Sharjah24 : The UAEU has joined national events to mark the United Nations' International Day of Peace. The Day of Peace was launched in 1981 and is celebrated on September 21 each year to recognize the efforts of those who have worked hard to end conflict and promote peace. It promotes the renunciation of violence and the value of peace in developing cooperation, security, and stability between nations.
About this celebration, Dr. Maryam Sultan Lootah, Associate Professor in the Department of Government and Society, College of Humanities and Social Sciences said: “The theme for 2021, “Recovering better for an Equitable and Sustainable World”, is an invitation to think creatively and collectively about how we can help all countries of the world to recover from the consequences of the Corona crisis, and how to transform our world into a more equal, more just sustainable, and healthier one.
“On this occasion, and out of striving within the UAE or across Arab societies in general to promote the values of peace amongst young people, and spread them around the world, we would like to recall that “Peace” is one of the names of God, and that our greetings to each other and to others include peace, mercy and blessings. And thus, when we call for peace, we reinforce this value that God Almighty and his Noble Messenger emphasized”, she added.
Dr Lootah noted that since the establishment of the nation, the UAE leaders have promoted the values of peace through their efforts to settle disputes between nations in the region and establish our collective security and stability. “Our actions today honor the legacy of peace left in word and deed by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nayhan. In the UAE we are raised and educated in the values of cooperation and mutual respect, regardless of religion, race, or color. This ensures that the UAE exists as a vibrant, multicultural society in which people of more than 200 nationalities coexist peacefully and productively”.
Dr Lootah explained that the UAE is a pioneer in international cooperation and development throughout the world, helping to build and keep peace between nations. “The UAE pursues an open foreign policy to all countries, without discrimination”, she said. “However, the promotion of global peace cannot be achieved without the commitment of all nations to international agreements to promote peace at all levels of society and government. This means that our celebration of an International Day of Peace must be accompanied by the development of policies and international resolutions that denounce discrimination and violence. All nations must build concepts of national citizenship that are inclusive of diversity and reject civil conflict”.
Dr Lootah noted that the UAE education system contributes towards peace through promoting its value and meaning within the curriculum but underlined grave challenges to these efforts. She said, “Today we live in a media culture that bombards us with dramas filled with violence, conflict, and crime. Instead of this, our cinema, cartoons, video games, social media could be used to strengthen the message of school and university curricula about the consequences of conflict and the value of peaceful cooperation. “It is necessary for media to support society, government, and educational efforts to promote peace and secure a more peaceful, cooperative society – both in the UAE and across the world”.
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