The International Day Human Fraternity is celebrated every year on February 4^th, as a reminder of the unity, peace and coexistence among people and communities in the world. The day was established by United Nations in 2020. International Day for Human Fraternity highlights the importance of understanding, harmony, and respect  in the process of building a better world where all individuals regardless of differences such as race, gender, ethnicity, and religion can co-exist in peace.

The world has witnessed many major breeches of harmony such as the world wars that resulted in enmity between nations, loss of millions of lives, displacement of individuals and creation of an environment that was hostile, unsafe, and dangerous. In the present, Russian-Ukraine war, Israel-Palestine war, and hostilities between North and South Korea and India and Pakistan(regarding Jammu-Kashmir conflict) serves as examples which had caused/is causing a disruption in peace among countries as well as within nations.

The International Day for Human Fraternity was influenced by the document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together signed by Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, in Abu Dhabi in 2019. This declaration emphasized the need of mutual understanding between people from different backgrounds, faiths, and cultures as an attempt to annihilate any chance of  conflict that would cause major disharmony and unfixable damages to the people in different communities.

One of the key factors highlighted by the major religions in the world is harmony, which had given the space for other religions and faiths to co-exist. Human fraternity highlights the acceptance and embracing of the difference between people leading to acknowledging and educating oneself on the communities that are different than the community one belongs to. This is essential to our world today as it could extinguish any spark of hatred or violence that could build up to a bigger conflict. The International Day for Human Fraternity also created a platform to emphasize global issues through a more humane perspective. Through the promotion of  co-existence and tolerance, it can contribute to resolve conflicts without elevating it to bigger events such as World Wars. This Day stands as an initiative to bridge cultural and religious differences while building a united world beyond every physical and psychological border.

Let us remind ourselves of shared painful pasts of each country which was led by lack of consideration for the differences of people and extreme hunger for power and strive towards to build a better and harmonious world for ourselves as well as future generations.

Written by: Rtr. Venuri Wedage

Graphic design by: Rtr. Sathmi Dinanja