gave me informative insights into the rich history and culture of peace in Wales, allowing me to get further involved into my new community. I am incredibly grateful for the time and support that Craig, Sam, Chris, and the rest of the team at the WCIA showed me over the past few months, and am excited to see the work that will be done following this project. If you take anything out of reading this post, take this as an encouragement to visit the People’s Collection of Wales website, and take a perusal of the pdf’s available on the WCIA website. This organisation is a wealth of information, it’s just up to you to take a gander!

To cohesively bring these stories into a collection to be uploaded to the People’s Collection of Wales in order to protect and preserve this work for future generations has been an incredibly fulfilling task, allowing me to contribute to the ongoing legacy of work at the WCIA. This internship has been a professional milestone filled with learning opportunities and insights into Wales, and I am more than grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such a meaningful project. I look forward to seeing and reading the hidden histories yet to be uncovered by future interns.

Outputs

The birthday of the NHS – on 5th July – has been marked with a call to establish an NHS Wales history website that recognises those who pioneered the creation of a pilot national health service in Wales, decades before the full NHS was officially established by Aneurin Bevan in 1948 in the aftermath of World War Two. 

The call comes from Aneira Thomas, the first baby to be born on the NHS, and Emma Snow, author of a new book outlining how a National Health Service began in Wales before the Second World War, which inspired Aneurin Bevan the create the UK-wide institution. They celebrated the NHS’ Birthday at the Temple of Peace and Health in Cardiff, where they were joined by Julie Morgan, MS for Cardiff North, and former Deputy Minister for Social Services.

The story is recounted in Emma Snow’s new book ‘The First NHS‘ , which describes how Wales developed a ‘national health service’ 38 years ahead of its rollout across Britain, in the WNMA – the Welsh National Memorial Association, headquartered at the Temple of Peace and Health in Cardiff – which was purpose-built for this mission. 

Emma describes how the full NHS put in place by Nye Bevan in 1948 adapted the model developed in Wales from 1912 onwards, through the efforts of a Montgomeryshire ‘Friendly Society’ leader, her great-grandfather John Tomley, and many contemporary colleagues. From 1945 to 1948, the by then well-established WNMA was co-opted by Aneurin Bevan to act as the ‘transitional authority’ charged with bringing together the new NHS in Wales, becoming in effect on the ‘appointed day’ NHS Wales itself, with its headquarters in the Temple of Peace and Health. 

Emma Snow calls for an NHS Wales history website and resources to be developed, arguing that the NHS’ history in Wales is not on the compulsory Curriculum for Wales and does not yet appear in any Welsh school history textbooks.  “For example,” Emma said, “the new history textbook for 11-14 year olds mentions health, yet does not even mention Nye Bevan or Betsi Cadwaladr – who have NHS health boards named after them – let alone other people and organisations involved, such as the founders of the WNMA itself.  More research is needed, and deserved, to uncover these hidden health heroes and include them on the curriculum for all children and young people in Wales.”

Julie Morgan, MS for Cardiff North, and former Deputy Minister for Social Services, said: 

“Here in Wales, we are all very proud of our Welsh connection to the NHS, with Nye Bevan setting it up in 1948. It is fascinating to find out the full story of how Wales played even more of a role in setting up the NHS that we thought. It is vital that children and young people in schools, as well as health and social care patients and staff, can find out about all our Welsh NHS health heroes and celebrate them. I fully support the call for a new NHS Wales history website, for Welsh NHS history to be added to the Curriculum for Wales and textbooks, and for more research into Welsh health history. As a start, Aneira and Emma’s books should be stocked in all Welsh secondary school libraries.”

