International Day of Peace: September 21 | Notre Dame experts on cultivating a culture of peace

Sanctioned by the United Nations in 1981, the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on September 21 and serves as a call to action that we all have an individual and collective responsibility to foster peace. 

This year’s theme is “Cultivating a Culture of Peace,” and marks the 25th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace. 

As defined by the United Nations, “Culture of Peace” is a “set of values, attitudes, modes of behavior and ways of life that reject violence and prevent conflicts by tackling their root causes to solve problems through dialogue and negotiation among individuals, groups and nations.”

The following University of Notre Dame experts are available for comment:

Richard (Drew) Marcantonio, assistant professor of environment, peace and global affairs at Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, is available to comment on environmental peacebuilding. He can address the issue of toxic pollution and the violence it causes on the environment and human health (killing 9 million each year and disabling many others). 

Marcantonio can be reached at [email protected]

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Ernesto Verdeja, associate professor of peace studies and global politics at Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, is available to comment on steps policymakers can take to prevent mass atrocities and genocide.

Verdeja can be reached at (718) 473-2188 or [email protected]

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Mary Ellen O’Connell, the Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law and concurrent professor of international peace studies at Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, is available to speak on international law and the role it plays in mitigating current conflicts, including the war in Ukraine.

O’Connell can be reached at [email protected]

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Danice Brown Guzmán, associate director of the Evidence and Learning Division at Notre Dame’s Pulte Institute for Global Development, is available to comment on evidence-based recommendations to support peacebuilding (including mediation and art therapy) drawing from examples in Nigeria, Colombia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Brown Guzmán can be reached at [email protected]

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Please let me know if you have any questions or would like for me to connect you with any of the above experts. You can contact me at (574) 631-9958 or [email protected]