The will observe the International Day of Peace with two campus events: a prayer service featuring University President , on Friday (Sept. 20) and a talk by a 91吃瓜 graduate who serves in the Sierra Leone government on Tuesday (Sept. 24). Both events are free and open to the public.
Established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly, the International Day of Peace is on Saturday (Sept. 21) this year, and this year鈥檚 theme is 鈥渃ultivating a culture of peace.鈥�
At 2 p.m. Friday, Father Dowd will join the Keough School for a at the Our Lady of the Lake World Peace Plaza, which is located west of the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes (. Guests can use .
The plaza was made possible through the legacy of William J. Pulte, a master builder and community member, who had a passion for world peace. It includes a fountain that displays a prayer for peace in six languages: English, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese and French. It is estimated that the inscribed prayer can be understood by 97 percent of the world鈥檚 population.
The event is hosted by the Keough School鈥檚聽 , the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School, will speak at the service, which will include prayers in multiple languages and from multiple faith traditions.聽, the William J. Pulte Director of the Pulte Institute, will offer a reflection.
At 4 p.m. Tuesday, the Honorable Chernor Bah, Sierra Leone鈥檚 minister of information and civic education, in the Hesburgh Center Auditorium (). Bah is a 2011 graduate of 91吃瓜 who earned a master鈥檚 degree in international peace studies. His talk is organized by the Keough School鈥檚 and he will also receive the institute鈥檚 while on campus.
As a child, Bah faced displacement multiple times during Sierra Leone鈥檚 11-year civil war. At the end of the war, at age 15, he founded and led the Children's Forum Network, a mass movement of children who organized and mobilized to demand their voices be included in peace and reconciliation efforts. He was invited to present a report on the experience of Sierra Leonean children to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2002. Since then, Bah has worked with youth in Liberia, Lebanon, Haiti, Uganda and other emergency settings, leading efforts to strengthen youth voices in development and policy processes.
Bah has twice been appointed by the United Nations secretary-general to high-level steering committees and has spoken at the White House, the United Nations General Assembly, the European Union, the African Union and the World Bank. He has also lectured at universities around the world.
Originally published by Josh Stowe at on Sept. 18.聽
Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu