100-DAY COUNTDOWN TO INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE
OBSERVED ON 21 SEPTEMBER 2011
MESSAGE BY MR. KIYO AKASAKA
UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR
COMMUNICATIONS
AND PUBLIC INFORMATION
UNITED NATIONS
13 JUNE 2011
September 21, 2011, marks the 30th anniversary of the International Day of
Peace. As we begin today a 100-day countdown to the observance, we pay
tribute to the many civil society activists who lent the strength of their
imagination to the institution of this Day.
The United Nations General Assembly declared in 1981 that the Day shall be
devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and
among all nations and peoples.
It invited all Member States, the United Nations system, regional
organizations, non-governmental organizations, peoples and individuals to
commemorate the Day in different ways, especially through all means of
education, and to cooperate with the United Nations in the observance of that day.
Education, and the fruits of education, have been central to this observance.
Young women and men everywhere are demonstrating the power of connection by
reaching out to each other, and rallying together, in the common cause of the
dignity and human rights to which their peoples aspire.
It is in tribute to them, and the spirit they represent, that we have chosen
this year, under the overall idea of Peace and Democracy, the theme of “Make
your voice heard.”
The United Nations stands ready to work with the peoples in whose name the
International Day of Peace was established to secure a world ready for, and
worthy of, the peace that is essential to all creative human endeavour.