United Nations Resolutions
The International
Day of Peace, established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to
coincide with the opening of the General Assembly, was first inaugurated
on the third Tuesday of September, 1982. Beginning on the
20th anniversary in 2002, the UN General Assembly set 21
September as the now permanent date for the International Day of
Peace.
In establishing the International Day of Peace, the
United Nations General Assembly decided that it would be appropriate
"to devote a specific time to
concentrate the efforts of the United Nations and its Member States, as
well as of the whole of mankind, to promoting the ideals of peace and to
giving positive evidence of their commitment to peace in all viable
ways… (The International Day of Peace) should be devoted to
commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and
among all nations and peoples."
The Assembly's resolution declared that the
International Day of Peace
"will serve as a reminder to all
peoples that our Organization, with all its limitations, is a living
instrument in the service of peace and should serve all of us here
within the Organization as a constantly pealing bell reminding us that
our permanent commitment, above all interests or differences of any
kind, is to peace. May this Peace Day indeed be a day of
peace."
(Quotes excerpted
from the United Nations General Assembly Resolution UN/A/RES/36/67)
The amended
Resolution adopted in 2001 permanently fixed the date of the
International Day of Peace to September 21.
“The
Assembly, reaffirming the contribution that the observance and
celebration of the International Day of Peace make in
strengthening the ideals of peace and alleviating tensions and causes of
conflict, (decided that) beginning with the fifty-seventh session, the
Day should be observed on 21 September each year, with this date to be
brought to the attention of all people for the celebration and
observance of peace.”
The new Resolution added the call for the
International Day of Peace to be a Global Ceasefire:
"Declares that the
International Day of Peace shall henceforth be observed as a day of
global ceasefire and non-violence, an invitation to all nations and
people to honour a cessation of hostilities for the duration of the
Day..."
(Quotes from the amending UN
resolution UN/A/RES/55/282 which fixes the date of the
International Day of Peace on 21 September and calls for a Global
Ceasefire on that Day.)
UN
Res 55/282 - Arabic (PDF)
UN
Res 55/282 - Chinese (PDF)
UN Res 55/282 - English (PDF)
UN
Res 55/282 - French (PDF)
UN
Res 55/282 - German (PDF)
UN
Res 55/282 - Russian (PDF)
UN
Res 55/282 - Spanish (PDF)
May Peace Prevail On Earth!