Both Emma Snow and Aneira Thomas have written about the history of the NHS in Wales:

Emma Snow, ‘The First NHS’ – https://www.amazon.co.uk/First-NHS-Tomleys-Modern-Healthcare/dp/1399038168

Aneira Thomas, ‘Hold On Edna’ – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hold-Edna-heartwarming-story-first/dp/1913406318

12th June 2024

The WCIA team are gravely concerned by the desperate, daily struggle for survival for people living in Gaza, including the Israeli hostages held by Hamas. On 26 May, only days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued new provisional measures that ordered Israel to immediately end military operations in Rafah, Israeli airstrikes hit a tented camp for displaced people in the Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood of Rafah, a designated ‘safe-zone’, killing over 45 Palestinian people and wounding 249, many of them children. The new ICJ provisional measures were made in relation to the case brought to the Court by South Africa accusing Israel of violating its obligations under the Genocide Convention. A week later, an Israeli operation to release 4 hostages from the Nuseirat refugee camp killed more than 270 Palestinian people and injured more than 600 people.

We can barely imagine the constant fear felt by people living in Gaza over the past 8 months, the agony of entire families lost, the sick and wounded with nowhere to turn for help, mothers unable to promise their children they will keep them safe, no food, no clean water, no home. All the basic necessities of life have been stripped away. Little wonder that some people are calling Gaza ‘hell on earth’. In its latest situation update, the World Food Programme said “Adults and children are beyond exhausted from constant displacement, hunger, and fear.”

The suffering for families in Israel continues too, unbearable grief after their loved ones were killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7th and the desperate daily uncertainty for the welfare of those taken hostage by Hamas, fearing how loved ones are being treated and the pain of not knowing whether they are alive or dead.

This must stop now.

It is deeply unjust to exact reprisals against the whole Palestinian population for the actions of Hamas terrorists, or to consider communities as ‘collateral damage’. It is also unjust to blame Israeli citizens and Jewish communities globally, for the actions of the present right-wing Israeli government. Anti-Muslim and Anti-Semitic hatred are being fuelled by extremism and polarised debate, but the voices of citizens and communities on both sides of the conflict are critical to achieving peaceful co-existence – and ultimately for the long term, a 2 state solution .

We commend the tireless campaign and advocacy work for peace and justice, in Wales and across the world, of civil society and others over the past eight months, in demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire. These efforts are crucial in stopping the death and destruction, getting enough aid to people who desperately need it, and safely releasing the hostages.

We stand in solidarity with all victims of persecution and violence. We must do all we can to protect the universal human rights of all people and to ensure those in positions of power adhere to international law.

New analysis from the Global Protection Cluster reports that over five per cent of Gaza’s 2.10 million population has been either killed, injured, or is missing. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) estimates that nearly 85% of Gaza’s population are now displaced, the World Health Organisation says the health system in Gaza is barely surviving, and the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) states that famine is imminent as 1.1 million people, around half of the population of Gaza, are experiencing “catastrophic food insecurity”.

The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, has called for an immediate return to negotiations, the release of hostages and a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as the Israeli military assault exacerbates human suffering amid rising regional tensions. He said, “Palestinians and Israelis desperately need a political horizon. Without it, there is no sustainable path out of the suffering and misery we are witnessing every day.”

After calling for a ceasefire in November last year, in recent weeks, cross party Members of the Senedd have voiced calls for immediate recognition of the State of Palestine as a first step in a process to enable a path to a lasting peace and a two-state solution. They join Norway, Spain and Ireland, three of over 140 of the 193 United Nations member states, in recognising Palestine as a state.

Despite the UN Security Council Resolutions and an ICJ ruling calling for unhindered humanitarian access there are no signs of improvements on getting humanitarian aid into Gaza – in fact, humanitarian access has deteriorated in recent months. In January, the UK Government and others paused funding to UNWRA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, following allegations by the Israeli Government that staff were involved in the October 7th Hamas attacks. Following the release of an independent report which meets the requirements of the UK Government to restore funding, UK NGOs have written to the Prime Minister calling for the UK to restore and increase funding to UNWRA. The letter also highlights that, “The denial of funding to UNRWA will only lead to more deaths, at a time when the ICJ has underscored the need to prevent the risk of genocide and fulfil the dire humanitarian needs of Palestinians.”

