The General Assembly
of the United Nations announced the International Day of Peace as a day devoted
to strengthening the ideals of peace among nations and peoples, which is marked
on 21st of September each year. This Day embodies the aspirations of
all peoples to live together, free, and equal in dignity and rights. This year’s
celebration is under the slogan "The Right of Peoples To Peace", on
the occasion of the 30th anniversary of General Assembly Declaration
on the Right of Peoples to Peace.
The UAE ranked 40th
out of 162 countries in the Global Peace Index (GPI) for this year which was
released recently, and recorded good points within many of the internal
indicators. It also contributed to reinforce the message of the State and its
leading role in the field of world peace through holding Dubai International
Peace Convention in the period between (17th -19th) of
April, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, where many new
themes, events, and initiatives that aim to emphasize the message of the event were
put forward, which is a necessity for peace and peaceful coexistence among
peoples and within communities.
Within the United
Nations’ diligent endeavors to make prosperity, equality and peace in our world
prevail, it coordinates with governments and civil society organizations and
other partners to move to a new and ambitious action plan for post-2015
entitled "Sustainable Development", in order to continue with the
successes and significant achievements in the era of "Millennium
Development Goals". As part of UAE’s endeavors to achieve the goals of
sustainable development, it makes special efforts to address the various causes
of poverty, including conflicts, weakness of states, social ostracism,
deterioration of the performance of economies, the low capacity to mobilize the
national resources in the poor countries, meager government performance, and
weak investment in health and education, because building peace requires
awareness to the hidden crisis in education during conflict, when schools
become arenas to fight, or education becomes a way to sow and teach hatred.
On several occasions,
His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher
Education and Scientific Research, emphasized the UAE’s interest in education
in various regions of the world, especially those suffering from war and
displacement, in the belief that education is the necessary and essential tool to
achieve peace and sustainable development , and fight against wars and
epidemics, and the resulting waste of human resources and destruction of the
achievements of the State and its successes. In order to achieve the principle
of sustainability, the ministry has taken into account that the ultimate and
greatest goal of its plans is the establishment of an infrastructure for the
higher education sector in the State that considers the needs, requirements,
and expectations of the future, translated into long, medium and short term
plans, to ensure implementation in accordance with the international rules and
standards.
21/09/2014