Whereas the United Nations designated September 21 International Day of Peace , otherwise known as Peace Day; Whereas the United Nations General Assembly declared Peace Day as a day devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples ; Whereas all United Nations member states, organizations, regional and nongovernmental organizations, and individuals are encouraged to celebrate and recognize global peace efforts on Peace Day; Whereas Peace Day represents shared hopes of an end to conflict in all forms; Whereas the United Nations calls for a 24-hour global ceasefire on Peace Day; Whereas this year’s Peace Day theme is The Right to Peace—The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70 ; Whereas 2018 marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a milestone development in contemporary human history promoting peace and well-being worldwide; Whereas violent conflicts could cost upwards of $13.6 trillion per year globally; Whereas conflict prevention measures could save between $5 billion to $70 billion per year on average; Whereas there is almost no interstate war; Whereas the absolute number of war deaths has been declining since 1945; Whereas life-threatening diseases are on the decline globally; Whereas measles deaths globally were 90,000 in 2016, down from 550,000 in 2000; Whereas 2017 only saw 19 cases of polio globally compared to an average of 350,000 per year in the 1980s; Whereas the world is close to eradicating the guinea worm disease; Whereas there were less than 5,000 deaths from natural disasters in 2017; Whereas nearly a billion people have escaped extreme poverty since 1999; Whereas the United Nations met its Millennium Development Goal of halving the extreme poverty rate in 1990 by 2010, five years ahead of schedule; Whereas the global unemployment rate fell from 6.4 percent in 2000 to 5.6 percent in 2017; Whereas the global maternal mortality rate declined by 47 percent between 2000 and 2016