INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE MARKED IN SARAJEVO

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (September 22,2007) – The International Day of Peace was marked yesterday in Bosnian capital Sarajevo.Peace, freedom and safety are the biggest value for every Bosnian citizen, as well as for every citizen of the world,the President of the International Centre for Peace Ibrahim Spahic stated yesterday on the occasion of September 21, the International Day of Peace.

”Sadly”, Spahic said “this is the time when Bosnia and the rest of the world have forgotten about the peace builders, the people dedicated to conflict prevention. All the world’s attention is now focused on the conflicts in which the economic interest of bigger or smaller powers are solved by the means of weapons.

”Justice and equality are not respected in Bosnia today, for the only characteristic recognized is political, national, social and sexual injustice. Bosnia as a state does not react to any of these phenomenon and does not react in accordance to the international standards.

What dominates today is false solidarity, based on the profits of the companies producing conflicts or are participating in them in the name of human rights and freedoms. Such practice is common at all levels of authority”,Spahic said.

The International Day of Peace was first established in 1981 by a resolution 36/67 of the United Nations General Assembly to be "devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace, as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence and to coincide with its opening session every September, an invitation to all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities during the Day.

UN invited all Member States, organizations of the United Nations system, regional and non-governmental organizations and individuals to commemorate the Day in an appropriate manner, including through education and public awareness, and to cooperate with the United Nations in establishing a global ceasefire.

This resolution also invited the Economic and Social Council to consider the possibility of declaring an International Year of Peace at the first practicable opportunity.

In 2001 the resolution 55/282 was strengthened to fix the date annually on 21 September,and for it to be a day of nonviolence and cease-fire,after a campaign by Jeremy Gilley,a British actor turned film-maker and founder of the non-profit organization - Peace One Day. The resolution was adopted unanimously by the Member States of the General Assembly.