DAI KUNDI - The Dai Kundi Peace Day Run and Celebration 2011 kicked off this morning in the capital city of Nili with nearly a hundred children – 20 of them girls – participating in the races.

Dai Kundi Governor Qurban Ali Uruzgani blew the whistle to kick off the Peace Day Run that started at the newly built Nili Air Field and wound up at the Olympic Building grounds some 1.5 kilometers away.

Supported by UNAMA and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Peace Day Run had three categories, boys 7-10 years-old and 11-15 years old, and girls 7-10 years old.

Nili city mayor Azra Jaffari, the only female mayor in Afghanistan, gave the starting signal for the girls’ run down the hill towards the finish line across the city’s government centre.

Prizes were awarded to all the girls who ran and to the five top runners in the boys’ groups.

Among the winners was 12-year-old Yaseen Tahir of Rubat village. He said he had heard about the Peace Day Run on the radio and started walking from his home at dawn to reach Nili, three hours away, in time for the race.

During the programme that followed the races, Governor Uruzgani called on the people of Dai Kundi to help maintain peace in the province. His call was echoed by other speakers, including Ullama Shura Head Danish Lazir who cited the successful involvement of the international community in Dai Kundi’s development, especially in the areas of health and education.

Mayor Azra Jaffari discussed the importance of peace in ensuring development in the province, and urged parents to instill in their children the importance of peace in their lives.

Provincial Council Head Hussain Ali Montaziri, AIHRC Dai Kundi Head Abdul Samad Faeq and Civil Society Representative Sulaiman Baligh also spoke in the ceremony where Nili city residents converged to celebrate peace a full week ahead of 21 September, International Peace Day.

By UNAMA Central Highlands Region