The tour is a “global Initiative created with the intent to arise social change by uniting people through the universal language of music.” See Music4Peace Lounge flyer.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Juliette Harris

310-577-1122

THE GANDHI LEGACY IS ALIVE AND PERPETUATING WITH RUSSELL SIMMONS, DR. BEN CHAVIS, SMI/SWAGGMEDIA.COM AND MUSIC 4 PEACE AS THEY ANNOUNCE ALIGNMENT WITH SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT FOR THE WORLD CUP, AND TOURING INDIA AND BRAZIL

Music4Peace Tour is Comprised of Four Nonprofits; Music 4 Peace, Hip Hop Summit/Action Network, Gandhi Tour & Tribes of the World

(Los Angeles, CA) Wednesday, January 27, 2010 – “The way to create change is to empower,” stated civil rights leader Dr. Ben Chavis, at the launch of the Music 4 Peace Initiative and Tour (www.music4peacetour.com <http://www.music4peacetour.com> <http://www.music4peacetour.com/> ) which held a press conference at the Miners Building on Main Street at the Sundance Film Festival. The purpose of the press conference was to introduce the Music 4 Peace Initiative and Tour, introduce its collaborative partners, the goals of the Tour and the first tour stops in 2010.

The Music 4 Peace Initiative and Tour is a collaborative initiative that aims to educate, empower, and improve the world beginning with the universal language of music. The collaborating charities include: Hip Hop Summit/Action Network, Tribes of the Worlds, Music4Peace Foundation and The Gandhi Tour. These non profits have banded together to promote a global message of peace and harmony utilizing music, artists and global resources to inspire humans across the globe to mobilize for change. Music and humanitarian charities across the globe will be 2010 campaign recipients.

Russell Simmons commented, “Hip-Hop music artists are leaders in the youth movement.  We’re excited about the potential these diverse organizations have in coming together to harness music as a transformative and unifying power to promote peace throughout the world.”

Music 4 Peace has adopted the mantra of “Peace, Water and Wisdom” and strive to eradicate world hunger and violence while providing clean water and teaching empowerment.

The first events announced for the 2010 tour include:

A Hip Hop Summit in South Africa with the World Cup and FIFA in June

A Hip Hop Summit in India in November

Gandhi Tour International day of peace in Brazil

SMI/SwaggMedia has partnered with The Music 4 Peace Tour and Initiative to co-produce the tour and as a media partner presenting the messages to the world while connecting viewers and inspiring them to donate or contribute to those in need.  Professional basketball player David West, co- founder of SwaggMedia also sent a video message supporting his participation with the World 4 Peace Tour.

Press conference participants included: Dr. Arun Gandhi, (via telephone due to a health issue) Entrepreneur, social activist, and UN Goodwill Ambassador Russell Simmons, legendary civil rights leader Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Jr., SMI/SwaggMedia CEO Craig Nobles, Music 4 Peace co founder and founder of The Gandhi Tour, Tobias Huber, Tribes of The World founder Wayne Warwick Williams, Goodwill Ambassador to the United States Baroness Kimberly Moore, and a video message from The Dalai Lama. Internationally celebrated artist LEBO joined the Music 4 Peace Conference to share his blend of visual storytelling and global consciousness through his live performance painting. He painted an original painting entitled “Peace 4 Play” and donated it to the tour to raise awareness and funds.

Music4Peace also announced the launch of the Film 4 Peace Contest to raise funds for the Millennium Development Goals, The Hip Hop Summit and aid to Haiti. The winning filmmaker will be awarded a trip for two to South Africa in June 2010 to attend The Music 4 Peace Tour “Hip-Hop Summit South Africa’s” inaugural concert event and two tickets to the United State’s opening match against England at the World Cup! Visit www.music4peacetour.com <http://www.music4peacetour.com> <http://www.music4peacetour.com> for more details.

-End-

For photography, product samples and talent information please contact “it” girl public relations on (310) 577 1122 Juliette Harris: Juliette@itgirlpublicrelations.com or Annie@itgirlpublicrelations.com.

Video:  Message from Jean Shinoda Bolen on 5th World Conference on Women

We, the undersigned, call on the UN, 192 member-states & affiliated NGOs to support a 5th World Conference on Women. Sign the Petition to support this Conference!

