Acting for a Peaceful World was the title of the event celebrating the International Dayof Peace, held in Rennes, a city in the West of France, on 21 September 2025, and co-hosted by UPF France, Peace Ambassadors and the leader of Association Ubuntu (ubuntu is a Zulu word meaning humanity or compassion).
The purpose of the event. attended by a mixed-age, live audience of about seventy plus others via zoom, was to share prospects of peace in this time of confusion and struggle.
Our main speaker was Mr. Doudou Diène, a longtime Peace Ambassador and former Special Rapporteur for racism-related topics by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Mr. Diène spoke about his lifetime commitment to defend human rights and peace. His mission for the UN led him to report about the situation in African countries like Rwanda, Burundi, Congo as well as countries in Asia and South America. Where education for peace was practiced and a peace philosophy such as Ubuntu was applied, many could change their life and leadership style. His recent work at UNESCO was to review their peace education agenda. He expressed his support for UPF’s activities and vision for peace.
Mrs. Douceline Guen who inaugurated Association Ubuntu shared about her life as a teenager during the conflict in her country Burundi. She was able to come as a refugee to France and safely raise a family. Her good fortune in life inspired her to dedicate herself to activism: to build peace in herself, her family and in the society around her. She expressed some principle of Ubuntu as "I exist because you exist, your dignity is my dignity..."
Mr. Patrick Jouan, vice-president of UPF France, presented the vision of the founders of UPF which is based on the principles of interdependence, mutual prosperity and universal values.
He shared about worldwide activities such as Peace Road Projects and interreligious and intercultural dialogue, and the underlying affirmations like ‘peace starts with me’ and ‘the family is the school of love and peace".
UPF cooperates with the UN, UNESCO, and other organizations to develop a culture and education for peace.
The three presentations stimulated a lively exchange with the audience, and we concluded that even in the face of today’s many conflicts, the desire for peace is strong amongst many.
This successful event gave up hope that we can have a new start in this region and plan future activities.