Menu

United States Institute of Peace

Search

Home ▶ Projects

Peace Day Challenge

September 21 is the International Day of Peace

Share This
Print the Page

The Peace Day Challenge exists to raise the profile of the International Day of Peace and to affirm peace as a real alternative to the violence we see every day in the world. It is all about inspiring a day of action on September 21, focused on building peace through real-life activities and sharing on social media at #PeaceDayChallenge.

Since launching in 2015, the Peace Day Challenge has reached 148 countries and all 50 U.S. states, engaged hundreds of schools and dozens of organizations, and inspired social media posts from high-profile individuals and a broad public audience reaching tens of millions of people.

Who Inspired you? Peace Day Challenge 2021

Profiles in Peacebuilding

After a tumultuous 2020 and in still-challenging times of conflict and global threats, this year’s Peace Day Challenge focuses on Profiles in Peacebuilding—elevating stories of peacebuilders from different parts of the world and different walks of life, their resilience and impact, and the inspiration they provide to all of us. Over the next few weeks, USIP will be sharing stories of peacebuilders from across our network—and we’re asking YOU to join us!

Tell us about a peacebuilder who inspires you. Share their story on social media using #PeaceDayChallenge and help us elevate the profiles of individual peacebuilders in our communities and around the world.

Here are some resources to help you find inspiration:

  • Browse USIP’s Olive Branch Blog and find a story of peacebuilding that inspires you.
  • Think about someone in your own life who motivates you to make a difference and encourages you to manage conflict nonviolently.
  • Read about USIP’s 10 finalists for the 2020 Women Building Peace Award.
  • Explore the United Nations’ International Day of Peace page.
  • Reflect on historical figures that you believe embody peacebuilding.
  • Talk to your friends, family, teachers, faith leaders and other members of your community about their peacebuilding heroes.
  • Read about some of USIP’s peacebuilding projects in places like Nigeria, Pakistan, Colombia and more.

Explore our virtual gallery in the Great Hall of our headquarters in Washington, D.C., featuring our Profiles in Peacebuilding, then use social media to post your own profile of a peacebuilder who inspires you!

No matter which peacebuilder you choose to elevate, share their story, quotes, photos, videos and more on social media and be sure to use the hashtag #PeaceDayChallenge!

More Ideas for Action

  • Engage in an act of volunteerism or service to help those in need. In addition to opportunities that may be available in your own community, explore Points of Light’s Virtual Volunteer Opportunities.
  • Hold a virtual event or activity to mark the International Day of Peace and raise awareness about  issues of peace and conflict that matter to you.
  • Gain practical peacebuilding skills through USIP’s online courses, available tuition-free on our Global Campus platform.
  • Post messages of peace around your home, school, place of worship or community.
  • Make a personal pledge to be a peacebuilder from now on, by seeking nonviolent ways to manage conflict and by seeking out opportunities to take positive action for peace in your everyday life.
  • Share your action for peace with the hashtag #PeaceDayChallenge!

Shared Activity

#PeaceDayChallenge

Related Publications

Jill Welch on the Peace Day Challenge

Jill Welch on the Peace Day Challenge

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

By: Jill Welch

Ahead of the International Day of Peace on September 21, USIP’s Jill Welch talks about how the Institute’s annual Peace Day Challenge gives people around the world “the opportunity to take an action, however big or small, to make peace possible together.”

Type: Podcast

Education & Training

View All

Latest Publications

Possible Russian Nuclear Deployments to Belarus Could Shift Europe’s Nuclear Balance

Possible Russian Nuclear Deployments to Belarus Could Shift Europe’s Nuclear Balance

Thursday, June 30, 2022

By: John Drennan

During a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart on June 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated that “within the next several months,” Russia intends to transfer Iskander-M missiles — which can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads — to Belarus and begin upgrading Belarusian Su-25 fighters to carry nuclear weapons. Most of the details of the deal remain unknown or to be determined. But should Putin’s promise turn out to be more than nuclear bluster — something Putin and other Russian officials have resorted to since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine — the deployment could remake the nuclear balance in Europe and increase the risk of a potential NATO-Russia conflict occurring.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

In Africa, Putin’s War on Ukraine Drives Food, Fuel and Finance Crises

In Africa, Putin’s War on Ukraine Drives Food, Fuel and Finance Crises

Thursday, June 30, 2022

By: Edward A. Burrier

Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war on Ukraine has unleashed a wave of destruction and atrocities against its brave people. But the suffering and instability are not contained to Europe. Indeed, a continent away, Putin’s war has unleashed a “three-headed hydra” of food, energy and finance shortages in Africa, further threatening vulnerable Africans and putting dozens of countries at risk of default. Recognizing the need to tackle food insecurity, the Group of Seven (G-7) countries pledged billions more in assistance this week. But will it be enough given the severity of these challenges?

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Economics;  Global Policy

Back to the Basics: Fixing the Americas’ Polarized Media Landscape

Back to the Basics: Fixing the Americas’ Polarized Media Landscape

Thursday, June 30, 2022

By: John Feeley

The recent Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles underscored that the Western Hemisphere faces several crises. Climate change threatens tens of millions of Americans throughout the hemisphere. Democracy, once the unquestioned standard of regional governance as recently as 1994 when it was celebrated at the inaugural Miami Summit of the Americas, is also in crisis. In fact, it became the unfortunate story of the summit: who was invited and who wasn’t. Regardless of which side of the democratic inclusion summit debate one adopts, democratic backsliding and the rise in autocratic governance like in Mexico, El Salvador and Brazil — to say nothing of the extinction of democracy in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela — represents a worrisome reality that goes beyond the traditional left- versus right-wing paradigm.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Democracy & Governance

Despite Ukraine Focus, Asia-Pacific to Play Prominent Role at NATO Summit

Despite Ukraine Focus, Asia-Pacific to Play Prominent Role at NATO Summit

Monday, June 27, 2022

By: Mirna Galic

NATO countries meet this week in Madrid, Spain amid Russia’s war on Ukraine, the biggest test the alliance has faced in decades. The summit is expected to focus heavily on demonstrating NATO’s unity, support for Ukraine and the bids of Finland and Sweden — propelled by Russia’s aggressive incursion — to join the alliance. But developments in the Asia-Pacific, chiefly the rise of China, will also be a top item on the agenda, with Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea participating at the leader level for the first time at a NATO summit.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

View All Publications