“Everyone needs to be educated ‒ the leaders, the public, the children, the youth, the elite and the masses. Formal education as well as non-formal education has a great role to play in bringing about peace and disarmament in the present-day world. We are all members of one human family. United we stand and divided we fall.”
Dr. M. Aram,
Founder President, Shanti Ashram
With Dr. Aram’s words as a reference line for the discussions, the series of webinars titled “Leaders Dialogue – Active Peace Building for Community Cohesion in the Midst of COVID-19” kicked off on Tuesday, 22 July 2020. The Leaders Dialogue aimed at listening to one another and sharing notes from leadership experiences, guided by the premise that leaders multiply leaders. In unprecedented times like the COVID 19 Pandemic or in everyday encounters, such dialogue creates an environment of reflection, mutual learning and recommitment to action, active peacebuilding, and community cohesion.
Every year, the 21st of September marks the International Day of Peace. Established in 1981 by unanimous United Nations resolution, Peace Day provides a universally shared date in which all citizens of the world re-commit to Peace above all and to set aside differences to contribute to building a Culture of Peace. In recognition of the goals of Peace Day a webinar was organized by the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO (KNATCOM), the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Kenya (MoEST). The theme of this year's Day of Peace was "Shaping Peace Together".
Arigatou International - Ethics Education for Children, together with End Child Poverty launched in September 2020 the Children’s Solutions Lab, an opportunity for children and youth from different backgrounds to come together to discuss, learn, and take action against child poverty through education backed solutions
The global pandemic has brought a halt to many important aspects of life and imposed major obstacles to organizations all over the world, yet the work done by Arigatou International and its partners remains unflinching. Nowhere is this best epitomized than the work done in collaboration with our GNRC Youth Committee. These dedicated young people have taken an active role in helping secure the rights of children around the world. During the last six months, we have seen members of the GNRC Youth Committee in a wide array of workshops, meetings, and dialogues all while facing their own obstacles imposed on them by the COVID-19.
Ms. Maria Lucia Uribe, Executive Director of Arigatou International Geneva was invited to contribute to the Week of Prayer and World Fellowship, which took place from 8 to 14 November 2020.
Since 1904, the Young Woman's Christian Association (YWCA) and the Young Man's Christian Association (YMCA) have traditionally come together to deliver the World Week of Prayer and World Fellowship. This year, the Week extended an invitation to communities to use biblical text to shed light on the lived experiences of those affected by the global pandemic. These contributions were compiled into a booklet entitled Rays of Hope: Creating Resilient Communities Through Practical Spirituality, which can be accessed here.
