By Lysa Allman-Baldwin

In a bold move toward the prevention of violence and promotion of peace, the Costa Rican government recently passed a new law establishing a Ministry of Justice and Peace.

The new Ministry of Justice and Peace, the first of its kind in Latin America, will significantly support as well as enhance the focus and responsibilities of the country's previous justice ministry, which primarily dealt with criminal behavior research and prison system oversight.

Promoting conflict resolution, coordination and advancement of national programs for the promotion of peace, violence prevention and better joint organizational and governmental relationships are among other responsibilities of the ministry.

Leading the Charge for World Peace
Unity minister Rev. Rita Marie Johnson was instrumental in the passage of this new law.

Johnson, who was ordained at Unity Village, is the creator of the practice BePeace, a combination of two skills essential for achieving nonviolence as a way of life: HeartMath®, for “feeling peace” and Nonviolent Communication, for ”speaking peace.”

HeartMath, Johnson explains, is a way to generate a positive feeling from the heart and draw the brain into a state of coherence with it, in order to access the heart's intelligence. Nonviolent Communication (NVC) allows communication with respect and compassion and building strategies to meet individual needs. This is accomplished through the discovery of one's feelings and needs and the understanding of their influence on individual actions.

“BePeace grew out of my own desire to be an authentic peacemaker,” Johnson says. “I found it was easy to talk about peace, but I lacked clarity about the ‘how-to' of peaceful living. I was also motivated by the lack of peace with which I had handled some issues in my own life. So I researched social and emotional learning methodology for over 10 years looking for the best methods for ‘feeling peace' and ‘speaking peace.'”

In 1997, Johnson founded and is currently director of The Rasur Foundation, created to “inspire, educate and facilitate a culture of peace in Costa Rica.”

Using the BePeace model, Johnson also founded the Academy for Peace of Costa Rica. The Academy, which is the primary project of the Rasur Foundation, operates under a mission to empower every child to pass peace skills to the next generation.

Costa Rica and the Peace Process
What makes Costa Rica unique in its approach to curbing the escalating violence within the country's borders is that it is the only country in the world doing so without armed forces (the government abolished the military in 1948).

As such, its methods of engendering and supporting a culture of peace have encompassed the joint efforts of numerous grassroots movements, public and private organizations and governmental agencies.

This is where Johnson and the Rasur Foundation come into play.

In 2006 Johnson initiated the proposal for the new Ministry for Peace and Justice. Wholeheartedly embraced by the Costa Rican government under the leadership of President Óscar Arias Sάnchez, recipient of the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize, it became law in August of 2009.

Given that the mission and goals of Johnson's Academy for Peace are in alignment with those of the new ministry and Costa Rica's National System for Promotion of Peace and Citizen Coexistence, the organization will play a significant role in collaborating with and supporting educational efforts to teach and foster peace throughout the country.

According to the Academy for Peace Web site, Sάnchez said, “We are envisioning the Academy for Peace as a lasting force in Costa Rican culture and as an example to other countries of the possibilities for human progress.”

Global Influence
In the fall of 2009, Costa Rica hosted the 2009 Global Alliance Summit for Ministries and Departments of Peace under the theme “Building Bridges of Peace.”

Facilitated by the Rasur Foundation, the summit brought together government officials, civil society organizations and concerned citizens from 35 countries desiring to establish governmental structures that support a culture of peace.

“The idea is to build bridges between civil society and government to work together to develop national peace infrastructure and to develop models from the inside out, bottom up, top down and all around,” Johnson says.

Summit activities also encompassed an optional 40-hour BePeace course, as well as a unique five-day tour of tropical Costa Rica, both led by the Academy for Peace. Unity minister and certified BePeace trainer Kelly Isola facilitated educational sessions at the Summit. Participants had an opportunity to learn how to create a peace infrastructure model to take back to their respective countries.

Of Costa Rica's global influence and leading role in fostering a culture of peace Johnson said, “A country like this that lives from an identity with peace does not attract enemies … In its defenselessness is its strength.”

 

For more information about the Rasur Foundation and the Academy for Peace, visit http://rasurfoundation.org.

Listen to Rev. Kelly Isola's Unity.FM program, A World That Works every Monday at 1 p.m. (ET) or download podcasts of the program.  

Hear Isola interview guest Rita Marie Johnson.  

Learn about Isola's experiences teaching the BePeace course in Costa Rica.