Investing in the Future: How Peace Day Put Youth at the Center
Every year, International Day of Peace gives us a chance to come together and reflect on what peace means for our community. This year’s United Nation theme was “Invest in Peace,” and we took that a step further by focusing that investment into the future.
We asked ourselves what it means to invest in the young people who will help shape that peace. Throughout the celebration, they answered that question for us. Their creativity, performances, and leadership even inspired other young leaders to step forward during our community circle and proudly share the work they are doing.
At the end of the program, everyone was invited to share an investment they had made in their community. One young boy stepped forward multiple times to share the ways he was already taking action to contribute. It was an unexpected reminder that young people do not have to wait until adulthood to begin shaping the communities around them.
International Day of Peace 2026: Invest in Peace
On September 19, Human Migration Institute joined the Inland Communities Fellowship of Reconciliation (ICFOR) and the Riverside Interfaith Council for our 11th year hosting International Day of Peace in Riverside.
Students from first through ninth grade in HMI’s Refugee School Impact program created original artwork showing us what peace looks like through their eyes.
Young Ukrainian singers Lisa Pakholchuk and Anastasiia Koval took the stage and uplifted our audience with their voicthes through music.
Our keynote speaker, Asma Safi, who was recognized as one of Riverside’s 2025 Most Remarkable Teens, offered another powerful example of youth leadership. Through reflections on her education and her own journey, Asma showed what investing in young people can make possible.
Together, these young people gave this year’s theme an even deeper meaning.
We were asked to invest in peace. This year, we invested in youth.
Investing in Their Creativity
For our Refugee School Impact students, Peace Day began well before September 19 when we asked students a simple question.
What does peace mean to you?
They answered through art.
Fourteen Refugee School Impact students from first through ninth grade created pieces exploring what peace meant to them. Their artwork became part of the Peace Day celebration, giving guests an opportunity to experience peace through the perspectives of young people.
The theme of investment came to life as the Monge Bystrom Memorial Education Fund sponsored our participating RSI artists. Each student received either a cash gift or toy in recognition of the time, thought, and creativity they invested in their work.
A child’s understanding of peace may look different from an adults and that is exactly why we wanted to see it.
Their artwork was not simply decoration for the event.
It was their contribution to the conversation.
Investing in Their Talents
Peace could also be heard through music.
Young Ukrainian singers Lisa Pakholchuk and Anastasiia Koval shared their talents with our community through their performances.
Their participation held special meaning during a gathering dedicated to peace. At the same time, we wanted their presence to represent something more.
Refugee and newcomer youth should not only be given opportunities to talk about conflict, displacement, or difficult experiences they have lived through. They also deserve opportunities to share what they love and what they are good at.
They deserve stages where they can sing.
Walls where they can display their artwork.
Rooms where people listen when they speak.
Communities where their talents have the space to flourish.
Lisa and Anastasiia were not simply there to represent a story of conflict.
They were there as artists.
Creating spaces for young people to be recognized for their talents is part of investing in them too.
Investing in Their Voices
One of the most powerful moments of the day came from our keynote speaker, Asma Safi, who brought another young voice to the center of our Peace Day program.
Asma’s journey gives her a deeply personal understanding of what peace and its absence can mean. In reflecting on her own education, Asma also spoke about her father’s investment in her future and the importance of continuing to pursue education despite the circumstances her family faced. After experiencing the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan and rebuilding her life in the United States, she became the first woman in her family to graduate from high school.
Her leadership and commitment to her community also earned her recognition as one of Riverside’s 2025 Most Remarkable Teens.
But Asma’s story did not stop with her own accomplishments.
After first becoming connected to HMI as a young newcomer, she has continued to grow into a leader who now helps support other newcomer students and families. At Peace Day, she stepped onto the stage as our keynote speaker and used her experiences to help our community think more deeply about peace, opportunity, and the future we are creating for the next generation.
Her journey reflects what we mean when we talk about investing in youth.
When young people are given support, opportunities, and space to use their voices, that investment can extend beyond one person. They can turn around and create opportunities for the young people coming after them.
Asma’s presence also gave us a glimpse of what the future can look like for our younger scholars. Her journey reminds us what can become possible when we commit to investing in young people, supporting their education, and creating opportunities for them to lead.
Honoring the Land and Creating Space for Connection
Peace Day always gives us opportunities to recognize our history, connect with one another, and consider what peacebuilding can look like within our own community.
Reverend Victoria Bomberry of Winged Spirit Ministry led a land acknowledgement, grounding our gathering in recognition of the land and its history as we began the day’s conversations about peace.
Throughout the program, attendees were invited to participate rather than simply observe.
Tahira Safi and Nanyori Davis-Arnold led the Finding Common Ground activity, encouraging attendees to recognize experiences and perspectives they shared with others in the room.
Our new addition this year of Human Bingo offered another opportunity for attendees to meet someone new, start conversations, and learn more about the people gathering alongside them.
Guests were also able to take home a Peace Day zine created by Cody Nielsen of HMI. The zine gave attendees something tangible to take home with them, allowing the ideas and messages explored throughout the celebration to continue beyond Peace Day. Together, the conversations, activities, artwork, music, and zine gave attendees from all walks of life different ways to engage with peace.
Because peace is not only something discussed between nations.
It is something we can practice in our own communities through listening, curiosity, creativity, connection, and a willingness to find what we share.
Eleven Years of Investing in Peace
For 11 years, Human Migration Institute, Inland Communities Fellowship of Reconciliation, and Riverside Interfaith Council have worked alongside one another to bring International Day of Peace to the Riverside community.
This year’s celebration continued that tradition while creating more opportunities for a new generation to become part of it.
We are grateful to Ipyani Lockert for guiding the celebration as our Master of Ceremonies and to Rose and Marilyn for their continued leadership, collaboration, and commitment to Peace Day.
We were also grateful to welcome representatives, volunteers, artists, and community members from across the Inland Empire. Those represented included Winged Spirit Ministry, League of Women Voters, Museum of Riverside, Inlandia Institute, International Justice Mission volunteers participating through National Charity Week, and National Fellowship of Reconciliation.
Our Refugee School Impact artists also brought youth voices directly into the celebration through their artwork and interpretations of peace.
We extend our gratitude to keynote speaker Asma Safi, Lisa Pakholchuk and Anastasiia Koval for sharing their talents, Reverend Victoria Bomberry for leading our land acknowledgement, Cody Nielsen for creating the Peace Day zine, Arlington Library for providing a space for our community to gather, and all of the volunteers, families, partners, and community members who contributed to the celebration.
From months of planning and promotion to performances, activities, artwork, photography, refreshments, setup, and everything that happened behind the scenes, Peace Day was possible because people chose to contribute.
Each contribution was an investment.
An investment of time.
An investment in community.
An investment in our youth.
And ultimately, an investment in peace.
The Future Is Now
We often hear that young people are the future.
But this year’s International Day of Peace reminded us that they are already creating, performing, speaking, leading, and imagining what a more peaceful world could look like.
Our responsibility is not simply to prepare them to inherit the future.
It is to make room for their voices in the present.
Invest in our youth, because the future of peace is not something we have to wait for.
The future is now.
