Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Peace marchers start in world's most peaceful country

LOWER HUTT-WOMAN Juanita McKenzie gets ready for a 90-day peace march around the world.

As one of about 25 Kiwis, the mother of five will join in the World March for Peace and Non-violence and start on October 2, 2009, at Wellington Railway Station.

She plans to to fly to Australia, India, Asia, Russia, Europe, the USA to finish her trip then in the Andes in South America.

According to stuff.co.nz, Wellington has been chosen as starting point because of New Zealand’s anti-nuclear stance and peaceful image.

On the WMPN website, New Zealand is even labelled as “the most peaceful nation on earth“. This staement is based on the Global Peace Index-table released by the Vision of Humanity organisations.

Global Peace Index - World Map

Different colours represent how peaceful the countries are (map: Vision of Humaity)

Alyn Ware, March Coordinator for New Zealand: “With the World March we celebrate the successful examples, in our communities and worldwide, of violence prevention, conflict resolution, cross-cultural understanding, bringing hope and inspiration for the future.”

The starting date and meeting point of the March has not been chosen out of the blue:

The anniversary of Gandhi’s birth is also the International Day of Non-Violence and therefore the Gandhi statue at the front of the Wellington Railway Station is a perfect starting point.

- read the whole story on stuff.co.nz

- view the Global Peace Index table here

- visit New Zealand’s website for the World March

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