The Summit was timed to coincide with the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall – which included an amazing public event with President Obama (streaming in from the White House), Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel, Mikhael Gorbachev and others. The event concluded with 1000 3-meter high pieces of wall falling as dominoes to symbolize the breaking down of walls between people.
The Summit included a special event with the World March for Peace and Nonviolence which started in Aotearoa-New Zealand on Gandhi’s birthday (October 2) and is traveling around the world promoting the Nobel Charter for a World Without Violence and the UN Secretary-General’s five-point plan for nuclear disarmament.
The World March is carrying the Nuclear Abolition Flame on the march to encourage people to actively promote nuclear abolition. Mairead Corrigan Maguire received the Nuclear Abolition Flame on behalf of the Nobel Laureates at the end of the Summit.
The Summit also presented Annie Lennox with the 2009 Women of Peace Award for her work in HIV education and Aids prevention especially in South Africa.
The Summit adopted a final statement which calls for the breaking down of walls that stand in the way of a nuclear-weapons-free world; walls between rich and poor; walls between cultural, religious and ethnic communities; walls that prevent combating climate change, and walls between generations.
Nobel laureates participating included Mikhail Gorbachev, Frederik Willem De Klerk, Lech Walesa, Muhammad Yunus, Mairead Corrigan Maguire and representatives from a number of Nobel Laureate organizations, including the International Peace Bureau for which I am a Vice-President.
There were also a number of guest speakers including Wim Wenders (film-maker), Ahmed Kathrada (Nelson Mandela Foundation), Jonathan Granoff (President of Global Security Institute), Mario Luis Rodriguez Cobos – Silo (World March for Peace and Nonviolence), Giulietto Chiesa (World Political Forum), and Tom Brokaw (NBC).
