Center provides ways to celebrate the International Day of Peace

Oakland Mediation Center welcomes everyone to celebrate the International Day of Peace (Peace Day). This year much of humanity will conduct the largest global observance of Peace Day ever on or around Sept. 21. Thousands of organizations and hundreds of millions of people worldwide observe this occasion. Some will start on this year's 10th anniversary of 9/11; others will continue through Oct. 2, Gandhi's birthday and the International Day of Non-Violence. One focal point across the entire planet will be the minute of silence at noon, in all time zones worldwide, on Sept. 21--as requested by Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations. Bonnie Hanes, executive director at OMC, says that "Year round OMC is committed to the peaceful resolution of conflict through community mediation and education." She adds that "OMC invites all people to participate in celebrating and being committed to peace." Peace Day was established by a unanimous resolution of the United Nations in 1981. Its mission is to provide a common time period for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on or near a shared date, and to bring together efforts from around the world whose ultimate focus is to promote peace and sustainability. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Peace Day with the Peace Day 2011 theme being 'Make Your Voice Heard'. In honoring this theme, there are two events that must not be missed! The first is OMC's Mediation Matters Luncheon on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at noon. This one hour luncheon will inform attendees of how the mediation, facilitation and education services provided by OMC can increase peace in communities, schools, businesses, or personal situations. To register or for additional information, contact Jennifer Clendening, OMC events coordinator, at 248-338-4280, ext 216 or jclendening@mediation-omc.org. The second is an event sponsored by the Association For Conflict Resolution (ACR) Michigan Southeast Chapter--"Dialogue as a Vehicle for Social Justice: A Local Health Department's Commitment to Work Force Transformation." Anne Smiley will present on how the Ingham County Health Department has made the commitment to transform its workforce of 300 employees through 4-day workshops exploring the core concepts of oppression, unearned privilege and their impact on community health. This session will describe the process that the County has embarked on in developing and implementing these dialogue-based workshops, provide a sampling of their content, as well as provide insights gleaned from pre and post workshop evaluation. The event will be conducted on Thursday, Sept. 22, from noon to 1:30pm. The cost is $5 for ACR chapter members; $15 for non-members; and $10 for 1 Social Worker CEU. To register, visit www.mediate.com/acrmichigan/pg2.cfm. For additional information, contact Kenzi Bisbing, ACR Michigan Southeast Chapter Treasurer, at 248-338-4280, ext. 216. For more information about the International Day of Peace, as well as listings of thousands of events worldwide, visit www.internationaldayofpeace.org. Published: Fri, Sep 9, 2011