North America

The International Base Team of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence arrived today in New York and marched with over 1000 people from Brooklyn to Manhattan to celebrate the start of the North American leg of the March. Later, in the evening Dr Bernard Lafayette, civil rights activist and nonviolence educator inspired the audience at the Riverside Church.

As the World March for Peace and Nonviolence is due to arrive in New York on Monday November 30th, it has issued a statement regarding President Obama’s speech on Tuesday at the US Military Academy at West Point, New York which is widely expected to be an announcement of an increase in troop numbers in Afghanistan of anything up to 40,000.

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

Excellent news for the Quebecois! The organising committee of Non-violence Week in the Saguenay region in partnership with Stéphane Bédard, deputy of Chicoutimi, obtained the introduction of a bill on non-violence at the National Assembly of Quebec on November 12. This bill aims to designate 2 October every year as International Day of Non-violence.

The Zero Nuclear Weapons Forum was held in Toronto this weekend, bringing together renowned experts and activists for informative discussions on nuclear disarmament. Over 250 people attended, and what was perhaps most notable throughout all the talks was the sense of optimism and hope that achieving a world free of nuclear weapons was now becoming possible.

The YMCAs of Québec is happy to announce the names of the finalists for the 22nd annual Peace Medal ceremony. Exceptional individuals who have thought about peace, demonstrated it, and inspired it at the local, national, or international levels will have their contributions publicly recognized.  This year, 17 nominees are in the running in six different categories.

Since his arrival at the White House, Obama signaled that poor healthcare coverage in the USA was a major problem and insisted on pushing through his proposals. The historic vote in the House of Representatives was an unprecedented victory for the President, who had staked much of his political capital in the fight for healthcare reform.

Twenty years ago a wall fell and the world watched in awe and in hope. The Berlin Wall had stood for decades as a physical reminder of how mistrust and hatred can dominate relations between nations and peoples. The men and women celebrating its fall were rejoicing not just the reunion of Germany and end of the Cold War but the promise of a new era of freedom and optimism.

The Pre-parliament of the World’s Religions was held on October 22nd and 23rd in Guadalajara, Mexico with the theme “Hope: Opportunities for Religious and Spiritual Pluralism.” Representatives from all manner of religious denominations exchanged ideas. The World March for Peace and Nonviolence was present on the scene.