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TheNobel Peace Laureates and Peace LaureateOrganizations,gathered in Rome for the 14thWorld Summit of Nobel PeaceLaureates from 12 – 14 December, 2014 have issued thefollowingdeclarationregardingtheirdeliberations:
LIVINGPEACEFinalStatement
Nothing isasantagonistictopeaceasthehumanmindwithout love,compassion,andreverencefor lifeandnature.Nothing isasnobleasthehumanbeingwhochoosestobringloveandcompassionintoaction.This yearwe honor the legacy of NelsonMandela. He exemplified the principles forwhichtheNobelPeacePrizeisgrantedandservesasatimelessexampleofatruthhelived. As he himself said: “love comes more naturally to the human heart than itsopposite.”Hehadmanyreasonstogiveuphope,eventohate,buthechoseloveinaction.Itisachoicewecanallmake.WearesaddenedbythefactthatwewerenotabletohonorNelsonMandelaandhisfellowPeaceLaureatesinCapeTownthisyearbecauseoftherefusaloftheSouthAfricangovernmenttograntavisatoH.H.theDalaiLamatoenablehimtoattendtheplannedSummitinCapeTown.The14thSummit,whichwasmovedtoRome,hasneverthelesspermittedustoconsiderSouthAfrica’suniqueexperienceinshowingthateventhemostintractabledisputescanberesolvedpeacefullythroughcivicactivismandnegotiation.AsNobelPeaceLaureateswebearwitnessthat–ashashappenedinSouthAfricaduringthe past 25 years - change for the common good can be achieved.Many of us havefacedgunsandovercomefearwithacommitmenttolivewithandforpeace.Peacethriveswheregovernanceprotects thevulnerable,wheretheruleof lawbringsjustice and the treasure of human rights, where harmony with the natural world isachieved,andwherethebenefitsoftoleranceanddiversityarefullyrealized.Violencehasmany faces:prejudiceand fanaticism, racismandxenophobia, ignoranceandshortsightedness,injustice,grossinequalitiesofwealthandopportunity,oppressionofwomenandchildren,forcedlaborandslavery,terrorism,andwar.
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Manypeople feelpowerlessandsuffer incynicism,selfishness,andapathy.There isacure:whenindividualscommittocaringforotherswithkindnessandcompassion,theychangeandtheyareabletomakechangesforpeaceintheworld.Itisauniversalpersonalrule:Wemusttreatothersaswewishtobetreated.Nations,also,musttreatothernationsastheywishtobetreated.Whentheydon’t,chaosandviolencefollow.Whentheydo,stabilityandpeaceareobtained.We decry the continued reliance on violence as a primary means of addressingdifferences.TherearenomilitarysolutionstoSyria,Congo,SouthSudan,Ukraine,Iraq,Palestine/Israel,Kashmirandotherconflicts.Oneofthegreatestthreatstopeaceisthecontinuingviewofsomegreatpowersthatthey can achieve their goals throughmilitary force. This perspective is creating newcrisis today. If left unchecked this tendency will inevitably lead to increased militaryconfrontationandtoanewmoredangerousColdWar.Wearegravelyconcernedaboutthedangerofwar–includingnuclearwar–betweenlargestates.ThisthreatisnowgreaterthanatanytimesincetheColdWar.WeurgeyourattentiontotheannexedletterfromPresidentMikhailGorbachev.Militarismhascosttheworldover1.7trilliondollarsthispastyear.Itdeprivesthepoorofurgentlyneededresourcesfordevelopmentandprotectionoftheearth’secosystemandaddstothelikelihoodofwarwithallitsattendantsuffering.No creed, no religious belief should be perverted to justify gross violations of humanrightsor theabuseofwomenandchildren.Terroristsare terrorists. Fanaticism in theguiseof religionwillbemoreeasilycontainedandeliminatedwhen justice ispursuedfor the poor, and when diplomacy and cooperation are practiced amongst the mostpowerfulnations.10,000,000peoplearestatelesstoday.WesupportthecampaignoftheUnitedNationsHigh Commissioner for Refugees to end statelessness within ten years as well as itseffortstoalleviatethesufferingofover50,000,000displacedpersons.The currentwaveof violenceagainstwomenandgirls and theperpetrationof sexualviolence in conflict by armed groups and military regimes further violates women’shuman rights, and makes it impossible for them to realize their goals of education,freedom of movement, peace and justice. We call for full implementation of all UNresolutions addressing women, peace and security and political will by nationalgovernmentstodoso.ProtectingGlobalCommons
