NEWS: 28 OCT > 30 NOV 2008from Information Bulletin #03 December 2008
15th November 2008
Speech by Rafael de la Rubia, International Coordinator
Official Launch of the World March in Punta de Vacas
“Friends. From this highly inspirational place, surrounded by tall mountains, from where the keys of “active nonviolence” and “universalist humanism” were given, we are launching the World March for Peace and Nonviolence.” So started the text that Rafael de la Rubia, International Coordinator of the World March read in front of hundreds of people congregated in Punta de Vacas Park, Argentina, at an altitude of some 3000m, very close to Aconcagua.
A project based on initiatives and endorsements of all kinds
Immediately he made mention of multiple initiatives and endorsements of people and organisations of all kinds, pointing out that: “They are initiatives which arise, in most cases, from the social base. Many of them have the profile of something rather new, innovative, out of the ordinary. With strong characteristics and a lot of imagination, they often carry a playful and festive tone...” Ideas of all kinds to carry out from here to the start of the March and during the March itself. Associations and networks, the world of education and sport, councils, nations, Nobel Prize winners, astronauts, intellectuals, scientists, parliamentarians and politicians, lawyers, musicians, singers, actors, painters, designers and many more, have already embraced this worldwide aspiration, even before this 15th of November, with 321 days to go to the start. We can highlight the importance of three mega-concerts (Prague, Dakar and Santiago) and the project of concerts in all the cities through which the march passes, even with simultaneous concerts in places of conflict such as India-Pakistan, the two Koreas and Mexico-USA. “The WM can help in places of conflict or with closed borders”, De la Rubia explained.
New routes and sections added to the March.
Since the initial outline from New Zealand to Argentina, numerous new routes or sections have been added which added together is longer than the initial route in kilometres. And the list of 40 countries in June, have become more than 90 in little more than 4 months. The base team that will travel the whole journey is being configured and more than 50 volunteers have come forward from different countries and continents. Rafa de la Rubia pointed out that, “we have to note the wide participation of young people who are giving another dimension, another dynamic and a great creativity to the WM.”
Objective: “To create a consciousness that the only path is the one of Peace”
He identified the basic objectives: “to create consciousness that Peace is the only way” and to finally “leave behind human pre-history.”
He underlined the importance that the result depends on what each one of us does in this year that remains, with our individual actions, “like little drops of water, join together, converging until becoming a huge river which without stopping advances slowly towards its destiny.” (…) “Perhaps History will remember it as the time in which good people stood up and, as a way of rejecting a violent and inhuman system, travelled all over the world in a peaceful but nonetheless vigorous protest.”
He finished by reading an anonymous text and ending with “Long Live the Worldwide March for Peace and Non-Violence!”
See the complete text in Spanish:
http://www.marchamundialespania.org/noticias/78-presentation
Video: http://loshumanistas.tv/mm/Lanzamiento_MM_PDV_V3.mp4
26th to 29th November 2008
Nairobi, Kenya
II African Humanist Forum
In Nairobi, Kenya, the 2nd African Humanist Forum took place between the 26th and 29th November the conclusions of which will appear in the next bulletin. In the forum, Giorgio Schultze, the European Spokesperson for New Humanism spoke (via a ‘virtual’ link), and there was a launch of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence in Africa, in a festive and colourful environment.
http://www.african-humanist-forum.org
28th November 2008
Las Palmas, Gran Canaria - Spain
World without Wars in “Ferianova 2008”
World without Wars – Canary Islands – was presented in the exhibition, “Ferianova 2008”, promoted by Las Palmas council, with an information stand about the World March. A presentation was also made to secondary students. It was a friendly day for all the participating organisations.
27th November 2008
Salamanca, Spain
The Athenaeum of Salamanca presents the World March
On the 27th November the Athenaeum of Salamanca made a presentation of the World March to the city. Videos about the March led to speeches by the President of the Athenaeum, by the Humanist Association “Canal Humano”, and the Atril Collective of poets, in an act in which 30 people participated. Six Salamancan associations have given their support to the World March and will meet monthly to feed the organising committee with initiatives for the city. The presentation was preceded by a press conference the day before that was covered by two newspapers and the national radio broadcaster “Intereconomia”.
