"For the Children of the World"

The Appeal of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates

If the Third Millenium could begin under the sign of non-violence...
It's the dream of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. They invite
you to join them to influence all governments of the planet.

To Heads of States of all member states
of the General Assembly of the
United Nations.

Today, in every 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 the 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 in 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 UN 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.

The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates

Mairead Maguire Corrigan,
Nelson Mandela,
Mother Teresa,
Aung San Suu Kyi,
The 14th Dalaï Lama (Tenzin Gyatso),
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev,
Shimon Péres,
Elie Wiesel,
Mgr. Desmond Mpilo Tutu,
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel,
Yasser Arafat,
Mgr Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo,
José Ramos-Horta,
Norman Borlaug,
Oscar Arias Sanchez,
UNICEF,
Frederik Willem de Klerk,
Betty Williams,
Lech Walesa,
Joseph Rotblat.