“My Piece for Peace”

Thursday, 1 June 2017 at 12.30 p.m.
Passerelle, E Building, 3rd floor, Palais des Nations

Ambassador [Vojislav] Šuc,
Ms. [Mathea] Štirn,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the opening of the exhibition “My Piece for Peace”. I thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovenian NGOs involved in organizing this excellent exhibition. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Slovenia for bringing this exhibition to the Palais des Nations.

Too many children today cannot enjoy a carefree childhood. Living in zones of conflict, they are deprived of basic opportunities to learn and develop. They have to leave behind their familiar environments to flee with their families, or alone, in search of a better future, or, indeed, to save their lives.

As UNICEF reminds us, one in 10 children live in conflict-affected areas. That is about 230 million children in total. The global number of refugee and migrant children moving alone has reached a record high with at least 300,000 in 2015-2016. These children are particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

The exhibition “My Piece for Peace” shows the visions of primary school children from across the European Union, the visions of a world free of war and full of opportunities for its children. With their works of art, the participants of this initiative call for solidarity, tolerance, understanding and openness among the peoples of this planet.

I invite you to listen to the youngest members of our society. They are the ones who will be living in the world of tomorrow. We owe it to them to build a world that leaves no-one behind, a world of peace, rights and well-being for everyone, so we no longer have to speak of the most vulnerable.

Ladies and gentlemen,
During the 25 years of its membership of the United Nations, the Republic of Slovenia has been a committed supporter of the UN’s activities on peacekeeping, peacebuilding, disarmament and human rights. In particular, Slovenia has supported the work on the rights of the child, promoting also their active involvement in finding solutions to the problems that concern them. In the same spirit, Slovenia co-organized an exhibition on human rights education and the empowerment of children last year, celebrating the 5th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training. I thank you once more, Ambassador Šuc, and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Slovenia for your continued engagement and for enriching our cultural diplomacy programme.

Now, let us enjoy this wonderful exhibition together.

I thank you.