The world without wars and violence!

From 8 September to 13 October at the Official Document Division (room 207) runs a book exhibition “The world without wars and violence!” dedicated to the International Day of Peace.

This day was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly (resolution A/RES/36/67). It is annually commemorated on the third Tuesday of September, in the day of the UN next session. In 2001, the General Assembly by unanimous vote adopted resolution A/RES/55/282 which established that from 2002 year the International Day of Peace would be annually commemorated on 21 September.

The General Assembly proclaimed that the International Day of Peace would be commemorated as the day of non-violence and cease-fire and proposed to all countries and peoples to honour a cessation of hostilities during this day.

Peace is a usual reality for most people of our planet and it is not always noticed and valued. But the situation when streets are quiet can be seemed for some people as an ordinary day, but for others the feeling of peace is a dream. Millions people on the planet live in the atmosphere of instability and fear, suffer from wars, conflicts and those misfortunes which these wars bring with themselves. The United Nations appeals people by the establishment of this day to think about the instability of such natural to many people peace without wars and violence. It is called to force people not only to think about peace, but also to make something for its sake.

The United Nations uses the International Day of Peace to attract attention to its various works in supporting of peace and impelling countries, international societies and organizations, communities and individuals on the whole planet to comprehend of peace problems, information exchange and practical experience of activity on its achievement.

The commemoration of the International Day of Peace is accompanied by various events, but the ceremony at the Peace Bell is held constantly. It traditionally opens with the address of the General Secretary of the United Nations after which he strikes the bell. Then the minute of silence follows. The Peace Bell was presented to the United Nations Organization by Japan in June, 1954. It is cast from the coins which children collected from 60 countries. The inscription on the bell says: “Long live absolute world peace!”. And annually on 21 September people in all world corners gather to confirm this idea, to remember victims of conflicts and to declare about their readiness to devote themselves to the creation of a safer and fairer world.

The events of the past year – war, terrorism, military charges, deep contradiction which separate the peoples and individuals, conditioned an unprecedented urgency of the International Day of Peace and in the present year.

The proposed exhibition numbers over 100 documents revealing the work of international organizations, government and non-government organizations and groups in the field of maintenance of peace and safety. The most part of the exposition are represented by the documents of international organizations (UN, UNESCO, the European Union, the Council of Europe, etc.) in Russian and English languages: books, periodicals and the UN mimeographed materials.

The exhibition includes following sections:

• International agreements and international-legal documents on maintenance of peace and safety;
• Disarmament, nuclear disarmament;
• Actions on maintenance of peace;
• Peacekeeping and peacebuilding;
• Struggle against terrorism and nuclear terrorism;
• Human rights and maintenance of peace;
• Democratization and a culture of peace.

The exhibition will be interesting to experts in the field of international politics, diplomacy, international relations, international law, conflictology, and also to students, undergraduates, political and social figures and to all for whom the peace all over the world is important.

References:

• About the International Day of Peace
• The International Day of Peace
• Peace and safety
• The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affair
• The UN Peacekeeping
• The UN Missions on Peacebuilding
• The UN Peacebuilding Commission
• The UN Messengers of Peace
• Dialogue among civilizations and a culture of peace
• Alliance of civilizations
• Disarmament week (24-30 October 2010)
• Children and armed conflicts
• The organizations of the UN system that deal with disarmament

Documents:

Resolutions of General Assembly on the International Day of Peace:

• A/RES/36/67 (30 November 1981)
• A/RES/55/282 (7 September 2001)
• The UN Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace (1999)
• The Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace (1984)
• The Declaration on the Promotion among Youth of the Ideals of Peace, Mutual Respect and Understanding between Peoples (1965)