Click on the image below to read the Director-General’s speech

Click the image to see the programme for the prizegiving ceremony

Jordi, 13 ans

Selon toi, qui incarne l’action pour la paix et comment ? Inspire-toi d’une personnalité ou de quelqu’un de ton entourage

La paix, c’est une chose de vraiment recherchée,
Tout le monde la veut, veut la trouver,
Mais seulement le meilleur peut la trouver,
Après chercher pendant des années,
Pour la trouver, il faut vraiment s’y mettre,
Vraiment s’y mettre à son sujet.

Dans quelques pays elle est déjà existante,
Mais dans autres, il faut qu’elle vraiment apparaisse,
Il y a trop de guerres sur cette planète,
Et il est temps de les arrêter et de régler
d’autres problèmes.

Moi personnellement, je cherche la paix,
J’essaie de ne pas m’énerver ou de devoir me disputer,
Je veux suivre le chemin d’hommes comme Henry Dunant, Nelson Mandela et beaucoup d’autres personnes,
Mais il y a des gens qui gâchent tout,
Ils ne pensent que à eux-mêmes et à rien autour d’eux,
Et ces gens faut les il changer,
Il faut les inspirer à l’amour et à la paix.
Je pense qu’un jour on la trouvera, cette paix,
Mais avant de la trouver, il faudra du sacrifice,
Il faudra des très bonnes personnes,
Des personnes préparées à tout faire pour la trouver,
Comme monsieur Dag Hammarskjöld,
Lui, il a tout donné pour la trouver,
Dag, c’était vraiment un guerrier de la paix,
Et on le remercie de l’avoir fait :
Notre monde est meilleur grâce à son succès !

Karen, aged 13

“You have not done enough, you have never done enough, as long as there is still something to which you can contribute.”
-Dag Hammarskjöld

Now if I had a rainbow dream catcher,
Swaying in the wind by my open window,
I’d want it to scare away my nightmares.
Those which meander in my mind at night
And the ones I fear from turning real.

I’d want it to banish the vision I have quite often.
That on some very ordinary day,
The aid workers and all the people trying to help,
Would give up.
And leave us with our problems,
Because they think they’ve done enough,
Or because the news is getting old.

I know it sounds slightly selfish to say considering all that’s happening,
But I endeavor to become an astronaut one day,
I wish to fly to space
And explore.

Well,
Mum told me that it may not be too easy to accomplish,
Because those who make the decisions
Aren’t able to simply harmonize and cannot solve their problems.

She also told me that there are people trying to help us.
And I promised her,
That if I ever become an astronaut,
I will fly to space and bring a little bit of the moon for each one that helped us.

The problem is,
I don’t have a rainbow-coloured dream catcher.
I don’t have a window either.

And even if I did, I’d probably give it to someone else,
Because there are countless numbers of people without dream catchers,
And they have even worse nightmares, which they need to keep away.

Karina, aged 15

“ Our work for peace must begin within the private world of each one of us. To build a world without fear we must be without fear. To build a world of justice, we must be just.” – Dag Hammarskjold

In our 21st century there is a lot of scientific and technological progress which helps us get a better life, however humanity cannot overcome a painful heritage of the past centuries, wars. Wars occur because of misunderstandings between individuals, groups or countries and because of wrong government policies. War is the continuation of politics but with other sources: which are either ran by governments, oligarch groups or religious leaders.

Simple things, like changes in aspects of religion, movements, forces, trends or policies can at once create a war. However these same factors but in different conditions and situations can create Peace, so everything really depends on how we set it.

Any kind of compromise out of which we can reach Peace, even if it is only a weak hope for Peace, is many times better than any kind of war. Wars cause : destruction, bombings, deaths of innocent people, refugees, hunger, illnesses, unsanitary conditions ; and overall horror. None of these are factors of Peace.

In theory, we could have already learned from our previous mistakes, since we have already seen the horrendous consequences. ‘we got burnt on the same fire more than once.’ People should be taught to be patient, tolerant, respectful towards other cultures and traditions and always try to help the weakest but without humiliating their dignity or degrading them.

“ Our work for peace must begin within the private world of each one of us.”
is one of Dag Hammarskjold’s quotes. We should begin our internal work with our families, not only meaning parents and siblings but all our close friends and basically all the people that surround us. We should promote tolerance, respect and peacefulness.
We should help poor people get back on track, back on their feet because often, war, crises and other injustices put them into bad situations, out of which they cannot get out by themselves.

“ To build a world without fear, we must be without fear.”
We should not be afraid to speak out our opinions because maybe not worldwide, but they could make a change in our individual situations.

“ To build a world of justice, we must be just.”
Since not all of us are judges or take part in tribunals, we should still always make an attempt to be just on decisions of our everyday life. Our selfish acts and little lies concerning serious social and/or economical issues can create damage and harm other people.

As a worldwide famous writer, Tolstoy, said : “ Inside each soul there is war and Peace.” Therefore, everyone’s future lives depend on their soul, whether it is ruled by Peace or war. We are part of society and society influences our formation. So this world begins with our education and with the education of our future generations to stop future wars and make peace.

Katlo, aged 11

From your point of view, who embodies action for peace and how? Inspire yourself with a personality or someone from your entourage. 

I chose the question one because I found that that there were lots of people in my life and my community who embody peace to me and inspire me to spread peace as well.

What is peace?