In Wales, the Future Generations Commissioner, Derek Walker, has said “Everyone has the right to live in peace, now and in the future.”

As a globally responsible nation, Wales must call on the UK to:

• Uphold its legal and moral responsibility to ensure Israel complies with the ICJ order to immediately halt its offensive in Rafah, and to ensure that the hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in Rafah are protected. The fact the UK continues to license arms to Israel is defying the ICJ ruling and makes the UK complicit in any war crimes committed in Gaza.

• Immediately stop UK supplies of weapons to Israel, and instead press harder for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to prevent further bloodshed, and to ensure the safe return of all hostages and unlawfully detained Palestinians.

• Use every possible diplomatic and economic lever at its disposal to help secure an immediate, permanent ceasefire, to stop the death and destruction, and secure the safe release of all hostages.

Further information can be found here: Wales for Peace in Israel and Palestine: Call for Ceasefire

Refugee Week takes place UK and Wales-wide from 17 – 23 June 2024. WCIA are delighted to been able this year to support development of bilingual education materials for schools through Schools of Sanctuary and Holocaust Resources Wales, available through the Welsh Government’s ‘Hwb’ resources site for teachers:

• Schools of Sanctuary Resources Pack – English
• Schools of Sanctuary Resources Pack – Welsh
• Hwb Bilingual Resources on Refugees and Sanctuary
• ‘Day of Welcome’ Resources

Refugee Week is the world’s largest arts & culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of people seeking sanctuary from conflict. It’s been running in the UK since 1998 and is always the week around World Refugee Day (20 June). The theme for Refugee Week 2024 is “Our Home”. From the places we gather to share meals to our collective home, planet earth: everyone is invited to celebrate what our Our Home means to them.

Find out what’s happening near you for Refugee Week Wales

This year, WCIA has been working with the Day of Welcome project at Anglia Ruskin University, to make a range of resources available to schools. The resources contain ideas for short input, half, and full-day activities, so there’s lots of scope. You can do as much or as little as you please, and there is no cost involved. You can register to access the resources on the Schools for Sanctuary website and get your learners involved in exciting and thought-provoking activities, to help build a culture of welcome and understanding for seekers of sanctuary in Wales and beyond.

WCIA have also been supporting work with Holocaust Resources Wales, a partnership between the Centre for the Movement of People (CMOP) at Aberystwyth University and the Jewish History Association of South Wales (JHASW) which aims to provide high-quality bilingual teaching resources for use in Welsh schools. HRW currently have five resources available, with four looking at the Kindertransport and one at Treforest Trading Estate near Pontypridd.

• The Holocaust and Wales – Hwb / People’s Collection Wales

A Century of Sanctuary – Reflections from Wales’ Peace Heritage

Wales has a long heritage of solidarity in offering sanctuary to refugees fleeing conflicts around the world.

During WW1, Welsh communities offered sanctuary to more than 4,000 Belgian refugees fleeing the outbreak of conflict in Flanders Fields. In the 1930s, Basque children fleeing the Spanish civil war were welcomed from Carmarthenshire to Denbighshire to Newport and Swansea; and Jewish ‘kindertransport’ fleeing the rise of Hitler prior to WW2, found sanctuary among communities in Powys and Conwy.

• Wales’ Peace Heritage – a Century of Sanctuary

Many refugees returned to their homes, or started lives anew, after these horrific conflicts ended. Many made huge contributions to Welsh society and communities – and some chose to stay and have become a part of the fabric of Welsh society. Successive waves of conflict victims – up to and including today’s refugees from conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and elsewhere – have not only been offered sanctuary, but have contributed to and shaped Welsh society. What can we learn from Wales’ peace heritage of solidarity? Is Wales today a place of peace – and could Wales become the world’s first ‘Nation of Sanctuary‘?

With a background in programme management and leadership in the international humanitarian sector, as well as the third and public sectors in Wales, Hayley is incredibly excited to join the WCIA as our new Chief Executive. 

