World Peace March starts from most peaceful nation

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

Press release

Mundo sin Guerres (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
New Zealand: www.worldmarch.co.nz

ENDS

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