By Nobert Dacan
International
Day of Peace established in
1981 by unanimous United Nations resolution, provides a globally shared date
for all humanity to commit to Peace, abandon all differences and to contribute
to building a culture of peace. The Peace Day is observed around the world on 21
September yearly. The UN General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to
strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence
and cease-fire. This is a huge step by the Assembly as this period (if observed)
should be able to show the world the obvious significance of non-violence and more
than ever that we are not each other’s enemies given the COVID 19 experience.
Peace means many
different things to different people. In the past, peace meant a time
without wars, fighting, or the threat of violence—yet this ideal time for long
has been in vain! Today, peace is used to refer to a state of harmony, quiet,
or calm with no hostility, still, the world is yet to achieve this. Having experienced
(and still experiencing) numerous violence, it is time for all of us, to not
only think of a world we need but also to make an effort towards it, ordinary
citizens, politicians, technocrats, all of us alike!
We want to achieve a
state where everyone is physically, economically, mentally and spiritually at
peace, where everyone truly knows themselves, can work to achieve their different
aspirations, free from violence and torment. Humanity deserves a world where the
family institution flourishes, where parents live to see their children grow up
to achieve their dreams, a world without violence and broken dreams, humanity deserves
a democratic world were politics is not a cause for bled shed, suffering and
turmoil, a just world were meritocracy overrules corruption and greed, a world
free from hate and racism, a world everyone can harmoniously survive in, black or
white.
This day is for the world to come to terms with its past, to look back and say enough of the violence and more of peace, enough of the hate, more of the love, enough of corruption, greed and injustice, more of generosity, fairness and justice. Humanity needs to give a chance for the principles upon which the Peace Day was built to flourish.
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Foundation for Justice and Development Initiatives (FJDI) works with children, youths, women and communities to promote justice, development and economic recovery in northern Uganda. FJDI has been working on providing redress for conflict affected persons and communities and promoting transitional justice measures since 2015.