Hayley returned home in 2018 after having lived outside of Wales for almost twenty years in the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, France, Malta, Spain and Turkey.

During this time, she worked in the private sector and at the Paris National Opera before spending almost a decade resource managing and leading projects with Medecins san Frontieres (‘Doctors without Borders’) in both conflict and post-conflict areas. Living across the world allowed her to learn French and Spanish and basic Arabic whilst having the privilege of learning extensively about different cultures and contexts, as well as witnessing the impacts of conflict and upheaval, forced migration and incredible resilience from the people she met and lived alongside.

On returning to Wales, Hayley joined the Welsh third sector, setting up a project with TGP Cymru to support the Roma community through Brexit and the Covid crisis. She joins the WCIA after a number of years at Welsh Government’s working in health, on the Ukraine response and most recently in strategic equalities. 

With a mixture of internationalism, development work, third sector and civil society experience, Hayley has focused on a life filled with the desire to learn about the people and the histories behind the news headlines, filled with the curiosity of exchanging with people and working to bring people together across cultures, aligning her values to those of the WCIA. She is currently undertaking a part-time masters in International Relations where her dissertation focuses on barriers to peace.

In joining the WCIA, Hayley brings her experience of living across the world and home in Wales, combining her passion for bringing both of these together. Having taken stories and a love for Wales abroad, she now looks to work with communities and individuals to further increase international understanding and connectedness in Wales. With a focus on peace, the environment, cultural understanding and understanding the role Wales can play in the world, Hayley is delighted to be able to work with the inspirational team at the WCIA, its partners and the communities of Wales.

“If the right to life is the first of all human rights

Being the one on which all other rights depend

The right to refuse to kill must be the second.” 

Inscription on COs Memorial Stone, Wales’ National Garden of Peace

#OTD ‘On this Day’, 15 May has been recognised worldwide since 1982 as International Conscientious Objectors Day. Halfway point between most nations’ Remembrance Days in November – which traditionally focus on military loss – COs Day provides a dedicated opportunity to reflect and learn about those who have taken a conscious stand against war: objectors of conscience, founded in political or religious beliefs, human rights and protest against state policies that they fundamentally disagree with.

Objecting to War in 2024 – Recognising the Refuseniks of Russia and Israel

Historically associated in the UK primarily with World War One and (to a slightly lesser extent) World War Two, Conscience has become a far more present issue in the last couple of years as conflicts have erupted between Israel and Palestine, and Russia and Ukraine. In 2024, civilians who oppose state aggression are again being imprisoned for their beliefs, dependent for their freedom on public support through campaigns by civil society networks like Amnesty International and War Resisters International.

• Fellowship of Reconciliation feature on Israeli Objectors (RH)
• Amnesty International campaign for release of Israeli Conscientious Objectors; list of all recent Amnesty International Campaigns on Conscientious Objection
• Quakers campaign against persecution of objectors in Russia and Ukraine
• Peace Pledge Union, refuseniks call for end to persecution
• New Yorks Times feature – ‘They Refised to Fight for Russia‘ spotlights that Russia have convicted 1,121 objectors with proceedings currently against another 1,000.

This interactive map by Peace Pledge Union gives examples and case studies of Objectors from around the world.

Wales’ History of Objection from World War One to Today

The ‘Right to Protest’ enjoyed by most democratic societies today, from peace activism to foxhunting, owes much of its origins to the stand taken by objectors to the First World War.

A detailed history by Aled Eirug of ‘Welsh Opposition to the First World War’ – reviewed by WCIA’s team on publication in 2019 – offers an unprecedented insight into the motivations and stories of over 900 Conscientious Objectors from Wales, many of whom were imprisoned for their beliefs. In a mark of how far public opinion can swing, some of those ostracised by society during the patriotic ‘war fervour’ of WW1, were elected to parliament in the 1920s by the very same constituents by then recognising the urgency of peace after the loss of a generation. WCIA worked with Leeds University Research Fellow Cyril Pearce to make publicly accessible his ‘Pearce Register of Conscientious Objectors’, searchable through WCIA’s Peace Map.

