[psych-hr] Annan rings Peace Bell, marking International Day of Peace 2003

***     Find out more about International Day of Peace 2003 at:
http://www.hrea.org/feature-events/peace-day-03.html      ***


19 September 2003 ­ Secretary-General Kofi Annan rang the Peace Bell at
United Nations Headquarters in New York today to mark annual International
Day of Peace, cautioning that for some, the direst threat to peace was
terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, while for others it was
poverty, disease, deprivation and civil war.

"This year, the International Day of Peace, and the Peace Bell we will
ring to mark it, take on added poignancy and purpose. A month ago, almost
to the hour, an act of unspeakable brutality struck our friends and
colleagues in Baghdad," Mr. Annan said before striking the bell three
times in the West Court Garden on the front lawn of the Secretariat
building.

"Today, we ring this bell for them, for their families and loved ones," he
added in reference to his top envoy for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and
the 21 others killed in the terrorist bomb attack of 19 August. "We ring
it for the people of Iraq, whom our colleagues were working to assist
ceremony. We ring it for the people of every nation who need our prayer
for peace."

Standing at his side as rang the bell, a gift from Japan cast from the
pennies donated by children from 60 nations, were five UN Messengers of
Peace: former world boxing champion Muhammad Ali, author and journalist
Anna Cataldi, film actor and director Michael Douglas, wildlife researcher
and conservationist Jane Goodall and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie
Wiesel.

In a message released ahead of today's ceremony, Mr. Annan underlined the
global scope of peace and its varying ingredients.

"In some parts of the world, the dominant threats to peace and security
are seen as new and potentially more virulent forms of terrorism, the
proliferation of non-conventional weapons, the spread of transnational
criminal networks and the ways in which all these things maybe coming
together to reinforce one another. But for many others around the globe,
poverty, disease, deprivation and civil war remain the highest
priorities,"  he said.

"Our challenge is to ensure we have the rules, instruments and
institutions to deal with all these threats -- not according to some
hierarchy of 'first order' and 'second order' issues, but as a linked set
of global, cross-border challenges that affect, and should concern, all
people. The divisions of the past year have raised doubts about the
adequacy and effectiveness of those rules and tools," he added.

Speaking at the ceremony the President of the General Assembly, Julian
Robert Hunte, Foreign Minister of St. Lucia, noted the conflicts of war,
poverty, deprivation and deadly diseases besetting the world, adding: "We
should, however, let nothing cloud our message. We must remain undaunted
in our search for lasting peace."

For the first time this year, students participated in a pageantry of
flags representing the 191 UN Member States. The UN Assistance Mission in
Afghanistan (UNAMA), UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Syrian
Golan Heights and UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) joined in the
Headquarters observance via satellite.

Following the ceremony, the annual student observance was held with the
five Messengers of Peace sharing experiences with young men and women
visiting from Kuwait and Rwanda, and by videoconference from Afghanistan
and Sierra Leone.

Other ceremonies were held at UN outposts throughout the world, including
cultural and sports events in the name of peace. In Somalia the UN called
for a suspension of all fighting; in Lebanon, the world body was giving
eco-tourism awards to rural and urban planners; in Guatemala, it was to
inaugurate a children's park; in Burundi, local leaders were meeting in
round tables on how to reach lasting peace; in Bougainville in the South
Pacific weapons were to be destroyed.

UN News Service




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