Most people think it’s no war, but I think something different I think that peace is you and your family not quarrelling, it is you not felling stressed out about something and to me it’s also getting rid of or helping prevent sicknesses. And that’s my opinion others may have a different idea of what Peace is but for me to try and keep Peace at home for Peace always starts in the smallest places before it can go worldwide.

Who embodies Peace to me and why?

The person or the people that embody Peace to me are my teachers and my father. My teachers Miss Arnott, Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. Peeters-weem and all my other teachers embody peace to me. This is because they all care about us, their students and the try their best to keep peace within the school community. If there are any problems between friends, the teacher tries his/her best to stop the quarrelling and bring the friend back together. My father embodies peace to me because he works with the World Health Organization (W.H.O). World Health organization also works on peace. How, because first you have to think of what peace is. Peace is not just when there is no violence it is also helping people in need of it for example the blue soldiers or red cross help people in need in places like Haiti and East Africa. So my father embodies peace to me because he helps those people who help with the health of the world. And that is one of the things that are involved peace. My father also embodies peace to me at home because my mum is in china, my father needs to do the cooking and the cleaning making sure that we are okay and making sure his world is at peace and so far it is.

These are the people who embody peace to me the people I look up to and sure there are many people out there that I might meet some day and they will embody peace to me but for now it is my teachers and my father that embody peace to me.

Komal, aged 16

“Our work for peace must begin within the private world of each one of us. To build a world without fear, we must be without fear. To build a world of justice, we must be just.” – Dag Hammarskjöld.

This quote comes from a time when the UN had to try to keep peace in a world threatened by the Cold War. By 1949, what were the dangers to peace? The relationship between USA and USSR which developed after the World War Two is known as the Cold War. The “friendship” between USA and USSR only existed as they both had a common enemy which was Germany. It was understood that by 1946 the wartime friendship between the allies had fallen apart due to suspicion and they saw each other as profound enemies.

President Truman of USA and Stalin of USSR both distrusted each other. USSR had a vast army which was known as the Red Army whereas US had the most powerful weapons. Stalin’s troops controlled the Baltic States, Finland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania and had created fear among other countries for a Communist take over. Stalin now tightened his control in each country where he had established a communist government. In his communist government, he only hired people who were loyal to him and replaced those who were independent mined. The western powers had agreed that the Eastern Europe would be a Soviet “sphere of influence” but had never imagined such great Communism domination. All Eastern European countries were controlled by Communist governments by 1948 apart from Greece and Czechoslovakia. Other countries, for example, France and Italy felt vulnerable to Communist take over. Truman had now understood that the Eastern Europe was now communist and now his objective was to stop any further expansion of communism. USA was willing to provide equipment, advice and money to any country which was threatened by communism. This was known as the Truman doctrine and this policy was names as containment. To stop communism, Truman sent out George Marshall to observe the world economy as he thought that communism only accomplished in its aim when a country was facing problems and needed help. With Marshall’s suggestion 17 billion dollars were made available over a period of four years. It is understood that Stalin was trying to spread communism and cripple Germany but it could also be argued that USA was trying to dominate over other countries so they could get dependent on dollars.

The Western allies and the Soviet Union had completely different opinion about what to do with Germany. Stalin wanted to crush Germany whereas the Western allies thought that Germany would never be able to feed its population. In 1946, USA, France and Britain merged their zones to form one zone which was known as West Germany. In June 1948, Stalin instituted a blockade which halted the arrival of food, materials and supplies in West Berlin. Stalin had predicted that plan would make the Western Allies leave West Berlin so that Berlin would become only dependent on USSR. His plan failed when Truman decided to air lift supplies and the population of West Berlin was supplied with required material. In 1949, Stalin realized that the blockade was no help in making the Western Allies give up Berlin, therefore he reopened the communications.
The tension of the Cold War in Europe had suddenly moved to East Asia. In October 1949, the People’s Liberation Army under the leader Mao Zedong was declared in China. It was a shock for USA that there was now a massive communist state. The USA was now imagining how the Communists would rule over Asia and their communist states in Europe. Now the combined size of Soviet Union and China threatened the US twice as much as before.

Japan had ruled over Korea until 195. As a result of the Second World War the northern half of Korea belonged to the Soviet Union and the southern half was owned by the US. The northern part of Korea was under Communist control and was ruled under Soviet style one party system. The southern part of Korea was not democratic and was anti-Communist. The North Communist leader and the president of South Korea had a bitter relationship. The reunification of North and South Korea seemed near to impossible. A war in future seemed inevitable.

The above analysis indicates that there were quite a lot of factors which could disrupt the peace in future. The expansion of communism was a threat to the other nations. The tension created between US and the Soviet Union during the cold war could easily start World War 3. The difference in opinion between the Communists and the Anti-Communists was a growing problem. In my opinion, by 1949 there were 3 scenario’s which could happen. The first scenario could be that US and the Soviet Union make a sensible negotiation between each other which would end the cold war and would be better for everyone. This is the best case scenario but is the least likely. The second scenario could be that the US and the Soviet Union end up having a war. This would mean that the cold war would lead to a nuclear war between the Western States and the Communist States. The third most likely scenario is that the cold war between the two states continues. This would mean no nuclear war but the cold war could continue for a long period of time. In all 3 scenario’s, the global peace seems to be in perpetual danger.

Kristina, aged 15

You can contribute to peace: what actions are you taking in your surroundings, your school, your city or at the international level. 

