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6 Things You Can Do for Peace
PeaceCENTER's Decade Launch
Decade Dreams: History of the Appeal
Pretty Remarkable: The Global Village

Letter from the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates

Share with the Children of the World

To: Heads of States of all member countries of the General Assembly of the United Nations

Today, in every single country throughout the world, there are many children silently suffering the effects and consequences of violence.
This violence takes many different forms : between children on streets, at school, in family life and in the community. There is physical violence, psychological violence, socio-economic violence, environmental violence and political violence. Many children - too many children - live a "culture of violence".
We wish to contribute to reduce their suffering. We believe that each child can discover, by himself, that violence is not inevitable. We can offer hope, not only to the children of the world, but to all of humanity, by beginning to create, and build, a new Culture of Non-Violence.
For this reason, we address this solemn appeal to all Heads of States, of all member countries of the General Assembly of the United Nations, for the U.N. General Assembly to declare :

That the first decade of the new millennium, the years 2000-2010, be declared the "Decade for a Culture of Non-Violence";
That at the start of the decade the year 2000 be declared the "Year of Education for Non-Violence";
That non-violence be taught at every level in our societies during this decade, to make the children of the world aware of the real, practical meaning and benefits of non-violence in their daily lives, in order to reduce the violence, and consequent suffering, perpetrated against them and humanity in general.

Together, we can build a new culture of non-violence for humankind which will give hope to all humanity, and in particular, to the children of our world.

With deepest respect,
The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates
1 July 1997

Signed:
Mrs. Mairead Maguire Corrigan, Mother Teresa, Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, The 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), Mr. Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, Mr. Shimon Peres, Mr. Elie Wiesel, Msgr. Desmond Mpilo Tutu, Mr. Adolfo Perez Esquivel , Msgr. Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, Mr. Jose Ramos-Horta, Mr. Norman Borlaug, Mr. Oscar Arias Sanchez, Mr. Frederik Willem de Klerk , Mrs. Betty Williams, Mr. Lech Walesa

PLEDGE FOR PEACE

I pledge
in my daily life,
in my family,
my work,
my community,
my country and
my region, to:

Respect All Life
Respect the life and dignity of each human being without discrimination or prejudice.

Reject Violence
Practice active non-violence, rejecting violence in all its forms: physical, sexual, psychological, economical and social, in particular towards the most deprived and vulnerable such as children and adolescents.

Share With Others
Share my time and material resources in a spirit of generosity to put an end to exclusion, injustice and political and economic oppression.

Defend freedom of expression and cultural diversity, giving preference always to dialogue and listening without engaging in fanaticism, defamation and the rejection of others.

Promote consumer behavior that is responsible and development practices that respect all forms of life and preserve the balance of nature on the planet.

Rediscover Solidarity
Contribute to the development of my community, with the full participation of women and respect for democratic principles, in order to create together new forms of solidarity.

You can sign this pledge online at the UNESCO website:
http://www.unesco.org/manifesto2000

The peaceCENTER full-page ad endorsing this appeal was published
in the Express-News on December 22, 1999

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