25th November 2008
Bolivia
Chat to form the Promotion Team of the WM
Representatives of seven organisations, including World without Wars, took part in a chat to form the organising committee of the WM in Bolivia. Diverse questions were discussed, such as; the sections of the map and the initiatives; dissemination through printed media, electronic bulletins and TV spots; the importance of the endorsements of personalities and organisations, who will be invited to not only give their endorsements, but also to participate in the team itself and generate new initiatives, Public Relations, Press, Materials, Legal, Resources, Logistics, Dissemination, March and website functions were formed, seeing the importance that the March function has a coordinator by section to be able to coordinate in detail. Coinciding on the 10th of December with the day of Human Rights, there will be the official launch of the March in Bolivia in Cochabamba. Following this event will be another in Oruro and other places of the country to be determined, then on the following dates: the 17th March (anniversary of the Iraq invastion), the 1st of May (Labour Day) and the 8th of March (International day of the female worker). The organising committee will continue to meet on Thursdays in Cochabamba, on the 29th of November in Sucre, the first week of December in La Paz and on the 15th of December in El Alto.
23rd November 2008
Manantiales Park, Chile
22nd & 23rd November 2008
Marseille, France
Third Forum-Festival “A Nuclear free Mediterranean”
A hundred people came from Spain, Italy and Belgium and from many cities of France and interchanged information and experiences about the theme of nuclear disarmament in a festive atmosphere of solidarity. During the weekend the third Forum-Festival “The Mediterranean without nuclear weapons” and towards the convergence of cultures for non-violence was carried out at the CRDP in Marseilles. Like the forums before in March in Athens and September in Malaga, they were organized by ´´World Without Wars´´ in colaboration with local, national and international associations. The originality of this encounter was the switching between conferences and the artistic presentations: music, songs, tales and videos.
Emphasis was given to the presentations of Rafael de la Rubia, International Coordinator of World Without Wars; Pol D´Hubeytter, Director of the General Secretariat of Mayors for Peace that gathers 2500 cities in the World presided by the Mayor of Hiroshima; Jean-Marie Matagne, president of Action of Citizens for Nuclear Disarmament (ACDN); Marc Mercier ,artistic director of the Festival Instant Video and Esther Fourchier director of the Forum of Mediterranean Women.
Three workshops studied the posibility of a treaty for nuclear disarmament for the mediterranean zone, the convergence of cultures in this region and the artist contributions for the developement for a culture of non-violence. The next forums for the nuclear disarmament on this region will be at Palermo and Barcelona on 2009.
Nuclear Disarmament Forum for the Mediterranean: http:/fordesarmed.online.frAction of Citizens for Nuclear Disarmament: http:/ acdn.free.fr
22nd November 2008
Montreal Canada
Anne Farell YMCA medal for Peace at Montreal Canada invited for the World March
Anne Farell tireless activist for Non-violence in Haiti and Africa was decorated with the medal for Peace from the YMCA Youth Christian Association in Montreal. The surprised Anne in her thank you speech to more than 200 people including reporters, presidents of different associations for peace, invited all participants to support the World March in order to achieve Peace in the World.
Mar del Plata, Argentina
Diffusion of the World March
17th November 2008
CHILE
University Radio informs about the World March
With recordings of TomasHirsch and Rafael de la Rubia “Radio Universidad de Chile”, gave ample diffusion of the World March and explained the motives, goals and itinerary.
http:/groups.google.com/group-msg-org-paises/attach/ae347ad81c196118/INFO+PAZ.mp3?=es&part=4
15th November 2008
Athens Grece
Zeitgeist, The Movie.
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Fundraising Party for costs of publicity.
On November 15th, a benefit party to raise funds for publicizing the World March was held in a local in the centre of the city, the local owner gave the room without charge for this noble cause. The party was animated by a musical group who performed in the same altruistic way. More than a 100 people attended and with the money raised they printed the first batch of flyers for the campaign.
Punta de Vacas, Argentina
A meeting of representatives of World without Wars International
Before the International Launching of the WM was a meeting of several representatives of I WWW from many different countries.
11th November to 15th November 2008
Punta de Vacas, Argentina
First International Symposium: Ethics in Knowledge.
The 1st International Symposium of the World Center of Humanist Studies took place on 10th November at the Victor Jara Hall at the University of Santiago de Chile, and on December 12th at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the National University of Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina. There they saw the necessity to give an ethical frame for all the activities for the human being in the present moment.
At the inauguration the World Federation of Humanist Centres of Study was formed, with the first 17 centres from three contiments. The Symposium continued for a further three days from the 13th to 15th at Punta de Vacas Park ( www.parquepuntadevacas.org ) with the participation of more than 500 participants from all over the world: academics, politicians, scientists, teachers, researchers, students and specialists from many different disciplines.
During this time they held 6 round tables and 14 tables of interchange with the participation of 62 panellists from 21 countries from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. The themes discussed included: The Vision of Universal Humanism, Ethics in Political Action, Ethics in the Exact and Natural Sciences,Ethics in the Social Sciences, Ethics in Education and Health and Ethics, Culture and Spirituality.
