On Saturday, September 21st we celebrate The International Day of Peace which was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly. Two decades later, in 2001, the General Assembly unanimously voted to designate the Day as a period of non-violence and cease-fire.
2024
Theme: Cultivating a Culture of Peace
This year marks the 25th anniversary
of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Declaration and Program
of Action on a Culture of Peace.
In that declaration, the United
Nations’ most inclusive body recognized that peace “not only is the absence of
conflict, but also requires a positive, dynamic participatory process where
dialogue is encouraged and conflicts are solved in a spirit of mutual
understanding and cooperation.”
In a world with rising geopolitical
tensions and protracted conflicts, there has never been a better time to
remember how the UN General Assembly came together in 1999 to lay out the
values needed for a culture of peace. These include: respect for life, human
rights and fundamental freedoms; the promotion of non-violence through
education, dialogue and cooperation; commitment to peaceful settlement of
conflicts; and adherence to freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance, solidarity,
cooperation, pluralism, cultural diversity, dialogue and understanding at all
levels of society and among nations.
In follow-up resolutions, the General
Assembly recognized further the importance of choosing negotiations over
confrontation and of working together and not against each other.
The Constitution of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) starts
with the notion that “wars begin in the minds of men so it is in the minds of
men that the defenses of peace must be constructed”. It is this notion that
framed the theme and logo of this year’s observance of the International Day of
Peace. The ideas of peace, the culture of peace, need to be cultivated in the
minds of children and communities through formal and informal education, across
countries and generations.
The International Day of Peace has
always been a time to lay down weapons and observe ceasefires. But it now must
also be a time for people to see each other’s humanity. Our survival as a
global community depends on that. (un.org)
No comments:
Post a Comment