Region

The new conservative-liberal coalition government wants the United States to withdraw all nuclear weapons still deployed in Germany despite the fall of the Berlin Wall, end of the cold war and re-unification twenty years ago.
Observers said that Merkel would take up the issue when she travels to Washington to address the U.S. Congress on November 3.

In Stockholm, for the third time on its journey, the delegates of the World March have been welcomed by members of a National Parliament. Per Bolund, member of the Green Party, declared *“by passing through Sweden the World March has given us the real push to work on the theme of peace and nonviolence in our Parliament”*.

The institutions of Salonicco came together at the Aristotelous University to welcome the World March delegation on its arrival in the city. During the ceremony, March spokesman Schultze presented the Charter for a World without Violence, written by Nobel Peace Prize winners, to the President of UNESCO, who undertook to disseminate it widely.

Irena Ondrová, mayor of the regional capital Zlín and ex-senator of the parliament of the Czech Republic, expressed her support for the World March for Peace and Nonviolence. From the onset, the Mayor felt drawn by the idea of the march, which is why she supported the celebrations of its opening ceremony, which took place the 2nd October in La Paz square, Zlín.

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.

From 25 to 31 October, Jamaica will be the seat of the V Ministerial Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean on Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas. This Summit’s priority will be to encourage a reassessment of agriculture and the rural environment, in the face of development challenges and to favour urban-rural integration for improved development in those countries.

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.

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.