They were three book presentations, three video documentaries, and four lectures and an introduction to the “Structural Dynamic Method” as used by all Centers in the world to carry out their studies. The days were framed by art exhibitions, live music performances, Ceremonies of Well-Being, open air activities, shared meals, astronomical observations, in an multicultural ambit of content, form and theme.
The participants agreed to make and to disseminate an “Ethical Commitment”.
The Symposium was closed with this Ethical Commitment and the Launching of the World March for Peace and Non-Violence. The next Symposiun of the World Center of Humanist Studies was fixed for Attiglianno Park in the second semester of 2010 ( www.parcoattigliano.eu )
Ethical Commitment: http://simposio.cmehumanistas.org/q=es/desarrollo-simposio
Symposium: http://simposio.cmehumanistas.org
12th November 2008
Barcelona, Spain
Press Conference about the World March
With one year before the World March arrives in Barcelona, WWW Catalunya celebrated a dinner with the Media to communícate this international project. The news appeared 20 minutes later in the newspapers of Aragon and Latino. They were published in the websites of Europa Press, Eco Newspaper, Yahoo News and diverse electronic bulletins. They had also radio interviews at the Radio Wave Zero, Catalunya, (5 minutes) and a long interview at AVM Radio. See report at: http:/marxamundial.info
Malaga, Spain
800 educational centres will celebrate “Peace Day” by giving publicity to the World March.
On 30th January, the day of Peace and Non-Violence within the educational environment, 800 educational centres from the city and province of Malaga will celebrate the event by jointly giving publicity to the World March. They will show a video about the WM and they will request the support of students and teachers. On that day, the website of the March will be on the screens of all computers. Every educational center will be enabled to download all materials: leaflets, support forms, the banner of the website www.marchamundial.org where they will put all visible places, so that all the educational community can adhere. For that, a kit of basic dissemination materials is being prepared. This, apart from the video of the march, will have other productions on Non-violence and world nuclear disarmament. CEP (Province´s teachers training center) has linked their page and is in the process of expressing their support for the March. They will make copies of the kit. Their backing both guarantees and gives a greater depth to the project. Furthermore we hope that these proposals will spur others who become inspired by these centers that are being proposed for the time when the March will be passing through Malaga on November 15. The countries where the March will pass through will be studied at Marbella´s educational centres and a mini-march will take place in Antequera, from different schools to the centre of the city.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7qPltwFedo&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UABFiZ80Kj8&feature=related http://www.cepmalaga.es/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=306
11th November 2008
Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain
WOMAD Festival
In this current WOMAD Festival, in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, there was an area for NGO´s where World Without Wars had a stand. During the four-day event hundreds of people got information and expressed their support to the World March and registered as volunteers offering their help (over 120 people). Among them were active members of various associations like Anmesty International, Survival, Platform Poverty 0, Coordinator of NGO´s of Canary Islands, route 99 and LanzaroteHelp. We also had a radio interview announcing the March on Radio 3 (RNE) and contacts were made with City Hall representatives and with Dania Debora, national coordinator of WOMAD (Spain)
11th November 2008
Czech Republic
Conference questions US missile defence system in Europe
On November 11, 2008, at 5 pm and close to room 205 of the Czech Parliament, was held the conference “US National Defence System (NMD): an instrument of attack or defence? Europe´s role to promote peace and security in the world”, organized by Europe for Peace, a non-violent movement against the bases, sponsored by M.P. Anna Curdova. The speakers included: Giulietto Chiesa, M.P. European Parliament, writer, journalist and expert on international politics; and Jan Tamas, spokesperson of the non-violent movement against bases in the Czech Republic. A video-message from Noam Chomsky was also shown.
9th November 2008
Plottier, Argentina
Presentation in Neuquen Book Fair
The first Book Fair of Neuquen, Argentina, was held on 7 November in the city of Plottier. World without Wars was invited to present the WM. In the WWW stand information was given out and the March promotional video was shown.
This small fair had a great number of visitors and, thanks to that, contacts were made with politicians, teachers, writers, artists and radio commentators, etc. Something of note is that Departments of Government and Culture from the City of Plottier were interested in studying initiatives to develop in the city, and many people were interested in generating new initiatives to create awareness of Peace in primary schools through radio, artisitic representaions, etc., in different places.
http://www.chelocandia.blogspot.com
8th November 2008
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Meeting of WM promotion teams from different countries
In the same way that meetings were held by promotion teams in Europe, Afica and Asia, and taking advantage of the presence of representatives at the III Latinamerican Humanist Forum, which was held in Buenos Aires from 6th to 8th November, the fourth meeting of WM Promotion Teams from different countries took place. Present were representatives from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Spain, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. One point mentioned was that promotion teams, whether regional, national or international, are composed by very diverse people, organizations, action fronts, federations, institutions and movements which, overcoming the obstacles of their own ideologies or beliefs, get into this common project in a public and open way. The central point of the promotion teams are the initiatives: the coordination and planning of actions. Each team defines its organization, and the roles necessary to carry these initiatives forward (precise objectives, space and time and a responsible person) and the presentation of the World March in their country.
