KABUL - There are exactly two months to go until the International Day of Peace on 21 September.

The United Nations in Afghanistan is organizing a huge campaign under the theme “What are you doing for Peace?”

Already final preparations are being made to a number of events and activities and a huge television and radio campaign calling for peace will begin on 21 August.

UN agencies, government and non-organizations, agencies and individuals across the country are being called on to do something for peace.

Only this weekend on 19 July, two climbers became the first Afghans ever to reach Afghanistan’s highest mountain peak, Mount Noshaq at 7,492 metres above sea level, with a message of peace.

The “Afghans to the Top” website (www.noshaq.com) declared the climb’s aim was to send a message of peace: “For the first time in history, an Afghan national will have climbed the country’s highest peak. This will be a strong, positive message, illustrating the determination of Afghans to overcome difficulties and bring peace and success to a country torn apart by 30 years of war.”

Peace Day is observed worldwide by the 192 member states of the United Nations.

A General Assembly Resolution in 2001 declared: “that the International Day of Peace shall henceforth be observed as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence.”

The Peace Day campaign last year in Afghanistan was reinforced with statements from President Karzai, the Commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and the Taliban calling for offensive operations to cease.

In Afghanistan in 2008 the UN’s Department for Safety and Security recorded a 70 per cent reduction in violent incidents on the day itself.

Following Peace Day, the UN’s top envoy in Afghanistan Kai Eide, in a regular briefing to the UN Security Council on 14 October 2008, said: “On International Peace Day, on 21 September, hostilities were almost brought to a halt, including by the Taliban, following an appeal by the United Nations. This allowed us to vaccinate 1.6 million children against polio, a major achievement.”

2009 is widely seen as being one of the most difficult years for Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 with a growing insurgency and the challenge of holding presidential and provincial council elections on 20 August.

This year the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization and Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health will be carrying out a major polio vaccination drive in mid-September.

Other UN agencies, partner organizations and individuals are finalizing their plans for Peace Day.

By Dominic Medley, UNAMA