Eastside faith leaders will participate in the largest global observance of the International Day of Peace ever on Wednesday. Thousands of organizations and hundreds of millions of people worldwide observe the occasion. One focal point across the planet will be the minute of silence at noon, in all time zones worldwide.

Local observation will take place from 7-9 p.m. at East Shore Unitarian Church, 12700 SE 32nd St. in Bellevue.

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, with the sponsorship of Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church’s Social Justice Committee, East Shore Unitarian’s Peace Team, and Veterans For Peace, Chapter 92, are hosting Paul K. Chappell speaking on “Why Peace Is Possible and How We Can Achieve It.” Chappell is a 2002 graduate of West Point. He served in the army for seven years, was deployed to Baghdad, and left active duty in November 2009. He lives in Santa Barbara, CA. where he is serving as the Peace Leadership Director for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

A moderated panel of faith and community leaders representing Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Unitarian beliefs alongside peace seeking organizational leaders from the American Friends Service Committee, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Veterans For Peace, and Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation will challenge the audience to take action to bring peace to their own communities.

In conjunction with this event and International Peace Day, Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church will screen Jeremy Gilley’s film: Peace One Day, Part 3 at 7 p.m. today. The church is located at 308 Fourth Ave. S., in Kirkland. The film challenges viewers to work to bring about a worldwide complete ceasefire on International Peace Day 2012.

The International Day of Peace was established by a unanimous resolution of the United Nations in 1981. Its mission is to provide a common time period for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on or near a shared date, and to bring together efforts from around the world whose ultimate focus is to promote peace and sustainability.