Modern world is very complicated today. Unfortunately, it is full of cultural discord, discrimination, lack of trust, mistreatment, and miscommunications. Sometimes it seems that peace has little presence in society around the world today. All that was the main reason for the United Nations to proclaim July 30th as the International Day of Friendship in 2011. The idea of this day is to inspire peace and build bridges between communities, peoples, countries, and cultures.
The idea of International Day of Friendship is not the new one. In 1958, the very first World Friendship Day was proposed by the World Friendship Crusade, an international civil organization which aim was to foster peaceful culture through friendship.
As the Friendship day is celebrated across the globe, its main idea is to bridge the gaps between such factors as race, language, culture and to inspire peace between diverse communities.
The United Nations encourages governments, international organizations and civil society groups to hold events, activities and initiatives that may help in promotion of UN initiative that rejects poverty, violence, human rights abuses and promotes peace, security and social harmony in the entire world.
Friendship makes world a better place. Friends endure time and distance, give you support during difficult times, bring joy and happiness to your life. Marking the International Day of Friendship, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that the human spirit must prevail in any situation. In his message for the Day, he said: “Let us remember the ties that bind us together, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or borders. Let us cultivate solidarity as a single human family on our one and only planet”.
Happy International Day of Friendship!