Youth & Students for Peace (YSP) - What can I do for peace?

On June 26, 2019 YSP Austria organized the first Information and discussion evening about YSP in Vienna, which took place in the office of IAPD Europe that is connected to Peace Museum Vienna. The topic we set for this event was: “What can I do for Peace?” The first speaker was Jeong-Hye Yeom, our YSP Director of Europe and Middle East. She introduced “Youth and Students for Peace” to our guests and through that they could make themselves a picture of what we do in YSP and what our vision is.

The second speaker was Suad Sheikh Mohamed. Originally, from Somalia, Suad has also lived in Saudi Arabia, Syria, Pakistan, and Austria. Suad works as an Assistant Consultant in the Austrian Red Cross and as an interpreter at a Catholic organization in Vienna. She shared about what peace means for her and what she thinks everyone can do for peace. Firstly, she mentioned that inner peace is important, to be in harmony with oneself. Then one can spread this calmness and peacefulness with others. She mentioned that it is important to be open to others and not to judge without knowing the background. One thing that everyone can do for peace is to smile at others, which can have already a big impact on others.

After the talks guests split the group in two and had discussion rounds about different questions. The people shared about what peace means to them, what projects they would be interested in and also what they think is important for peaceful relationships. Something they stressed was that peace starts within a person him-/herself. All of them were motivated to invest themselves and take small steps towards making Austria a better place! We will find a date in autumn to have an official inauguration of YSP in Austria.

by Beatrice Kiedler, YSP Austria