International Peace Day – Celebration cum Evaluation

Posted by Ben Johnson

September 26, 2011

September 21, 2011…International Peace Day, Is it a call to celebrate or evaluate? And this surely is a big question.

It was in 1981 that United Nations General Assembly has declared World Peace Day. This day then gained more and more importance in the later years. The World Peace Day is celebrated by a temporary cease fire in the areas of war, so it’s a day of non-violence. It begins with ringing a “Peace Bell” at UN Headquarters; the bell is made by coins donated by children from every continent. Inside of the bell carries an inscription that reads: “Long Live Absolute World Peace.”The Bell was presented to United Nations by United Nations Association of Japan in 1954 as a symbol of peace.

These are just two (temporary cease fire and ringing the Peace Bell) of all the different events that are a part of World Peace Day celebrations, but do you think that these events really contribute in bringing peace to the world or they can really change our catastrophic nature?

The activities on the World Peace day are surely a good call to shake every mind across the globe to rethink over their decisions. One should realize that it’s not just about nations but about individuals. Nations are groups of different individuals, and wars are a result of conflicts arising from these individuals. The present time demands change, and the change will only be effective if every individual contributes to it.

However, this year, World Peace Day theme carries a call for evaluation: “Make Your Voice Heard.” Those who have been suppressed, denied of their rights and forced to live a dreadful life are invited to raise their voices and let the process of evaluation begin…

The bottom line is: All the activities, events and programs will make these 24 hours of Peace day worth it only if these activities are able to bring a change in the mindsets of people across the globe, even if it’s a minor change.

Ben Johnson is Alliance Manager at Logoinn, a logo design company. He writes about the effect of design on marketing and brand identity and helps small businesses find design solutions for effective marketing.