May Peace Prevail on Earth!

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE
21 SEPTEMBER, ANNUALLY
Culture of Peace INITIATIVE

PEACE BEGINS WITH OURSELVES,
LIVING IN HARMONY WITH ONE ANOTHER
AND WITH THE EARTH

WHAT: The International Day of Peace (Peace Day) provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of Peace on a shared date. Peace Day serves annually to highlight the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World, 2001 to 2010. Established by a United Nations resolution in 1981, the International Day of Peace was first celebrated September 1982. [Please see article below: “Background of the Annual International Day of Peace”]

WHEN: Annually, 21 September — International Day of Peace (Peace Day)

WHERE: Wherever you are.

WHO: You and all who care about building Cultures of Peace for the children of this and future generations.

WHY: To mark our individual and collective progress toward building Cultures of Peace, and serve as a reminder of our permanent commitment to Peace, above all interests and differences of any kind.


Individuals and Nations, acting in concert, DO make a difference in the quality of our lives, our institutions, our environment and our planetary future. Through co-operation, we manifest the essential Spirit that unites us amidst our diverse ways.


HOW: Through various paths to personal and planetary Peace, such as:

• Join people throughout the world in one Minute of Silence of Peace this Day, and at NOON every day, in our common commitment to Peace.
• 
  Ring a bell, light a candle for Peace.
  
• Plan a local event--use schools, places of worship, libraries, parks, or municipal buildings to host events and to build partnerships within your community. Involve children!
  
• Incorporate silence, prayer, and meditation into your plans.
  
• Promote local media attention for the Day. Publish an editorial on Peace Day in a newspaper or magazine.
  
• Ask your government officials to proclaim each 21 September as the International Day of Peace Holiday.
  
• Or… whatever inspires you as a PeaceBuilder!
  
  

BACKGROUND OF THE ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE (21 SEPTEMBER)

The International Day of Peace, established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly, was first celebrated on the third Tuesday of September 1982. Beginning 2002, the UN General Assembly set 21 September as the now permanent date for the International Day of Peace.

In establishing the International Day of Peace, the United Nations General Assembly decided that it would be appropriate “to devote a specific time to concentrate the efforts of the United Nations and its Member States, as well as of the whole of mankind, to promoting the ideals of peace and to giving positive evidence of their commitment to peace in all viable ways… (The International Day of Peace) should be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples.”

The Assembly’s resolution declared that the International Day of Peace “will serve as a reminder to all peoples that our Organization, with all its limitations, is a living instrument in the service of peace and should serve all of us here within the Organization as a constantly pealing bell reminding us that our permanent commitment, above all interests or differences of any kind, is to peace. May this Peace Day indeed be a day of peace.”[Quotes excerpted from the United Nations General Assembly Resolution UN/A/RES/36/67]

[Quote from the UN Resolution UN/A/RES/55/282 which amends the date of the International Day of Peace to 21 September]:
“The Assembly, reaffirming the contribution that the observance and celebration of the International Day of Peace make in strengthening the ideals of peace and alleviating tensions and causes of conflict, (decided that) beginning with the fifty-seventh session, the Day should be observed on 21 September each year, with this date to be brought to the attention of all people for the celebration and observance of peace.”

*Please note that this entire article is taken directly from http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org/