Peace

Jade is a lovely little girl aged fourteen. She goes to school in Canada and loves it very much. She has long brown hair and bright hazel eyes. Jade is a really sweet, original and giving little girl. She is also very generous and loves to help people. Jade really cares about the environment surrounding her and she believes in respect. She thinks it is really important for people to respect each other otherwise there will be no peace in the world.

Every day, she goes to school like everyone else with a positive feeling. When she arrives there, she sees her best friend, Tessa, and they both play together and learn at the same time. When she comes back from school, she walks her dog Buddy to the park. She throws his ball in the air and he comes back with it in his mouth, his tail waving so happily. When she is in the park and sees garbage on the ground she picks it up and throws it in the bin to make her environment cleaner.

Jade is always willing to help people, especially her family because she really appreciates what they do for her. At school, she never lets people fight because she thinks it’s not right. If this does happen at any time, she always solves the conflict because she thinks that is the right thing to do. After her classes, she tutors little children in math; her way of teaching is fun for both her and the child she is tutoring. She also takes part in the debate club and other competitions; this is one of her strongest sides. She is not scared of public speaking; in fact she really enjoys it because then you are able to express yourself in front of many people who listen to what you are saying.

Once a week, Jade goes to help old people in a retirement house not far from the city. She serves them coffee with some cookies in the afternoon and brings Buddy along with her because she knows he makes people really happy. When she comes back home, she has a little bit of homework to do. She enjoys her life but how does she manage all of that work? Jade thinks that if you are forced to do something and you do it because you just have to do it, there is no point, but if you do things that come from your heart and your willingness to help, you will always be successful no matter what.

People think that when there aren’t any wars in the world there will always be peace, but the fact that there is no war does not make the world peaceful. Peace also means to accept differences, to accept other people, other colours, to accept cultures, religions. Peace means to accept different countries, accept the fact that you may have less than other people but you are still the same, differences in rich and poor. Jade is really blessed that she lives in a world without fear and war, but she believes that the world can still use more involvement of people and their contribution to making the world a better place with acceptance of differences.

Jade understands all these things, and it seems to her that as much as she is helping and trying to make peace in the world she is living in, not everyone is aware of the inequalities there are. So, she decides to gather as much people as she can and talk to them about differences and how to make a change. Everyone can make a change in their lives, it doesn’t matter if the change is small or big, every bit counts. If everyone was ready to accept the fact that we are all different, if they were willing to stop and think for the well being of others and of how they could change their ways responsibly, the world could be a better place for everyone. She told the people to spread the word and to think about what they have done for others in the past years. By doing this, she hoped to get the people thinking about these important things that really matter in life. She was proud of the message she brought through and was sure that if every single person was ready to take the initiative to make a change, her goal of making people aware of what peace really is would be achieved!

Lara, aged 16

From your point of view, who embodies action for peace and how? Inspire yourself with a personality or someone from your entourage.

The Dalai Lama is the temporal and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people; he received the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award, the Raoul Wallenberg Congressional Human Rights Award and the Nobel Peace Prize. He is a man who embodies actions of peace. The Dalai Lama is a Buddhist and a guru; he is thought to be the reincarnation of a series of many spiritual leaders, chosen specifically to enlighten the lives of other humans. I am very inspired by his personality, role in society and actions. “How can we expect to find happiness and meaning in our lives when the modern world seems such an unhappy place?” says the Dalai Lama, in the book ‘the art of happiness in a troubled world’, by Howard C. Cutler. I agree with this statement: how can we embody actions of peace and be peaceful when our surroundings suffer from war all the time? People tend to analyze the negative things in their lives instead of focusing on the positive ones. I have chosen to write my essay about the Dalai Lama, of whom I am greatly inspired by; my reflections and opinions are based on his sayings and teachings.

War: when a human who has no self-control over his behavior does not get what he wishes for or seeks, and reacts with violence. This could be in a one-on-one argument, or one country against another. When humans do not understand each other or have no respect towards one another, it causes problems. The Dalai Lama says ‘the best way to overcome difficulties is to rely on human understanding and respect’. People need to learn how to respect each other. One of the main teachings of Buddhism is to reach inner peace. If everyone reached inner peace, it would be a world with no one needing to hurt each other, and without jealousy, which is a cause of war. War is caused by conflict, which is generally triggered by a simple misunderstanding, and all we need is respect and a determination for peace to overcome this state of anger.

Many people look at life simply, seeing everything as either black or white. Other people look at life from another point of view and see shades of grey. Every peaceful action leads to peace. But what is peace? Is there a state that the world could attain and be one hundred percent peaceful? If people were more open-minded and accepting of each other, this would be an action that embodies peace. ‘The only true guardian of peace lies within: a state of concern and responsibility for your own future and an altruistic concern for the well being of others’, says the Dalai Lama. If everyone reached a state where they felt peaceful within their own definition of peace, and others accepted it, then we would reach our goal.

Humans have basic needs that fulfilled does not lead them to wish for more. These needs and qualities are tolerance, compassion, acceptance, kindness and love. ‘Without basic human qualities such as love, compassion, and kindness, we cannot survive. They are essential to our own peace and mental stability,’ quotes the Dalai Lama. A human who feels loved and is able to love will feel more happy and peaceful than a human who lives without it. If people were more curious about their environment they would feel more relaxed and at peace with it, which would help them feel more understanding of other cultures and environments.

