If conflicts could be settled by friendly dialogue instead of war or violence, then what a wonderful world we would be in. Through friendship and forgiveness we could even turn our enemy into our best friend. Friendship, its virtues and values are well expressed in the American singer and song writer Don Williams’ inspiring song “ You’re my best friend’’. It goes like this: “You placed gold on my finger, you brought love like I’ve never known, you gave life to our children, and to me a reason to go on; You’re my bread when I’m hungry, you’re my shelter from troubled winds, you’re my anchor in life’s ocean, but most of all you’re my best friend; When I need hope and inspiration, you’re always strong when I’m tired and weak, I could search this whole world over, you’d still be everything that I need.”  

Such beautiful thoughts come to mind when later this month we celebrate the United Nations International Day of Friendship. It comes at a time when Sri Lanka on Thursday night heard the good news that the unprecedented people-power movement has brought down the country’s most powerful president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in an uprising that will be one of the greatest events in the country’s history.   

In a statement, the UN says our world faces many challenges, crises and forces of division — such as poverty, violence, and human rights abuses — among many others — that undermine peace, security, development and social harmony among the world’s peoples. To confront those crises and challenges, their root causes must be addressed by promoting and defending a shared spirit of human solidarity that takes many forms — the simplest of which is friendship.  

Through friendship — by accumulating bonds of camaraderie and developing strong ties of trust — we can contribute to the fundamental shifts that are urgently needed to achieve lasting stability, weave a safety net that will protect us all, and generate passion for a better world where all are united for the greater good, according to the UN.   

The International Day of Friendship was proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities. The resolution places emphasis on involving young people, as future leaders, in community activities that include different cultures and promote international understanding and respect for diversity. To mark this day, the UN encourages governments, international organisations and civil society groups to hold events, activities and initiatives that contribute to the efforts of the international community towards promoting a dialogue among civilizations, solidarity, mutual understanding and reconciliation.  

The International Day of Friendship is an initiative that follows on the proposal made by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) defining the Culture of Peace as a set of values, attitudes and behaviours that reject violence and endeavour to prevent conflicts by addressing their root causes with a view to solving problems. It was then adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1997.  

The UN highlights actions to promote a culture of peace. We could foster a culture of peace through education, promote sustainable economic and social development, promote respect for human rights, ensure equality between women and men, foster democratic participation, advance understanding, tolerance and solidarity, support participatory communication and the free flow of information and knowledge and promote international peace and security.  

American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer Hellen Keller- who was deaf and blind—says walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light. The much-admired theologian Thomas Aquinas has said there is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship. A true friend advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably, says William Penn, an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends. As English poet and painter William Blake says the bird needs a nest and the spider a web while people need friendship.