Jakarta, Indonesia - Dr. Habib Chirzin, President of the Islamic Forum for Peace, Human Rights and Development in Indonesia and an Ambassador for Peace, was invited to address the celebration of the International Day of Peace at HAMKA University in Jakarta together with Mr. William Ryan, Director of the International Institute of Education and the Center for Civic Education. He delivered a public lecture on "Peace and Human Security an Islamic Perspective." The event was attended by the Vice Rector, deans, lecturers, students, and guests.
Dr. Chirzin was the Director of the Center for Peace and Religion of the University from 1986 to 1990. In 1988, he was given a Peace Messenger Award (Rasulus Salaam) by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dr. Javier Perez de Cuellar. The center has been recently revitalized to meet the current challenges and responsibilities in the globalized society.
The award brought Dr. and Mrs. Chirzin to the UN Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders in the United Nations, New York, August 2000, and they continue to nurture a culture of peace at the university.
The United Nations International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly for “commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace within and among all nations and people.” Twenty years later, the General Assembly set September 21 as the date to observe the occasion annually as a “day of global ceasefire and non-violence … through education and public awareness and to cooperate in the establishment of a global ceasefire.”
To read UPF's Peace Declaration and reports of observances in other nations, click here.