Pressenza IPA

Almost 1,000 square metres of fabric sewn together by the young people of GPace formed the biggest peace flag in the world. The multicoloured cloth was laid out on Saturday November 14 on Lecce’s beautiful Piazza Duomo. The event was part of the ‘More Fun No More War’ campaign which condemns the terrible reality of child soldiers.

The Zero Nuclear Weapons Forum was held in Toronto this weekend, bringing together renowned experts and activists for informative discussions on nuclear disarmament. Over 250 people attended, and what was perhaps most notable throughout all the talks was the sense of optimism and hope that achieving a world free of nuclear weapons was now becoming possible.

Exactly one year ago, Pressenza was relaunched as an international press agency exclusively dedicated to peace and non-violence. The place and the occasion could not have been more inspirational. We were in the Park for Study and Reflection in Punta de Vacas, on the mountain frontier between Argentina and Chile for the symposium “Ethics in Knowledge”.

The Hiroshima Flame promoting the abolition of nuclear weapons was successfully carried from Paris to Perpignan form 6th to 12th of November. It will continue its journey to New York where it will arrive in May 2010 where there will be a huge manifestation for the abolition of nuclear weapons and where the 8th Review Conference for the Non-Proliferation Treaty will be held.

International music legend Annie Lennox will be presented with the Woman of Peace Award by former Soviet President and 1990 Nobel Peace Laureate Mikhail Gorbachev at the 10th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates meeting in Berlin Nov.10 and 11. Lennox was chosen by 22 Nobel Peace Laureates for her work in raising awareness of the HIV/AIDS impact on women and children.

Nobel Peace Laureates, representatives of nongovernmental organizations and youth representatives, gathered in Berlin on 10-11 November having considered the historical implications of the fall of the Berlin Wall and global developments during the 20 years since then, call on the international community to break down the national, international, personal and institutional walls

The artists will cover a 1,000 meter long wall, located in Santiago de Chile, with graphics on the themes of peace, nonviolence, and nuclear disarmament. Something never seen before!… The current Guinness record, set in 2007 for a 700 meter long wall created in Spain, is not even remotely the principal motivation for the participants, but it will be broken.

The World March Promoting Team in Ireland, from Kilkenny, Dublin, Cork, and Shannonwatch, a group of human rights and peace activists from the West of Ireland came together on Sunday the 8th of November to march for peace and nonviolence, which coincided with the regular every-second-Sunday-of-the-months Shannowatch vigil.

Activists from all over the world participated in Climate Action Day events that ranged from a human sun symbol to a show of flags from mountaintops. They called for an exigent, fair, and binding agreement based on the most recent scientific data that would be enforced rigorously enough to meet the target of an atmospheric CO2 level of 350 ppm.

Human rights and youth organizations, among them the Youth Network of Medellín (RJ) and the Foundation for Journalists for Peace (FUPERPAZ), are taking actions to highlight the role played by all of the conscientious objectors to the obligatory military service in Colombia. As such, they are trying to confront the militarization and violence that youth suffer in that country.