ATOP Meaningfulworld UN International Day of Peace
Zhehan Fan & Dr. Ani Kalayjian
September 21, 2013, Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York
“On this International Day of Peace, let us pledge to teach our children the value of tolerance and mutual respect. Let us invest in the schools and teachers that will build a fair and inclusive world that embraces diversity. Let us fight for peace and defend it with all our might.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Each year the International Day of Peace is celebrated around the world on the 21st of September. This year ATOP Meaningfulworld collaborated with like-minded co-sponsors and dear friends to celebrate peace at the Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York City. Our most appreciated co-sponsors include The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Armenian Constitutional Rights Protective Centre, Armenian American Society for Studies on Stress & Genocide, Voices for Freedom, EOTO World, Original Women, and Lisa Schiller.
The program featured the Award Ceremony for Humanitarian and Peacebuilding in the World, an art exhibition of youth inspired by peace, a live world music performance, and homemade healthy fare. The event recognized and promoted UN MDG Goal 8: Establish a global partnership creating a nurturing partnership among NGOs, corporations, academia, and the United Nations affiliates to recognize those individuals, collaborative peace centers, and conflict resolution efforts.
After welcoming remarks, the event proceeded with a Meaningfulworld tradition, a moment of silence, followed by singer Nirvana Lucie’s rendition of one of Michael Jackson’s most loved classics, “Man in the Mirror.” Bathed in the people’s warm applause, Dr. Ani Kalayjian, founder and President of ATOP Meaningfulworld, recited a poem before introducing the first honoree, H.E. Bangladesh Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury for Humanitarian and Peacebuilding Work in the World. Ambassador Chowdhury also served as Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States. He has a lifelong passion for global peacebuilding and is also the founder of the Global Movement for the Culture of Peace with his pioneering effort to partner with civil society. The ambassador gave a brief overview of his passion and global work on peace, speaking also of the history of the UN International Day of Peace.
The second honoree is H. E. Palestine Ambassador Dr. Riyad Mansour. Dr. Mansour was born to a refugee family that lived in the city of Ramallah in the Occupied West Bank. In 1967, Ambassador Mansour started his college education in the United States. Since his youth, he has always been involved in Palestinian politics and began his career in the Palestinian diplomatic service in 1983 at the Permanent Observer Mission of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to the United Nations (UN). He was appointed Ambassador and Permanent Observer of Palestine to the UN in 2005 and since November 29, 2012, he has been Ambassador and Permanent Observer to the State of Palestine to the UN.
H.E. Burundi Ambassador Herménégilde Niyonzima is the third honoree from the United Nations. Ambassador Niyonzima presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on October 20, 2011. Before his appointment, he had served as Burundi’s Ambassador to Libya since October 2009, as well as the Legal Representative and Project Coordinator for the Burundian Refugee Relief Organization, a charity registered in the United Kingdom, from 2001 through 2003. From 1991 to 1993 he taught psychology at the École National de Police (National Police Academy) and was a member of the Confederative Committee of the Union of Workers of Burundi.
In addition to the excellent work and presence of the United Nation Ambassadors, we also had the Paul Robeson Freedom School, with founders Rahmi and Justin receiving an award. Located in a historical church in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Paul Robeson Freedom School (named after African singer and activist Paul Robeson) has an educational goal: The curriculum is designed to build an empowering community of youth and adult leader-educators to nurture and liberate human minds and bodies and the collective spirit.
Professor Maria Volpe was the fourth honoree. She is professor of Sociology and the director of the Dispute Resolution Program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the City University of New York. As an internationally known scholar, Dr. Volpe’s work focuses largely on the dispute resolution process, particularly in mediation.
Then Katherine Kaze, our Meaningfulworld Ambassador, showed a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation with photos and details of peacekeeping operations, peacebuilding humanitarian missions, and educational programs conducted by ATOP Meaningfulworld from 1990 to the present, in more than 45 calamities around the world.
“What does peace mean to me? World peace seems so far away, but the first step is right in our hearts. If we could all take on personal responsibility to follow our hearts and do the right thing, we’d be 7 billion steps closer to peace.”
— Katrina Martinez, UN Youth Representative, ATOP Meaningfulworld
Live music provided a wonderful intermission between the speeches and filled the room with glorious energy and enthusiasm. The featured musicians included the Flamenco Team with Michel Mimar (guitar), Sonia Olla (dancer), Samara de la Rosa (vocal), and Ismael de la Rosa (vocal) from Spain, Camille Safiya (vocal), Nirvana Lucie (vocal), and Lindsay Krasna (vocal and guitar). Music is the language connecting people from all races and cultures, and in these wonderful performances we heard the universal call for peace from the heart.
Along with the music, the art coordinator of this event, Lisa Schiller, curated an art exhibit: the Art of Peace from young artists in greater New York.
After two hours of celebration, the event ended in a Heart-to-Heart-Circle led by Dr. Ani Kalayjian. Close to 100 participants joined this special moment for world peace: the UN ambassadors along with the youth artists, the world-famous scholars all alike held hands and connected in their hearts for world peace. Each one announced the name of the country, and the entire members of the circle chanted together “May peace prevail in [name of the country, for instance Syria].”
Our next event is on 24 October on United Nations Founding Day at the Nigerian Mission to the UN, 10:30-12:30, on Sustainable Peace through Forgiveness. Kindly RSVP to Joyce Fan at: Info@Meaningfulworld.com
SPECIAL GRATITUDE TO OUR COSPONSORS: Association for Trauma Outreach & Prevention (ATOP) Meaningfulworld, The Bronx Museum of Arts, Armenian Constitutional Rights Protective Centre, Armenian American Society for Studies on Stress & Genocide, Voices for Freedom, EOTO World, Original Women, and Lisa Schiller. www.Meaningfulworld.com, www.bronxmuseum.org