Community gatherings— like this vigil for victims of domestic violence— can be very meaningful. The public is invited to an International Day of Peace gathering on Sept. 21.
An evening of song and readings to honor and remember September 21 as a United Nationsdesignated International Day of Peace will be held at 7 p.m. at the Grand Marais Rec Park pavilion.
This is a day and evening to act in a peaceful way within families, city, county, state, country and world; a day and evening to hope for the peace to continue the next day, and the next, and the next, and so on.
The International Day of Peace, sometimes unofficially known as World Peace Day, is observed annually on Sept. 21. It is dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence, such as might be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in a combat zone for humanitarian aid access.
The Cook County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution on September 8 declaring September 21 as “A Day of Peace in Cook County.”
The county resolution noted that without the support of governments, civil society, the private sector, faith-based groups and non-governmental organizations, peace will remain elusive. “Together, as partners for peace, we can achieve a world of peace, prosperity and dignity for all,” resolved the county board.
The day was first celebrated in 1982, and is kept by many nations, political groups, military groups, and peoples. In 2013, for the first time, the day was dedicated by the secretary general of the United Nations to peace education, the key preventive means to reduce war sustainably.
To inaugurate the day, the United Nations Peace Bell is rung at U.N. headquarters in New York City. The bell is cast from coins donated by children from all continents except Africa, and was a gift from the United Nations Association of Japan, as “a reminder of the human cost of war.” The inscription on its side reads, “Long live absolute world peace.”
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