USIP’s office in Afghanistan celebrated this year’s International Day of Peace with a concert and theatre event organized with Oxfam and a local partner in Kabul, the Afghan Civil Society Organization Network for Peace (ACSONP). USIP also sponsored a series of events that ACSONP’s local affiliates organized in seven provinces -- Kabul, Kunar, Nangarhar, Kapisa, Bamiyan, Kunduz and Herat.
“The festivities featured Quran readings, poetry, speeches, music, theatrical performances, and other activities,” said Shahmahmood Miakhel, USIP’s Afghanistan country director and a former Deputy Minister of the Interior. The goal was to raise awareness about International Day of Peace in communities and among news media. The commemoration originated with a U.N. General Assembly resolution in 1981 and, since 2002, has been held each year on Sept. 21.
USIP staff in the capital participated in the festivities, held in the Kabul Women’s Garden, along with more than 200 women, as well as Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister of Information, Deputy Minister of Women’s Affairs, and other dignitaries.
Bahir Safi and Casey Garret Johnson work in USIP’s Kabul office.