IPB Report from the 8th World Summit
of Nobel Peace Laureates

The 8th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates was organized in Rome from 13-15 December 2007 by the Secretariat of the Summit in Rome. Former President, Mikhail Gorbachev and Mr. Walter Veltroni, Mayor of Rome were co-presidents of the Summit. The theme of the Summit was : The Next Generation.

The quality of most interventions was excellent. The Nobel Prize Laureates present were (apart from Mikhail Gorbachev): His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Mohammed Yunus, Lech Walesa and Betty Williams. The Nobel Peace Prize Organizations present were (apart from IPB): the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), American Friends Service Committee, Institut de Droit International (IDI), Pugwash Conferences, Red Cross, UNICEF, United Nations (UN), International Labour Organization (ILO), Médécins sans Frontières (MSF), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Amnesty International, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as well as the Arias Foundation and the Albert Schweitzer Institute.

The programme was premised on the principle that we have a responsibility, not only to those present today, especially youth, but to future generations as well. With the goal of making the Summits more interactive, students (mostly from Italy, but also from Germany, the USA and Norway) were invited to some of the sessions. One of the days was also dedicated to “peace dissemination”, sessions held outside the conference venue in schools, hospitals and a music hall. Many sponsors were also present.

Messages from the President of Italy, the Pope (on a 'true culture of peace') and the Secretary-General of the United Nations were read out. The UN SG’s message emphasized the need for heightened political focus on Darfur and called for the donation from developed countries of helicopters to reinforce the work of peacekeepers.

Two documents were released at the Closing Press Conference of the Summit: the Charter For a World Without Violence, which Nobel Peace Laureates and Laureate Organizations have worked on for more than two years and Three Questions to Fulfill Our Duty to the Next Generation.

The Charter refers inter alia to:

• The necessity of creating a culture of peace and nonviolence;
• The importance of freedom of thought and expression;
• Appreciation of ethnic, cultural and religious diversity;
• Prevention and cessation of armed conflict and the advancement of human security;
• The universal and verifiable elimination of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction;
• The reduction of and control over the production and sales of small arms and light weapons;
• Support for an effective and comprehensive Arms Trade Treaty *;
• Strengthening the implementation capacity of the UN system;
• The right to quality education for all **;
• Dialogue based on dignity, knowledge and compromise;
• Encouraging civil society participation, especially that of women, in political processes at all levels ***;
• Encouraging scientific research in the fields of human interaction and dialogue to address all forms of violence;
• Peace education as an essential part of the curriculum at all levels.

The Charter was immediately translated into Italian and German (by a group of students).

The Summit also renewed an appeal for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, and presented three questions (attached) to political candidates and world leaders, notably as to their plans to:

• Address poverty;
• Protect the environment;
• Eliminate nuclear weapons.

As with the Charter, all the Laureates and Laureate organizations are strongly encouraged to circulate and pose the Three Questions as widely as possible in order to help upgrade the public political dialogue.

N o t e s :

• * One of the additions that we suggested for inclusion.

• ** One of our suggested amendments. The original text read “to advance educational opportunities”.

• *** The inclusion of a specific reference to women in this paragraph, was also one of the amendments that we suggested.