Annual Student Observation of International Day of Peace at United Nations. New York, NY

The International Day of Peace celebrations at the United Nations traditionally opens with a Peace Bell ringing ceremony in the Rose Garden.  In the presence of ambassadors and their representatives from various UN Permanent Missions, UN Secretary general, António Guterres, rang the Peace Bell to open the IDP celebrations.  May Peace Prevail On Earth International flags representing each of the 193 member states of the United Nations were carried by international students during the opening ceremony as it has been an annual tradition for the past decades.

Following the Rose Garden opening, the annual Student Observation of the International Day of Peace brought together the efforts of students and grassroots organizations from both local and global intentions to the historic building of the United Nations for a celebration and urgent attention towards under the timely theme, Climate Action For Peace.  At exactly noon, our May Peace Prevail On Earth Peace Bell made of recycled weapons of war, was rung to send a peace wave to every corner on earth during the moment of silence that followed.  

The students expressed a sense of urgency among attendees – presentations and conversations of sustainable practices concerning fashion, agriculture, and pedestrian acts pervaded in the hall of Conference Room 4, while questions concerning carbon emissions, horticulture and water took hold of the event. The audience enjoyed a collaboration by famed musicians and Messengers of Peace, Midori, and Yo-Yo Ma, as well as a presentation by Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, youth director to Earth Guardians, prior to his presentation at the Climate March called upon by Greta Thunberg in Battery Park. This year’s youth moderator was the Honorable Kehkashan Basu.