Institute for Research of Genocide, Canada’s {IGC} Message for International Day of Peace
The International Day of Peace, marked every year on 21 September, gives us all a chance to reflect on the unconscionable toll — moral, physical, material — wrought by war. Those costs are borne not only by us today, but by future generations as well.
We cannot possibly think about building a sustainable future if there is no sustainable peace. Armed conflicts attack the very pillars of sustainable development, robbing people of the opportunity to develop, to create jobs, to safeguard the environment, to fight poverty, to reduce the risk from disasters, to advance social equity and to ensure that everyone has enough to eat.
We want a future where natural resources are protected and valued rather than used to finance wars, where children can be educated at school and not recruited into armies, where economic and social inequalities are resolved through dialogue instead of violence.
If we are to build such a future, we must all play our individual part.
IGC urges everyone in the world, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina to think about how they can contribute together to ensure that we have secure future for all citizens in the world, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina
On this International Day, let us promise to make peace not just a priority, but a passion. Let us pledge to do more, wherever we are in whatever way we can, to make every day a day of peace.
The International Day of Peace was established by the UN General Assembly in 1981 for “commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace within and among all nations and people.” Twenty years later, the General Assembly decided that 21 September would be observed annually as a “day of global ceasefire and non-violence” and invited all Member States, organizations and individuals to commemorate the day, including through education and public awareness, and to cooperate with the United Nations in the establishment of a global ceasefire.
IGC invites all people to honour a cessation of hostilities during the Day, and to otherwise commemorate the Day through education and public awareness on issues related to peace.
Institute for Research of Genocide, Canada
Sustainable Peace for a Sustainable Future