Regarding this last point, we saw the convenience of agreeing on specific dates such as: 10th December (Human Rights day), 8th March (Working Women Day), 17th March (Anniversary of Iraq invasion), 25th April, 2009 (40-year anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Tlatelolco), 1st May (Workers day) and 21st September (UN International day of Peace). We consider it of importance that each converging route will be in the charge of a route coordiantor, so that when the route passes through several adjacent countries, this person will organize with the people responsible in each country (through the promotion teams) the proper coordination of the route. The promotion team will take care of contacts with famous people and the insitutional relations at a country level. However, when these relations are of an international level, the International Insitutional Relations team of the WM will take care of them, so that actions can be better coordinated.
6th, 7th and 8th November 2008
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Conclusion of the 3rd Latin-American Humanist Forum
The Third Latin-American Humanist Forum closed with an address by Thomas Hirsch, who stated that the Forum had its start in a new regional environment, one which affirms Latin America’s direction towards integration in the midst of diversity, equality and equity in a transformed world context. Work was done in committees devoted to specific themes over two days, yielding resolutions that expressed proposals for concrete actions within the different themes, along with many different reflections and interventions from various academics, politicians, journalists and artists from different countries. Also, the presence and the efforts of young people, like a breath of fresh air pushing towards the future, was extolled. Some of the notable conclusions arrived at include: the urgency of global nuclear disarmament; progressive and proportional disarmament in the region; the peaceful resolution of all the historic conflicts between Latin American countries; free transit of people between countries in the region; fair land distribution; the real, not just formal, integration of indigenous peoples and the recovery of their lands; promoting changes to the educational systems, by placing diversity and non-violence as core issues; support to the creation of the Bank of the South to foster production, industry and trade, by means of interest-free credit; and a new economic framework that would give priority to human labour, support productive capital, and restrict speculative capital. It ended with an invitation to celebrate on 25th April, 2009 the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of Tlatelolco for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, which will push for the ratification of similar treaties and participation in the World March in all the continents of the world. Finally the official announcement for the next regional forum, which will take place in Colombia at the end of 2010, was announced.
http://www.forohumanistalatinoamericano.org/resoluciones-del-3er-foro-humanista-latinoamericano
6th November to 11th December 2008
Oporto, Portugal
Film series about discrimination and non-violence.
Amnesty International and the Humanist Movement co-organized a film series about discrimination and non-violence. Six films will be screened from 6th November to 11th December.
5th November 2008
Algeria
TV appearance promoting peace and inviting people to join the World March
After meeting with the president of an Algerian association about Arab civil society and its role in the development of society, Kebir Alharrak, a member of the international World March promotion team, had the opportunity to appear live in a 45 second segment on the Mubasher Aljazeera TV channel, in which he invited people to condemn violence and wars, to join the World March, and calling for solidarity across the Maghreb.
2nd November 2008
Berlin, Germany
Countdown from Germany
A small march took place through the streets of Berlin to mark the World March that will pass through Germany in one years time. Video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWldpYjPkeY&eurl=http://weltweitermarsch.twoday.net/&feature=player_embedded
2nd November 2008
3rd virtual meeting of the International Promotion Team of the World March.
The third virtual meeting of the International Promotion Team of the WM took place, with participants from 37 countries: Russia, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, France, England, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Turkey, Morocco, Mauritania, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mozambique, Palestine, Israel, Kenya, the United States, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, the Philippines and New Zealand (connections were also attempted, without success, with India, Guinea Bissau and Australia), and with four functions (web coordination, institutional relations, newsletter and translations).
The date of the official launch of the WM was confirmed as 15th November, in Punta de Vacas Park, in order to continue from that date onwards with the presentations in various locations. It was suggested to consider making simultaneous events on pre-determined dates, such as 10th December (the 60th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights).
Guidelines for the promotion teams were established, namely that they should be assembled in an open and inclusive manner, that they will be oriented according to specific initiatives (if there are no initiatives, there is nothing to coordinate), while establishing the necessary functions (institutional relations, media, web, translations, etc.), and that the list of people in charge of each team will be announced/updated on-line.
