UAE University observes United Nations’ International Day of Peace

Al Ain: The UAE University (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 every year to recognise 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.

‘Our greetings to each other’

“On this occasion, 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 emphasised,” 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 honour the legacy of peace in word and deed by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. In the UAE, we are raised and educated in the values of cooperation and mutual respect, regardless of religion, race or colour. This ensures that the UAE exists as a vibrant, multicultural society in which people of more than 200 nationalities coexist peacefully and productively.”

‘Denouncing discrimination and violence’

She added: “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: “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.”