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AASU On International Day Of Peace

By All Africa Students Union (AASU)
Press Statement AASU On International Day Of Peace
SEP 20, 2014 LISTEN

People around the World will observe the 2014 International Day of Peace on September 21 with the theme: The Right of Peoples to Peace. The World Peace Day, as it unofficially called, is dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence, such as might be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in a combat zone for humanitarian aid access according to the United Nations (UN).

The Day was established in 1981 by Resolution 36/67 of the United Nations General Assembly to coincide with its opening session, which was held annually on the third Tuesday of September. The first Peace Day was observed in September 1982. Subsequently in 2001, the General Assembly by unanimous vote adopted resolution 55/282 which established 21 September as an annual day of non-violence and cease-fire. Peace, however, is defined as freedom from war or conflict, a moment of tranquility, harmony and mental calm. It is, therefore, not only the absence of war or conflict that is characteristic of peace.

So while we are commemorating the World Peace Day; it is incumbent on us to ponder, equally, on the injustice that characterizes the relationship between the haves and have-nots within nations and between nations. Indeed the World we live in continues to present a picture of appalling contrasts. While a few countries are immensely prosperous, the extreme majority of the population of the world subsists on sub-standard incomes.

Illiteracy, bad housing, lack of medical care, unemployment and malnutrition are prevalent throughout most of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. These facts can no longer be ignored because they constitute real sources of conflicts and cannot be resolved by cosmetic measures. World leaders need to undertake fundamental structural changes in international economic system that will enable the majority of the people to have access to basic human needs.

As far as Africa is concerned the situation is frightening as many parts of the continent are engulfed in wars and its socio-economic and political environment not being conducive for the young people to unleash their creative energies in order to provide for their needs. Everywhere in Africa the situation is the same- massive youth unemployment and abject poverty among others. Some of the cumulative effects of all these problems are mental disorders amongst young people or their engagement in unholy activities such as terrorism. The solutions to these problems lie in good governance, equitable distribution of wealth, fighting the cancers of corruption, nepotism and cronyism among others.

Today the World is confronted with numerous violent conflict zones notably in Africa, Middle East, and Europe, the insurgence of Islamist fundamentalism and massive illegal migration of young people particularly Africans to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea. The recurrence and scale of this attempt illegal migration of young people to Europe at the peril of their lives is mind baffling as well as the indifference of the International Community to this tragic event. No week passes without its cohorts of hundreds of dead bodies of young people found in the sea and many others disappearing without any trace.

Against the above stated AASU believes that, in the interests of world peace and for the sake of future generations, this Day should be an opportunity for all the peace loving people particularly world leaders to plunge into deep thinking in order to establish more just international economic relations and curbing greed, selfishness and corruption among others.

Long live International Peace Day!

AWAAH FRED

(Secretary General)

[email protected]/ [email protected]/ mobile:

00233 (0)243101626

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