WCIA created a touring exhibition over 2016-19, ‘Belief and Action’, which remains available for loan to community groups and venues. In Autumn 2018, Cyfarthfa Castle Museum ran a film project with young people from Merthyr Tydfil, exploring archives from Conscientious Objectors Tribunals over 1916-18 – where those who had applied for exemption from Military Service were ‘tried’. Their film ‘Without the Scales’ can be viewed below, or on Youtube.

Objection in Russia and Ukraine

Russia’s war in Ukraine over the last year has brought conscientious objection to a fore again, as many Russians have refused to attack their neighbours. Al Jazeera reported on widespread resistance to Russian conscription, whilst ‘The Conversation’ spotlighted Ukraine’s Human Rights contraventions from their ‘enforced conscription’ policy of banning men from leaving the country.

The International Fellowship of Reconciliation, IFOR amplify voices from COs and peace networks worldwide, including from Russia and Ukraine themselves. Elena Popova of the Russian movement of Conscientious Objectors in February 2023 said “since the start of this war people are very afraid in all sorts of ways; afraid they’ll all be grabbed and thrown into the meat-grinder. They feel their freedom is under immense pressure.”

War Resisters International have a ‘Ukraine’ homepage drawing together voices across it global network of pacifist groups, and have been monitoring and reporting on prosecutions against Ukrainian and Russian objectors.

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)

The tradition of protest against war has been continued in Wales, particularly through the CND movement. Over 2021-22, WCIA worked with CND Cymru to digitise and curate their campaigns and magazines from 1982 to today – explore CND’s history of activism in Wales.

Closing date: 13 May 2024

Swansea University, WCIA and the National Library of Wales are pleased to announce the availability of a fully funded collaborative doctoral studentship from October 2024 under the AHRC’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Scheme.   

Every year without fail since 1922, a Message of Peace and Goodwill has been broadcast to the world in the name of the children of Wales. Emerging in response to the violence of the First World War and in support of international peace, the message elicited responses from young people around the globe. The Goodwill Message linked Wales and the world, and was a key means through which peace activists sought to mobilize children in the cause of peace against the backdrop of international upheaval. Despite having no parallel in modern history, little has been written of the history of the Goodwill Message or the international responses to it.   

This innovative project stands at the intersection of Welsh and international history. Based at Swansea University and the National Library of Wales and working in conjunction with the Welsh Centre for International Affairs, it will utilise the NLW’s rich collections to research the history of the first fifty years of the Goodwill Message, analysing how visions of peace were articulated in the face of international turmoil and questioning how young people appear in the historical record. There will be opportunities to take part in the programme of CDP Cohort Development events and other activities organized for CDP students by the AHRC, as well as training and development provided by Swansea University and the CDP Welsh Culture and Heritage Consortium. 

Eligibility

Candidates must hold an undergraduate degree at 2:1 level and should ideally have, or expect to receive, a relevant master’s-level qualification and/or be able to demonstrate equivalent experience in a professional setting. Suitable disciplines are flexible, but might include History, Politics, International Relations, Welsh. A reading knowledge of Welsh is a requirement for this studentship. If you are eligible to apply for the scholarship but do not hold a UK degree, you can check our comparison entry requirements (see country specific qualifications). Please note that you may need to provide evidence of your English Language proficiency. 

We want to encourage the widest range of potential students to study for a CDP studentship and are committed to welcoming students from different backgrounds to apply. This scholarship is open to candidates of any nationality. 

Funding

This scholarship covers the full cost of tuition fees and an annual stipend at £19,237 and an enhanced stiped of £600 p.a. Additional research expenses will also be available.

For further information, please visit: https://www.swansea.ac.uk/postgraduate/scholarships/research/history-ahrc-phd-from-2024-rs596.php