This afternoon, over one hundred children from 43 nations ran together in a spirit of unity and harmony through the streets of Oslo as part of the World Harmony Run. Flanked by 2 policemen on brilliant white and brown horses, the run began at the Palace before weaving through the downtown and ending at the Eternal Peace Flame monument at Aker Brygge. The World Harmony Run is history’s longest and largest relay for peace, involving hundreds of thousands of children in over 70 nations in an Olympic-style torch relay.

Children from the Oslo International School inspired the leaders of Oslo’s major faiths to take a step for peace together as well. Deputy Bishop Olav Dag Hauge (Church of Norway), General Vicar P. Arne Kirsebom (Catholic Church), Imam Mehboob Ur-Rehman (Islamic Council), Pamela Hiley (Buddhist Society) and Gopal Sharma (Sanatan Hindu Temple) walked together for interfaith harmony from the Honnørbryggen to Aker Brygge, where they met the children.

Leaders of Faiths, Governments and Civil Societies

Following an inspired performance by the Norwegian Girls Choir, the Deputy Mayor of Oslo addressed the crowd of dignitaries and ambassadors which included Guest of Honor Kjersti Fløgstad, Director of UNICEF Norway as well as up-and-coming Norwegian pop artist Siri Stranger, who sang a moving song on piano to end the event.

Deputy Mayor Svenn Erik Kristiansen

The Deputy Mayor said, “I extend my heartiest congratulations and encouragement to these wonderful children who have participated today. They might not know what an important step they have taken today for peace. Indeed, in a world of seemingly unending conflict and constant focus on war, it is refreshing and heart-warming to see these children developing into world leaders who will focus on the importance of peace.”

Carl I Hagen

Carl I. Hagen, representing the Stortinget added, “It is important to try to convince and teach all children of all religions and all nations that we live on one planet, we all have one goal in common, and we should be able to live in peace and harmony with each other and with our neighbors, to try to prosper and alleviate our quarrels peacefully. I would like to thank the initiator and the children in Oslo for making those of us here more aware of our common goal which is peace and harmony.”

The World Harmony Run was founded in 1987 by Sri Chinmoy, a noted humanitarian and supporter of numerous activities for fostering peace amongst people of different religions, backgrounds and nationalities. This annual event has attracted support from hundreds of celebrities including Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela, Queen Elizabeth, Muhammad Ali, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Gustav Lorentzen and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg who was a patron of the Run in Norway while Minister of the Environment in 1991.

The Run began at the United Nations in April and is being concurrently staged in Europe, the United States, Canada and New Zealand. It will travel to a number of schools in Oslo tomorrow before rejoining the main team of runners in Europe on Friday.

The event also involved a shared moment of silence led by all the religious leaders present. They thanked the children for bringing everyone into their hearts to experience the simplicity of peace and harmony through the eyes and smiles of a child.

---

Harmonemail:
You can send a message to the runners or read the messages.

< Belarus/Lithuania 13 June

Norway 15 June > Latvia 15 June >

Opening Ceremony Walk for Interfaith Harmony Lithuania 14 June