21 September 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On 21 September each year, the world celebrates the International Day of Peace, reaffirming that peace is fundamental to protecting human rights and safeguarding human dignity, achieving justice, development, and stability, and fostering dialogue and cooperation among peoples and nations.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Geneva Institute for Human Rights affirms that peace is not merely the absence of war, but the building of societies founded on respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, the rule of law, justice and equality, dialogue and tolerance, and addressing the root causes of conflicts before they escalate into wars and humanitarian crises.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This day comes amid ongoing armed conflicts and humanitarian crises in various parts of the world, which have resulted in large numbers of casualties and displaced persons, as well as widespread destruction of infrastructure and essential services. In these circumstances, protecting civilians and respecting international humanitarian law and international human rights law are international responsibilities that cannot be postponed or applied selectively.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Institute emphasizes the special responsibility borne by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council , as key actors within the collective security system. It calls on them to translate their responsibilities for maintaining international peace and security into concrete policies, particularly by limiting the manufacture, trade, and export of arms where there are serious risks that they may be used to commit grave violations, and by strengthening transparency and oversight of the arms trade.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Institute also calls on these states to exercise their responsibly and to ensure that its use does not obstruct efforts to protect civilians or prevent grave violations of international law, while enhancing transparency and accountability regarding its use.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Institute stresses that sustainable peace cannot be achieved through a cessation of hostilities alone. It requires addressing the root causes of conflicts, strengthening justice, accountability, and reconciliation, combating marginalization, poverty, and discrimination, and ensuring the participation of women, youth, and affected communities in peacebuilding.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On the International Day of Peace, the Geneva Institute for Human Rights renews its commitment to promoting a culture of peace and human rights, and to advocating for diplomacy and the rule of law to prevail over the sound of weapons. The Institute reaffirms that peace is a right, a responsibility, and a shared commitment, and that protecting peace begins with protecting people and their dignity.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"21 September 2026 On 21 September each year, the world celebrates the International Day of Peace, reaffirming that peace is fundamental to protecting human rights and safeguarding human dignity, achieving justice, development, and stability, and fostering dialogue and cooperation among peoples and nations. The Geneva Institute for Human Rights affirms that peace is not merely ","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-human-rights-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4640"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4643,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4640\/revisions\/4643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gihr.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}