About Peace Day – Highlights from Prior Years

International Day of Peace has been observed since 1983. Over the years, it has grown to include hundreds of thousands of people, showing their commitment to peace in diverse and creative ways. Peace Day events are organized by individuals and organizations all over the world. Peace Day celebrations also include annual observations at the UN headquarters, as well as many UN operations and offices around the world.

2001

2001 was a transformational year for International Day of Peace. On September 7, 2001, United Nations adopted the resolution that established September 21 as the annual date of observance. Four days later, on September 11, peace was dealt a horrific blow when terrorist attacks occurred in New York City, Washington DC and Pennsylvania. The need for a day of peace seemed greater than ever.

Peace Day Highlight: The Women's Health & Economic Development Association of Nigeria (WHEDA) organized a celebration with children talking on the radio about peace and what it stands for. The children called on the government to do something about child abuse and child labor; to make education free for children at all levels and medical services free for every family; to desist from warring and to allow "Peace to prevail on our Mother Earth". One minute of silence was observed.

2002

In 2002, a group of people and NGO's representing a wide variety of religious and spiritual traditions, committed themselves to the task of working with other like-minded individuals and groups for an International Day of Peace Vigil, "to encourage the observation of a worldwide 24-hour vigil for peace and non-violence on 21st September of each year in every house of worship and place of spiritual practice, by all religious and spiritually based groups and individuals and by all men, women and children who seek peace in the world." This 24-hour vigil is meant to demonstrate the power of prayer and other spiritual observations in promoting peace and preventing violent conflict. (For more information: www.idpvigil.com)

Peace Day Highlight: A workshop was held at the 55th Annual DPI/NGO Conference: Building a Culture of Peace from the Ground Up, sponsored by the World Peace Prayer Society, Pathways To Peace, The Temple of Understanding, and the United Religions Initiative at the UN. A memorial Peace Pole was donated to Mayor Bloomberg and the City of New York, with the purpose of shifting the energy of September 11th from fear and grief to hope and peace.

2003

The 21st observation of the International Day of Peace at the UN began with the Secretary-General ringing the Peace Bell while 191 youth held the flags of all the member states. The SG dedicated this International Day of Peace to the UN colleagues who had been killed in the terrorist bombing at the UN in Iraq one month before.

Peace Day Highlight: In conjunction with The International Festival of Advertising in Rio de Janeiro, Conscius-Programa de Gestao da Consciencia offered a prize to the best media piece on the theme of peace. The prize was named "Grande Premio da Paz – Sergio Vieira de Mello" in homage to the beloved UN delegate who was tragically killed in Baghdad.

2004

2004 marked the 50th anniversary of the UN Peace Bell, which the Secretary-General rings every year on International Day of Peace. The bell was cast in 1954, from coins collected by children from 60 countries, and presented to the UN by the UN Association of Japan. For half a century since then, the bell has sent a powerful message around the world about humankind's aspiration for peace. In his speech, Secretary-General Kofi Annan emphasized the need to do better in forging a true global partnership for development, to fight hunger, ignorance, poverty and disease, and to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

Peace Day Highlight: In India, the famous Peacebuilder Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, or Amma, inspired hundreds of thousands of her devotees and admirers to take part in the one-minute silent prayer for peace on September 21. She did this with a simple message: "No matter where you are on that day at 12, noon, - whether you are at home, in the office, the market, the shopping centre – irrespective of your faith and religion, stop what you're doing, close your eyes and pray for one minute for world peace."  Amma's plea for the world's participation spread like wildfire – through email, word of mouth and newspapers. In the end, all of Amma's educational institutions, hospitals and branch ashrams participated, as well as her devotees from virtually every country in the world. Professors stopped classes, Air India announced the designated time on many of its flights, the city of Tampere, Finland, allowed for the organization of the prayer in the city square.  (For more information: www.amritapuri.org)

2005

The 2005 International Day of Peace followed on the heels of a special summit of world leaders at the UN headquarters. During this high-level meeting, heads of state and government discussed strategies linking development, security, human rights and peace into a cohesive framework. It was the largest gathering of world leaders in history. In his speech, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: "(…) And let us pledge to do our utmost to carry out the important decisions on peace taken by last week's 2005 World Summit."

Peace Day Highlight: In New Zealand, an International Day of Peace Vigil was coordinated by Intuition in Service and United Nations Days & Years Meditation Initiative. The 24 hours were divided into 15-minute periods, and individuals and groups committed to spend specific periods in prayer or meditation for world peace. Participants began precisely on the quarter hour by using the Great Invocation, "May Peace Prevail On Earth", or another invocation oriented toward world peace. Then they linked in thought with everyone in the world who is participating in an IDP Vigil. All were invited to reflect on the meaning of a "culture of peace."

2006

On September 11, 1906, Mohandas K Gandhi launched the modern non-violent movement by pledging to use non-violence and civil disobedience in his quest for justice. To honor this 100th anniversary, New Yorkers for a Department of Peace and the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence sponsored 100 Years of Non-Violence, a campaign that invited citizens around the world to attend and organize screenings of the movie Gandhi on September 11, 2006.

Peace Day Highlight: Earthdance – The Global Festival for Peace celebrated its tenth anniversary as the world's largest simultaneous dance music event, by announcing the "Peace Wave".  A Peace Wave card is an inspiring "greeting card" that is passed along from person to person with the intention to spread beauty, meaning and inspiration that can be followed throughout the world as an example of our interconnection. (The Earthdance mission is to promote peace by joining participants worldwide in a synchronized Prayer For Peace and to support humanitarian causes through the global language of music and dance. For more information: www.earthdance.org)

2007

The United Nations is involved in seeking resolution to the world's most intractable conflicts and in supporting peace once it has been achieved, through peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding. In 2007, the UN Security Council deployed a record number of peacekeepers to 19 peace operations around the world. More than 100,000 blue berets and civilian staff are serving in the field to build and keep peace. In his speech on September 21, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: "On this International Day, let us promise to make peace not just a priority, but a passion. Let us do more, wherever we are in whatever way we can, to make every day a day of peace."

Peace Day Highlight: A group of Iraqi youth in Baghdad, assisted by many local NGO's, city council members and Almada Media Institution, celebrated by remembering the fallen victims of terrorist attacks in Baghdad, Karada and Karkuk, and sending a call for peace, humanity, reconstruction and brotherhood. They presented a play honoring life against death and shared the families' stories and memories of loved ones. About 200 were in attendance.

For more reports about past Peace Day events, please visit the following sites:

What is Peace Day?

Participate! Find/Organize an Event

Peacebuilding 101

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