what the world needs now...

If money makes the 21st century go 'round, the economic value of peace should resound much louder for the leaders of our world....

Last week, I had the incredible opportunity to attend a conference at the UN which presented the findings of the Global Peace Index in 2009 with Chris and Jim.  Being back at the UN brought back so many memories of the summer that I spent in NY, attending briefings with diplomats every morning, learning the in's and out's of the UN, visiting consulates and permanent missions every afternoon, talking about every aspect of international relations you can possibly imagine.

The session that we were lucky enough to attend was hosted by the Institute for Economics & Peace.  The Global Peace Index (GPI) is an attempt to measure the relative position of peacefulness of states and regions around the world, based on quantifiable data collected by peace institutes and think tanks and analyzed by the Economist Intelligence Unit, including a variety of measures such as the number of internal and external wars fought, political instability, military expenditure as a percentage of GDP, UN and non-UN deployments, number of displaced persons as a percentage of the population, and more.

It's an incredibly interesting and complex study, only 3 years into its existence, that has examined a huge spectrum of drivers of peace and violence (functioning of govt, freedom of the press, extent of regional integration, life expectancy, primary school enrollment ratio, women in parliament, importance of religion in national life, GDP per capita, hostility toward foreigners/private property, electoral process).  

The presenters of the study led a fascinating explanation of how the study was conducted, how various indicators were chosen to include, how certain countries landed where they did on the spectrum (New Zealand being the most peaceful country among the 144 analyzed, Iraq the least peaceful, Colombia toward the bottom at #130, and the US just below the median at #83), the shortcomings of the study, the economic implications of the findings, and much, much more.  A Q&A followed and the discussion was intriguing.  I'm excited to look more in-depth at the study.

While there were many shocking results and statistics presented to us, I will highlight just three here that describe the Financial Value of Peace:

- Only 4.4% of the global economy is estimated to be dependent on violence

- The annual economic impact of a cessation of violence has been estimated at $7.2 trillion USD

-In peace, $4.8 trillion USD of new business would be created annually

Just something to ponder...

**Defining Peace: The difficulties in defining the concept of peace may partly explain why there have been so few attempts to measure states of peace across nations.  The GPI has defined peace as the absence of violence, a definition most people will agree with, which also allows measurements.

What would you do if you weren't afraid?

Just when he thought he was getting ahead, he would get lost in the corridors.  It seemed his progress was two steps forward and one step backward.  It was a challenge, but he had to admit that being back in the Maze, hunting for Cheese, wasn't nearly as bad as he feared it might be.

As time went on he began to wonder if it was realistic for him to expect to find New Cheese.  He wondered if he had bitten off more than he could chew.  Then he laughed, realizing that he had nothing to chew on at that moment.

Whenever he started to get discouraged, he reminded himself that what he was doing as uncomfortable as it was at the moment, was in reality much better than staying in the Cheeseless situation.  He was taking control, rather than simply letting things happen to him.

- excerpt from "Who Moved My Cheese?"

Spotlight on Microfinance in Colombia

I came across an article on Twitter this morning about the arrival of the Grameen Bank to Colombia.  Within Latin America, the Grameen Bank is currently working in Guatemala, Mexico, and Costa on Microfinance initiatives and is now officially getting started in Colombia.  The Economist Intelligence Unit, supported by the InterAmerican Development Bank has identified Colombia as the most advanced country in terms of Microcredit Initiatives over the past year.  

Definitely check out the article - interesting stuff :)

National Running Day

Today, June 3, 2009 is officially the first annual National Running Day.  No, this isn't like Guacamole Day or any or those other obscure holidays that people make up.

June 3 has been designated by several major organizations in the running industry, including USA Track & Field, Running USA, the Boston Athletic Association, New York Road Runners, the Oregon Track Club, and more, as National Running Day.  The initiative is encouraging everyone, young and old, runner and non-runner, to lace up their shoes and go for a run today, as  way to promote a healthier, more active lifestyle.  The running industry is focusing especially on inspiring children and educating them on the benefits of running, as so many phys ed programs are included in schools' budget cuts.

We live in a country that the world often views through the lens of obesity and fast food chains...and with good reason.  The unhealthy lifestyles that so many Americans lead cost over $100 billion annually in health-care expenses and productivity loss due to obesity problems, so much so that inactivity and poor diet are on their way toward overtaking smoking as the #1 cause of preventable death in the US.  Sad.

It's pretty cool to see recreational and competitive runners using various social media channels today, especially Twitter and Facebook, to create a hype around National Running Day.  You don't need to run a marathon, or even a 5k race, but even small steps toward getting up from your desk or your couch to go for a run goes a long way...and you just might enjoy it ;)