UN International Day of Peace Celebrated in Balatonfüred

It was 25 years ago that the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration and Program of Action on a Culture of Peace. To mark the anniversary, the President of the Hungarian UN Society, Katalin Bogyay, invited women ambassadors accredited to Hungary to engage in dialogue for peace through art, poetry and music in the presence of diplomatic bodies and representatives of Hungarian cultural life.

"In our fragmented world, we need to find back to what makes us human. I believe that the power of art can help us understand each other better and that culture is a powerful tool for preventive diplomacy. Nothing should deter us from using all possible means to prevent conflicts from arising. In my experience, the role of women is crucial in this," Katalin Bogyay said. She once served as Hungary's Permanent Representative to the UN and UNESCO in New York and Paris, and has also chaired the 36th session of the UNESCO General Assembly. She also referred to the thesis of the UN General Assembly Declaration on Peace that peace is not only the absence of conflict, but requires a positive, dynamic participatory process in which dialogue is encouraged and conflicts are resolved in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation.

UNESCO's constitution begins with the idea that wars begin in the minds of men, and therefore it is in the minds of men that the defense of peace must be built. This was reflected by the guest of honor at the event, sculptor Hedva Ser, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Cultural Diplomacy. The French artist, who brought her 1956-inspired sculpture to the event, said that the power of cultural diplomacy lies in its ability to reach out not only to governments but also to people, and therefore to achieve results that go beyond the means of conventional diplomacy.

Another guest of honor was Dr. Judy Kuriansky, author, clinical psychologist and professor at Columbia University, who spoke about best practices in soft diplomacy at the UN and the special talents of women in this field.

Hosted by the town of Balatonfüred, the women ambassadors and featured artists and poets from 13 countries, representing Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Ecuador, Finland, France, Georgia, Lebanon, Hungary, Morocco, Mexico, Turkey, the USA and Turkey, assembled in the Esterházy Mansion and the Géza Szőcs Literary Salon in Villa Vaszary.