DAY AFTER DAY

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International Day of Peace without peace

On Sept. 21 the worldwide community celebrated the International Day of Peace. For millions of people in various parts of the world these are sought-after words. The United Nations entered this date in its calendar 25 years ago, but the shooting has not stopped. Originally, the UN General Assembly wanted this date to mark the opening of its sessions as a sign of peace in the world. The International Day of Peace is supposed to encourage people to think about how to find a compromise between preventing violence and establishing ceasefires.

United Nations peacekeepers maintain law and order in 18 countries. If the world’s hot spots were marked red on a map, one-third of the African continent would be this color. Peacekeeping contingents have been deployed to seven African countries. In other words, tens of millions of people are constantly exposed to danger, with children suffering from starvation and diseases and deprived even of an elementary education. Continuous military conflicts spell poverty and illiteracy for Africans.

Similar conflicts are raging in the Middle East, the Americas, and Asia. Unresolved territorial issues are resulting in hostilities and permanent armed confrontations either between neighboring countries or within a given country.

Nor is Europe immune to such conflicts. After World War II, Europe was considered the safest continent in the world. Here the remaining hot spots are Georgia, Cyprus, and Kosovo. The UN’s latest resolution on establishing peace concerns Lebanon. The UN’s appeal for help for this country, which was severely damaged by the month-long conflict, has been answered by France, Italy, Greece, and a number of other European countries.

The United Nations uses its peacekeeping contingents to maintain law and order, and restore normal civilian life. These contingents include officers and men from 108 countries. Military and police personnel assigned to UN peacekeeping missions number almost 90,000 people. Every year these missions receive five billion USD (0.5 percent of global military expenditures).

Ukraine has been active in the peacekeeping field since 1992. Over the years more than 28,000 Ukrainian officers and men have taken part in international peacekeeping operations (e.g., Sierra Leone, Eastern Slavonia, Kosovo, Angola, Afghanistan, and other countries). The possibility of deploying Ukrainian peacekeepers to Lebanon is being considered.

“Hostages” of conflicts have not lost hope that there will be peace one day in their countries, and millions of factories will work to produce not weapons but goods required for life in peacetime.

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• President Yushchenko speaks his mind

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