SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES PLANNING NOW FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE, 21 SEPTEMBER

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on the worldwide public and Member States to begin preparations now to observe the International Day of Peace, which occurs every 21 September.

In his video message issued today, 100 days before the Day of Peace, he urged people around the world to “take this Day of ceasefire and non-violence very seriously.  We need to start planning for it now”.

In 1981, the United Nations General Assembly authorized the annual observance of the Day “devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples”.  Then, in 2001, the General Assembly set 21 September as a day of “global ceasefire and non-violence”.  The General Assembly in its resolution “invites all UN Member States, organizations of the United Nations system, regional and non-governmental organizations and individuals to commemorate the International Day of Peace”.

The Secretary-General has also issued the appeal to the 192 Member States of the United Nations in a “note verbale”, calling on them to promote awareness of the Day and “where appropriate, to engage in creating the opportunity the Day offers for cessation of violence and conflict”.

This year's observance of the International Day of Peace coincides with the sixtieth anniversary of the International Declaration of Human Rights, and the United Nations will emphasize the connection between peace and basic rights in its observance of the Day of Peace.  The United Nations Department of Public Information will also urge people around the world to send text messages for peace on 21 September, with a theme of human rights.

The Day will be observed in United Nations offices around the world.  At UN Headquarters in New York, the commemoration will take place on Friday, 19 September, when Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will ring the Japanese Peace Bell accompanied by UN Messengers of Peace.  Several hundred students will gather at Headquarters to exchange their views on peace and human rights with students in conflict areas.

“On 21 September, let us send a real signal of our universal desire for peace,” the Secretary-General said.

The full text of the Secretary-General’s message is available as Press Release SG/SM/11576.

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For information media • not an official record