Having peace of mind will help one embody actions of peace. If you learn to be tolerant, and take the time to understand and respect people, you will be on the path leading to peace of mind, meaning you feel comfortable with your mind and body. ‘This peace of mind is central to what we are looking for in life. It determines the attitude we have towards the world, and towards our neighbors and our enemies too.’ Attitude. That is the answer. Everyone needs to adopt a better attitude towards his or her surroundings, and not take anything for granted. Taking things for granted, and not being grateful, leads to unhappiness and disappointment. You never know how much something means to you until you lose it; this is a famous quote and very true. If everyone made a small effort, and took the time to analyze what they truly wanted in life, no one would choose war. But many people do not have the patience to make this decision. People say they have patience, though most do not wish to acknowledge the fact that they don’t. Many people want what they want, and the fastest yet cruelest way to get it is by hurting and killing. It is hard to understand someone’s mind that works like this. Several people will blame this on a lack of education, when it really comes down to the way one feels about him or herself, furthermore a way to take out one’s frustrations. Individuals and cultures are frustrated because they think that they need what other cultures have in order to be happy.

According to Buddhism and the Fourth Nobel Truth, there is an end to suffering, ‘The path to the cessation of suffering’. This path is based on self-improvement, and leads to the end of the cycle of rebirth. It is believed that every time you are reincarnated, it is to undergo karmic conditions. The goal is to be enlightened; then you will have broken the cycle of rebirth. Once you reach this stage you are in Nirvana, where everything is peaceful and perfect. Many Buddhists try to reach this stage my meditation: clearing your mind of thoughts. If everyone tried to embrace the values of tolerance, acceptance and compassion there would be worldwide peace. I am impressed that the Dalai Lama has devoted his life to educating, lecturing and helping humanity throughout the world to come to peace with itself; a life dedicated to attaining peace.

In conclusion, the Dalai Lama represents peace, and I am very inspired by his work and teachings. He has changed many people’s lives, he has helped numerous countries and his beliefs are well-rounded and very interesting to study. Buddhism fascinates me; I find it interesting since it is linked to nature and it’s approach to humans is remarkable. The Dalai Lama believes that everything is connected; we need to be at peace with nature and with our environment, not only with each other. Instead of attacking and destroying our environment we need to respect and listen to it. Too many people see the environment as hostile, which takes away from feelings of peace. If humans worked together cooperatively towards a better world, in love and kindness, acceptance and respect, we would reach a state of peace throughout the world.

Liv, 13 ans

On ne le réalise peut-être pas,
Mais plein d’actions de paix viennent de toi et de moi.
Dans nos vies de tous les jours,
Quand nous jouons dans la cour,
Quand nous sommes assis derrière un bureau,
Ou quand nous mangeons dans le préau.
D’avoir aidé un enfant qui est tombé,
Ou d’avoir laissé sa place à un handicapé,
D’avoir fait une donation pour une charité,
D’avoir soigné quelqu’un de blessé.
Toutes les petites choses faites par les p’tites gens,
Peuvent changer la face du monde en un instant.
Il faut prendre exemple sur tous ces êtres altruistes,
Qui ont un grand cœur à partager.
Ils ont amélioré notre monde avec leur générosité,
Et on doit les en remercier.
On est tous une grande famille,
Et nous devons nous soutenir même quand nous n’en avons pas envie.
Nous, les humains, sommes les gens qui créent la valeur de la paix,
Unissons-nous pour des actes concrets.
Ensemble nous devons réaliser le vœu,
Que le monde soit paisible pour nous et pour eux.

Lukas, aged 16

“Our work for peace must begin within the private world of each one of us. To build a world without fear, we must be without fear. To build a world of justice, we must be just.” – Dag Hammarskjöld. 

Peace is important, what were the dangers to peace by 1949? The World War II had ended four years ago, the allies had fallen apart, the superpowers, USSR and USA had actually become enemies, the cold war had started. The times didn’t seem peaceful at all.

The USA and USSR have fallen apart because at the end of WWII, the USSR has taken over the whole Eastern Europe, saying that they need a sphere of influence, a buffer zone in case that Germany rises back and tries attacking the USSR like they did before. USA sees this as a start to the spread of communism, which, if not stopped, might spread all over the world. President Truman proclaims the policy of containment; he starts by sending help and reinforcements to Western Europe, especially to Germany, who was absolutely crippled and broken apart after the WWII , and also was on the border to Soviet sphere of influence, an obvious next target for the spreading Communism.

In 1949, after the Berlin blockade, which was the first test for containment, war was a real possibility. When the matters were at there worst, the western powers met in Washington and signed an agreement to work together, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was formed. The world now was more or less divided into to parts, USA and NATO against USSR and the satellite states under Soviet control.

Containment proved to be a successful policy, but there were recurrent tests for it over the period. The first one was the Berlin blockade, later on came the Korean War, where the communist North clashed with the capitalist South. The United Nations decided to push the communists to the 38th parallel and leave the border there, but General MacArthur disobeyed orders and came right to the border of China. The Chinese helped North Koreans to defend themselves and pushed the UN forces back, a stalemate was reached around the 38th parallel.

From 1955, the cold war entered a new phase; N. Khrushchev replaced J. Stalin after the latter passed away in 1953. The new Soviet leader was more keen to talk it out, try to solve it in a peaceful way. However peace talks were to no avail and also Khrushchev’s actions in Eastern Europe were constantly reminding of the evils of communism. Communist forces brutally stopped protests in Poland and Hungary, the Berlin wall was built.

