Celebrating International Day of Peace 2021

In 2021, a year where underprivileged and marginalized groups have been hit the hardest during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the UN’s call to make peace with one another has been heightened under the 2021 International Day of Peace theme, “Recovering better for an equitable and sustainable world.”

Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on September 21. Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1981, this day has been “devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire.”

The late Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, co-founders of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), dedicated their lives toward global peacebuilding through a wide range of initiatives that span more than six decades. In 2017, Dr. Moon established Peace Starts With Me, an international movement promoting peace within individuals and families as the foundation and framework for achieving a more peaceful world. 

Rev. and Dr. Moon long shared that world peace requires a revolution of heart as one global family centered on God. In the last four years, the Peace Starts With Me movement—reaching people in the Middle East, Africa, and throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas—has brought together numerous citizens, politicians and faith leaders alike advocating for peace and international unity.

On this International Day of Peace, and every day, let’s remember that peace originates with each of us. We can celebrate peace by spreading compassion, kindness, and hope in the face of the pandemic and other global challenges as the world recovers.