21 September 2014: International Day of Peace!

The Geneva Hub is pleased to announce its new project to support the promotion of peace, through a partnership with the Geneva Peace Talks held on 19 September to celebrate the International Day of Peace

21 September 2014 marks the International Day of Peace, and falls as world leaders gather at the United Nations headquarters in New York for the 68th General Assembly. To commemorate this day, and shed light on some of the challenges and barriers to achieving global peace and security the Geneva Peace Talks will be held on 19 September at the Palais des Nations. The talks are open to the public (registration required) to improve understanding and accessibility, thereby reinforcing the notion that each and every person has a role to play in peace-building. Individual talks are also live streamed.

The Geneva Hub has partnered with the organizers of the event, Interpeace, the United Nations Office of Geneva (UNOG) and the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform.

This year’s theme, Let’s Talk Peace, seeks to highlight the role of communication tools, techniques and channels in overcoming conflict, by nurturing dialogue and tolerance. During the talks, speakers from different sectors and industries will share their personal stories, ideas and practical solutions to resolving conflict. This year’s agenda features renowned political cartoonist Jean "Plantu" Plantereux, who created Cartooning for Peace in 2006, as well as Monica McWilliams, professor of Woman's Studies at the University of Ulster. Monica played a crucial role in the peace talks that lead to the Good Friday Agreement, facilitating the Northern Ireland peace process in the late 1990s.

With communication and information/experience sharing such vital tools in peace-building initiatives, another on-going goal of the talks is to create a world-wide community of citizens who are informed and empowered by the language of peace, and can employ it in local or grassroots settings. Future peace talks could see a distributed presence of nodes around the world, each hosting their own individual sessions, thereby contributing to a shared, global culture of peace and tolerance. 2014 is just the second instalment in the Peace Talks series, with events hosted in Geneva and Abidjan, and it is hoped that future instalments can spread to even more locations.

Are you in Geneva? 

Register to attend the Geneva Peace Talks at the Palais des Nations.See #Genevapeacetalks on Twitter or http://peacetalks.net/ for more info.

Peace Day!

Peace Day is an annual celebration of peace around the world. It takes place on 21 September.

The Geneva Hub has put out a call to action to all Hubs around the world to organize an activity, big or small on Peace Day under the Peace One Day theme of who will YOU make peace with?

We hope to create a day of global unity across Global Shapers Hubs and to raise awareness among Shapers and local communities about how we each play a role in peace.

On Peace Day or the week leading up to it, Hubs can organize activities big or small, here are some ideas:

• Post on Facebook, Twitter or a blog

• Share a Peace Meal

• Host a workshop

• Watch the Peace Day concert

• Screen the Peace Day film

To find out more about Peace Day or to get additional ideas, check out the Peace One Day website.

What #peacemeans to me

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September 21st is Peace Day, a day each year that is dedicated to peace. Right now the World Bank estimates that 1.5 billion people around the world live in conflict affect countries. That is 1 out of every 7 people on earth. People living in relatively peaceful countries often watch the news, see unresolved conflict in far away places, and change the channel or flip to the next page in the newspaper. But peace is not only relevant for countries that are experiencing violence or dictatorial regimes.

Peace is something that affects each and everyone of us. This may seem like a no brainer, but all too often, peace is taken for granted. We each have different understandings of what peace means, depending on our life circumstance. Peace can mean the absence of violence, inner peace, love and peace festivals, and the list goes on. For me, when I really unpack what peace means - it means that I am able to pursue my aspirations without fear. It means that there are positive relationships of trust between people around me and between people and my leaders. It means that I can trust the police officer to protect me. It means I can walk down the street without fear for my safety. It means I can have a political discussion with a stranger and disagree without fear that I will be intimidated or worse. It means that I have faith in my legal system. It means I can pursue my personal, economic, religious and social aspirations. Peace is an ongoing journey and there is no final destination. Peace can always be perfected and is not a static goal. So this Peace Day, mark the day and take a moment to think about what peace means to you and share it: #peacemeans

.Sarah Noble is committed to social change with a passion for conflict prevention and peacebuilding. She is currently Chief of Staff and Director of External Relations at Interpeace www.interpeace and a Global Shaper in the Geneva hub.Photo credit: Ryan Anson for Interpeace.