From 1949 the two superpowers were engaged in an arms race, both USA and USSR were inventing new weapons, trying them out and showing of to each other, trying to scare the other away, or waiting for the opponent to run out of money, facilities and other resources. After the Cuban missile crisis, in 1963, USA and USSR signed the nuclear test ban treaty in Moscow, agreeing not to test any more new nuclear weapons. People didn’t feel safe; USA and USSR had so many weapons pointed at each other that they could have destroyed each other many times over and even destroyed the Planet.

Even though no outright armed conflict or bloodshed between the USA and USSR had been experienced, the times after the World War II were not peaceful at all, many people died in Korea, Vietnam and Cuba and other proxy wars, caused by the conflict between the two superpowers. Both USA and USSR lost huge amounts of money and resources in competing each other. The cold war finally ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Luke, aged 12

“Our work for peace must begin within the private world of each one of us. To build a world without fear, we must be without fear. To build a world of justice, we must be just.” – Dag Hammarskjöld

A fight for Peace

When I was a boy I lived in Pakistan, there was much conflict between the government and the civilians over democracy. My dad was a part of this civil war against the government. At the time I was only seven and I didn’t understand what was going on. When I was nine my dad was shot by one of the soldiers, then about a month after that some soldiers from the UN came to try and help with the situation. There would be the occasional gun fire and sometimes a person would get in the way and be shot, sometimes they would drop a bomb which would kill both the enemy and the civilian’s. One blew my best friends leg off, but a least it didn’t kill him. Sometimes I would think to myself “is this right?”, and then I would think what I could do to stop all this conflict. Sometimes I would think about this for hours other times I would go and play with my friends, but one day I thought what if somebody just try to reason with the government, talk some sense, then it would all be over and there wouldn’t have to be anymore conflict, people would stop dying unnecessarily.

When I was sixteen I started to form a group of people who wanted to stop all this conflict. So we tried to plan a speech to change what the government thought about us and ask why they are killing us. We knew that this would take a lot of planning and thought and we knew it had to be perfect, and then we thought about how and who would present it and it was decided it would be me. By then we had been thinking about it for two years and it was all coming together we just had to figure out how to get in to the government building. This took a long time. At first we tried to reason with the guards unfortunately they threatened to shoot us so we had to think again, this time we sent a letter but they rejected, then we had an idea what if we sent the speech on a letter so we did, and then we were called in to speak.

At this point I am twenty and finally the plan has all come together and we are in the government building, all knowing that we have just one shot. When we walked in there was a man in a chair, he was the president, and we were asked to sit down so we went to sit down. When we sat down there was a lot of tension in the air, then he asked us what we wanted, there was silence for a moment, then I said “we don’t like the conflict, too many innocent people are dying”, then once again there was silence. Then he said “well are you willing to reason with me?”, instantly I said “yes”, so we started discussing the terms and he asked us what we wanted. We said “we just want our say in things”. Then he said “If I accept this you this you will stop killing my men?” And we agreed. So soon enough the fighting stopped. This experience of helping people solve their problems motivated me to start a career into helping other countries solve problems without violence, and help to create world peace.

When I was twenty five I was just starting to work at the UN, and I was well known for stopping the civil war in Pakistan, and right now I am about to fly Korea to help stop the civil war about the farming between the north and the south Korea because the people from north Korea want to take their cows down to south Korea. I knew it would be a long and bumpy flight so I brought a book to read to pass the time, when we got into the air I started to read, but it was hard to read with all the noise. Knowing I could not create peace in the cabin I tried my best to ignore the noise but the turbulence was making it harder to read so I started to talk to the person next to me to pass the time. By the time we landed I was very tired so I went to my hotel room and had a nap, but I knew I could not sleep for too long because I had a very important meeting to attend to.

By the time I woke up I had only had two and a half hours sleep but I still was not as tired as before. So I made my way to the meeting. When I got there I was greeted with kindness. When we were walking through I was very intrigued by all the beautiful paintings and patterns. When we got to the meeting there was the governor of North Korea and the governor of South Korea. I was about five minutes late and they had already started to talk. When I sat down I was offered a drink, so I asked for water, trying not to be too much of a bother. We started discussing about what we could do to stop the conflict, in the end I said that if the two countries become one big country there would not be conflict about farming meaning anyone can farm anywhere, this took a while to take action but in the end it worked out fine, this was my fourth accomplishment and I remember how good it felt.

Now to present date I am thirty two and I still remember the speech/letter I sent that started everything in my life and many other people’s lives. It was what has helped me through the years and when I am about to go into a meeting I think it to myself.

“This war you have created is doing no good for anyone; all you are doing is killing innocent people who just want peace and democracy to create a better life for themselves and generations to come. And if you can’t understand what I am saying then you are killing your own men and the innocent.”

Marc, aged 13

Projet pour la paix

Nelson Mandela n’a pas reçu le prix Nobel de la paix pour n’importe quelle raison. Il a été emprisonné pour une raison injuste : d’avoir réclamé qu’un homme noir ou blanc ait les mêmes droits dans son pays, l’Afrique du Sud. Il a passé des années entières en prison, a être torturé mais lui, sage et innocent, il a écrit sur la paix. Après toutes ces années affreuses en prison, il devint le président d’Afrique du Sud. Il ne se vengea point contre le gouvernement d’avant qui l’ avait condamné, mais il a été plus proche des Noirs que des Blancs. C’est comme ca qu’il a reçu le Prix Nobel de la Paix.

