International Day of Peace 2011

International Day of Peace 2011 – 21 September

UNOY celebrates every year the International Day of Peace on 21 September.

The International Day of Peace (“Peace Day”) provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date. It was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. The first Peace Day was celebrated in September 1982.

This year, we have decided to celebrate this very special day over a week. We will organize various activities to raise awareness on peace from 17 to 23 september 2011. We have 2 major themes: “Youth and Volunteering for Peace” and “Peace through the arts”.

In parallel to workshops, we’ll have artistic activities including concerts and a photo competition, showing that you can support peace in many ways!

To give more people the opportunity to join our celebrations, we will organise online activities such as the Blogs for Peace. Young people living in (post) conflict societies will write about their daily lives and what youth can do to bring a positive change in the situation.

Below is the programme of the activities that will take place in The Hague during the week:

Saturday 17 September:

UNOY will take part in the “Tribute to Miles Davis Jazz Festival” and will raise funds for its upcoming African Training.
Organized for the 20th anniversary of Miles Davis’ death, the festival will take place at the Regentenkamer in The Hague, 17 September, from 9 PM . More information on the event here.

Sunday 18 September:

UNOY will tale part in The Hague International Day organised by the municipality. The event aims to present international organisations engaged in promoting peace, justice and security. It will take place at The Hague World Forum.
More information here.

Tuesday 20 September:

A workshop on Intercultural Dialogue facilitated by UNOY from 9.30 to 11.30. It will take place in the office of UNOY in The Hague.
At 19.00 we will show the “The Day after Peace” by Jeremy Gilley, still in the office of UNOY.

Wednesday 21 September:

This is the actual International Day of Peace! We have a lot in stock, come and join!

CANCELLED- The first meeting of the day is at 9.00 AM at the Central Station of The Hague for a little surprise… just come and join!
A workshop on the role of youth in Peace Talks from 16.00 to 18.00 at the American Book Center, located in the Center of The Hague. Based on the situation in Afghanistan, participants will learn how the various youth stakeholders of a conflict communicate. The workshop will be facilitated by Fatma Wakil, Board member of the Keihan Foundation and Ilias Mahtab.
From 19.00 will take place the great “Jam for Peace” concert at Café Quirky in The Hague, located on Tasmanstraat 128 at the corner of Prins Hendrikstraat. Young and talented musicians will play for peace from 19.00 to midnight, including: Biba and Lukas and 100 Watt.
More information about Jam for Peace

Thursday 22 September:

A workshop on “How to start and implement your own project” will be organized from 15.30 to 17.30 at the American Book Center, located in the Center of The Hague. The workshop will give you the opportunity to learn how to plan and manage a project and the different phases you will go through (budgeting, fundraising, marketing). The workshop will be facilitated by Yasir Syed, Chair and project manager of Culture Clash 4 U.

A debate on “Youth participation in democratic transitions” will take place at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) between 18.00 and 20.00. The panel includes Dr. Kristen Cheney, senior lecturer of Children and Youth Studies at the ISS; Fatma Wakil, born in Afghanistan and board member of the Afghan Youth Foundation (Keihan) and Yassine Boussaid cultural entrepreneur with a Dutch-Moroccan background. As 2011 was the year of the Arab Spring, the panellists and participants will discuss the role of youth in democratic transitions .

Friday 23 September:

A workshop on youth work and peacebuilding will be organized from 14.00 to 16.00 at the American Book Center, located in the Center of The Hague. The workshop will be facilitated by Platform Spartak.
A BINNGO (Bi-Monthly Informal Networking for NGO’s) meeting will take place from 16.30 to 18.30 at the American Book Center. During this edition, youth and potential volunteers will have the opportunity to meet NGOs looking for young volunteers and/or developing youth-related projects.

Sign up right here to attend activities!

Activities are organised as part of the Job Shadowing project