How can we phase out of a world of threats and violence? Two initiatives, both prepared over many months by various NGOs, have just seen the light at the beginning of this month of June 2009. They promise us great events for the following months.

World Peace March to start from the most peaceful nation on earth!

Press release

"Mundo sin Guerras" ("World without Wars"), an international organisation working to prevent war and promote non-violence, has decided to start a 90-day World March for Peace and Non-violence in New Zealand, the country recently affirmed by the Global Peace Index (GPI) as the most peaceful nation on earth.

The World March will start in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city, on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday 2 October and then travel through 95 countries culminating in Argentina. Thousands of concerts, festivals, forums, and demonstrations are planned to coincide with the march worldwide.

Rafael de la Rubia, founder of Mundo sin Guerres and the international spokesperson for the World March says “We chose New Zealand because it is the first country to grant women the right to vote, to legally ban nuclear weapons, and the first and only country to establish a Minister for Disarmament, so we are pleased at the recognition now given to New Zealand by the Global Peace Index.”

According to the GPI, an independent analysis of 144 countries using 25 concrete indicators, New Zealand ranks first because of a number of factors including its peaceful foreign policy, relatively low rate of violence, restrictions on weapons and low level of military expenditure.

Mayor Kerry Prendergast of Wellington says: “While the march starts in the peace of New Zealand, its course will take it through many territories - Israel, Palestine, Bosnia, Russia, Pakistan - which are scarred by decades of conflict. The aim of the March is to give a voice to the majority of humankind who yearn for peace, on an international and national scale as well as in the home.”

Alyn Ware, the March Coordinator for New Zealand says that “Too often we read about violence and conflicts. Peace does not make it into the headlines nearly as much. With the World March we highlight and celebrate the successful examples, in our communities and around the world, of violence prevention, conflict resolution and cross-cultural understanding, bringing us hope and inspiration for the future.”

The World March has been endorsed by six acting heads of state and other international figures including former US President, Jimmy Carter, Queen Rania al-Abdullah of Jordan, Nobel Laureates, Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, Head of the United Nations Development Program Helen Clark, and celebrities like Penelope Cruz, Viggo Mortensen, Pete Seeger, Lou Reed, Yoko Ono, Pedro Almodóvar, and Zubin Mehta.

World march websites:

International www.theworldmarch.org

Aotearoa-New Zealand: www.worldmarch.co.nz

Alyn Ware
New Zealand Coordinator - World March for Peace and

Global Nuclear Legacy Project takes first step towards International Hearings to combat human and environmental threats of nuclear legacy

Press Advisory

CEU Conference Center, Budapest, Monday, June 1, 2009

Nearly forty representatives from different organizations in Hungary, the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Great Britain and Russia gathered in Budapest from May 29th to May 31st for a three day intensive planning meeting to discuss a strategy to expose the full human and environmental threats of the aggressive global expansion of the nuclear industry and the legacy of nuclear weapons and energy production.

Participants established a collaborative process for organizing regional hearings in Europe, the US and Russia to lay the groundwork for a larger movement to effectively address the legacy of radioactive contamination and prevent further nuclear expansion.

An international steering committee with representatives from Russia, Germany, the US and the Netherlands was formed as well as three regional committees (US, Russia, and Europe), to coordinate the international hearings and continue the Global Nuclear Legacy Project.

Participants discussed the need for an international movement to combat the globalized nuclear industry which works to minimize and cover up a nuclear legacy that threatens the future of mankind.

Some of the organizers came from regions affected by nuclear complexes and nuclear power plants such as Hanford, La Hague, Sellafield, Chernobyl and Mayak who have seen firsthand the environmental damage and human health effects of the nuclear legacy.

After the end of the Cold War national nuclear industries began to increase their wealth and influence in the global market, resulting in international corporations controlling both civil and military nuclear production from uranium mining to waste disposal.

For More Information Contact: ACDN