The 4th conference was held in Beijing in 1995, drew over 40,000 participants, and led to the Beijing Platform for Action, which if implemented would have created a world where women’s rights and human rights were one in the same. The empowerment of women changes priorities: safety for women and children, nutrition, health and education, and concern for the environment are women’s concerns.

With the creation of a UN women’s super agency equivalent to UNICEF for children, authorized by the UN General Assembly in September 2009, it is possible that this new entity could organize a 5th world conference on women in 2015 (instead of a Beijing +20 review). The effect could be synergistic in advancing a women’s agenda. Because this would not be an official UN conference of governments — but rather a UN -sponsored conference of non-governmental organizations in civil society — it could not re-open the many excellent official documents already produced by the UN, but would focus on turning them into reality in the lives of women and girls globally.

The 21st century is an era of communication: networking via emails, cellphones and websites, information through youtube and live-stream coverage, simultaneous regional conferences via satellite broadcasting could reach people all over the world. The event would raise consciousness about unconscionable conditions as well as solutions that could focus on the work of NGOs. It would encourage the formation of women’s circles and mobilize a new wave of women’s movement activism. It would inform the world that the Beijing Platform for Action and UN Security Council Resolutions #1325 and its amendments on Women, Peace, & Security–if implemented, would bring about gender equality, end violence toward women and lead to peaceful solutions to conflicts.

A UN 5th women’s conference and the events preceding and following it would create a critical mass, a tipping point of aware and involved women and men.

Information on website: www.5wcw.org.
and in Urgent Message From Mother: Gather the Women, Save the World. www.jeanbolen.com

Signatories: (http://www.5wcw.org/who.html)
Isabel Allende, author, activist
Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD, author Urgent Message From Mother, Jungian analyst,
Marilyn Fowler, founder US Women-Connect, Women’s Intercultural Network
Carol Hansen Grey, author, activist
Dr. Patricia Licuanan, President Miriam College, Philippines, Chair of prepatory meetings for Beijing conference
Susan Collin Marks, Search for Common Ground, Leadership Wisdom Initiative.
Patricia Smith Melton, founder PeaceXPeace
Joyce Oneko, founder Mama na Dada-Africa
Elly Pradervand, founder Women’s World Summit Foundation, Geneva
Zainab Salbi, president Women for Women International
Leticia Shahani, Secretary-General 3rd UN World Conference on Women (Nairobi)
Gloria Steinem, founder Ms. Magazine, author, activist
Alice Walker, author, activist
Rosemary Williams, founder Women’s Perspective
Lea Wyler, co-founder ROKPA International

Your response will assist our efforts in producing a comprehensive 2009 Peace Day report which will be presented to the UN and published online.  We invite your participation.

Thank you Peacebuilders!

May Peace Prevail On Earth!

Dear Culture of Peace Initiative Participants (CPI),

During this holiday season, every one of us has the opportunity to be a Peacebuilder!  To engage in the tangible work of making Peace a practical reality, both locally and globally, you are invited to participate as a Peacebuilder by offering your financial support.  Your continued support for Pathways To Peace is making an impact during this challenging economic climate.  Here is how your financial support assisted Peacebuilders in 2009:

For this 27th annual International Day of Peace, the Internet played an increasingly key role in our outreach efforts.  This year, the Culture of Peace Initiative (CPI)* quickly amassed more than 16,000 Facebook followers on the International Day of Peace page at facebook.com/peaceday.  In September, about a 100,000 people visited the International Day of Peace website, where we put together a comprehensive page of Peace Day highlights.  A major highlight was the first 24 hour Peace Day Broadcast, which was produced by the Unity Foundation.  Your support will help us better utilize Facebook, online networks and media to bring to light unseen Peacebuilders!

“Celebration Earth Peace Gathering”, a special CPI 2009 program led by Paul Coleman, a CPI Ambassador, brought together thousands in Okinawa, Japan for a historic series of Peace festivals and marches.  Their inspiring, colorful pictures and videos highlight Okinawa’s creative culture and efforts to restore Okinawa to its long held culture of Peace.  As an intergenerational and intercultural program, “Celebration Earth” symbolizes the best of what CPI has to offer!  Your support allows us to share with you how to plan an inspiring “Celebration Earth Peace Gathering” in your community!

