Today is Easter, the main holiday of the Christian calendar. Today is also, serendipitously, the day the international community celebrates the International Day of Conscience – a day set aside to highlight the vital role of conscience as a guiding force in achieving global peace, tolerance, and mutual respect, and aimed at “embedding peace into our daily lives”.
The UN has called on all countries to work together to build a more harmonious, fair and inclusive world. Here at The Uplift, we wholeheartedly echo this call.
Although armed conflict and bloodshed continue to affect many countries around the world, it is important to recognise that the world is in a much better place than it was just a few years ago and that the efforts to create a better world are slowly but surely bearing fruit. In this article, we will look at some of the ways in which the world is becoming a little more peaceful.
State of Affairs
Never before have there been so many armed conflicts across the globe. This was reported in June 2024 by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) – a world leading programme for monitoring armed conflict – that in 2022 there were 191 ongoing conflicts worldwide, a record since 1946, and that in 2023 there were 59 conflicts involving states, also the highest number ever recorded in that category. The situation has been marginally better over the past two years, but the world is still living with an unusually high level of organised violence.
Yet there is also genuine cause for cautious encouragement, as the nature of conflict is evolving. The number of deaths from conflict violence has nearly halved this decade: while in 2021–22 the UCDP counted 544,500 conflict-related fatalities, in 2023–24 the figure was 324,200. The data for 2025 are not yet available, but current trends suggest they will be lower again.
Reasons for Hope
Indeed, even though violent conflict and warmongering have dominated the news – from Myanmar and Sudan to Israel–Palestine and Russia–Ukraine – this last year has also seen significant steps towards conflict resolution, or at least towards reducing the human cost of war. While the numbers remain tragically high, this downward trend points to a gradual reduction in the intensity of violence in several regions.
Of course, these reductions in casualties, despite being intrinsically good, are hard to think of as ‘good news’ as such when every digit still corresponds to an invaluable human life that has been lost, with as many friends, family, and dashed hopes left behind. Yet they remind us that even in a complex global landscape, progress is possible, and that efforts toward peace can, over time, save lives.
Ceasefires and Peace Agreements
Yet this last year has also brought ceasefires and peace agreements in which armed conflict has largely or completely ceased, and which we can and should celebrate in earnest.
First, there is the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accord. After a heated crisis along the Cambodian–Thai border earlier this year – marked by armed clashes, landmine incidents, and heightened military deployments on both sides – a ceasefire was signed in July. With the assistance of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and US President Donald Trump, the crisis, which could easily have escalated into full-blown war, was durably settled in Kuala Lumpur in late October 2025. The UN Secretary-General welcomed this outcome as paving the way for sustainable peace in the region.
Second, in December 2025 the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Presidents Felix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame, signed a peace agreement in Washington, brokered by US President Donald Trump, aimed at ending a decades-long conflict in the region. The two countries had already signed an agreement in June, but that deal largely fell through as each side accused the other of violating its terms. Both sides have now vowed to uphold the new peace deal. The agreement seeks to establish a permanent ceasefire, disarm rebel groups, and improve stability and economic prosperity. It will, however, be incumbent on both governments to bring these changes about.
Finally, there is the Gaza war ceasefire. Although the January 2025 ceasefire collapsed, leading to renewed hostilities between March and October, the so-called Trump peace plan – a framework to end the war negotiated by Trump with Netanyahu and several regional leaders, including Qatar, Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia – entered into effect on 10 October 2025. On January 26 this year, Hamas returned the body of the last hostage, and since then both Israel and Hamas have repeatedly reaffirmed their commitment to ending the conflict. Since January, the Board of Peace, founded by the US and ratified by the UN, has been supervising the implementation of the second phase of the peace plan. While this is not yet peace in the fullest sense, with numerous recorded minor violations of the ceasefire since last autumn, it is clear that the Trump peace plan has already saved – and will continue to save – many lives.
Lessons Learned
Ultimately, peace in Gaza, as in Congo, along the Cambodian–Thai border, or anywhere where conflict is ongoing, will depend on the goodwill of local populations, national governments, and regional partners. Peace is never easy. Both parties must first let go of their opposition and desire peace; only then can they embark on a collaborative journey towards a new beginning. Or in the words of UNESCO’s 1989 International Congress on Peace: peace starts in the minds – and, we would add, the hearts – of men.
Therefore, although the global picture remains a difficult one, with most countries around the globe still affected by armed conflict of one kind or another, the last year has nonetheless been a good one for world peace. If nothing else, it has shown us that war can be avoided, that ceremonial peace agreements can serve as important milestones towards ending conflict, and that fragile ceasefires, even if imperfect, can still save countless lives.
As the UN states, world peace starts with peace in our daily lives.
So, from all of us at The Uplift, we wish you a very happy Easter
and International Day of Conscience!
May Peace be with you!