In terms of the routes of the World March, converging routes were proposed, such as North Africa to the Middle East, East and Southern Africa and Israel-Palestine.
In South America, given that a large number of people in northern Brazil have already mobilized (about 2000 one year before the March), a group from the core marching team will move there for the start of that route along the Atlantic coast.
It was noted that it is imperative to have good coordination in Europe due to the large number of events already scheduled there.
In Asia, the March will go through New Delhi.
The following items were examined and discussed: the numbers joining the march and the information “circuit” (translations, proof-reading and websites); the official materials, noting the need to update the set of basic materials on-line and that the costs of printed materials be minimized or nil; the translation teams (currently 13 languages, but could reach up to 50 or more with a need to reinforce the international teams of translators); improvements to the main page of the website, noting the need for more technical people to carry out all the required updates, including developing the maximum security; the international newsletter of the WM, aimed at adherents of the March and at all who support the WM, noting the possibility of a video-based newsletter.
Participants were reminded that applications to become part of the core team of marchers will be accepted until December 1st. The general calendar, with the next few events and the next virtual meeting (December 7th) was agreed.
1st November 2008
Colombia
Support for the proposed law on Education for Non-Violence and presentation of the World March to the Senate
Mireya Martínez Chemby presented the World March to the Senate of the Republic of Colombia and expressed her support for the Liberal senator Dr. Yolanda Pinto de Gaviria and her law proposal 92/2008 that would institutionalize education for non-violence. See the video at http://mundosinguerrascolombia.blogspot.com/2008/11/video-apoyo-ley-922008-senado-y.html.
29 October 2008
Chile
Meeting of the Promotion team
Approximately 60 persons participated, they represented different organizations like Canal 81 (Internet), The Sons of Mafalda, Citizen Consultation, Bolivian Doctors in Santiago, Planetary Network of Art, Active Art, HP, WWW, A Thousand Poems for Peace, Red Cross Chile, Foundation Laura Rodríguez, and Green Generation. The objective of the meeting was to level the information about the WM in the world and its steps for Chile, for that a Power Point presentation was shown (available at the page www.marchamundial.cl) Two important dates were emphasized: the official launching of the march on 15th November and the launching of the march in Santiago and the regions, published in several communication medias with the participation of several celebrities, who support the march. The march will come to Chile on 27th December 2010, it will enter from the North and from there it will proceed to the south, arriving to Santiago on 29th December. The different parts of the route can be seen on the map on the web page, there one can also find information from the coordination team. Different initiatives were discussed (Workshops of Non-Violence in the UC, audiovisual support from Canal81.com in the Internet, March in Penaololen on 13th December, support of Marlen Matte of Planetary Art from Los Angeles, street activities “Children painting for Peace” in Cerro Navia, etc.)
www.marchamundial.cl
18th, 19th y 20th October 2008
Milan, Italy
Conclusion of the European Humanist Forum in Milan
The European Humanist Forum in Milan was held on the 18th, 19th and 20th October with the participation of 2.072 people (1.390 from Italy and 682 from other countries). They were working on 16 tables with different topics from 15 ambits: Peace and Disarmament, Ecology and Environment, Antidiscrimination, Spirituality and Religiosity, Cultures, Migration and International Cooperation, Human Rights, Education, Health, Student Movements, Art and Popular Expressions, Political Parties, Digital Technology, New Generations, Communication Media, Information: The lies of the Communication Media and Alternative Economics. Each of the areas was coordinated by a responsible person. These areas have been active almost without any interruption since the Forum in Lisbon in 2006. In total 18 talks were given. The thematic areas realized more than 25 different activities in the forum: Conferences, panel discussions, video projections, etc. 77 organizations participated and more than 30 Celebrities. Almost 1,500 people participated in the “tables”, even if it is very difficult to calculate that well, because of so many simultaneous activities, but as an example only in the activities of the area of spirituality 400 people participated. There were advances in the topics concerning Europe and our positions and our proposals.
The humanist influence is notable in the environment. On the website one can find a powerpoint presentation as a synthesis and a proposal for the future for each table.
http://www.humanistforum.eu/es/info/home
21st November 2008
Santiago, Chile
Marching for Peace from Plaza Egaña to Plaza Ñuñoa to promote the World March.
28th October 2008
Video-Bulletin of the WM
There is a work going on to produce a video-bulletin which will be produced monthly or every second month; it will be shown in a special channel of You Tube. This material will collect videos of all events, forums, congresses, associations, meetings, etc. and also photos of good quality taken all over the world regarding the March. Productions should be sent (better by ftp or similar) to: video.@theworldmarch.org