A Global Events Calendar has been created to identify the countless events dedicated to promoting Peace. This master calendar invites all to join in these growing celebrations and be in community with others of like-mind. It is a way for all to share inspiration, photos, videos, stories, planned Peace activities.  This year, there were over 600 events shared for Peace Day!  This calendar helps us increase our commitment, by reminding us that we are not alone and, together, we are making a difference.  Together, we also continue to build a Peace community of all cultures, nations and languages. Your support and participation is essential to improving the calendar so that it is accessible to more of our international community of Peacebuilders!

Peace Day has grown from a small gathering of 400 in 1981 in San Francisco, to more than 10,000 events world-wide!  This year, as the result of Pathways To Peace Contributing Writer and Calendar Program Director Melvin Weiner, hundreds of millions of calendars marked the International Day of Peace on September 21!

Culture of Peace Initiative Outreach Coordinator Michael Kwan, a recent university graduate, shares his thoughts on the future:  “I’m excited about the prospects for Peace in our world because of what the Internet provides us.  In a minute I can personally connect with Peacebuilders around the world.  We have an increasingly powerful tool that can instantly focus and amplify our collective work to activate a vibrant, collaborative and engaging culture of Peace.  This year was particularly inspiring because of all the Peace stories and hundreds of comments shared through Facebook and Twitter.  I expect to help inspire more people to act by sharing more detailed examples of Peacebuilding efforts we’ve collected - as well as ongoing Peace practices, Peace Education programs, campaigns and projects to connect to!”

Onwards towards an inter-connected, collaborative and mutually supportive culture of Peace!  We wish you a joyful and Peaceful holiday season with your friends, family and community.

You are a pathway to Peace.

-The Pathways To Peace Team

Please join with us in making Peace a reality by making your generous contribution today!

Checks may be mailed to:

Pathways To Peace
P.O Box 1057
Larkspur, CA 94977 USA

*The Culture of Peace Initiative (CPI) is a co-operative Peacebuilding Initiative to unite the strengths of existing organizations, projects and peoples in building a Culture of Peace for future generations.  CPI is a vehicle for bringing to light the previously unseen and unheard Peacebuilders working towards Peace along divers pathways. Through The Culture of Peace Initiative (CPI), Pathways To Peace(International Secretariat, Culture of Peace Initiative) provides an opportunity for individuals, groups and organizations to link with others who are engaging as Peacebuilders through out the year. Peace Day is every day.

[The broadcast can be viewed on PeaceDay2009.org]

This broadcast highlights the vitally important work of the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies, as well as organizations and individuals around the world dedicated to creating a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. The broadcast includes Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for the International Day of Peace; as well as interviews with present and former high level UN officials and other world leaders. The broadcast also includes videos of the “UN in Action” and Peace Day events around the planet. See the press release.

Do you want to share this broadcast? You can embed this broadcast on to your website, blog, myspace, etc. for FREE!  To add the broadcast to your Facebook profile, click here to download the Livestream application!

There were performances by a choir from Japan and musicians from the Vermont Peace Academy; films from Yemen and Albania; and large screen video-conferencing with students in Iraq, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Sudan.  This was followed by a presentation of Pledges for Peace, the Minute of Silence, the Ringing of the Peace Bell, and a Flags of the World Ceremony by the World Peace Prayer Society!

Following is the text of remarks made by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the student observance of the International Day of Peace, today, in New York:

Hello, everyone!

It’s a great pleasure to welcome you to the United Nations today and thank you for taking part from all over the United States.

As you know, I just rang the Peace Bell.  I think you saw a broadcast of my remarks.  These can be summarized in three words:  We Must Disarm.

I shared some of the messages that we received on Twitter from people just like you –- maybe even some people right in this room.

I also tweeted some of my own reasons why We Must Disarm:

• because the world is overarmed and peace is underfunded;
• because disarmament contributes to development; and
• because nukes threaten humankind.  Let’s get rid of them 4 good.

I sent these messages on Twitter because I want to involve the whole world in the campaign to eliminate weapons of mass destruction.  Not just political leaders but citizens everywhere -– including students like you.  You are the future leaders and owners of this planet Earth.

