From the Ground Up: Belgian Cities' Quest for Peace
- Quinissa Putrirezhy
- 20 hours ago
- 6 min read
Quinissa Putrirezhy | 14 October 2025
My shoulder ached from the heavy bamboo funeral bier we trudged around the streets of Ghent, Belgium. It was large enough, 200 by 75 centimeters, that four people needed to carry it together. Corpses, wrapped in white shrouds from head to toe, were paraded around the city. Of course, they were not real corpses, but rather shrouded bags of soil in human form. A gruesome reminder of the perils of war and its human cost. It was a morbid yet effective message to mark the International Day of Peace on September 21st this year.
A couple of weeks ago, I found myself wandering through a few Belgian cities to learn how local governments and civil society actors engage with nuclear weapons and genocide issues at the local level. I went to the city of Ypres, or Ieper in Dutch, located in the western part of Flanders, historically famous for its role in the First World War. The area has witnessed several major battles during World War I, including the first use of lethal poison gas in the war. The city today is filled with history on every corner, and the horror of war is palpable everywhere you turn.
Ypres, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, as the locals say, now has the title of City of Peace. With its legacy, the city today is not only mourning and commemorating the destruction of the past but has also taken an active role in contemporary peace efforts. Ypres has a warm relationship with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, acting as Belgium Lead City for Mayors for Peace, a network of local governments dedicated to achieving peace and abolishing nuclear weapons. Today, almost 400 out of 589 municipalities in Belgium are part of Mayors for Peace, a clear sign of how local governments are actively standing up for peace. On top of that, nearly 150 municipalities have endorsed the ICAN Cities Appeal, an initiative that involves cities and towns worldwide to urge their governments to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The Treaty came into force in early 2021, but Belgium, like other NATO member states, has chosen not to sign it.
On this year’s International Day of Peace, the Belgian Coalition Against Nuclear Weapons launched a campaign calling for “Belgium without nuclear weapons, in a world without nuclear weapons.” As part of the campaign, cities and municipalities were encouraged to raise the peace flag on official buildings to call for the removal of US nuclear weapons from Kleine Brogel— the Belgian air base believed to host the US nuclear bombs — and to urge the federal government to take a proactive role in global disarmament. The response was overwhelming, with more than 200 municipalities joining in, including Ypres, turning the campaign into a visible, nationwide show of solidarity for peace. “It's an encouraging sign in these times of military narratives and militarization,” said the peace activist I met from Vrede vzw, a Ghent-based peace organization.
The largest peace flag in the world
This year, Ypres once again unfurled its immense peace flag in the Market Square. Over 1,000 children became the peace ambassadors that day, helping to spread out the 60-by-30-metre flag as a powerful symbol of hope. The heartfelt atmosphere was very strong that morning when children’s voices joined together in songs and drums echoed through the square. I noticed how the participation of young children carrying a message of peace spoke louder than any words ever could. It was a stirring reminder, especially in this state of turmoil, that even the smallest of voices can inspire change.
In Ghent, a peace flag was also raised in front of the city council building. Interestingly, Ghent once held the record for the largest peace flag, 50 by 30 meters. One windy day, though, the flag had other plans. As people tried to unfurl it on a large office building, the wind caught it and tore it loose. It went fluttering away, eventually drifting down into the water. What could have been a small disaster or an ominous omen turned into a local story, told with a smile, as if even the wind wanted to carry the message of peace a little further.
Municipalities and engagement in foreign policy
Through this project, I have been looking at how local governments play a role in pushing for a world without nuclear weapons. From my conversations with a municipal officer and some peace activists, it became clear how much autonomy Belgian cities and towns have to involve themselves in disarmament efforts. Often, many of them have passed resolutions to join the ICAN Cities Appeal without much resistance, showing that peace is not just a national issue but something local communities can take ownership of.
This autonomy has a lot to do with how Belgium is structured. The country divides its decision-making power across three levels of government: the federal government, three language-based communities (Flemish, French, and German-speaking), and three regions (Flanders, Brussels-Capital, and Wallonia). This seems to have given local governments a stronger tradition of acting independently on issues that matter to their residents, even on matters with global implications, such as peace and disarmament, which, while international in scope, still affect local communities.
Of course, some disagreements exist. Some politicians argue that nuclear disarmament is not a local concern or falls outside municipal jurisdiction, while others simply prefer not to bring the issue to city councils at all. Still, however, there has never been any major backlash or legal challenge to these municipal decisions in Belgium to endorse the Cities Appeal, unlike in Gothenburg, where the city council’s decision in 2020 to join the ICAN Cities Appeal was overturned after a court ruled it was considered a matter of foreign policy.
Along with nuclear disarmament efforts, many city councils have also passed resolutions condemning what is happening in Gaza and to show solidarity with the Palestinian people. Beyond that, peace activists have taken legal action against the Belgian National Railway Company (NMBS) for awarding a multi-billion euro contract to the Spanish company CAF, which is involved in constructing infrastructure supporting Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
These examples show how local governments and communities do not just deal with what is happening down the street; they are also often directly involved in issues that ripple across the globe. In a world that is more connected than ever, the line between local and international is becoming even more blurry, and subnational governments and local communities seem eager to make a real difference on both fronts. Of course, it is fair to question whether such initiatives are largely symbolic and whether they can truly influence national policy.
From the wounds of war to the work of peace
In my own observations, it seems there is a sense of responsibility from the cities themselves regarding what is happening both within their boundaries and beyond. History reminds us that cities can become concentrated areas of great suffering, as seen in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, or Ypres, for example. Notably, these cities are also very involved in peace efforts. Perhaps the past horrors inflicted on Belgium during the world wars hint to their cities and towns’ willingness to take initiative in peace efforts, even when national authorities remain hesitant.
From small actions to big spectacles, whether carried out by children or mayors, my time in Belgium showed me how disconnected national policy can be from local motivations, and how connected local governments can be all over the world in their pursuit of a home free from conflict and war. The International Day of Peace has brought this connection into sharp focus, and I am moved by the large, small, symbolic, and concrete ways people from all walks of life take actions to put an end to, and to prevent, suffering around the world.
All things considered, one can’t help but wonder whether these local efforts can ever scale up to create real change at the national and global level. The truth is, no one knows for sure. Yet, speaking with those on the ground offers optimism. As one Ypres municipal officer put it, “We are obliged to do it because of our own past. And building on what happened to us, if we can avoid, or help avoid, things happening in the world to human beings, whatever they are (…) I think we just need to go on.”
Quinissa Putrirezhy is an Assistant Researcher in the project Localizing foreign policy? Subnational governments and civil society mobilization to recognize and prevent mass-atrocities.