Dans le monde, la paix n’est encore présente partout. Tout le monde n’est pas traité respectueusement, tout le monde ne respecte pas tous les humains. Par exemple, l’esclavage est encore présent dans les quatre coins du monde Il faudrait que tout le monde dise stop au racisme pour qu’il n’y ait plus de conflits politiques ni de guerres pour des questions de religion. Chaque être humain devrait être respecté dans le monde entier. Tout le monde devrait être libre de s’exprimer et de respecter las avis des autres. La paix est la solution pour tout.

Matt, aged 13

“You have not done enough, you have never done enough, as long as there is still something to which you can contribute.” – Dag Hammarskjöld

African dawn, no chanting, no death call.
A strange and aery silence has fallen in the presence of the rising sun.
Only the tall yellow elephant grass shushes it’s drying seed heads, in the pollen scented breeze.
On the ground mutilated and torn bodies lie; the old grey father once so proud his ivory tusks still now, the only movement the play of light upon them.
His glorious cow elephant lying next to him with unseeing eyes, her baby torn in two.
All casualties of a war now ended.

Land mines cruel and un-distinguishing.
Matabilie, Shona Tribes or any unlucky species. Some will thrive no matter.
The arms dealer who sells to keep the fragile peace. The poacher to hack the Ivory.
Of you and me my brother of the warrior blood, just silence now.
We must sanitise our land of the unseeing mines that kill even in peace time.
My Africa, never changing yet ever changing. My land so torn apart by tribal bloody civil war, silent and united in grief.

These nations that must live in peace and rest in shame together.
Side by side to beg once more in countries beyond the sea.
The white men who took our people as slaves, our gold for money and our diamonds for ornaments on rich white fingers.
We will come to you for the sake of peace, to keep the hope of peace alive.
Tribal peace, fragile, resentful, anger and old grudges trapped by need.
Peace, a glass bottle left lying in the grass it might ignite into war once more, oh my forefathers spirits protect our peace.

Megan, 15 ans

La Paix

La paix est l’absence de guerre entre pays, peuples, villes et états. La paix est un synonymes de la non violence. Vers la fin des années 60 et dans les années 70 il y a eu une grande tendances du “Peace and Love’’. Pour avoir la paix entre la famille, les amis et autre personnes il faut avoir une paix intérieure chez l’individu et ne pas dégager la violence envers autrui. Le plus important se sont les valeurs morales avec l’amour de notre prochain.

Développement:
La paix est quelque chose de difficile à faire régner à toutes les échelles comme nous dit l’Histoire. A notre niveau, de petites actions suffises pour répandre la paix.

Tout d’abord nous pouvons aider les personnes en difficultés. Il y a tellement de personnes handicapées, ils peuvent être aveugle, ou sourd ou ne peuvent pas parler … De pouvoir aider fera plaisir à la personne. Comme nous l’avons dit donner le maximum d’aide à une personne en difficulté crée un lien avec cette personne. Aider une personne, une nation crée une relation pacifique entre les membres des deux côtés.

De plus, être sympathique avec toute personne que l’on rencontre, ne serait-ce que saluer amicalement simplement tout venant créera de l’amitié entre les gens et donnerait l’impression à chacun qu’il est accepté tel qu’il est. Un sourire, une gentille parole à un proche, à un ami, décimé toute tendance agressive et toute rencontre possible.

De plus, être tolérant favorise le respect et l’harmonie. La tolérance c’est accepter autrui même s’il est différent de nous dans sa manière de vivre, sa culture, sa religions, le physique… et ne pas se sentir supérieur à eux et donc ne pas se permettre de leur méprise. La tolérance participe à la paix, être différent ne signifie pas être inférieur, on devrait on contraire aller vers les autre pour apprendre à les connaître. Être tolérant implique une ouverture d’esprit et permet d’élargir nos horizons. Les gens qui ne sont pas tolérants finissent seul sans aucun amis. La tolérance est le premier pas vers la paix.

Finalement, la reconnaissance est un point essentiel pour maintenir la paix car ci on est conscient du bien que nous font les autre et qu’on leur exprime alors on maintient une atmosphère de paix. Par exemple la France a aider la Grèce donc la Grèce est reconnaissant envers la France et ne pourrait pas avoir de guerre entre les deux pays. Ceci est un bon exemple car il nous montre comment la France aide la Grèce, reconnaissantes et que les deux pays soient reliés.

Conclusion:
Imaginez-vous dans un pays en paix et que tout le monde s’entre aide, s’aime. Que chaque personnes puissent vivre avec la joie, la sympathie et la tolérance. Mais si nous voulons avoir tout ce-là, il faut que chaque personne soit tolérant. Nous devons être reconnaissant d’avoir une famille et de pouvoir exister. Quelque fois nous devons nous dire qu’on a de la chance d’avoir la paix dans notre pays et que nous allons aider les autre pour que eux puissent aussi avoir la paix dans leurs pays.

Misa, aged 14

How I can contribute to peace

I have recently been made to think about the theme “peace”. I think that peace is something produced as soon as everyone on the universe cooperate and respect each other. For example, when the Great Touhouku earthquake in Japan happened last March. Even though it was a natural disaster, many people were washed away by the tsunami and were crushed under debris. It was so painful to me that I cannot even express my feelings. But the survivors all helped each other, and supported each other in a peaceful way, even most people had lost everything.

I was also looking for peace in another scene, when I saw a student being bullied because of racial discrimination at my school. I could not understand why bullying exist, especially in a school called “International school”, and why people hurt each other’s feelings. I still don’t understand it.

