United Nations Day: With unity in mind, students highlight the importance of peace

Students from three schools set up stalls to represent 44 countries.

ISLAMABAD:

The importance of peace in unifying diverse countries was stressed at an event organised to celebrate the United Nations Day here on Wednesday. The day’s theme for this year is “Unity in Diversity”.

Students from three schools delivered speeches at the Islamabad College of Arts and Sciences (ICAS) G-11/3 on how Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam preach peace, tolerance and respect for other religions.

They also set up stalls, representing cultures of 44 countries across the world. Groups of six students each displayed the culture, traditional dishes and dresses of the countries they were representing. The students were from ICAS, City School and the Global System of Integrated Studies.

The students spent up to two weeks preparing their stalls and dresses.

“We get to learn a lot about our representative country each year and about others by looking at their stalls. So everyone’s work does pay off and the event is informative and fun,” said Rashna Ali, representing England.

Ali said the team is most proud of their three feet tall Big Ben model and that it took the most time and effort.

Another student said that at times the hard work seems to go unacknowledged as judges and teachers quickly walk past the displays without taking in the details.

In addition to stalls displaying costumes, cultural items and snacks, participants were also treated to dance performances.

Madagascar representatives dressed up as animals and delighted onlookers with their Madagascar-inspired performance on the song “I like to move it”. Other performances that stood out were the mixed martial arts performances from Japan and China representatives.

The UN Day has been being celebrated globally since 1947, when the UN General Assembly declared that October 24, the anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations, “shall be devoted to making known to the peoples of the world the aims and achievements of the United Nations and to gaining their support for its work,” according to Wikipedia.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2012.