..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 19 September 2005
Press Release No: N/45/2005

INTERNATIONAL PEACE DAY TO BE OBSERVED ON 20 SEPTEMBER

BANGKOK (United Nations Information Services) – The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in collaboration with the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace in Thailand (IIFWP) will observe the International Day of Peace on Tuesday, 20 September 2005 at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok.

In a statement issued on the occasion on International Peace Day, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said “Peace is the paramount United Nations mission. It is the basis of our existence, the essence of our identity, the cause that animates everything we do.”

“As the United Nations celebrates its 60th anniversary, the world leaders attending the 2005 World Summit in New York reiterated the sentiment of ‘long live absolute world peace,’ remembered the victims of conflict, and rededicated themselves to the age-old quest of building a safer and more just world,” said Mr. Kim Hak-Su, UNESCAP Executive Secretary.

The observance will include a round-table discussion on the theme, ‘Promotion of Peace and Unity Based on the UN In Larger Freedom Report.’ The round table will include:

Performance by Choirs of the Wattana Wittaya Academy and the Ruam Rudee International School
Screening of film entitled “Millennium Development Goals”
Statement by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, followed by opening remarks by Mr. Kim Hak-Su, UNESCAP Executive Secretary
Keynote address on the United Nations and World Peace by Mr. Parn Jantraparn, Judge of the Constitutional Court and Acting President of the Constitutional Court Judges Meeting
‘Vision of Word Peace’ by Dr. Wiboon Shansheun, Member of Senate, Kalasin Province and Vice President of IIFWP Thailand.
Roundtable discussion featuring MG. Chaiwat Satondee, Staff Officer to the Secretary General, National Security Council; Mr. Niti Hassan, President of the Council of Muslim Organizations of Thailand; Bro. Prathip Martin Komolmas, FSG, Emeritus President of Assumption University; and Phramaha Bhatsakorn Piyobhaso, Lecturer at the Department of Religion and Philosophy in the Faculty of Buddhism, Mahachulalonkgkorn rajavidyalaya University. Ms. Sansanee Sitapan Moller, presenter on Morning Talk TV Channel 11, will act as moderator.

Note to Editors: You or your representatives are invited to attend the observance of International Day of Peace on Tuesday, 20 September, starting at 08:30 hrs at the UN Conference Centre, Bangkok.

For further information, please contact:
UN Information Services Bangkok
Tel: +(66-2) 288-1864-67, Fax: +(66-2) 288-1052
E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.or

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