The West African Network for Peace Building in The Gambia (WANEP), on Sunday, celebrated the International Day of Peace and Global Ceasefire.
 
The day is dedicated to the memories of those for whom peace is a distant cry, landmine and cluster bomb victims, internally displaced persons and refugees around the world, among others.  The day is observed annually, as a day of peace and global cessation of hostilities, a day of mending relationships and peace building.

According to WANEP The Gambia, for centuries, the world has experienced and continues to experience armed conflict and lives with the scourge of these conflicts, which  impact directly on the security of communities.

The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki Moon, in a speech at the 2007 Peace Bell Ringing ceremony, said “I call for a day of global ceasefire, a 24-hr respite from fear and insecurity that plague so many people.”  

He urged all countries and all combatants to honour a cessation of hostilities and to ponder the high price that will be paid because of conflict.  He urged them to vigorously pursue ways to make this temporary ceasefire permanent.