Our Alumnus Sevgi Ceyda Şairoğlu attended the Peace Day Ceremony
The Brookings Institution in Washington DC and United Nations Academic Impact UNAI launched the global contest, inviting the students around the world to imagine a speech that would be made by the Secretary-General at the opening of the next session of the General Assembly. The contest aimed to encourage interested students and future leaders with the opportunity to demonstrate innovative thinking on responsibilities and rights involved in solving global problems together in a shared culture of intellectual social responsibility.
There is today a growing consensus concerning our global interdependence. Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines everyone’s right to an international order where the inherent dignity and rights of all are fully realized. What is less clear is what sort of a global civics is necessary and feasible for us to navigate this growing interdependence. Through the speech writing contest, the students were granted an opportunity to ponder some vital, in the form of a draft of the imagined speech by the Secretary-General, on what responsibilities we can all take on towards people who happen not to be our compatriots, and what rights we can claim, in the context of intellectual social responsibility.
The total number of the entries submitted by the deadline was approximately 230. The participants were the university students from some 70 countries around the world. Essays were evaluated through a blind review process by panels of judges from three separate organizations—Brookings, UNAI, and the Committee on Teaching About the United Nations (CTAUN). The names of three final winners, according to the condition that suggested: at least one of whom should be from an UNAI member institution, are Sevgi Ceyda Sairoglu from Sabancı University in Turkey, Chwala Wallace from University of Nairobi in Kenya, Vatsal Vasudev from National Law University in India..
The peace day ceremony was held at the Rose Garden early morning on 21 September and was attended by Ban and UN Messengers of Peace Michael Douglas, British anthropologist Jane Goodall, Jewish-American writer and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel and American actress and singer Monique Coleman.
A moment of silence was observed in honour of the victims of conflict and those who are being subjected to human rights abuses. Ban along with UN General Assembly President Vuk Jeremic rang the 'Peace Bell' to mark the occasion.
Ban said the International Peace Day is the day when the UN calls for compete cessation of hostilities around the world. He said the peacebell should be rung with greater force this year so that the message of peace is 'heard above the voice of discord and extremism that has sparked violence in recent days'.
The theme of this year’s observance is 'Sustainable Peace for a Sustainable Future'. Ban stressed that armed conflicts attack the very pillars of sustainable development. "Natural resources must be used for the benefit of society, not to finance wars. Children should be in school, not recruited into armies. National budgets should focus on building human capacity, not deadly weapons," he said.
Ban added that in the current tense times 'we need a message of tolerance, cooperation, and harmony to resonate around the world'.
After the peace day event Sevgi and the other two winners were hosted in the Secretary general’s office and had the chance to meet the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The meeting lasted about 20 minutes and during the meeting each student got to introduce herself/himself and ask a question. After meeting the Secretary-General, the 3 students were invited to have lunch with Ban Ki-Moon, senior managers of the UN and the UN Peace Ambassadors. The winners of the competition were then hosted in the UN Radio Center, and they answered the questions regarding their winning essays and "global citizenship". After a busy day at United Nations Headquarters, students had dinner with Hakan Altınay senior research fellow at the Brookings Institution and the editor of the "Global Civics" book.
Sevgi: Being in UN Headquarter, meeting the Secretary General, having lunch with UN Messengers of Peace was completely an unique experience for me. I have been always interested in the work of UN and their projects. After graduating from Sabancı University, Economics diploma programme, I decided to do master’s in “Development Economics” and think more about the problems that the majority of the world faces. With my economics background and interest in global issues I hope to work in the development sector and work in solving the global challenges in the most feasible and efficient way. I regard this speech competition and visit to UN Headquarter as the first essential step taken towards fulfilling my goals.