On 14 October 2013, the Chemical Weapons Convention -CWC- entered into force for the Syrian Arab Republic, making it the 190th State Party to the treaty. Syria deposited its instrument of accession with the United Nations Secretary-General on 14 September.

At its 74th session in October 2013, the OPCW Executive Council noted the accession of the Syrian Arab Republic and urgently called upon all States not Party to the Convention to join without delay or precondition.

North Korea, Egypt, South Sudan, Angola, Israel and myanmar have not joined the CWC yet, known as 6 states non party to the convention.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday 11 October. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said the OPCW won the award "for its extensive efforts" to rid the world of such weapons. "The conventions and the work of the OPCW have defined the use of chemical weapons as a taboo under international law," the committee said. "Recent events in Syria, where chemical weapons have again been put to use, have underlined the need to enhance the efforts to do away with such weapons." The $1.25 million Nobel Peace Prize will be presented in Oslo, Norway, on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.

The OPCW was entablished in the Hague in 1997 following entering into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention which has 189 member states at the moment. the OPCW is currently overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal.

Mr Yves Rossier, State Secretary of  Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland and the Ambassador of Switzerland in Tehran visited the Tehran Peace Museum on Tuesday  08 October 2013.

At the entrance of the museum they laid flower and lit a candle in tribute of all victims of chemical warfare and prayed for peace.

Following their visit, the diplomatic delegations had a friendly chat with the director and volunteer guides of the peace Museum who are war survivors and victims of chemical warfare.

The TPM members appreciated the role of Switzerland in efforts for peace and humanitarian assistance to war victims and hoped for elimination of WMD from the world.

To see the photos of this event click here.

A ceremony co-organized by UNESCO cluster office in Iran and Tehran Peace Museum was held in Sooreh Hall on Thursday 03 October 2013 to commemorate the Peace Week.

Following the reading of the messages of UN Secretary General, UNESCO Director General and the Tehran Peace Museum, an Iranian Film “Taj mahal” was shown following an introduction by its young director Dansh Eghbashawi.

Three  winners of the “55-word story for peace competition” were also awarded during the ceremony

More than 200 officials, Diplomats, artists, war veterans and other citizens attended the ceremony. To see the Photos of this program, Click here.

The UN Security Council simulation (UN Model) was held at Tehran Peace Museum on 19 September 2013. It was co-organized by the International Studies Journal (ISJ) in cooperation with UNIC (United Nations Information Center). More than 30 graduate and post graduate students of international relations and law as well as political science from different universities from across Iran participated in the simulation which addressed the issue of crisis in Syria.

Renowned Iranian political scientist and university professor Dr. Davoud Hermidas-Bavand was the honorary guest of the program who assisted the President of the SC, the Australian delegation. The one-day session concluded with the adoption of a resolution.

According to an agreement with ISJ, from now on, there would be similar UN model at Tehran Peace Museum, every year in the last week of September.

To see the photos of this event, please click here.

The second session of a workshop on "Refugees, Humanitarian Assistance and Efforts toward Peaceful Life" was held at Tehran Peace Museum on 25 September 2013.

In the workshop which was a joint program of the UN Refugee Agency -UNHCR- and the TPM, over 30 students and TPM volunteers participated to discuss different topics including:

History and mission of the UNHCR, basic facts, terminology, and the refugees challenges. To see the photos of the workshop click here.

On Saturday 21 September, an observance for the International Peace Day was held in Tehran Peace Museum.

Many NGO representatives, activists, young people, artists, war survivors as well as representatives of International organizations a diplomats attended the ceremony.

During the program, Mr Ban Ki moon's message was read by UN resident coordinator in Iran, Mr Gary Lewis, then the message of UNESCO was read by Secretary General of National commission of UNESCO.

Reading the message of Tehran Peace Museum by a war victims, traditional music performance by a chemical warfare survivor, children's song and lighting candle were other parts of the program.

To see photos of the ceremony click here.

To read the message of Tehran Peace Museum, click here.

Ms Valerie Amos, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Visited the Tehran Peace Museum on Monday 16 September.

Following her visit to the museum, she had a meeting with board members and a group of chemical warfare survivors who are volunteer guides of the museum and discussed the role of war survivors in raising awareness against violence and in promoting the culture of peace.

Ms Amos was accompanied by a number of her colleagues from UN-OCHA (office for coordination of humanitarian affairs ) and Mr Gary Lewis, the UN resident coordinator in Iran.

The INMP (International Network of Museums for Peace) has composed a travelling exhibition out of the winning photo and ten runners-up of the "A Picture for Peace" photo contest, which will travel across different peace museums around the world.

To mark the International Day of Peace, the United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY Peacebuilders) has given young people aged 15-30 all over the world the chance to show their contributions to peace by taking part in a photo contest: "Why do youth play an important part in peacebuilding?"