Seeing you makes me think of my own days as a student.  We didn’t have modern technology, such as the Internet or compact phones that could take pictures and videos and download music.  Such things seemed like science fiction.  Today they are sometimes taken for granted.

In the same way, a nuclear-weapon-free world may seem like a far-off dream, but it is not.

Next week, President [Barack] Obama of the United States will chair a Security Council summit on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.  Next year, the parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) will hold an important Review Conference in the United Nations.  The prospects for reducing nuclear arsenals are better than they have been for years, though the road ahead will not be easy.

It may be difficult for you to imagine me growing up in a world with no Internet.  I hope that someday, your children will have trouble imagining what it was like to live in a world that could be annihilated at any moment by nuclear weapons.

On this International Day of Peace, let’s pledge to keep pushing, together, for a nuclear-weapon-free world.  And I count on your commitment and your leadership as future leaders of this world.

Free Download of the book as a pdf file to read or print -

By gaining confidence in our innate peace, we make the greatest contribution that anyone can ever make in life. With each person’s contribution of their own inner peace, we the people of the world, create world peace. By the power of short moments of peace, repeated many times, our peaceful nature becomes obvious at all times.

The grassroots movement of Great Freedom offers the practical know-how to bring inner peace about, and provides a free, worldwide, 24/7 support system, including trained teachers, written teachings that elicit and evoke our peaceful nature and a global community committed to inner and world peace. Please visit the website for information and simple, unerring instruction: http://www.greatfreedom.org/peacezone.html

MEDIA ALERT

For information contact:  Bill McCarthy (310) 450-5592

Los Angeles Aug. 18th

HISTORIC “PEACE DAY” 24-HOUR INTERNET BROADCAST

TO UNITE THE WORLD COMMUNITY

WHAT:  “PEACE DAY” a 24-Hour World Peace Celebration and Global Internet Broadcast Commemorating the 27^th Annual United Nations’ International Day of Peace

WHEN: Monday, September 21^st, 2009

WHERE: See Preview at: www.CultureOfPeace.org

HOW: Go online anywhere in the world.

WHO: PEACE DAY is produced by the Unity Foundation www.UnityFoundation.org in association with our Peacebuilding Partner, Pathways To Peace www.PathwaysToPeace.org

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP: Announce this historic event to your audiences.

The Co-Chairs for this special international event are Dr. Robert Muller, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chancellor Emeritus of the University For Peace in Costa Rica.  As well as Avon Mattison, Founder and President of Pathways To Peace and Co-Coordinator of the Culture of Peace Initiative (CPI) Annual Report to the UN Secretary-General which documents the PEACE DAY events around the world since 1984.

The 24-Hour Internet Broadcast of PEACE DAY will highlight the vitally important work of the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies and the organization’s public administration. The Broadcast will feature Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Message for the UN International Day of Peace; as well as interviews with present and former high level UN officials including Sergio Duarte, UN Under Secretary-General for Disarmament, Salil Shetty, Director of the Millennium Campaign, and Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Ireland. There will also be a video presentation on the United Nations Public Service Awards and a series of the UN Department of Public Information’s “UN in Action” video presentations on the UN’s important work around the world.

Celebrity peace activists such as George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Jude Law, Christie Brinkley, Michael Douglas, Charlize Theron, Annie Lennox, Sir Paul McCartney, Dr. Jane Goodall and many more will be featured in these broadcasts.

PEACE DAY will also feature the work of other organizations and individuals around the world dedicated to creating a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. To promote the positive, innovative and solution oriented work of these organizations and individuals for the purpose of inspiring and empowering the world’s peoples to take concerted action to create a better world for present and future generations. Our goal is to educate people globally about the most crucial issues facing humanity; to inspire them to collective action and solve these international problems.

The Unity Foundation at www.UnityFoundation.org (a non-profit 501(c)3 organization based in San Francisco) has been established for 33 years and works in support of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals. To view recent episodes of our award-winning “Positive Spin” news and public affairs television program of 10 years that presents positive, innovative and solution oriented news from around the world, go to www.Positive-Spin.tv.

Your support of PEACE DAY will promote the ongoing efforts of thousands of organizations around the world working for Peace through disarmament, human rights, development and environmental sustainability.

