Zambia and HWPL’s Joint Efforts to Turn Clean Cities into Peace Models

From Disease Prevention to Peacebuilding

“Instead of choosing war, we chose hygiene and health. Clean water and a clean city save lives — that is peace.”
These were the words of Victor Kagoli, Director of Health for Lusaka City, Zambia, who shared his city’s achievements in cooperation with the Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) during the 11th Anniversary of the HWPL 9·18 World Peace Summit held in Cheongju, Korea, on September 18, 2025.

Speaking later in an interview with the Belgian media outlet indegazette.be, Kagoli highlighted how the city’s public-health initiatives, in partnership with HWPL, transformed community safety and public trust — proving that “cleanliness is the first step toward peace.”

Preventing Disease as a Path to Peace

Lusaka, one of Africa’s fastest-growing cities, long struggled with cholera and other water-borne diseases caused by over-urbanization and overloaded sanitation systems. Kagoli called preventable diseases “a greater enemy than war” and redefined hygiene as “a defensive line that protects life.”

Through expanded drainage systems, improved waste management, public-toilet construction, and groundwater-protection projects, the city achieved a remarkable milestone: zero cholera deaths last year.
“We carried water filters instead of weapons,” Kagoli said. “When clean water flowed, conflict subsided — and peace followed.”

The “Broken Window Project” with HWPL

Behind this transformation stood cooperation with HWPL, an international peace NGO that established the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) with 15 international legal experts in 2016.

Together, Lusaka and HWPL launched the “Broken Window Project,” inspired by the 1982 theory of sociologists James Wilson and George Kelling — that disorder left unattended invites greater breakdowns, while community order restores safety and civility.

In practice, residents cleaned graffiti, repaired public spaces, and picked up litter. The project evolved into a philosophy of daily peace, integrating health, hygiene, and environment into the city’s governance. Lusaka is now recognized as a model city for “health-driven peace” in Africa.

Citizens Learn Peace Through Clean-Up Campaigns

Each month, Lusaka hosts “Keep Zambia Clean Day”, a civic movement supported by HWPL, UNICEF, the Red Cross, schools, and NGOs. The event not only removes waste but reshapes public consciousness.

Students participating in the Clean Environment Initiative learn recycling, water conservation, and community cooperation. “Through this campaign, children learn what peace means,” said one teacher.

Marketplaces once disordered and unsanitary have also been restructured with HWPL’s assistance. Legal vending zones and new sanitation facilities have restored pride and reduced crime. “Now our clean market is our pride,” one shopkeeper said.

Collaboration Turns Crisis into Cooperation

When cholera spread in 2018, Kagoli discovered that 70 percent of infections came from contaminated groundwater in informal settlements. The city immediately repaired sewers, drilled deeper wells, and conducted hygiene-education campaigns.

HWPL joined with the slogan “Clean Water Creates Peace,” while UNICEF provided purification supplies and the Red Cross dispatched emergency medical teams.
“We were different institutions, but we worked for the same goal,” Kagoli said. “Collaboration saved lives — and built peace.”

Communication and Trust Sustain Peace

Today, Lusaka spreads its peace-and-health message through social media and local broadcasting. Official Facebook and Instagram pages post daily hygiene and food-safety updates; radio programs repeat the slogan “Clean Streets, Healthy City, Peaceful Zambia.”

“Communication builds trust, and trust builds peace,” Kagoli explained. “Public-health success begins with winning citizens’ hearts.”

His administration also enforces strict food-safety policies, inspecting slaughterhouses and markets to eliminate antibiotic residues and prevent zoonotic diseases. During last year’s anthrax scare, the city stopped the spread between livestock and wildlife, minimizing damage.
“Safe food equals social peace,” Kagoli emphasized. “When people trust what’s on their tables, they trust one another.”

HWPL’s Vision: Institutionalizing Peace

HWPL continues to promote the DPCW, a 10-article, 38-clause framework aimed at preventing war, resolving conflict, and building sustainable peace.
An HWPL representative noted, “Lusaka’s health policy exemplifies the spirit of the DPCW — showing that peace is not merely the absence of war but a society where people are healthy and care for one another.”

Through its partnership with cities like Lusaka, HWPL demonstrates that peace begins in daily life — in a glass of clean water, a litter-free street, and a community that takes responsibility for one another.

Source: https://vo.la/jhuuBnP