Children's Day, September 21st, 2013 - International Day of Peace

“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”

Albert Einstein

 The UN passed the resolution for a world peace day in 1981 and in the next year the day was first observed as International Day of Peace.

The theme chosen for this year's International Day of Peace is "Education for Peace", in recognition of the importance of educating people about consequences of war on our children, our environment and on every aspect of life with the intent to reduce the probability of wars prolonging and expanding and thus holding captive our spirits and killing our loved ones.

 “The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labour. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent.”

George Orwell ("1984")

Educating ourselves, our children and people around us will improve our understanding of the world and each other. Getting to know ourselves, the others and the world in which we live will bring us closer to finding a solution to our disagreements and making wars just part of our history. And most of all we need to rediscover our connections.

“Human knowledge consists not only of libraries of parchment and ink - 

it is also comprised of the volumes of knowledge that are written on the human heart, 

chiseled on the human soul, and engraved on the human psyche. ”
Michael Jackson

The end of war is within our power. Now I know I cannot stop the conflict in Syria, or the violence in Sudan, but I can donate, I can sign a petition, I can raise awareness to a cause, I can post a tweet or a Facebook update that will state my believes or help spread the word, I can participate in public debates and in the political process in my country, I can learn, I can open my heart and my mind, I can pray, I will.

“Declare it. Just the same way we declare war. That is how we will have peace... we just need to declare it.”
John Lennon