World peace days

International Women’s Day precedes the formation of the United Nations.  It was celebrated for the first time in 1911 in different countries around Europe to demand  :

• the right  for women to vote and the right to hold public office

• the right  for women to work and to receive professional training

• an end to discrimination against women in the workplace.

Beginning in 1913, women held peace rallies in many European cities to protest the forthcoming war.  On March 8 (of the European calendar), 1917, Russian women went on strike to demand “bread and peace” in response to having lost nearly two million men in World War I.  Four days later, the Tsar abdicated and the provisional government granted Russian women the right to vote.

In 1945, the United Nations Charter became the first international document to proclaim the equality between men and women as a fundamental human right.

Today, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 calls for the full inclusion of women at all decision-making levels in conflict resolution and peace processes.

The United Nations General Assembly declared this International Day in 1966 following the 1960 massacre of protesters against apartheid in Sharpeville, South Africa.  The goal of the day is to engage the international community in the fight to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.

World Humanitarian Day was designated in December 2008 to increase public awareness regarding:

• Humanitarian activities around the world,

• The efforts of aid workers who have dedicated their lives to humanitarian work, and

• The importance of international cooperation in this domain.

The inaugural World Humanitarian Day was dedicated to the memory of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights who was killed in a bomb attack in Baghdad, as well as all of the humanitarians who risk their lives to lessen suffering around the world.

According to the United Nations, “Humanitarian needs are growing faster than our ability to deal with them.  Long-running and intractable conflicts are still exacting an unconscionable toll on civilians.  Natural hazards are becoming increasingly severe and frequent.”

Grains of Peace supports this World Day by underlining the importance of contributing to peace and nonviolence to reduce the incidence of future humanitarian disasters.

In 1981, the General Assembly declared that the opening day of the General Assembly session each September “shall be officially dedicated and observed as the International Day of Peace and shall be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples.”

November 20th marks the date on which the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989.

Established in 1954, the Universal Children’s Day was one of the first international days designated by the United Nations.  The goal of the day is to promote world fraternity and understanding between children and to support activities promoting the welfare of children around the world.

The Declaration on the Rights of the Child, which excludes an explicit right to peace, emphasizes a child’s right to:

• A name and a nationality

• Familial love

• Education

• Care, social security, and protection against mistreatment and discrimination

The United Nations created the International Day of Non-Violence to reaffirm “the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence” and to “secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding, and non-violence.”  This day represents a new step in the United Nations’ ongoing action in support of peace and non-violence:

• International Day of Peace, annually on September 21 (since 2001)

• International Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010)

• Program of Action on a Culture of Peace, adopted by the General Assembly on September 13, 1999

The International Day of Non-Violence is symbolically fixed on the anniversary of the birth of Mahatma, Mohandes GANDHI, the Indian thinker and politician who elaborated and applied the philosophy and strategy of non-violence as early as 1906.  The first International Day of Nonviolence was celebrated on October 2, 2007 at the United Nations.

Since 2007, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working for peace and non-violence have supported the efforts of the United Nations through various local and national events in different countries.  

In Switzerland, the first events took place in German-speaking Switzerland on October 2, 2007, followed by the invitation on October 2, 2008 of all NGOs from French-speaking Switzerland and neighboring France to an information day.  During this event, the Collective for Peace and Non-Violence was founded for the purpose of organizing public awareness events and activities during the two weeks between September 21, International Day of Peace, and October 2, International Day of Non-Violence.  This initiative is the fruit of collaboration between 4 co-founding NGOs: Le CENAC, Eirene, Peace Watch, and Graines de Paix.  The Collective, which currently numbers 20 members, marks these dates each year with a diverse range of activities and events during the Fortnight for Peace and Non-Violence.

Grains of Peace strongly supports this program by offering activities that educate the public that violence is unacceptable and that more and more often injustices are being fought through acts of non-violence.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, written in 1948, was the first international recognition that all human beings have fundamental rights and liberties.

“December 10 marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a single short document of 30 articles that has probably had more impact on mankind than any other document in modern history,” stated Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2008.