Leading peace advocates, diplomats, educators and artists gathered on Zoom earlier on in September for the planet’s first global Peace Education Day conference. The conference spotlighted the success of peace education in transforming the lives of individuals and communities around the world, even in the face of the pandemic, violence and climate change. More than 1,500 people attended. The conference called on the UN General Assembly to declare a Global Peace Education Day.
“I’m honoured to be the inaugural speaker for a Global Peace Education Day,” said Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, former UN Undersecretary-General. “As human beings, we must empower ourselves to contribute more effectively to bring inner as well as outer peace. This realization has now become more important, especially for women, youth and children, in the midst of the ever-increasing military expansion that is destroying both our planet and our people.” The ambassador has served the United Nations as UN Under-Secretary-General, president of the UN Security Council, the UNICEF board, and high representative of the UN, advocating for the most vulnerable countries of the world.
“A United Nations Peace Education Day will provide a transition from a culture of imposition, domination and war to a culture of encounter, conciliation, dialogue, alliance & Peace,” said former UNESCO Director-General Frederico Mayor Zaragoza. “We need educators who can educate in a culture of peace and non-violence. We know that our earth faces an irreversible threat but now we the people will act to prevent all this by implementing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.”
Peace Education Day speaker Kehkashan Basu was only 12 years old when she founded the global Green Hope Foundation to educate her peers about the Sustainable Development Goals. She is a Climate Reality Mentor, former Global Coordinator for Children and Youth, UNEP MGFC, and a UN Human Rights Champion. “The way we facilitate peace education is to empower women in underserved communities to drive change. We’ve just opened a sewing school where women and girls make masks, clothes, bags and sell these products to earn their livelihood.
Screen actor Michael Nouri hosted the Peace Education Day event. “If we prepared for peace the way we prepare for war, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” he said. “That’s why I’m an ambassador for Seeds of Peace, preparing young leaders around the globe to be ready for peace with training, skills, knowledge and experience to build a peaceful world.”
