Linda Dunkel at the Nobel for Peace Summit - Part II

Betty Williams pointed to the work of the Nobel Women’s Initiative as a good example of women Nobel Laureates leading the way. This organization is supporting women on many continents in direct action projects.

Today, Thursday, the Summit opened in the heart of Rome. The proceedings are happening in the Capitol, known as the Compidoglio in Italian. This area, reached by a zig-zag path from the Forum, was once the centre of the Roman world. The hill itself and the temples here in ancient times came to symbolize Rome’s authority as caput mundi or "head of the world" and thus the concept of a capital city is derived from the Capitol. The symbolism of this is not lost on the crowd of Nobel Laureates who today are using this and other venues to speak out to the world, and to show their moral leadership as the conscience of the planet.

This area dates from the 16th century when Michelangelo created the beautiful piazza reached by a very dramatic flight of steps, the Cordonata. It turns out that Michelangelo was helping the Pope avoid embarrassment by the muddy state of Rome back in 1536 when Charles V was coming for a visit. This was the beginning of the idea for what today is a beautiful set of buildings that were completed in the 17th century.

What a great backdrop for the Summit.

It began with much excitement as the Nobel Peace Prize recipients were here to speak on behalf of peace as were the actors, George Clooney and Don Cheadle. Clearly, the press would have provided coverage in any case - but with the paparazzi here as well, there were almost as many press representatives as summit attendees. In fact, His Holiness the Dalai Lama used this as a key opportunity to speak directly to the press, exhorting them to reflect on their significance and the tremendous possibilities that exist for them to do good in the world as they do their craft.

George Clooney and Don Cheadle both made eloquent speeches, expressing their commitment to action in Darfur. Clooney called for world leaders to pressure the President of Darfur to simply honor his word, as recently given both to the Pope and the President of Italy. Both Clooney and Cheadle spoke of their inspiration and their intimidation at receiving an award from the Laureates—such a remarkable group of humans on the planet. It was a good beginning to the day.

Speeches continued with the theme of “The Next Generation—charter for a world without violence.” The theme-inside-the-theme was for action, not just words. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in fact, asked Mr. Gorbachev to be sure that this summit did not end with just words, but with a set of commensurate actions. Betty Williams pointed to the work of the Nobel Women’s Initiative as a good example of women Nobel Laureates leading the way. This organization is supporting women on many continents in direct action projects.

Lech Walesa called for “practical and immediate action” to capture this fragile moment in the world. He reflected on the moments of the 50’s and 60’s when the world believed it could mobilize and defeat the menace of communism. He told stories of his own journey to build solidarity and the impact that had on reducing the power of the failed communist vision. It was an interesting dialogue to see former adversaries in Walesa and Gorbachev, now sharing their common ideas and humanity on the same stage.

Mairead Corrigan Maguire proposed a call to action for many specific situations. Today, she called for the US to get out of Iraq, and to avoid war with or aggressive actions toward Iran. She called for the end to torture. She called on the conscience of the world to save itself from destruction. In a moving speech, she conveyed her passion and belief that the Middle East's problems can indeed be solved - just as the complexities were worked through in her own Northern Ireland.

His Holiness spoke of the need for Action of Compassion and the underlying power of will and determination required for this. He focused on the good inside all of humanity and the commonality we all have, having been nurtured early in our lives by our mothers. As he noted, most of our problems are man-made. And, as he noted, logic would tell us that if we made them, we can work together to overcome them. With his simple words and optimistic logic, he inspired and thrilled the audience. His words were greeted with many rounds of enthusiastic applause and warm feelings pervaded the enormous room.

Betty Williams noted the difficulties of the world’s children, with 40,000 dying every day from malnutrition, disease, hunger and war. She noted that if we had only 1% of the worlds military budget for our uses, we could wipe out world hunger in under six years. That’s just 1%! She also spoke of the World Center of Compassion’s first City, which will be built here in Italy in the Regione Basilicata. It is an excellent example of Italy’s desire to lead the way by showing a new paradigm for peace. The details of the City will be revealed tomorrow in a press conference at the Campidoglio.

Tony and I have been spending some wonderful time in our new cohort group, what we’re calling the "Gang of Five." We have re-united with David Ives, the Executive Director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute in Connecticut, and have met Luis Alberto Cordero, the Executive Director of Oscar Arias’s NGO in Costa Rica, and his wife, Ellie. Luis is highly involved in disarmament of conventional weapons on a global basis, and also promotes the growth of democracy and local rule in elections. He has supervised 57 elections to date, with the last one being in Nicaragua. Both he and David work with the Carter Center in this work, as well as with UN and OAS entities.

I can’t close without saying we are having an opportunity (with our Gang of Five) and many others as well to sample the terrific Italian cuisine, including the wonderful red wines. After four days of missing luggage, now we have our clothes and I an actually wear something other than that orange leather jacket (beautiful though it is).

Tomorrow is our press conference, and we are really looking forward to it. I’ll spend time in tomorrow’s blog with more details.

Ciao,
Linda