September 21st is the 25th anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the Declaration and Program of Action on a Culture of Peace. Isn’t that a wonderful intention… a culture of peace?
Cultivating a Culture of Peace
From the UN [LINK] we see the following:
“In a world with rising geopolitical tensions and protracted conflicts, there has never been a better time to remember how the UN General Assembly came together in 1999 to lay out the values needed for a culture of peace. These include: respect for life, human rights and fundamental freedoms; the promotion of non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation; commitment to peaceful settlement of conflicts; and adherence to freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance, solidarity, cooperation, pluralism, cultural diversity, dialogue and understanding at all levels of society and among nations.”
We would venture to say that there is not one among us who would prefer war over peace. How do we bring peace to the world? We will offer readers the answer given by the UN.
“The ideas of peace, the culture of peace, need to be cultivated in the minds of children and communities through formal and informal education, across countries and generations.”
Children’s Poems for Peace
The UNICEF website has published videos of children offering their poems for peace. We have taken the liberty of transcribing two poems and we link the reader to the YouTube video of the child poet. The featured children are from Haiti and Ukraine.
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Chris Jordan, Age 8, Port Au Prince, Haiti [LINK]
School is good, writing is good.
Haiti is my country, I love each day I pass here.
One day I wish to hear no more guns shoot.
I like you very much, please help me, don’t scare me with bandits.
I love you because you are the country of my parents.
Long live Haiti, sweet country.
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Fadir, Age 10, Ukraine [LINK]
Everyone says school’s quite thrilling
You make the first steps on your own
But I’m about to forget this feeling
My best school years were stolen
It all turned into memories and sighting
That come to mind, so nice but fast
My first school year, the early writing
My lovely teacher, smiling from the past
Now we only visit school sometimes
We run to shelters and hide for hours
If only we could enjoy our classes
Enjoy this time of ours
But I believe that happy days will break through the pain
The war will end, the air raids will stop forever
And our classrooms will be full of kids again
My school, I’ll come, I love you
A Peace Culture for Our Children
The UN asks for a culture of peace and the people of the world certainly pray for it. Let’s look a little further into the message from the UN:
“The Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) starts with the notion that “wars begin in the minds of men so it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed”. The ideas of peace, the culture of peace, need to be cultivated in the minds of children and communities through formal and informal education, across countries and generations.
“The International Day of Peace has always been a time to lay down weapons and observe ceasefires. But it now must also be a time for people to see each other’s humanity. Our survival as a global community depends on that.”
We couldn’t agree more, at AMS Fulfillment. Everything a B Corporation does, for employees, clients, the community and our Earth, is a foundation for peace. It’s time for people to see each other’s humanity, and when we do see each other… there will be an end to war.
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AMS Fulfillment is a Certified B Corporation, dedicated to People and Planet before Profit. We work to B the Change we wish to see in the world.