How can I contribute to peace? By increasing the considerations for other people and to respect others. For example, when someone forgot their pencil case, I can offer them a pencil. Then the person gives it back with the words “thank you”. As in this example, we can do many small kindnesses in our everyday life and by piling up these small acts of goodwill, it will make the world fuller with peace. By this, the other person and you yourself feel happy and tender, which is a wonderful thing. In the future, I would like to keep continuing to say words like “thank you” and to be an orderly person with common sense, to bring peace to the world.

How can we all contribute to peace? We can do at least this everywhere, at all times, even at school, in big cities or even on an international level: to respect and think about each other. This action is an ordinary thing and if one is born in this universe, everyone should be able to contribute peace. Although it is easy to say it, it is very hard to actually change it into an action. So please ask yourself, are you an ordinary person, are you contributing to peace?

When every single one of us thinks about the well-being of others, there will be no existence of war, discrimination, bullying or violence anymore. Then, all of us will be able to live with happiness and the world would be surrounded by peace, and this is my dream.

Na Kyung, aged 15

You have not done enough, you have never done enough, as long as there is still something which you can contribute. – Dag Hammarskjöld

In modern days, most people define peace as a situation in which there are no wars or violent conflicts going on in a country or in the world. However, the word peace should be defined in a different way. For example, in the story called The Three Little Pigs, a wolf blows pigs’ houses away. In the story called The Ugly Duckling, the duckling becomes alienated. In both of the stories, there are no wars of violent fighting taking place, but the reader can find out that these situations are not peaceful. However instead of violent wars or conflicts, there are violations of pigs’ rights and prejudice and discrimination against the duckling taking place. If the characters have shared their thoughts, talents and understood each other, the story would end in a different way. Therefore, I would like to define peace as sharing one’s talents and understanding others by communication.

According to my own definition of peace, everyone can contribute to make a peaceful world. Sharing our own talents by helping others can be one way to make peace. I usually help my friends when they have some questions in school. When they ask me a question, I always do my best to help them. Some people may think that this does not help to create peace, but helping others make the person understand more about the others and to get better chance to communicate with them. The talent that a person can share with others does not have to relate with money or it does not have to be something huge. The talent is something that one can share with others and therefore, can understand better about the others.

Also knowing better about the nations’ around the world and helping the poor by practice will contribute to a society. In developing countries, a lot of poor die of hunger. To prevent this from happening, we can donate money to these people, but there is another way that we can solve the problem of hunger around the world. Over 40% of the crops that has been harvested around the world are used to feed cows and pigs. If we eat less meat, then more crops could be sent to the developing countries which would make a sound and peaceful world. Also donating money can help the people living in hunger. The amount of money does not have to be a lot. If we donate only 1franc, an African child can eat three meals during a day. These actions can create peace, because in most of the developing countries, there are a lot of small conflicts based on resources and food.

Around this world, there are some famous companies that take advantage of cheap and abundant labor. Our role to make a peaceful world is not to buy products made by these exploitation companies. Most of the companies have large farms and factories in the Central and South America where they exploit workers and earn money in an immoral way. If we stop buying the products from these companies, it would contribute to make peace by encouraging the fair trade.

We should save the natural resources which are limited, to make peace. The countries which monopolize resources, such as fossil fuel, stand on these resources as weapons to accomplish their own political goals, which make a state of tension. This situation is usually called as a resource war, which is expected to happen in the future. As these natural resources are limited and our wants are unlimited, the share of the resources is not equal between the countries. This causes scarcity which leads to a conflict. Many people believe that these conflicts are not occurring in our world. However, small conflicts occur because of the scarce natural resources and food resources around our world today. To prevent this, we should use eco-friendly energy and make harmony with the environment.

There are thousands of ways which we can practice to create peace. One other way is to create a campaign to tell people how important peace is. Instead of making campaigns, telling children about what peace is and why we should make peace could contribute to create peace. These days, many children think that peace is when there are no fights or quarrels between their friends or brothers and sisters, because most think that a conflict within countries is something that only happens in books and films. Therefore, kids play at make-believe war. We can tell them about the wars around our world where children like them had to fight in wars, and suggest them to play peace game instead. We can also tell them that the football which they are playing with was made by a child of their age, who works all day long.

If we make a song about peace and sing it together, peace would be preserved. I would like to compose a song which could be sung in Peace Day:

Peace is sharing your talents and mine,
Early in the morning the sun will always shine,
All our thoughts and minds will combine,
Come and hold hands together where there is no line,
Everyone’s love for peace will make everything to be fine.

As Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld said, there are a lot of things we can do to contribute and to make peace. We can start by creating a harmonious family and getting along amicably with friends. This is because, when families get together, it makes a country, and when countries gather together, it becomes the world. In other words, harmonious families create peaceful countries, and peaceful countries make a peaceful world. To be a contributor of making peace, we should be open-minded, and have to be able to respect and understand others. Also the voice of every person has to be heard attentively. Peace is a rainbow. We do not have to run over mountains and across rivers to have peace. If we try to create peace by looking further in the future, then peace would run away from us like a rainbow, which we can never catch. We should not be a person who runs to catch a rainbow and regrets oneself afterwards. Peace is always near us.

Nadia, aged 16

“You have not done enough, you have never done enough, as long as there is still something to which you can contribute.” – Dag Hammarskjöld

When you see someone in need, give them a helping hand.
Not so you can say you have done something good, for the sake of saying it, but for yourself, to be a better person, because you know it is the right thing to do.

