The celebration of International Day of Peace was organized at Peace Center in Lahore, by the URI Regional Office, Pakistan and Peace Center Lahore. This ceremony was carried on the 18th of September, 2016 in a very befitting manner as over 125 guests from the Muslim, Christian and Hindu communities came under one roof to observe this day which is declared by the United Nations. His Grace Sebastian Shaw, Archbishop of Lahore, presided over, and a Muslim religious leader Allama Zubair Abid, Chairman Peace and Harmony Network, Pakistan was the Chief Guest.
The ceremony started with prayers from the Christian, Muslim, and Hindu sacred books. This was followed by releasing of doves to fly and releasing of balloons in the air. Chaudhary Zubair Ahmad Farooq, Coordinator of Lahore MCC, extended a warm welcome to all the guests on behalf of URI and Peace Center. He also explained the history of International Day of Peace. The following speakers emphasised the grave and urgent need of promoting interfaith dialogue and at every level of life through such conferences, workshops and education of children, women and men.
The main theme of the IDP celebration was “Building Blocks for Peace” in the light of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which were explained by fr James Channan OP, URI Regional Coordinator Pakistan and Director of Peace Center. He explained all of these goals one by one while projecting all these goals on multimedia. All speakers also touched on these 17 SDGs of the United Nations in their speeches. If the world succeeds in their goals, there will be a significant change in the world and our society will become much more developed and human. It was also emphasised that the National Assembly of Pakistan has unanimously adopted these goals that bring a message of great hope and a peaceful future.
The following speakers addressed and gave their message and spoke on the 17 SDGs: Fr. Pascal Paulus OP, Mufti Ashiq Hussain, Dr. Sadia Omer, Mrs. Shabnam Nagi, Prof. Zaman Nazi, Mr. Sohail Ahmed Raza, Dr. Marqus Fida, Hafiz Noman Hamid, Sr Sabina Rifat and Dr Munawar Chand. Special songs, which were written by Sabina Rifat and Ms. Neelam Nisari, were sung and presented on multimedia. Dominican students from Ibn-Marian House sang a beautiful song.
The IDP message of Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General, was presented on multimedia and was highly applauded by all participants.
The successful program was the result of the Coordinators of 15 CCs in Pakistan. They spent two weeks and approximately 300 hours in the preparations of this program, while having meetings, consultations and contacting people to join for this program. The impact of our program is both national and international, as this report is shared in some newspapers and weekly magazines and websites as well. There have been 30 volunteers who devoted a lot of time and energy to making this program possible. About 125 guests participated in this event.
A cake was also cut to celebrate the Eid Ul Azha of Muslim brothers and sisters.
At the end of the conference, a delicious supper was offeredd to all.
Reported by:
fr James Channan OP
URI Regional Coordinator Pakistan
