UN chief celebrates reinstallation of Peace Bell

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Wednesday celebrated the return of the symbolic Peace Bell to its permanent home at UN headquarters five years after its relocation due to the renovation of the UN complex.

"The Peace Bell is one of the oldest outdoor gifts to the United Nations, and a particularly meaningful one. I always take great inspiration whenever I pass by, and of course when we ring it each September to mark the International Day of Peace," Ban said.

The bell was moved to the Rose Garden, also on UN premises, during the renovations of the headquarters complex along Manhattan 's East River five years ago.

"Now it is back where it belongs -- in this beautiful space at the intersection of the General Assembly, Secretariat, and Conference Buildings," Ban said.

Sixty-one years after the donation of the Peace Bell to the United Nations, this symbolic bell still represented "the collective desire for the world to live in peace," he said.

"Over the last five years that the Peace Bell was away, too many innocent people around the world have heard only the sounds of guns and bombs," he said.

"Now that it is restored back to its home, let us also intensify our work to restore the bells of peace in villages and cities and countries around the world," the UN chief said.