If you see somebody crying, what do you do?
Do you just leave them, without saying a word, or do you take the first step forward, and ask them what is wrong, even if you are uncertain?

We are the ones that can do something.
We are the ones that can help others.
We are the ones that can bring peace to the world.
If only we try.

However, ask someone what they think of peace, and they will answer:
“It is when there is no war between two…”
Well, it is not only that. Peace is when everybody can accept each other as they are.
That is when we can call it peace.

That is, what peace is.
As long as we are not one big family, and peace has not yet been spread out to the entire world, we will still have work to do.

We, the children of the world, will only have accomplished our mission when there will be nothing more to which we can contribute.

When the world will be one home, with billions of different siblings living in it together, that all respect and accept each other and their differences, then,

there will be peace…

– From a child for a child

Nathaniel, aged 13

« Notre travail pour la paix doit commencer dans la sphère privée de chacun de nous. Pour construire un monde sans peur, nous devons être sans peur, pour construire un monde de justice, nous devons être justes.» – Dag Hammarskjöld. 

Ce qu’avait dit M. Hammarskjöld est tout a fait exact. Avant de demander aux gens de vivre en paix, il faudrait d’abord qu’ils comprennent le sens et la définition de ce bien grand mot. Métaphoriquement parlant, la paix est comme un arbre plein de branches : le respect, l’amitié ou même la fraternité reposant tous sur le même tronc. A ce jour, nous sommes loin d’obtenir la paix dans le monde, mais ce n’est pas une raison pour abandonner cet eternel rêve. Comme quasiment tout dans ce monde, la paix n’est pas impossible, et comme tous les rêves, ils sont réservés à ceux qui auront le courage de ne jamais les laisser tomber.

Pour ma part, la paix a toujours représenté comme un « Eldorado ». Magnifique et inestimable, même si personne ne l’a jamais vraiment vue. Pour quoi forcer les gens à vivre en paix ? Leur faire comprendre à quoi elle sert serait une solution beaucoup plus simple et respectant nettement plus les principes de l’ONU. Quand le monde entier comprendra la paix, l’acceptera et saura vivre en la respectant, je vous parie que le monde se portera mille fois mieux et que tout être humain pourra aller n’importe où sur cette planète qui nous appartient sans se faire exclure et pourra vivre avec sérénité, vivre en paix…..

La paix mérite d’être vécue. Imaginez que vous n’ayez qu’un seul jour à vivre sur Terre, ne voudriez-vous pas le vivre en paix ? Comme toute chose difficile à obtenir, il faut d’abord endurer et après déguster. La paix est à la portée de tous, mais à quel prix ?

Neel, aged 15

From your point of view, who embodies action for peace and how? Inspire yourself with a personality or someone from your entourage. 

I heard a journalist a few meters away quote Michale Nauman from the ARD news channel, ”In Germany, people put pressure on government by assembling in large numbers but they don’t go for hunger strikes.”

Oh, I thought to myself sardonically, because we enjoy starving ourselves since we have such a compliant government. ”This is a protest against corruption in the system of Indian governance. It’s effective, and it’s progressive. Why the criticism?”, I muttered to nobody in particular. Anita, shielding her eyes from the sun, retorted, ”You know, there’s always going to be controversy. Now if you got rid of that sarcastic attitude it might make 24 hours under the Indian sun a lot more agreeable. In addition, you don’t yet know it’s effective.” She threw a sideways glance at me; I didn’t care to grace her with a response. My stomach rumbled and I could’ve sworn I had rats running havoc in there.

The throng of people camped outside Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi consisted of a mixture of foreign and national reporters, coupled with a giant, enthusiastic group of protesting students, some of whom were on hunger strikes, of which Anita and I were but two. People pushed and shoved and students continued to pour into an area where space was absent for as much as a needle. For the first time since independence in 1947, India was coming together to support Anna Hazare in an anti-corruption movement inspired by adopting the ideology of the father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Keeping the peace was the key to achieving the aim: the establishment of the Public Accountability Bill. This would include the integration of the Indian Prime Minister, his cabinet, the bureaucrats, and the introduction of a stronger ombudsman policy which has the right to prosecute and punish the highest and the lowest of social classes alike, would be implemented.

Essentially, justice needs to be imparted in a swift, efficient manner. Anna Hazare stood to see that happen in an India that did not discriminate. And he stood to see the transition occur in peace.

That was the idea that propelled an Anna Hazare-screaming crowd onto the streets of India.

Anita fanned herself furiously with an old edition of Time, and let out a frustrated sigh when she saw my sour expression and pursed lips. ”If you want to eat something, please can you?”

”I’m not about to eat anything until you do. This is just as important to me as it is to you. Besides, trying to leave this place? It’s a battle I’m not even going to contemplate fighting.” Behind us, a small tiff broke out as two men shoved each other in disgust whilst trying to jostle their ways in opposite directions. It accented my comment perfectly.

It’s the twelfth day of the indefinite fast that Anna Hazare had announced to aid the implementation of the Bill. This is a man pacing quickly in the direction of a greater, better India, and commemorating peace by adopting it as his manner of resistance against a government that favored the wealthy, and is in need of reformation. Critics and reporters nationally and internationally argued that it would take a far bigger step, some were throwing the term revolution back and forth, to wipe the term corrupt clean off of the Indian slate.

”Want my opinion, Zareen?”