21^st September is celebrated across the world as the International Day of Peace or more commonly as ?Peace Day?.  The day is inaugurated by ringing the ?Peace Bell? at the UN Headquarters in New York city. The first ?Peace Day? was held in 1982 and has since then gathered momentum with each passing year. In the three decades since , the world has seen a severe escalation of conflict and violence across the globe and has thus increased the craving for lasting peace amongst citizens of all countries. This year?s theme was ? Sustainable Peace for a Sustainable Future? .  A sustainable future and the goal of green economy will never be possible without lasting peace .

Mother Teresa  famously said ? Peace begins with a smile? . This simple yet profound statement inspired me , as a youth leader , to question what peace means to the youth of today . I posed this question to youth from different countries and also to the members of GREEN HOPE UAE  who expressed their views on this subject . The result was a video which can be viewed on :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFiFyIHVHcc&feature=youtu.be

This compilation was a great eye-opener for me and reinforced the fact that the language of peace is universal , even though we may be espousing it in different tongues .  

Mateo , from Medellin , Colombia , had this to say ? My brothers are dying ! This is the time to extend your hand. This is the time to make a decision? .

Andrew from Malta felt ?For me, peace means putting aside our differences and working together for one common goal.?

Sagar from Nepal thought ?"I don't think Peace as, just an environment free from terrorism, injustice and atrocity OR where you can exercise your rights to do something without !==!--object--==ion. For me, Peace is a state when happiness exists among all people of a society in every aspect of their life, which creates social harmony and Love among them."

Zakaria , an active environmentalist from the  UAE spoke of his feelings in his native Arabic and said ?To me, the word peace holds a world of meaning. A world in which the individual feels safe, where there is no instability in the community, where people don?t have the smallest trace of hatred in their hearts to their fellow human beings, where racism and discrimination are put to an end. A world in which women and men alike are considered equals in rights and all.

Simply put, a world where everyone gets along, where there are no wars or conflicts??

This made me conclude that if there is one word that could be a solution to all our problems it was ?Peace?. To quote Mahatma Gandhi ?The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace.?

I recorded my message wearing the beautiful TUNZA Ecogeneration T-shirt which the current ambassadors received .

I composed a song on this subject as music is a great way of reaching out to people .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDMe_4eXoYc

 My song also highlights and interlinks peace with going green for a sustainable future.

Let us all march on towards sustainability .