Naomi Sugita Reis (Brazil) is a student of Human Rights and International Cooperation at the University of Bologna, Italy. She volunteers to promote social justice, international migration and multiculturalism in Latin America and Europe and has represented the Brazilian youth in events organized by the United Nations. She serves as the Youth Moderator for the 2021 International Day of Peace Youth Observance. Read her statement on peace below:
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Hello, everyone! My name is Naomi Sugita Reis, and I am honoured to be the Youth Moderator of the 2021 International Day of Peace Youth Observance.
The 2021 theme for the International Day of Peace is “Recovering better for an equitable and sustainable world”. With the hope to overcome the immensurable trauma caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we get together today, to share ideas and solutions about transforming our world for the better, and to be inspired by many acts of kindness and stories of resilience.
We are a year and a half into the pandemic. The ecological and social problems that we, as humanity, have been facing for the past decades have been exacerbated. The pandemic forced us to take a pause and realize how our behaviours and actions have been causing damages to ourselves and future generations.??
When I envision our recovery from COVID-19, I think of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that was adopted in 2015. It gave us our action plan for building a more just, sustainable, and resilient world. It reminds us that as we take action to help the world recover, we must focus on people, planet, prosperity, partnerships, and peace.??
Peace can convey so many different meanings since it permeates many layers and aspects of our lives. The concept of peace might sound universal, but in fact every culture has its own understanding of peace and every person may have their own approach to peace.??
To me, peace manifests itself in actions we take that bring harmony to the world, to nature, to our community, and to ourselves. Therefore, to me, peace is living in harmony with ourselves and with each other.
I am willing to be a catalyst for peace, by always being mindful of how my actions will affect others and learning from those around me. Our world needs more kindness and empathy. Each one of us has our own role to play to promote peace based on our beliefs, cultures, and surroundings. I believe that we can inspire and be inspired by each other. And we can turn the inspiration into concrete actions.??
As we plan our way out of this pandemic, we must join forces and include all peoples from all generations, and all countries, so that together we can recover better for an equitable and sustainable world.
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Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The UN General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and ceasefire. This?Youth Action for Peace?series brings together voices of university students around the world?sharing the same mission: to celebrate peace by standing up against acts of hate online and offline, and by spreading compassion, kindness, and hope in the face of the pandemic, and as we recover.