For more information please contact the Unity Foundation at (310) 450-5592, or by email:

Bill McCarthy, Executive Producer Email: Bill.McCarthy@UnityFoundation.org

Charles Strong, Producer Email:Charles.Strong@UnityFoundation.org

Laurien Towers, Producer – Email: gtotalvision@ca.rr.com

Dear Culture of Peace Initiative Participants (CPI),

As worldwide attention is building for the global observance of the International Day of Peace on or near September 21, we present ideas for promoting this occasion as well as some inspirational, and creative, stories of events and observances occuring around the world.

Ideas to Promote Peace Day

POST YOUR EVENTS:  Thus, we begin with a reminder to post your events on our website www.cultureofpeace.org or www.internationaldayofpeace.org.  Note:  events posted on either site will automatically show up on both websites.  This will call attention to your observances and also serve to focus the world on the scope of this year’s observances all over the world.  There are events from all over the planet listed already.

PRESS RELEASES:  The Culture of Peace Initiative has sent press releases to writers, editors and program directors for hundreds of newspapers, weekly magazines, television and radio news shows, wire services, and internet newsletters and blogs.  We encourage to get the word out to your media list, too.

FACEBOOK:  Please join thousands of others at our Facebook community at www.facebook.com/peaceday There you can see some of the latest events happening all over the world. You can also post your own stories and links to websites, YouTubes, etc.

FACEBOOK IDEA:  Consider posting the following words (or some variation) on your Facebook page on, or before, the International Day of Peace - and asking others in your network to also do this:  “We hope that people, communities and nations everywhere will participate in this year’s observance of the International Day of Peace on September 21st.  If you agree, please post this as your status today.”

TWITTER:  To let more of the world know your thoughts or plans for Peace Day and to share links and YouTubes on Twitter, please tweet about your plans for Peace Day and add #peaceday in your updates.   If enough of us do this on September 21, #peaceday will appear on Twitter as a “trending topic” and will be followed by thousands.  Together, we have an opportunity to inform millions of people!

YOUTUBE:  Please send YouTube videos about peace to your contacts, as a way of helping this occasion ‘go viral’ all over the internet.

NAMING PROJECT:  Who do you know, who can draw attention to the International Day of Peace?  By getting public figures to mention the International Day of Peace, the media will pay more and more attention to it, and hopefully to your events and activities.  The Culture of Peace has sent information to people such as Barack Obama, Al Gore, Richard Branson, Kofi Annan, Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter, Muhammad Yunus, Ela Bhatt, Gro Brundtland, Fernando Cardoso, Mary Robinson, Nelson Mandela and Ted Turner.  We asked them to publicly remind people of this occasion and of the various UN requests regarding it; we are hopeful that some of these people will bring attention to this occasion.

Preview:  Some of the many 2009 Peace Day Events and Projects!

CUBA:  Pop singer Juanes (who swept the Latin Grammys last year) is having a Peace Without Borders concert in Havana, Cuba on Sept. 20.  The concert is predicted to draw over 600,000 people to the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana, will feature Juanes, plus Spanish singer Miguel Bosé, Olga Tañon of Puerto Rico, and Cuban acts Silvio Rodríguez and Los Van Van.  It is already drawing international media attention.  www.juanes.net

FRANCE:  Peace One Day is having their 10th Anniversay Concert in Le Grand Rex in Paris, France on Sept. 19.  Featured Artists include Lenny Kravitz, Keziah Jones, Olivia Ruiz, Ayo, Kasabian, and Charlie WInston! www.peaceoneday.org

OMEGA INSTITUTE:  Omega Institute, a leading conference center for personal and global transformation, has begun featuring the International Day of Peace in their weekly e-newsletters.  They reach thousands of people, including leaders of many disciplines and interests throughout the world.  www.eomega.org

UGANDA:  CRY Uganda is part of the Uganda national committee to plan for UGANDA National Peace Week commemoration. Kotido district will host the national programme, however, various initiatives by partners and other stakeholders have been lined up all over Uganda and the world. Peace is the way, friends.  en-gb.facebook.com/cry.uganda

