UPF International: Putting Our Common Home in Order - World Clean Up Day

On 20 September 2025, the Universal Peace Federation joins the international community in marking World Cleanup Day, an observance acknowledged by the United Nations General Assembly for mobilizing practical action toward the Sustainable Development Goals. Originating in Estonia in 2008 and scaling globally since 2018 under the Let’s Do It World network, this citizen-led effort now unites partners across regions and sectors. On the eve of the International Day of Peace (21 September), it is fitting to put our common home in order, beginning with our neighborhoods, rivers, and shared spaces, so that service today strengthens the foundations of peace tomorrow.

UPF affirms that environmental stewardship begins with human dignity and the bonds of family and community. Guided by the vision of our founders, Dr. Hak Ja Han and late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, we uphold a culture of living for the sake of others in which interdependence, mutual prosperity, and universal values form the foundation of sustainable peace. The founders emphasized humanity’s calling to be responsible stewards who live in harmony with nature, aligning scientific progress with spiritual ethics to safeguard creation for future generations. In this same spirit of ethical leadership, the 2025 Sunhak Peace Prize honored Wanjira Mathai of Kenya, chair of the Green Belt Movement, whose community-led initiatives advance ecological restoration; the Movement has planted more than 51 million trees.

Building on these principles, UPF invites policymakers, faith leaders, educators, and youth to couple cleanups with durable policy and practice. We encourage citywide waste audits, public - private partnerships for circular solutions, and evidence-based measures that prioritize reduction, reuse, and high- quality recycling. Concrete steps include advocating extended producer responsibility, advancing restrictions on problematic single-use plastics, aligning public procurement with low-waste standards, and deploying open municipal data systems for hotspot mapping and progress tracking.

This call to action is already being heeded by our global network. Recent examples from UPF chapters include: In the UK there have been UPF projects to rejuvenate areas of an EcoPark in Birmingham and a

Community Garden in London. (See Photo) In Japan, UPF and youth partners organized beach cleanups in Kanagawa. In Peru, Ambassadors for Peace joined a coastal cleanup at Marbella Beach in Lima. In Russia, volunteers in Voronezh removed waste along the Usmanka River while divers cleared debris from the riverbed, and in the Leningrad region the Eco-Losevo Festival marked a decade of shoreline restoration at Lake Sukhodolskoye. In the Seychelles, volunteers conducted World Cleanup Day activities with the Foyer de Nazareth children’s home. In Argentina, teams combined cleanups with tree planting in Buenos Aires as part of a multi-year “Let’s Plant Trees: Let’s Sow Peace” campaign. In Kenya, UPF mobilized thousands to clear sections of the Nairobi River that pass through major informal settlements such as Kibera, demonstrating practical solidarity with vulnerable communities.

In alignment with this global collaboration, we acknowledge credible organizations whose ongoing work is broadly recognized across national contexts. In the United States: The Nature Conservancy, advancing habitat restoration and climate resilience through science-based tools; Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, which mobilizes worldwide volunteer action and open data on marine debris; and Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup, supporting community-led waste reduction. In China: the All-China Environment Federation, fostering multi-stakeholder environmental governance, and the China Environmental Protection Foundation, a nationwide public-funding foundation known for tree-planting and public-awareness campaigns. Their efforts complement UN system leadership and provide practical avenues for collaboration at local and national levels.

Looking ahead, we envision a cleaner planet sustained by a culture of service, where innovation is guided by ethics and cooperation transcends borders. As one human family under God, let us sustain the momentum of World Cleanup Day through year-round reconciliation with nature and with one another, so that every neighborhood, river, and shore reflects shared responsibility, restored beauty, and enduring peace.

Dr. Tageldin Hamad President, Universal Peace Federation