*Edited in 2011
Global Peace Festival
Launched in 2009, the Global Peace Foundation (GPF) has brought together more than a million peace-minded people in nations on every continent. An innovative approach to peace building, the GPF combines multi-cultural celebrations with service initiatives that engage volunteers from every background, drawing upon the shared ideals of the world’s faiths and united by a vision of One Family under God.
The Global Peace Foundation highlights local and indigenous culture and utilizes the often-overlooked experience of celebration as a strategic tool to create space for reconciliation in regions beset by conflict. A key to the GPF’s success is the grassroots support of many local partnering groups and the organization of service projects that enlist volunteers across religious and ethnic divides.
GPF has grown into a worldwide movement engaging political and spiritual leaders, sports stars, celebrities, and partnering organizations. In the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kenya, and Nepal, the Global Peace Festival has won support of Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and indigenous peoples.
It has also engaged government and civil society leaders in service and cultural events that have advanced respect for religious and ethnic differences.
“This is an important day for Kenya and for Africa. It is a new beginning in the quest for our nation to be once again known as a nation of peace and security.”
—Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga at the 2008 Global Peace Festival in Nairobi
In 2010, regional Global Peace Festivals in South Asia, South East Asia, Latin America and East Africa were hosted in coordination with Global Peace Leadership Conferences (GPLC), bringing international focus to important regional issues while highlighting the colorful cultures and traditions of the host region.
In 2011, GPF partnered with the Mongolian Peace and Friendship Union and the World Mongolian Convention to celebrate the 2220th Anniversary of the Founding of the Hun Empire. Some 60 thousand Mongolians gathered in Ulaanbaatar’s historic Sukhbaatar Square to honor Mongolia’s heritage, contemporary achievements, and role for peace as a new democracy in the twenty-first century.