SOUTH AFRICA:  March for Peace:  This is a call to all South Africans who have had enough of violence in our beautiful country to join in a peaceful march in Johannesburg. Link:  Event page

KENYA:  Kenya will host a Poetry Event.  Link:  Event page

BURMA:  To congregrate on International Peace Day September 21st and pray for peace and democracy in Burma, Thailand and the world while commemorating the September 18th 2007 peaceful monks’ protest in Burma.  democracyforburma.wordpress.com

DENVER, USA:  A Global Call to Service and ‘Journey of Hope’ benefit concert, featuring guest speaker Greg Mortenson, best selling author of Three Cups of Tea and founder of Pennies for Peace, who has built dozens of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  www.penniesforpeace.org

AFGHANISTAN:  UN Mission in Afghanistan launched a 21 day countdown to International Peace Day with Afghan film stars, singers, sports people and poets who will act as UN peace ambassadors to spread the word across Afghanistan.   Many NGOs and UN agencies are organizing events, which will include thousands of participants! www.unama.unmissions.org

OJAI, USA:  Peace Week, including film screenings of: War Child, Promises and Day After Peace, activities for the whole family and a “Peacemaker’s Challenge” - those who perform acts of peace receive coupons to local businesses!  www.livingpeaceinojai.com

INDIA:  Peace Channel, a peace movement by the youth, will commemorate the International Day of Peace on September 21, with a national-level Peace Seminar and Peace Awards. The event, to be held on September 20 and 21 - on the theme ‘Together, Towards Tomorrow for Peace’ at Holy Cross Campus, Dimapur, will see youths from all over India taking part in the programme.   www.peacechannel.in

SOLOMON ISLANDS:  Observances and news:  bit.ly/22cJXV

BURKINA FASO, AFRICA:  The Peace Water & Wisdom Festival on Sept. 21 - a concert to fund the Clean Water initiative for drilling wells in arid regions of this country, and to provide indigenous wisdomkeepers with a global platform. www.barkafoundation.org

ENGLAND:  The London Week of Peace is a practical application of Peacebuilding and conflict resolution ideas on a city wide scale.  www.weekofpeace.org.uk

ORLANDO, USA:  The Global Peace Film Festival includes films from every continent this year - even Antarctica.  www.peacefilmfest.org

OKINAWA:  Celebration Earth is a culmination of a 6 month festival including environmental activities; peace walks & vigils; proclamations & exhibits; classes, workshops & performances; and a UN Flags of the World Ceremony. www.earthwalker.com

COSTA RICA:  This year’s Global Summit for Ministries and Departments of Peace is in Costa Rica from Sept. 13 to Sept. 21st; the closing ceremony will be on the International Day of Peace and will be open to the public.  Recent news from this group:  Costa Rica has officially created a Dept. of Peace!  www.mfp-dop.org

MONTREAL, CANADA:  Light Up The World.  We invite the citizens of the world to help us create the biggest peace chain ever.  http://nkn.cercledepaix.ca/visits/promo_visit/2313

NEW YORK:  The “Call To Peace” event by the World Peace Prayer Society in NY will include flag ceremonies honoring every state in the USA, the Native American Nations, and all 192 countries of the world.  In addition there will be music, food, nonprofit booths and activities for adults and children, including the Byakko Choir from Japan; the Peace is Possible Chorus; Japanese and Filipino Dancers; Native American and Japanese Taiko Drumming; the Peace Parrots; the Peace Café; Japanese calligraphy, origami and a tea ceremony; crafts and games for peace; a petting zoo and an art exhibitit.  www.worldpeace.org

UNITED NATIONS:  Each year there are celebrations of the International Day of Peace at UN headquarters in New York, where the Secretary-General rings the Peace Bell and leads a minute of silence at noon; this ceremony also includes presentations from many cultures and age groups as well as various UN Messengers of Peace. The International Day of Peace is also observed at UN agencies worldwide.  In addition, UN agencies such as UNICEF have been able to arrange ceasefires on the International Day of Peace, during which humanitarian organizations such as CARE and Doctors Without Borders are able to provide food and medicines to civilian populations affected by conflicts.  One activity in which all people can participate is the UN request for a minute of silence at noon in all time zones - this has now been observed consistently for 27 years.  www.un.org/en/events/peaceday/2009

PODCAST:  The annual International Peace Day podcast will launch a week before September 21st and is now available on iTunes.  The audience last year was over a half million!  The Joan Kenley Show - Conversation Radio On Demand 24/7 www.joankenley.com

WORLDWIDE Events and Projects!

