International day of Peace

Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of Mission Michael Moller’s speech at Ledra Palace Peace Candle Ceremony on the International Day of Peace

Welcome to this International Day of Peace observance.

Please join me in saluting the members of the Cyprus World War II Veterans’ Association. You are the direct representatives of the generation that founded the United Nations and you do us great honour by your presence here this evening.

I am also delighted to welcome the generation of the future, the children of the island, who will spend a good part of this evening in the Goethe Institute next door with members of the Tech4Peace NGO writing letters and sending messages and drawings of peace to children in countries of conflict. Thank you for taking time out to join us.

You see beside me a lighted candle. It symbolizes the worldwide peace vigil held by millions of people to mark this very special day. Knowing this, some of you have brought your own candles here this evening. Others are welcome to share in our own small stock

By lighting these candles, by drawing from this vigil candle flame, you drive back the shadows and help shine a message of peace and hope beyond this place.

Today’s 25th observance of the International Day of Peace as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence comes at a moment when the United Nations is engaged on several fronts to bring peace and stability to regions in conflict.

In New York, just a few hours ago, the Secretary-General rang the Japanese Peace Bell outside the United Nations Headquarters building. Joining Kofi Annan as he performed this International Day of Peace ritual for the last time were the United Nations Messengers of Peace. They too pledged their support to help realize this day’s aim – a once-a-year, 24-hour ceasefire across the world.

Twenty-four hours may not be a long time but it is sufficient for combatants and political leaders to take stock of the casualties and destruction caused by their actions and to consider the alternatives.

Less than six weeks ago, the conflict in Lebanon and Israel ended in a much sought after, long-delayed ceasefire. During that month-long conflict, over one million were displaced, of whom nearly a quarter sought shelter and safety elsewhere. As we well know, during that time, thousands passed through Cyprus on the arduous and perilous journey from conflict to safety.

Yet, look at how the same displaced people and refugees responded to the 14 August ceasefire. According to UNHCR, up to 90% of those displaced during the hostilities returned to their homes or nearby within days of the ceasefire.

Think of it. Last year, world military expenditure reached $1.1 trillion – 20 times more than annual spending on UN peacekeeping of only $ 5 billion. The lesson is clear: peace costs less than war.

And states are paying more attention to preventive diplomacy. UN peacekeeping missions -- and our efforts to support democracy and promote human rights -- are making a difference. And individual citizens everywhere, men and women in every society, are working to relieve suffering, and to build bridges between people of different faiths or cultures.

As we gather in our own informal assembly of peace messengers in Nicosia this evening, let us each resolve to promote peace, to prevent violent conflict and to raise public awareness of the International Day of Peace. Today is meant to get people not just thinking of peace, but doing something about it. Let us pledge our direct support for a worldwide ceasefire.

Here we are inside the buffer zone. Drawn up in the name of peace to bring an end to violence, this buffer zone was intended to offer the breathing space in which to try and nurture new beginnings.

No doubt, many of you here this evening have memories of those precarious and difficult times. Some of you will remember the respite and sheer relief that came with knowing there was a ceasefire arrangement in place that signaled an end to conflict and some realistic prospects of recovery and moving ahead.

The shrapnel-scarred façades and hollow hulks of many of the buildings left standing in the buffer zone tell their own story and attest to those dreadful times. For that matter, old Nicosia’s Venetian walls represent the coping mechanisms of bygone insecurities. They prove that an underlying siege mentality cannot guarantee an assured future.

Since 1964, UNFICYP has worked hard to ensure the future so that every day on this island is a day of non-violence and continuing ceasefire. But a ceasefire should be seen as a springboard for peace building, not just an end in itself.

UNFICYP seeks to encourage the opposing forces on both sides to pull back from the buffer zone and to unman positions here in old Nicosia. UNDP/ACT, working closely with USAID, stands ready as before to serve as conduit and coordinator on environmental, education and public health issues affecting the two communities. UNDP/PFF, with EU funding and UNFICYP support, backstops the Mine Action Centre’s ongoing removal of the minefield threat from the buffer zone.

But, as noted by my colleague Under-Secretary-General Gambari, it is hard to envision a lasting and sustainable settlement on this island in the absence of “a shared commitment to tearing down the barriers and barbed wire”. That means moving forward, and it calls for a show of political will and determination by all Cypriots, to address what is, after all, a Cypriot problem with a Cypriot solution.

We, the United Nations, remain committed to a comprehensive settlement. We await the leaders’ response and the people’s determination.

In his message for this Day of Peace, UNESCO’s Director-General tells us that a culture of peace “requires a commitment to dialogue and to mutual knowledge and understanding between civilizations, cultures and peoples.” If we are to achieve a culture of peace, each of us must nurture and build on the principles of diversity and dialogue.

These are sentiments worth taking to heart. So, in asking you to light your candles, and to join me in observing one minute’s silence in the name of peace and in remembrance of the victims of war, let us also contemplate what each and every one of us can do more to make a difference in our attempts to bring about lasting peace.

Prepared by the UN Web Services Section, DPI, United Nations © 2006