Connecting Health and Peacebuilding in Theory and Practice

Peace and health have long been connected through significant social structures such as violent conflict and social/economic inequalities and oppression. Peace and health have also been connected through research and action as war and interpersonal violence are recognized as threats to public health and individual welfare. In 1986, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion laid out the dependence of health on the presence of “peace, shelter, education, food, income, a stable eco-system, sustainable resources, social justice, and equity.”

Scholars of peace building and community health (including “peace through health”) share an interest in the marriage between theoretical and applied aspects of the discipline, but we lack interdisciplinary thinking through collaborative projects and the development of transdisciplinary theoretical and methodological insights. The opportunity for interprofessional and intellectual exchange can benefit scholars and practitioners focused on each topic. The following outlines the similarities and differences in the fields and identifies where opportunities for symbiosis and support exist.