International Day of Living Together in Peace 

On May 16, we will be celebrating this commemorative day, which has now reached its third edition.

Each time we make an effort not to spread the virus, we demonstrate our profound desire to live together. We take awareness that we do not live alone, but rather with others.

The health and humanitarian crisis that we are now experiencing shows that living together concerns us all.  It shows us the importance of the bonds which unite us with our community, neighbors, families and friends. We are all interdependent upon each other, no matter what our origins, beliefs, religion, social status or place of residence. We share the same fears and apprehensions but also the same hopes. This shows us to what extent our social awareness, our solidarity, our ability to live together in everyday life, is essential.

May 16 is the International Day of Living Together in Peace. Celebrated for two years in a many different countries, this day has brought together thousands of people who have united to highlight the importance of the bonds that unite the human community.

Unfortunately, the pandemic that is sweeping the world will not allow us to meet in person this year, but it is a unique opportunity to raise awareness about a fundamental reality: every day, everywhere on this earth in our respective communities: WE LIVE TOGETHER!

Confinement and social distancing, which millions of us are experiencing today, are allowing us to rediscover the importance that “otherness” holds in our lives.  We need others, even those we do not usually see every day. Whether it is the people who heal us, those who feed us, those who protect us, those who do maintenance on our neighborhoods and cities: they are all a part of our lives.

On May 16, 2020, stop and reflect on everything that unites us.  Take a few minutes to discuss it with your loved ones.  Make some sort of gesture towards each other. Say something to the lonely people you know. Express gratitude to the people who are still working so that we can have the essentials.

If this planetary crisis makes us aware of the impact of this coexistence on our community and on the bonds that unite us, we can hope that, despite any difficulties which may arise, the world will be a better place after the crisis than before.

Share this message all over your social media, and let us know what gesture you made to demonstrate our collective desire to live together getter, using the hashtags:#VIVREENSEMBLE (#LIVINGTOGETHER) and #JIVEP2020

Together, we can make each of our individual gestures add up into a truly collective movement.

And allow us take advantage of this International Day for Living Together in Peace to reflect and meditate upon the long-term impact which this global crisis is going to have on us all, and on the people around us.  If we can individually and collectively strengthen our conviction that we already live together and that it is possible to do so in harmony and peace, we can break down the walls that divide us so uselessly a little bit more and rediscover a reality within us: that we all form part of the one large body that is humanity.

Download the manifesto
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