Championing for Peace in Kirkuk, Iraq Under the theme of “Love and Peaceful coexistence is the basis for peace in Kirkuk”, a one-month youth sports and education program was organized in Kirkuk and came to a close on 21 August 2010, in the presence of students, parents and the community at large. A festive ceremony was held to celebrate the end of an exciting, successful and vibrant program aiming to promote and educate the youth on values of tolerance, peaceful existence and unity among all ethnic and religious groups in the city. Organized by the Evangelical Church in Kirkuk, and held annually for the past five years, this year's event was remarkably significant as 300 children between the ages of 5 and 16 years of age participated in the program. With guidance and dedication from 40 trained volunteers, these children represented the Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and Christian ethnic groups. Pastor Haitham Jazrawi, in his opening remarks said, “Our children are valuable for us, and they are the future. Tolerance, justice and love among brothers and sisters is necessary for peace and prosperity in Kirkuk, and indeed for Iraq”. Amidst an atmosphere of joy, laughter and harmony, various activities including sports tournaments, skits, poetry and story-telling and educational debates on the themes of peace, security, development and reconstruction were organized. The children learned the value of unity and tolerance by working in teams. Through active participation, they engaged in inspiring debates on how peace, education and security can aid in development and increase opportunities. Some students expressed their hopes of becoming engineers, teachers, doctors and nurses “so that we can help the sick, the poor, and the elderly and build our country. We will return next year with more ideas to share with the friends we have made here today”. By Waseem Wastin, UNAMI A Little Peace Picnic A dozen of young men and women from various civil society organizations initiated a new approach to peace by organizing a one-day picnic for hundreds of Internally displaced people in Bastasen Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp near Qaladzae town, northwest Sulaymaniya province of Iraq's Kurdistan Region, in July 2010. The activists took with them a big tent, pots of traditional Kurdish yaprakh food, fruits and vegetables enough for the whole community, boxes of coloring pencils for their children and also ideas about peace and its necessity for development to discuss with the elders and the youth alike. As the tent was set up with help from the welcoming young IDPS, the children lined up to receive coloring pencils and drawing notebooks. The pictures they drew depicted vivid memories of burnt orchards and destroyed houses, but also memories of a safe haven that their villages were and the hope that they would be restored as the big playgrounds they used to be. The drawings were collected and were mounted inside the tent, with the youngest artist officially declaring the exhibition open by cutting a ribbon amid applause from encouraging parents who seemed to have just realized how talented their children were. Over the simple but hearty lunch that was served, the IDP community, youth and elderly, man and women, openly engaged in discussions about peace and candidly expressed their views on rehabilitation, development and what they need to enjoy a brighter future. “We wanted to give a chance to the IDP community to be heard, we wanted them to know that their views matter and their voices need to be heard, we wanted the children to feel like children and enjoy a day of fun” said Namo Sharif, one of the organizers of the picnic. By sunset, the civil society activists left the camp with the promise to come back for another visit and to bring with them biryani – another traditional Kurdish dish – to celebrate Eid-al Fitr and the end of the holy month of Ramadan. By Sabah Abdulrahman, UNAMI ** to read more, go to International Day of Peace Stories
