I just found out that the United Nations has an International Day of Friendship. Honestly, at first, I was a bit surprised. With everything to deal with on the UN’s plate, why would they focus on something as simple as friendship? Why dedicate a whole day to it?
But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.
Back in 2011, the UN General Assembly designated July 30th as International Friendship Day. Their rationale was that friendship, whether between individuals, communities, or even countries, can help bring peace, close divides, and encourage understanding. We can easily underestimate how powerful those small human connections are, especially when the news is so full of conflict and division.
The UN Charter itself highlights this agenda:
“To practice tolerance and live together in peace
with one another as good neighbours.”
These days, just talking about being good neighbors feels like a quiet act of protest against all the chaos out there. It is a reminder that peace isn’t only about big treaties or negotiations. It is about how we treat each other every day. It is those personal acts of kindness, openness, and empathy.
Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize winner, put it simply:
“We may have different religions, different languages,
different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race.”
