International
Day of Peace : Youth for
Peace and Development
Vienna,
Austria, September 21st 2010 – After participating with a delegation of
Ambassadors for Peace at the UN celebration of the International Day of Peace
2010 in Vienna International Center during the early afternoon of a beautiful
sunny late summer day, UPF Austria organized its own celebration on the topic
of “Youth for Peace and Development” in the evening.
After few
words of welcome by UPF-Austria Secretary General Peter Haider, a
video message by UN Un Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon set the tone for the event. Father Vahan Hovaguimian from the Armenian
Catholic community read a prayer for peace in his native language and Elder
Reuben Silverbird played beautifully on his flute preparing an
harmonious atmosphere for the presentations of several projects of youth
representatives:
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Jörg Reitmaier
spoke about his experience in the Austrian Service Abroad,
a non-profit initiative, founded in 1998 by Dr. Andreas Maislinger.
The organisation provides placements for an
alternative Austrian national service all over the world. It caters for three
different types of services: Holocaust Memorial Service, Social Service and
Peace Service. Mr. Reithmaier spoke about his
experience working in
Ms.
Daniela Zwerger reported about her visit to Israel and Palestine with a group of
students from all over Europe, how she was first of all fascinated to visit all
places where Jesus walked 2000 years ago. She spoke about the pain she felt
meeting young people in Tel Aviv and
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Mr. Ilia Sichrovsky spoke about his
experiences during and leading up to a Muslim-Jewish
Conference, which he and his friends organized during the summer of 2010. “Representing
the
Ms. Leila Salehi-Ravesh spoke about the „Green Movement in
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To
conclude the presentations Ms. Kaidi Cui, a young
Chinese violinist spoke about the “Young Generation in modern
At the
end Mr. Zeki Metin
representing an NGO, which organizes every year an award ceremony honoring a
world oriented man and a woman introduced his work. He expressed his
appreciation of the work of UPF and extended an invitation for his upcoming
event. To conclude the evening everybody enjoyed a buffet with talks that lasted
for another few hours.
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Friedensgebete
und einführende Worte: Pater Vahan Hovaguimian, Elder Reuben Silverbird Podiumsdiskussion
mit folgenden Beiträgen: Jörg Reitmaier: „Als
Zivildiener beim österreichischen
Auslandsdienst“ Daniela Zwerger: „Begegnungen
mit Jugendlichen in Israel und Palästina“ Ilia Sichrovsky:
„Erfahrungen bei der Muslim Jewish Conference“ Leila Salehi-Ravesh: „Die
Grüne Revolution – Hoffnung der Jugend im Iran“ Kaidi Cui: „Die junge Generation im modernen China des 21. Jahrhunderts“ |
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Rede des Generalsekretärs zum
Internationalen Friedenstag (Englisch)
The
International Day of Peace (IDP) was established by the UN General Assembly in
1981 for “commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace within and among
all nations and people.” Twenty years later, the General Assembly decided that
September 21 would be observed annually as a “day of global ceasefire and
non-violence" and invited all Member States, organizations and individuals
to commemorate the day, including through education and public awareness, and
to cooperate with the United Nations in the establishment of a global
ceasefire.
"This
year’s observance focuses on youth and development, under the slogan: Peace =
Future.... This International Day comes with a challenge for young people
everywhere: Expand on your work to build peace. Share your plans and ideas,
with creativity and passion. The world's concerns will soon be in your
hands." - UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
The
Universal Peace Federation and its Ambassadors for Peace supported the 2009
United Nations International Day of Peace with celebrations in over 40 nations,
including disarmament seminars in
Tel.: +43 650/2588846; E-Mail: info@weltfriede.at