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Nonationcanbesecurewhentheclimate,oceans,andrainforestsareatrisk.Climatechangeisalreadyleadingtoradicalchangesinfoodproduction,extremeevents,risingsea levels, the intensity of weather patterns, and is increasing the likelihood ofpandemics.WecallforastronginternationalagreementtoprotecttheclimateinParisin2015.PovertyandSustainableDevelopmentIt isunacceptable thatover2billionpeople liveon less than$2.00perday.Countriesmust adoptwell-known practical solutions to eliminate the injustice of poverty. TheymustsupportthesuccessfulcompletionoftheUnitedNationsSustainableDevelopmentGoals.Weurgeadoptionof the recommendationsof theHighLevelPanelofEminentPersons.Afirststeptoendingtheoppressionofdictatorshipswouldbetherejectionbybanksofmoneyarisingfromtheircorruptionaswellasconstraintsontheirtravel.The rights of children must become part of every government’s agenda.We call foruniversalratificationandapplicationoftheConventionontheRightsoftheChild.Thewidening jobs gapneeds tobe, and canbe, bridged and credible actionmust beundertakentogivethemillionsofnewlabormarketentrantsaviablejob.Aneffectivesocial floor can be designed in every country to eliminate the worst forms ofdeprivation.Peopleneedtobeempoweredtoclaimtheirsocialanddemocraticrightsandachievesufficientcontrolovertheirowndestinies.NuclearDisarmamentThere are over 16,000 nuclear weapons in the world today. As the recent 3rdInternationalConferenceontheHumanitarian ImpactofNuclearWeaponsconcluded:theimpactoftheuseofjustoneisunacceptable.Amere100wouldlowertheearth’stemperaturebyover1degreeCelsiusforatleasttenyears,causingmassivedisruptionofglobalfoodproductionandputting2billionpeopleatriskofstarvation.Ifwefailtoprevent nuclear war, all of our other efforts to secure peace and justice will be fornaught.Weneedtostigmatize,prohibitandeliminatenuclearweapons.Meeting in Rome, we commend Pope Francis’ recent call for nuclear weapons to be“banned once and for all”.Wewelcome the pledge by the Austrian government “toidentify and pursue effective measures to fill the legal gap for the prohibition andeliminationofnuclearweapons”and“tocooperatewithallstakeholderstoachievethisgoal”.
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Weurgeallstatestocommencenegotiationsonatreatytobannuclearweaponsattheearliestpossibletime,andsubsequentlytoconcludethenegotiationswithintwoyears.This will fulfill existing obligations enshrined in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,whichwillbereviewed inMayof2015,andtheunanimousrulingof the InternationalCourtofJustice.Negotiationsshouldbeopentoallstatesandblockablebynone.The70th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 2015 highlights theurgencyofendingthethreatoftheseweapons.ConventionalWeaponsWesupportthecallforapre-emptivebanonfullyautonomousweapons(killerrobots)–weaponsthatwouldbeabletoselectandattacktargetswithouthumanintervention.Wemustpreventthisnewformofinhumanewarfare.Weurgeanimmediatehalttotheuseofindiscriminateweaponsandcallonallstatestojoin and fully comply with the Mine Ban Treaty and the Convention on ClusterMunitions.WecommendtheentryintoforceoftheArmsTradeTreatyandurgeallstatestojointheTreaty.OurCallWecalluponreligious,business,civicleaders,parliamentsandallpersonsofgoodwilltoworkwithustorealizetheseprinciplesandpolices.Humanvaluesthathonorlife,humanrightsandsecurity,areneededmorethanevertoguide nations. No matter what nations do every individual can make a difference.NelsonMandela lived peace from a lonely jail cell, reminding us thatwemust neverignorethemostimportantplacewherepeacemustbealive--withintheheartofeachoneofus. It is from thatplace thateverything, evennations, canbe changed for thegood.WeurgewidedistributionandstudyoftheCharterforAWorldWithoutViolenceadoptedbythe8thNobelPeaceLaureateSummitinRome2007.
