October 10, 2023 – Every year, the International Day of Peace is an opportunity for WPDI staff, trainees and beneficiaries to come together to share messages on our core values, to celebrate and promote action designed to foster lasting peace in underprivileged communities. Our teams around the world held diverse events and celebrations to mark the day, spread awareness and advocate for the Global Goals, sustainable development and solidarity.
In Moroto, Uganda, we held a celebration entitled “Action for Peace: Our Ambition for the Global Goals”, with over 500 people taking part. The event was designed to engage local communities, including community leaders, security providers and development partners, championing values of solidarity and tolerance to encourage the practice of peace among the different Karimojong communities. The day started off on a high note with a peace procession that involved community members marching through the Moroto district sharing messages of peace and raising awareness.
“Peace is power, knowledge and development. As women, let us pass the message of peace values to all our children such that they desist from raids that are killing us” said Nayor Dinah from the Women Peace Group, Moroto District.
The event was organized in the framework of our Peace Through Sports initiative, supported by the Swedish Postcode Foundation, and crowned with a special football match gathering youths from two teams that have been created in the context of this program, respectively representing the Nadunget and Loputuk Sub-Counties. Creating opportunities for communities to engage in healthy competition, such events provide a great platform for encouraging respect, dignity and peace at the grassroots level.
In Mexico, our team in Tijuana took opportunity of the International Day of Peace celebrations to run a special Community Dialogue for over 50 secondary school students, both in person and via Zoom. The event was an opportunity to discuss and exchange on topics surrounding the theme “Make Peace Happen”, or what local and national authorities can be doing to improve conditions of peace in local settings, with special guest Dr. Enrique Pasillas.
“These dialogues are important because it lets us know that others feel and think the same as we do. We are not all alone and it is our duty to make sure our institutions promote peace and dialogue, as citizens there is a lot we can do” Dr. Pasillas said.
The students in a Q&A session, and discussed the peace projects they worked on in the framework of the Conflict Resolution Education program they have been participating in with WPDI. “Sometimes I feel like adults have the last word on my path, but it is great to see that I do have value, even as a teenager. Peace is something I feel my city needs and I am glad I am being part of that change by being trained by WPDI,” said Franco Velazquez, one of the youth participants.
In California, United States, we ran a series of Peace events across 5 elementary schools among our partner schools. The activities included art performances, discussions, games and music. At DNA Prep Academy, in Chatsworth, for example, students designed and personalized over 400 lunch bags for the less fortunate, before handing them out in downtown Los Angeles. “DNA cares about all humans, we need to create a world peace so that everyone can live equally and peacefully” said Jewel, Grade 6.
At Jersey Ave Elementary, in Santa Fe Springs students celebrated the International Day of Peace by decorating a rock with symbols of peace. The theme was “Peace Rocks”. In all, over 1,500 students participated in peace activities on the day, spreading messages of peace and promoting anti-bullying.
In France, where we recently opened our latest Community Learning Center, it was also important to commemorate the International Day of Peace, especially following the violent protests that occurred just a few months ago. On September 21st, WPDI France organized a special event at the Point Fort d’Aubervilliers, just north of Paris, attended by 70 people, in partnership with the association Villes des Musiques du Monde, with a range of activities and conferences focusing on the notion of peace, and a concert to round off the event with some music. Find out more about this event here.
WPDI South Sudan celebrated the International Day of Peace in the Kugi Residential Area, an area that has suffered long term internal conflicts. At the request of the community to rebuild broken trust and social cohesion, WPDI was asked to organize an occasion marking the celebration of the International Day of Peace to bring people together, celebrate together, appreciate diversity and unite for a common goal. WPDI also joined forces with the Ministry of Peace Building at the national level, UNMISS and other peace building organizations and UN agencies to celebrate the International Day of Peace, which was attended by the First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan, the National Minister of Cabinet affairs and other senior government officials as well us members from the diplomatic missions. WPDI Peace Club members from Juba Girls Secondary School used this occasion to advocate for peaceful coexistence by presenting poems and songs during the colorful celebration, which was attended by nearly 1,000 people at Nyakuron Cultural Center in Juba.
The International Day of Peace is a great moment to start conversations about peace, reflect on the state of our communities and explore new ways to build peace. In this spirit, we created “Peace Map”, a dedicated platform where we shared peace messages from our different centers around the world. The idea was to highlight the power of positive transformation. Beneficiaries and staff of WPDI programs shared their stories about peace, what it means to them, and how it can be nurtured.
WPDI strives to expand our peace agenda by leveraging the power of local communities, organizations and individuals, in order to create conditions for peace through local activism. Events like this help us to better understand local needs and to raise public awareness of the concept of peace and the importance of dialogue.
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