Opening hours: Saturday to Wednesday, 9:00 -13:00 & 14:30-17:00

Dates: 14-28 September 2013         Admission: free

A half-day TOT session on “Peace Education in Iran & Japan at a glance” held in Tehran Peace Museum on 12 September 2013.

This session held by a group of teachers and educational managers peace education group.

The session also included a report on this group’s recent study visit to Hiroshima.

Write a 55-word story on Peace and friendship!

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Tehran Peace Museum and UNESCO-Tehran Office are conducting a "55-word story contest" with the theme of peace and friendship to commemorate International Day of Peace (21 September).

A group of juries selected by both organizations will select the best stories and the selected ones will be awarded and receive certificate in a joint ceremony on early October.

Email your short stories to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Five students from Tehran Peace Museum, joined the 80 global voyage of the Peace Boat.
Iranian students during their 10 days journey attended an exchange program with German students and participated in several educational programs and workshops with the theme of peace and conflict resoloution. they also had a presentation for international participants and Japanese passengers of the Peace Boat.

Peace Boat is a Japan-based international non-governmental and non-profit organization that works to promote peace, human rights, equal and sustainable development and respect for the environment.

for more information visit PB website: www.peaceboat.org

A delegation from Tehran Peace Museum visited Hiroshima to attend the 6th of August peace memorial ceremony on the 68th anniversary of the atomic bomb attack.

During their visit, members of Tehran Peace museum met with the director of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum as well as members of several NGOs , journalists, citizend and  survivors of atomic bomb.

This visit marked the 10th anniversary of the peace exchange between citizens of Tehran and Hiroshima which has been organized by MOCT association from Hiroshima and SCWVS from Iran.

The 4th issue of the OPCW (ORGANISATION FOR THE PROHIBITION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS) newsletter was published in July 2013.

In this issue, there is full coverage of The Third Review Conference (8-19 April 2013), in which some of the members and volunteers of Tehran Peace Museum were participated. You can see the pictures of TPM representatives in pages 21 & 22.

Download the newsletter in PDF from here to know more about the OPCW and the Third Review Conference.

"On this International Day of Friendship, let us cultivate warm ties that strengthen our common humanity and promote the well-being of the human family. "

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

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 (A/RES/65/275) places particular emphasis on involving young people, as future leaders, in community activities that include different cultures and promote international understanding and respect for diversity.

Mr. Nazim Omar Dabbagh, the representative of Iraqi Kurdistan regional government in Iran, visited Tehran Peace Museum on Sunday 21 July 2013.

During this visit, Mr. Dabbagh had a meeting with TPM members and volunteers, and discussed the joint cultural and scientific programs between TPM and the Halabja Monument Museum, as well as cooperation and relationship between Iranian and Iraqi victims of chemical weapons, who are working as volunteers with SCWVS and TPM.

To see the photos of this event click here.

The chemical bombing of the village of Zardeh in western Iran was one of the most shocking criminal acts of Saddam Hussein’s regime during the Iran-Iraq war.

The bombing took place on July 22nd, launched an attack with mustard gas and nerve agents. Amongst the targeted were defenseless villagers and pilgrims in the vicinity for a religious ceremony. Of the 275 were killed, around 1500 were injured gardens of the village barren. These figures do not include the casualties incurred by pilgrims in the area.

This is a reminder that the online registration for INMP’s Peace Philanthropy Symposium has opened!

Peace Philanthropy Symposium is an international symposium to celebrate the centenary of the Peace Palace in The Hague, the gift of Andrew Carnegie; and also for celebrating Peace Philanthropy and Furthering Peace Education - In the Footsteps of Andrew Carnegie.

The Symposium is organized by the INMP (International Network of Museums for Peace) in cooperation with the Peace Palace / Carnegie Foundation; and will be held on 2 & 3 September 2013 in The Hague, Netherlands.

Please find more info and the Peace Philanthropy Symposium Program and registration form on INMP website, via the link below:

http://inmp.net/index.php/2013/113-peace-philanthropy-symposium

A delegation of Iranian teachers from the Peace Education group of the Tehran Peace Museum visited Hiroshima, Japan, under the auspices of a Japanese peace NGO and the Hiroshima Bureau of Education. In this one week visit, the Iranian delegation met with Japanese teachers, directors, and school officials. The Iranian teachers also visited several schools and educational centers and became acquainted with the methods of peace education in Japan. This teachers’ delegation discussed common grounds of exchange with educational directors in Hiroshima.

 On 28 June 2013 the Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force for Somalia, making it the 189th State Party to the treaty. This has reduced to seven the number of States that have not yet joined the CWC.

(Angola, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, Israel, Myanmar, South Sudan, Syria)

Victims of chemical weapons in Iran, welcome this development as another significant step toward achieving universality of the Convention and thereby strengthening global peace and security.

For more details click here

http://www.opcw.org/somalia-becomes-189th-state-party-to-the-chemical-weapons-convention