International

As part of its 67th voyage around the world, the Peace Boat will arrive in the port of Manta in Ecuador carrying over 400 passengers and 10 Hibakusha (survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs) who are participants in the “Global Voyage for a Nuclear-Free World – Peace Boat Hibakusha Project.” The program includes a conference on peace constitutions.

A group made up of Estonian Liberal and Green Party MPs, led by Toomas Trapido, welcomed the World March base team to Tallinn. Rafael de la Rubia, spokesperson for the march, presented the Parliament with the March Manifesto, the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol and the *Charter for a World without Violence* drafted by Nobel Peace Laureates.

As the centerpiece for Fall of Berlin Wall Celebration, convening in Berlin, Germany, 9-11 November 2009, the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates will join heads of state and government invited by the German government for the national celebration.
Chaired by Mikhail Gorbachev and Walter Veltroni, co-chairman of the summit, the event is hosted by the City of Berlin.

On October 19th, 20th, and 21st, humanist workers from the COHUB association (Cercle des Ouvriers Humanistes) in Benin participated in the 2009 Civil Society Days (JOSC), where they won the Achievement Prize for their presentation and campaign implemented within the framework of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence.

Every year the United Nations organises this week to coincide with the anniversary of its founding. The aim is to raise awareness among all of the UN’s member states of the danger posed by the arms race, to propagate the need to put an end to it and to foster a better public understanding of the urgent task of disarmament.

Klaus Wowereit has been honoured with the Principe de Asturias a la Concordia Award, 2009, before an audience at the Teatro Campoamor di Oviedo (Spain), for transforming the capital of Nazi Germany in World War II into the modern, open and tolerant city of today which, amongst other things, will host the Summit of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel Peace Prize that U.S. President Barack Obama recently received continues to provoke strong debate. Writers, ambassadors and institutions have opined on the controversial choice. What is certain is that, with this award, it is hoped that Obama makes a contribution to the strengthening of Peace in his country and in the world.

Twenty members of the World March Base Team were received by the Director of the Gorbachev Foundation in Moscow to whom Rafael de la Rubia handed the Manifesto for Peace and Nonviolence. The march spokesperson talked about the importance of the Base Team’s presence in Moscow, where he himself founded the association “World without Wars” in 1994.

Thanks to the mediation work of Luisa Morgantini, a number of popular Palestinian associations, which had been opposed to the event in celebration of the World March at Wallaje, in Palestinian territory, to which Israeli representatives were invited, opened a dialogue with – and their own homes to – the March delegation, recognising its role as an ambassador of peace.

Rural and indigenous movements, along with teacher, student and worker organizations declared their rejection of the agreement, which could be signed on 30th October, between the Governments of Panama and the United States to reinstall military bases. The project falls under Plan Colombia, now the Mérida Initiative, designed by the North American Government.