Vladimir Norov

In 2010,the United Nations General Assembly in its 64^th Session adopted a resolution, arguing that Nowruz as the embodiment of the unity of cultural heritage and centuries-old traditions plays an important role in strengthening ties between peoples based on mutual respect and the ideals of peace and good neighbourliness, approved March21as the International Day of Nowruz. The draft of the resolution was prepared and submitted to the UN General Assembly by the delegation of Tajikistan, one of the founding countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, together with the delegations of other SCO Member States, observer, and dialogue partner countries, including Albania, the Republic of Northern Macedonia and Turkmenistan. At the same meeting, the General Assembly welcomed the 2009 UNESCO decision including Nowruz in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

In the resolution, the UN General Assembly, emphasizing the importance of processes of mutual cultural enrichment and the need to encourage exchanges among civilizations,  contributing to the development of international cooperation, especially underlines that the basis of the ancient traditions of Nowruz reflects the cultural characteristics and ancient customs of the civilizations of East and West, which had influenced the formation of these civilizations through the mutual exchange of human values.

The resolution also recommends that UN Member States make efforts to raise awareness about Nowruz and subsequently hold annual events to commemorate the holiday as deemedappropriate and encourages the study of its origins and traditions to spread knowledge of the Nowruz heritage to the international community. The focus of Nowruz on affirming life in harmony with nature, awareness of the inseparable link between creative work and natural cycles of renewal, and a caring and respectful attitude toward the natural sources of life were also noted.

Ban Ki-moon, who was UN Secretary-General when the International Day of Nowruz was established in 2010, said that the tradition dates back as far in time as there was no written language. It allows us to erase borders, overcome divisions, unite, and confront crises together. Care for the environment calls collective approach and promotes friendship between quite different cultures. This, of course, resonates with the values of the UN. After all, the hope of renewal is a powerful driving force.

The word Nowruz (Novruz, Navruz, Nooruz, Nevruz, Nauryz), means “new day,” and its spelling and pronunciation may vary from country to country.

Nowruz, the day of the vernal equinox, has been celebrated as the beginning of the new year for over 3,000 years in most of the SCO “family” countries, including those in Central Asia, as well as in the Balkans, the Middle East, the Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin, and other regions of the world. Nowruz, both in its external manifestations and in its underlying sense, meant and honored.Above all, the arrival of spring – the time of year when the sun, having overcome the winter darkness as well as cold and frost, began to gain strength again, and increase the daylight hours. On the other hand, it is the time when nature awakens, wakes up, seeks, and finds strength to renew itself again.

 An important tradition practiced during Nowruz celebrations in most of the SCO countries, which cover almost half the world’s population and 60 percent of Eurasia, is the communion and joint meal of relatives and friends at a festive table decorated with objects symbolizing purity, brightness, prosperity, and wealth. People wear new clothes, visit relatives, especially the elderly and neighbors, and exchange gifts made by artisans, especially for children. There are street performances of music and dance, community rituals, competitions in traditional sports and handicrafts. Such practices in Nowruz celebrations promote values of peace and solidarity between generations and within families, as well as reconciliation and neighbourliness between different communities, henceforth, contributing to cultural diversity, friendship and understanding among peoples and nations in the SCO region.

Over its millennial history, Nowruz has become a symbol of rebirth and renewal of nature and society, of spiritual purification and human self-improvement. It represents prosperity, unity, brotherhood, and mutual support to timeless cultural and historical values that unite the peoples. It is a great heritage inherited by the peoples of the SCO countries, and we must cherish and develop it.

Nowruz knows no national borders; it unites people as well as various societies through bonds of goodwill and friendship. It is noteworthy that representatives of all ethnic groups, nationalities, and cultural communities residing in the countries celebrating Nowruz join the celebration of this bright holiday. This holiday is the best proof of the enduring value of unity in diversity and a reminder that humanity shares a common destiny.

The study of the traditions of other peoples can have a beneficial effect on mutual understanding and on the way of the life of mankind itself. Now, in the age of high technology, it has become easier to obtain information that serves to bring different cultures closer. Eastern traditions, poetic legends, and colorful festivals attract attention of the world.The inspiring contemporary writers and filmmakers by the way they seamlessly combine antiquity with the future,the wisdom, and values of all peoples, captured in the songs, parables, and legends of antiquity, in the films and books of today, tell us how invaluable friendship, mutual assistance, and human unity are.

The great Eastern geniuses Abu Reyhan al-Biruni, Omar Khayyam, Ferdowsi, Nizami Ganjavi, Abdurrahman Jami, and Alisher Navoi left behind a multitude of poems about the Navruz celebration, in which they called on people to live in peace and harmony.

Alisher Navoi, one of the outstanding poets of the East, the great thinker, statesman, the founder of the Uzbek literary language, whose 580^th birth anniversary was celebrated by poetry lovers around the world on February 9, wrote in his works:

Understand, people of the whole earth: enmity is a bad thing.

Live in friendship among yourselves–there is no better fate.

Humanity has entered the third decade of the third millennium, filled with contradictions and cataclysms with geopolitical and geoeconomics causes, as well as those associated with climate change and environmental degradation.

Under these conditions, the SCO Member States emphasized the importance of promoting interaction in building a new type of international relations based on the principles and norms of international law, above all, mutual respect, justice, equality, and mutually beneficial cooperation. The countries of the SCO Family make a significant contribution to maintaining peace, security and strengthening trust and cooperation between countries and peoples.

In addition to that, the SCO Member States advocate the development of multilateral and bilateral cultural ties that promote mutual understanding among nations, preservation of cultural diversity, mutual respect, and dissemination of knowledge of the traditions and customs of the peoples of SCO Member States. They encourage intercultural dialogue in the interests of peoples in the SCO region, promote the enhancement of cultural diversity, cooperation in research and preservation of cultural and natural heritage in the region.

And so, the peaceful and constructive spirit of Nowruz is deeply in tune with the “Shanghai spirit” – the main content of which is mutual trust and benefit, equality, mutual consultation, respect for the diversity of cultures and civilizations, the desire for joint development and the values enshrined in the SCO Charter of June 7, 2002. In this regard, the joint celebration of Nowruz by the countries of the SCO Family has profound meaning and particular significance in strengthening mutual understanding, mutual respect, and friendship among peoples, and bringing cultures closer together in all their diversity.

The SCO Secretariat, in cooperation with embassies of SCO countries and Chinese partners in the PRC, annually organizes festive events on occasion of the International Navruz Day, comprised of an exhibition of arts and crafts of SCO countries and photo exhibition depicting the traditions of Navruz celebrations. The incendiary music, colorful dances, traditional sports/games, and national rituals give the holiday a special charm. As the SCO celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year, 18 countries of our organization jointly celebrated Nowruz on March 19 at the SCO Secretariat – our common home.

In general, the broad celebration of Nowruz in the SCO region is in accordance with the UNESCO Universal Declaration of 2001on Cultural Diversity, which states that awareness of the unity of humankind and the development of cultural exchange, respect for the diversity of cultures, tolerance, dialogue, and cooperation in a climate of trust and understanding are the best guarantees of international peace and security.

The writer is the SCO Secretary-General of SCO