The United Nations General Assembly established World Peace Day in 1981. Since then, the Japanese peace bell has traditionally rang during the Peace Day at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The TPO Foundation celebrates Peace Day with high school students, so our ETOS schools have conducted significant workshops and actions to raise students’ awareness of the importance of peace, dialogue and non-violence.
The ethos schools participating in the workshops and actions of the Day and Week of Peace are the High School for Textiles, Leather and Design from Sarajevo with professor Alma Ahmethodžić, the High School of Metalworking from Sarajevo with professor Mirsad Cvrk, the Catholic High School Center ”St. Joseph” Sarajevo with professor Emilija Pavićević, International Gymnasium Sedef with professor Selvira Mašnić, High School Center “Nedžad Ibrišimović” from Ilijaš with professor Dragana Kartal, Third Gymnasium Sarajevo with professor Sedžida Hadžić, High School of Civil Engineering from Mostar with director Sanela Mesihović, the Institute for the nurture and education of persons with mental and physical disabilities Tuzla with professor Saša Delić, The Second Gymnasium Sarajevo with professor Elmana Cerić. There is also the Elementary School “Breške” from Tuzla with teacher Amela Petričević and the Elementary School “Brčanska Malta” with professor Munevera Rahmanović Hrbat.
In line with the mission of the Ethos Initiative, the values of ethics, tolerance, openness and solidarity are promoted among students. Special emphasis is placed on students in a key period, which is the period of high school in which they build attitudes, beliefs and thoughts about themselves and the world around them, and greatly influence the value system that the student will advocate later on. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there must be even more and stronger insistence on the celebration of the Day and Week of Peace with students, if we take into account the socio – political – economic situation in the country that has lasted for two decades.
Therefore, it is extremely important that today students shared messages of peace to the citizens of Sarajevo, that they painted, did illustrations, wrote poems and reviews on 21 of September, that the professors brought together students from different schools, which allowed us to believe things can change even in here and that there is a huge potential of living in peace among new generations.