The Global Mala Yoga for Peace Project unites the global yoga community from every continent, school or approach.   www.globalmala.org

The IDP Vigil is an event which thousands of groups worldwide have participated in as a means of highlighting the important role of religious, spiritual and peace communities in the pursuit of community non-violence and world peace.  www.idpvigil.com

Pinwheels to Peace involves 2,500 schools and youth organizations all over the world, leaving thousands of young people - a lasting impression.  www.pinwheelsforpeace.com

From the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict:  An article on events from Sri Lanka to Sweden, from Calgary to Japan.  Link:  Article

11 Days of Global Unity is an annual worldwide promotion of peace and sustainability facilitated by We, The World. There are more than 700 concerts, festivals, webcasts, and other events in over 60 countries culminating on the International Day of Peace.  www.wetheworld.org/11days

Roots & Shoots, a program of the Jane Goodall Institute, is making positive change happen all over the world.  Young people craft giant peace dove puppets from recycled materials and fly the doves in their communities - from the high peaks of Mt. Kilimanjaro to the low plains of Kansas, peace doves fly, held high by hopeful hands. www.rootsandshoots.org

Service for Peace has programs in many countries throughout the world; through Service for Peace the International Day of Peace has been observed in places as diverse as Ghana, Bulgaria, Thailand, Ukraine, Japan, Ivory Coast and Israel. www.serviceforpeace.org

The United Religions Initiative has actively participated in Peace Day observations since 2000, with diverse events set up by hundreds of Interfaith Cooperation Circles.  They urge all religions and faith-based organizations to issue their own proclamations endorsing the observance of the International Day of Peace.  www.uri.org

The Valentine Peace Project encourages people to send poetry, flowers, cards and videos as expressions of peace and love.  They work with schools, ‘fair trade’ businesses, and Pax Christi.  www.valentinepeaceproject.org

Children’s International Summer Village (CISV) - The Human Arrows Project is in 60 countries.  This year CISV is standing together as a world wide Peace organisation focusing on just one conflict. By pointing towards the conflict in Lithuania, from all around the world we hope to make people aware of the different types of conflicts that are going on. And that not everything is about guns and wars, but sometimes conflicts lie deeper, and touch us in a way we did not expect.   www.cisv.org

ON-LINE:  A 24-Hour World Peace Celebration & Global Broadcast to unite the world community will be available at www.cultureofpeace.org This broadcast will highlight the vitally important work of the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies with video presentations of the “UN in Action”.  The program will include the official ceremoney at UN Headquarters, featuring Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and other UN dignitaries, as well as high profile UN Messengers of Peace such as Michael Douglas, Jane Goodall, Princess Haya of Jordan and Elie Weisel.  In addition, this “Peace Day” internet broadcast will include the work of many organizations and individuals around the world dedicated to creating a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world.  Also featured will be Michael Franti’s “Power to the Peaceful” celebration in San Francisco and The Jane Goodall Institute’s ‘Roots and Shoots’ Day of Peace Festival in Santa Monica, CA.  For more information:  www.unityfoundation.org

Thank you, CPI Participants, for your dedication to building a culture of Peace for future generations on Peace Day and every day.

CPI Coordinator Michael Johnson, CPI Contributing Writer Melvin Weiner, and CPI Outreach Intern Michael Kwan

Pathways To Peace (PTP) is the International Secretariat for the Culture of Peace Initiative, a designated UN Peace Messenger Initiative.  PTP was responsible for getting the International Day of Peace printed onto calendars worldwide this year.  PTP created the CPI website, which serves the 3,000 organizations and countless projects in 200 nations that participate in this local/global Peacebuilding initiative.  Pathways To Peace also created the International Day of Peace website, which serves all of humanity.  For more information or to support our efforts:  www.pathwaystopeace.org

Acting in concert, we do make a difference in the quality of our lives, our institutions, our environment and our planetary future.   Through cooperation, we manifest the essential Spirit that unites us amidst our diverse ways.