UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and a number of "UN Messengers of Peace" - a group made up of celebrities and activists - rang a peace bell to mark the International Day of Peace on Wednesday morning at the UN headquarters in New York.

Speaking at the ceremony, Annan appealed to global leaders who attended last week's UN summit to return to their countries and start implementing the agreements reached.

"And I hope the leaders who were here would go home and not forget the decisions we took but set about energetically implementing them for the sake of peace and of the sake of their peoples," said Annan.

Later at a press conference one of the messengers, actor Michael Douglas, touched on the issues of nuclear proliferation and nuclear power.

"The body should be completely embarrassed as to the fact that we could not come up with any wording or phrasing regarding the issues of nuclear proliferation, comprehensive test ban treaties, non-proliferation, as well as our small arms and light arms," said Douglas.

Numerous events and observances are planned around the world by UN offices and peacekeeping operations - as well as governments, NGO's and other groups - to promote peace and non-violence.

The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by a resolution of the General Assembly to coincide with its opening session every September.

In 2001, the General Assembly approved a second resolution setting the observance of the day on 21 September of each year.

(CRI.com September 22, 2005)