1 September 2010 - The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) today launched its International Peace Day campaign for 2010 with the broadcast of television and radio spots promoting peace.

“We are reaching out to young Afghans this year,” said Kieran Dwyer, director of UNAMA’s communications team. “With over 70 per cent of Afghanistan’s population under 25 years old, young people hold the future in their hands.”

This year’s global theme for International Peace Day is “Peace = Future” with a special focus on youth.

“In a year when violence dominates the news in Afghanistan, UNAMA seeks to promote the voices of young Afghans who are working for peace in the communities,” said Dwyer.

UNAMA’s centrepiece activity this year is co-hosting an exhibition of young Afghan artists with the local cultural group Turquoise Mountain. Twelve young artists will showcase their work at the historic site of the Queen’s Palace of Babur Garden, in Kabul.

“I commend the leadership of this group of young Afghan artists, for their beautiful work and for the vision they help to create of a rich, harmonious and peaceful Afghanistan,” said Staffan de Mistura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, about the exhibition.

The week-long Afghan contemporary art show will open on 7 September, and includes photography, cartoons, paintings and collages from young up-and-coming artists.

Peace Day is marked on 21 September as an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence. This year’s Peace Day coincides with Afghan parliamentary elections scheduled for 18 September, and so UNAMA and UN agencies are working with communities to conduct activities before and after this period.

UNICEF will conduct a youth cricket camp in Jalalabad, in the country’s east, and UNEP will hold youth activities to promote environmental awareness among young people in Bamyan province.

Read more about UNAMA’s Peace Day events around the country and what the UN is doing around the world at http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4535

For more information about the parliamentary elections, log on to UNAMA’s Election 2010 page at http://unama.unmissions.org/