“Peace is always beautiful” – Walt Whitman

Every person in the world is equally loved by Mother Nature. Earthlings, however, have varying degrees of love for the natural world. They undermine nature’s ability to exist peacefully as they compete for various goals across different groupings. In spite of this, people who suffer the most in this competition grow endlessly exhausted and unnecessarily depressed. Man therefore seeks alleviation and a life that is free and filled with love in the middle of that competition. After finding that life, those people will understand how amazing the “peace” they feel is.

We all know that we are the source of our own peace. It doesn’t, however, confine itself to a personal level. There is a universal appeal to peace. Every person on earth deserves to live in peace, and it is up to them all to respect everyone else’s right to feel the same. To remind this, International Day of Peace (IDP) is marked on September 21 every year around the world. This day was established in 1981 as a day to strengthen the ideals of peace in the UN General Assembly.

What exactly is “peace” that we celebrate on this day of peace?

The pioneer of peace study from Norway, Johan Galtung, was the one who first introduced the idea of peace into academic writing. He defines positive peace as the absence of structural violence, whereas negative peace is the absence of human violence and conflict. But when peace is understood in a more practical sense, it can mean several things including non-violence, equality, justice, the defense of human rights, power distribution, and social and emotional freedom for all. It should be stated, however, that “peace” is the route we choose to ensure societal development and prosperity.

All UN countries celebrate The International Day of Peace under different themes for each year. “Actions for Peace: Our Ambition for the Global Goals” is its theme for 2023. It serves as a call to action that acknowledges both our individual and group responsibilities for fostering peace. Moreover, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be achieved by promoting peace, and by accomplishing the SDGs, a culture of peace will be established for everybody. Also, today, the world is shown the importance and imperative need of maintaining peace to protect human rights. Further, As the main symbolic step of celebration, the United Nations requests a 24-hour global truce of all hostilities on International Peace Day. Additionally, it calls for a minute of silence to be observed at noon in memory of the victims of war and violence. The Peace Bell Ceremony at the UN headquarters kicks off the day.

The world is going through various conflicts, including civil wars and economic hegemony. Throughout history, many groups of people have raised their voices and fought against each other. The most humorous about them is that they stated that the war was to make peace. Even today, people fight against each other for peace and do not understand that it threatens their peaceful lives as well as those of unborn future generations. “Peace is needed now more than ever,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. He also stated “War and conflict are unleashing devastations, poverty, and hunger, and driving tens of millions of people from their homes”

These remind us of an unfortunate question that history left forever: “Is peace something realistic?” Whether the answer is “no,”, on the other hand, the value and necessity of peace have been clearly identified. Therefore, we all should take steps to make peace for the betterment and development of this earth. An individual can start contributing to global peace through simple attempts such as respecting diversity, self-discipline, active engagement to politically promote peace, appreciating others’ pride, taking steps to improve understanding and relations between generations, empowering organizations that are working on violent conflict, improving the ability to accept natural sense of situations, etc.

“Not one of us can rest, be happy, be at home, or be at peace with ourselves until we end hatred and division.” —John Lewis.

Everyone in this world has the potential to become a peacemaker at any time. What we have to do is share our good hearts and help others fly like a white dove with us. On this day, as a part of this beautiful world, we all should remind ourselves of our responsibility to take steps to make this world a peaceful place that is full of love, laughter, and prosperity.

Happy International Day of Peace to everyone!

Written by: Rtr. Keshani Weerasekara

Graphic design by: Rtr. Sathmi Dinanja