*********AttachedheretoisanimportantcommunicationfromPresidentMikhailGorbachev.Hewasunableto joinus inRomeduetohealthconcerns.He isthefounderoftheNobelPeaceLaureateSummitsandweurgeyourattentiontothiswiseintervention:
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MikhailGorbachev’sLettertoParticipantsintheNobelLaureatesForumDearfriends, IamverysorryIamunabletoparticipateinourmeetingbutalsohappythat,truetoourcommon tradition, youhave gathered inRome tomake the voiceofNobel Laureatesheardaroundtheworld. Today,IfeelgreatconcernatthestateofEuropeanandworldaffairs. Theworldisgoingthroughatimeoftroubles.TheconflictthathasflaredupinEuropeisthreateningitsstabilityandunderminingitscapacitytoplayapositiveroleintheworld.The events in the Middle East are taking an increasingly dangerous turn. There aresmoldering or potential conflicts in other regions as well while the growing globalchallenges of security, poverty and environmental decay are not being properlyaddressed. Policy-makersarenotrespondingtothenewrealitiesoftheglobalworld.Wehavebeenwitnessingacatastrophic lossoftrust in internationalrelations.Judgingbystatementsofrepresentativesofmajorpowers,theyarepreparingforalong-termconfrontation. Wemustdoallwecantoreversethesedangeroustrends.Weneednew,substantiveideas and proposals that would help the current generation of political leaders toovercome the severe crisis of international relations, restore normal dialogue, andcreatetheinstitutionsandmechanismsthatfittheneedsoftoday’sworld.Ihaverecentlyputforwardproposalsthatcouldhelpstepbackfromthebrinkofanewcold war and begin restoring trust in international affairs. In essence, I propose thefollowing:• to finally start implementing the Minsk Agreements for resolving the Ukrainian
crisis;• toreducetheintensityofpolemicsandmutualaccusations;• toagreeonstepstopreventthehumanitariancatastropheandrebuildtheregions
affectedbytheconflict;• toholdnegotiationsonstrengtheningtheinstitutionsandmechanismsofsecurityin
Europe;• tore-energizecommoneffortstoaddressglobalchallengesandthreats. I amconvinced that eachNobel Laureate canmakea contribution toovercoming thecurrentdangeroussituationandreturningtothepathofpeaceandcooperation. Iwishyousuccessandhopefortoseeyou.
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TheSummitwasattendedbytenNobelPeacelaureates:1.HisHolinesstheDalaiLama2.Dr.ShirinEbadi3.Mrs.LeymahGbowee4.Mrs.TawakkolKarman5.Mrs.MaireadMaguire6.PresidentJoséRamos-Horta7.LordWilliamDavidTrimble8.Mrs.BettyWilliams9.JodyWilliamsandtwelveNobelPeaceLaureateorganizations:10.AmericanFriendsServiceCommittee11.AmnestyInternational12.EuropeanCommission13.InternationalCampaigntoBanLandimnes14.InternationalLabourOrganization15.IntergovernmentalPanelonClimateChange16.InternationalPeaceBureau17.InternationalPhysiciansforthePreventionofNuclearWar18.OrganisationfortheProhibitionofChemicalWeapons19.PugwashConferencesonScienceandWorldAffairs20.UnitedNationsHighCommissionerforRefugees21.UnitedNationsHowever, theydonotallnecessarilysupportallaspectsof thegeneralconsensusthatemergedfromtheSummit'sdeliberations.
