International

Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation, and it is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and peace. *Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan*

The popular singer-songwriter, León Gieco, at the Festival for the 127th anniversary of the city of La Plata (capital of the province of Buenos Aires) wore the sweatshirt of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence. At the “birthday” concert, held in Plaza Moreno, 10 other groups put on a show for an audience of a hundred thousand people.

More than a dozen organizations and nonviolent groups have participated to the World March round table in Sarajevo on November 4. At the end of the meeting all of them have subscribed a Declaration about peace and nonviolence, stating that war doesn’t start in the battlefield and doesn’t end with peace agreements. Its beginning and its end are in the heads of the people.

Japan, the only country to be the target of atom bombs, and the U.S., the only country to drop them, firmly committed themselves to working towards a nuclear weapons free world, when President Barack Obama visited Japan during his first presidential tour of Asia. Both governments reaffirmed their “determination to realize a world free from nuclear weapons”.

“In the next 60 seconds, 10 children will die of hunger,” says a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) online video. It continues, “For the first time in humanity, over 1 billion people are chronically hungry.” In addition to this online campaign, United Nations is hosting the World Summit on Food Security in Rome this week

The World March for Peace and Nonviolence was welcomed to Rabat by Siba, a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and by Dermolini, the Secretary General for Youth. The meeting was held at the headquarters of the Popular Movement, a party which includes many former members of the resistance who chose peace as the only method for conflict resolution.

The three-day World Summit on Food Security ended today after committing the international community to investing more in agriculture and to eradicating hunger at the earliest date. FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, who hosted the event, said the Summit marked “an important step towards the achievement of our common objective – a world free from hunger”.

The former Bolivian Minister of Education, Magdalena Cajías, joined the World March Base Team in Madrid, which is currently travelling through Morocco. She stated that “the endeavour to eradicate any kind of violence is not individual but collective and requires a common effort”, and she continued: “many people will be able to hear the message of Peace and non-violence”.

The World March for Peace and Non-Violence base team was festively greeted by local organising teams at the Barcelona airport. Later, a delegation participated in various receptions held in Barcelona’s City Hall, the Generalitat (Catalonia’s autonomous government), and the Parliament of Catalonia. The Charter for a World without violence was given to Catalonian authorities.

World leaders convened at FAO Headquarters for the World Summit on Food Security today unanimously adopted a declaration pledging renewed commitment to eradicate hunger from the face of the earth sustainably and at the earliest date.
The Summit declaration vows better governance, increased investment and proactive climate change strategy.