UNESCO celebrates the 2011 International Day of Peace

Wednesday, September 21 is the International Day of Peace.

Message of the Director-General on the occasion of the International Day of Peace – 21 September

This year, UNESCO organized a host of events to celebrate peace in the count down till the Day. On 8 September, UNESCO celebrated literacy for peace during the International Literacy Day. UNESCO’s 2011 International Literacy Prizes reward ground-breaking programs that show the central role of literacy in promoting human rights, gender equality, conflict resolution and cultural diversity. Click here for more information on these prizes

UNESCO is celebrating the Day of Peace by awarding the 2010 Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize to The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a non-governmental organization based in Argentina, in recognition for their tireless efforts over more than thirty years to promote human rights and peace by standing up to oppression, injustice and impunity, and for making their voices heard.

The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Argentina)received this Peace Prize at special award ceremony that was held at UNESCO Headquarters on 14 September (3 p.m., Room I), in the presence of the President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of Côte d’Ivoire Alassane Dramane Ouattara and several other Heads of State or Government.

For more information about the event, click here

UNESCO will also be celebrating the IDP by engaging with youth and empowering them to be agents of peace and social change during the upcoming UNESCO Youth Forum on “How youth drive change”, to be held from 17 to 20 October 2011 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.



During the Forum, a series of skills-building workshops on peace, reconciliation and conflict resolution will be held with youth, which will be moderated by the Oscar-winning actor and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Forest Whitaker. During these workshops, youth will receive tools needed to educate others on peace building, reconciliation and conflict resolution.



For more information on the Youth Forum, click here


UNESCO will also be participating in the Commemoration of the International Day of Peace, which will be held at the United Nations in Geneva on 21st September. For more information, click here: (attached is the draft programme)



UNESCO is working each and every day to “build the defenses of peace in the minds of men and woman,” through all of its programmes.



Through its new intersectoral and interdisciplinary Programme of Action for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence, it will aim to support countries in preventing conflict and in promoting mutual understanding and reconciliation for a culture of peace and non-violence among countries, communities and people by mobilizing the power of education, the sciences, culture and communication and information.



For more information on this new Programme of Action, which will be discussed at UNESCO’s forthcoming Executive Board, see pgs. 104-114 in the 36 C/5 Add Volume 2.

• 21-09-2011