GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

Re: ‘‘Facing dark reality on the International Day of Peace’’ (Opinion, Sept 21).

Unesco Bangkok director Gwang-jo Kim has every reason to deplore the rot of cultural and ethnic hatred and to strongly advocate a culture of solidarity and peace.

While this year’s International Day of Peace has the theme ‘‘Education for Peace’’, we are far away from the ideals reflected on this matter in the Unesco constitution, which was signed in 1945.

Indeed, in accordance with this fundamental legal instrument, since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.

It is in the light of this crucial educational requirement that full recognition must be given to the lessons generated by world history.

A peace based exclusively on the political and economic arrangements of governments would not be a peace which could secure the unanimous, lasting and sincere support of the peoples of the world.

Peace must therefore be founded, if it is not to fail, upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind.

As humanity is now facing an unprecedented existential crisis, giving tangibility to this vital demand is an urgent and imperative prerequisite of universal peace.

Ioan Voicu