International

A team of 15 mountaineers, who had to cope with harsh climatic conditions, managed to plant the flag of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence on Eagle’s Peak, which is the second summit of the volcano Nevado de Toluca in Mexico. The volcano is a popular reference for many legends and is a sacred place for the native peoples of the area.

Finnish President Tarja Halonen received a delegation of the World March for Peace and Non-Violence that had recently arrived from Estonia in the official presidential residence in Helsinki. Halonen expressed her public support for the March, saying, “The government of Finland supports the total elimination of nuclear arms”.

Rodrigo Carazo Odio, the former president of Costa Rica and founder of the Universidad de la Paz (University for Peace), dedicated to the instruction of professionals and academics in global peace policies and strategies, endorses the *Charter for a World without Violence* drafted by the Nobel Peace Laureates.
Costa Rica, has not had an army since 1948.

Today in Istanbul, the fifth largest city in the World and the only city to span two continents, an encounter full of meaning took place at the Bosphorus Bridge: the point where Asia meets Europe. In the Historic city and centre of Turkish culture, the World March for Peace and Nonviolence Middle East Team met the South East Europe team to hand over the metaphorical baton.

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.