Share kindness on International Day of Friendship

“Friendships build trust and trust can prevent violence and conflict,” says The United Nations in Myanmar, which is marking the International Day of Friendship today, by encouraging people to share their friendships on social media with the hashtag, #ShareKindness.

“On International Day of Friendship the UN encourages activities and initiatives that contribute to the efforts of promoting a dialogue among civilizations, solidarity, mutual understanding and reconciliation,” says the Acting Head of the UN in Myanmar, June Kunugi.

“Friendship is about building trust and support, empathizing, and seeing from others’ perspectives—all important in a world not only grappling with the COVID19 pandemic, but also countering racism and trying to right past wrongs,” she adds. “The UN was founded to promote peace and non-violent means of resolving differences. Kindness and friendships can serve as bridges among different peoples, and lead to more peaceful, tolerant societies.” The idea follows on the proposal made by the UN’s cultural organization, UNESCO, defining the Culture of Peace as a set of values, attitudes and behaviours that reject violence and endeavour to prevent conflicts by addressing their root causes with a view to solving problems. Friendship Day was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1997.

A resolution passed by the UN Security Council on July 1 asks all armed groups to begin a “humanitarian pause” for at least 90 days to enable the delivery of humanitarian assistance and medical evacuations. All members of the UN have recently agreed to a ceasefire to deal with COVID19.

The UN is encouraging all people to insert an image of them and their best friend online with the hashtag #ShareKindness to remind people of how friendships and positive relationships can lead to a better world.

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