International Day of Peace: A turbulent world needs more peace

As conflicts continue to rage across the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan, the world is facing a growing deficit of peace and security.

"Our world is the most violent it has been since World War II," Jorge Moreira da Silva, executive director of the United Nations Office for Project Services, said in a statement earlier this year, warning that the number of people forced to flee their homes was increasing by the hour.

The risks are not confined to existing battlefields.

The 2026 Global Risks Report, based on a survey of 1,300 stakeholders worldwide, found that large-scale war recorded the biggest upward shift in perceived imminence among the risks assessed.

Some 36% of respondents expected a large-scale war within one year, while 76% saw it as a risk within seven years.

Against this backdrop, the International Day of Peace, observed on September 21, takes on renewed significance.

The question is no longer simply how to end individual conflicts, but how to build mechanisms capable of preventing confrontation from becoming the default way of addressing differences.

For China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, this has been reflected in its call for a broader approach to international security.

In 2022, as the Ukraine crisis escalated, China proposed the Global Security Initiative (GSI), which calls for a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable approach to security, respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, adherence to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and the peaceful resolution of disputes through dialogue and consultation.

By the end of 2025, the initiative had gained support from more than 130 countries and international and regional organizations and had been included in more than 140 bilateral and multilateral documents, according to China's Foreign Ministry.

At the recently concluded 18th BRICS Summit, China called for BRICS countries to become a pioneer in upholding peace and stability.

The call is part of a broader Chinese approach that places emphasis on dialogue, mediation and political solutions in addressing international and regional conflicts.

In 2023, China hosted talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran in Beijing that resulted in an agreement to restore diplomatic relations.

In September 2024, China and Brazil, together with other Global South countries, helped launch the "Friends for Peace" group on the Ukraine crisis.