Thursday 1 May 2008

'peace one day': Sri Lanka Youth Declaration


Peace one day is a concept by filmmaker Jeremy Gilley. He was at a musical concert, when Jeremy had an idea: what if there was one day when the world stopped fighting? A worldwide ceasefire - a non-violence day? A Peace Day? After years of work Jeremy finally had his wish in 2001, when the UN general assembly unanimously adopted a resolution for for formally establishing an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence as the UN International Day of Peace on September 21st.

This year, on September 21st, a group of young Sri Lankans want to celebrate that this by launching a Sri Lankan youth deceleration in solidarity with the Peace One Day Initiative. Following is an excerpt from the formal document:

"Through the voice of young people, we reaffirm the faith in fundamental peace and prosperity for all, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women regardless of race, creed, colour or social status.

We bring to the forum a process of meaningful reconciliation, constructive dialogue and change for a positive Sri Lanka. [..]

Throughout history, young people within Sri Lanka have always played a major part in shaping the continuing story of this small island. As the keepers of this responsibility, we reaffirm our right to be heard and counted. In spirit of this, we put forward our vision for a constructive peace and a progressive Sri Lanka.

This day and declaration is the manifestation of such ideals.
In true strength of democracy our ideas are open to criticism, compromise and inclusion"

You can contribute your views to the Sri Lankan Youth declaration by answering a set of questions set by the organizers and emailing them to: chat@sancyaustralia.com.au.

The document with the list of questions can be downloaded (pdf) and emailed to the organizers. For more on Youth Deceleration visit the organizers’ blog or their facebook group. For more on the Peace One Day initiative, visit their web site.

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