By Manon Levrey & Ben Moore
On Monday 21 September, people around the world will mark the 39th International Day of Peace. Following the adoption of United Nations (UN) Resolution 36/37 in 1981, the UN General Assembly designated 21 September as a day devoted to ‘commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and people.’
The theme for the International Day of Peace 2020 is ‘Shaping Peace Together’ and the UN has invited all nations and people to ‘celebrate the day by spreading compassion, kindness and hope in the face of the pandemic’ and to ‘stand together with the UN against attempts to use the virus to promote discrimination or hatred’.
Please see below an overview of what EPLO member organisations are doing to mark this year’s International Day of Peace:
- Conciliation Resources is sharing videos of its partners, colleagues and friends describing their most memorable peacebuilding moments on its Twitter and Facebook channels (#PeaceMoments).
- The European Institute of Peace has launched a social media campaign (#PeaceTogether) in which it has invited its peace partners to record and share one-minute videos in which they highlight work to shape peace together.
- The German Platform for Peaceful Conflict Management and some of its member organisations are organising the Bonn Peace Days, including an online panel discussion entitled ‘Ein neues Klima für den Frieden – Klimawandel bekämpfen. Gewalt verhindern’.
- The Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict is organising a series of ‘Virtual Peace Tables’ in which peacebuilders will share and discuss their visions on ‘how we can build the world that we want to see’.
- International Alert is organising a webinar entitled ‘COVID, conflict and crises: what’s in store for 2021?’.
- The International Catalan Institute for Peace will award its Peace in Progress Award 2019 to the Collectif des Familles de Disparu(e)s en Algérie at a ceremony in Barcelona.
- The International Crisis Group is organising an online panel discussion entitled ‘The UN at 75: Requiem or Renewal?’.
- Interpeace is co-organising the Geneva Peace Talks on the central theme of ‘Shaping Peace’.
- Peace Direct is asking people to sign its ‘Peace Pledge’ and organising a social media campaign (#Take5ForPeace) in which they are asking people to record and share videos of themselves doing something for peace on Twitter.
- Together with its sister organisation the Quaker United Nations Office, the, Quaker Council for European Affairs will publish a special International Day of Peace statement which has been co-signed by more than 170 peace organisations.
- Saferworld will launch its Instagram page (@saferworld_org) which will feature profiles of its partners and the people and communities with whom it works.
- Search for Common Ground is co-organising a webinar entitled ‘Scale, Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution’.
- swisspeace is organising an online panel discussion entitled ‘What are the challenges of COVID-19 for Peace and Conflict?’.