On 21 September 2007, hundreds of students gathered at UN Headquarters with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN staff to observe the International Day of Peace, starting with a ceremony in the Japanese Garden on the front lawn. "The annual ringing of the Peace Bell is always a deeply moving occasion. This year, it is even more so, because of the recent loss of one of the United Nations great friends: our Messenger of Peace Luciano Pavarotti, whose heart was even bigger than his voice”, Mr. Ban said.

Also attending the ceremony were the Secretary-General’s wife, Yoo Soon-taek, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim, Security Council President Jean-Maurice Ripert and UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha Rose Migiro. They were joined by four Messengers of Peace: Michael Douglas, Jane Goodall, Elie Wiesel and newly-appointed Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan.  

“Peace is one of humanity’s most precious needs. It is also the United Nations highest calling”, the Secretary-General stated in his message.  “On this International Day, let us promise to make peace not just a priority, but a passion”, the Secretary-General urged, adding that from peacekeeping and preventive diplomacy to development and human rights, the “work for peace is a constant work in progress”.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right, at podium), addresses the Peace Bell ceremony of the observance of the International Peace Day, UN Photo Eskinder Debebe

At the annual student observance, which followed the Peace Bell ceremony, more than 700 middle and high school students were connected via videoconference to young people at the UN missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon and Sudan, to exchange views on the theme “Peace: A Climate of Change”. In welcoming the students, Mr. Ban said: “In this building we often talk about succeeding generations and how best to serve them. Yet it is a rare pleasure to come face to face with those succeeding generations—to welcome some of tomorrow’s leaders to today’s UN. Around me I can see the next generation of scientists, business people, politicians, journalists, artists and civil society activists—perhaps even a future Secretary-General!  In all of you, I can see the future of the United Nations and of our world.”

Michael Douglas said that peace couldn't happen if there was conflict and that all the humanitarian efforts would not succeed unless there was peace. All the issues of the twenty-first century, such as global warming, deforestation, poverty and population explosion could be overwhelming, especially to young people, he said. However, he believed that positive results were indeed possible, for example regarding the reduction of nuclear weapon arsenals: He expressed hope that if in the next couple of years the large nuclear-weapon States came together and revived the Non-Proliferation Treaty, there could be a dramatic reduction of these weapons, which would make the world a safer and more peaceful place.

Princess Haya thanked the Secretary-General for her recent appointment as a Messenger of Peace, saying she was honoured to accept this responsibility. Referring to her previous role as a Goodwill Ambassador and her work with the first-ever food aid organization in the Arab world, “Tkiyet Um Ali”, she considered it  her “inherited duty to help relieve the plight of people who suffer the devastating effects of poverty”. She said she believed that hungry and poor people were more likely to turn towards violence because their lives had been brutalized. And that their actions reflected that brutality. People had to accept the responsibility to address hunger and poverty as grass-roots issues in order to achieve peace, she added.

The audience’s first question was on the conflict in Darfur. Michael Douglas said that, fortunately, the region had been getting much more attention recently. As a result, one of the biggest ever peacekeeping forces, a hybrid UN peacekeeping and African Union joint effort, has been brought together and the Secretary-General will convene meetings on the topic in Libya in October 2007.

A student from the Democratic Republic of the Congo asked why did people wouldn't stop producing weapons if there was so much war in the world? Elie Wiesel responded that he wished world leaders could hear that question and that, in addition to a minute of silence for peace, there would be one minute of disarmament observed worldwide. Jane Goodall added that the issue was difficult to address since it involved so much money and that ways should be developed to prevent large companies from making profit through armament.

In response to the last question regarding peace in Lebanon, Princess Haya said it made her heart break to see children growing up in conflict and being haunted by nightmares at such a young age. She recalled that the conflict was the same when she was the same age, but felt that people fighting against each other should fight instead for peace in the region.