transforming the human spirit

8/14/2019 Transforming the Human Spirit

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FROM A CU LTURE OF V IOLEN CE TO A CU LTURE OF

Transforming the Hu

In an increasingly interdependent world, we share Nuclear weapons the most destructive of allof violence. As the pyramid spreads downward itbetween communities, crime, domestic violenceof the larger culture of violence. The broad basewillingness to live comfortably while ignoring therise above violence to stop the rapid buildup of in history. Is it possible to transform the culture

This exhibit is organized by the Soka Gakkai International, a worldwide layBuddhist association that promotes peace, culture and education throughpersonal change and social contribution. The SGI, as a non-governmentalorganization accredited by the United Nations, shares the mission of promoting international peace and security. See www.sgi.org


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PEACE Peace cannot be achievedthrough violence,

it can only be attainedthrough understanding.

Ralph Waldo Emersonman Spirit

responsibility for the security of all human beings.our tools of war are at the peak of a pyramid reaches into our daily lives. Con ict and mistrust and abuseeven the biting commentare all part of the pyramid is the silent violence of apathyour reality that others are in pain. Our challenge is toarms and forever ban the most fearsome weapons of violence into a culture of peace?


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What DoesSecurityMean to Me?

WAT E R

F O O D

W O R K

H E A LT H

S A F E T Y


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Human security begins with our basic needs. We needshelter, air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat.

People need to be safe. We need to work, to earn, tocare for our health, to be protected from violence.

People need people. We need community, friends, family.

We need to be respected; to have self-respect and torespect others. We need access to love, culture, faith.

We need a sense of contribution and purpose. We needthe chance to reach our highest potential.

The good we secure or ourselvesis precarious anduncertain until it is

secured or all o usand incorporated intoour common li e.

Jane Addams

H O M E

FA M I LY


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Freedom from Fearand Freedom from Want

Children si t through garbage dump in the Philippines.

Two-year-old Ethiopian boy withAIDS held by his mother.

H U N G E RAs many as 800 million people in the developing world and at least 24 millionpeople in developed and transition economies do not have enough food.

I S S U ES I N H U M A N S EC U R I TYEvery day, 24,000 people die because of extreme povertythe equivalent of a planecarrying 500 people crashing every 30 minutes around the clock. And three out of four of the victims are children under age ve.

In the next hour, 1,000 people will die because of hunger and related diseases.

Homeless man in New York.


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Human security recognizes the increasing interrelatedness of allhuman beings. Human security is focused on people, not states.

Human security begins with freedom from fear and freedom

from want.Poverty and violence are interconnected. The grinding degradationof poverty is itself a form of violence. Armed con ict destroyshomes, schools and factories, locking people into deepening cyclesof deprivation and want. War kills people and destroys trust. Warcan set back the development of a country for generations.

How can we ensure a sa e uture or all our children?

In the fnal analysis,human security is a child

who did not die, a diseasethat did not spread, a jobthat was not cut, an ethnictension that did not explodein violence, a dissident who

was not silenced. Human security is not a concern with weaponsit is aconcern with human li eand dignity.

Mabub ul Haq

Pollution rom smokestacks, USA.

Receding ood waters a ter Hurricane Katrina inSt. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, USA.

WATERAll life needs water to survive. One in ve people on our planet lacks access tosafe water. Almost half the worlds population lacks access to adequate sanitation.

EN V I R O N M EN TMillions of people die in developing countries every year because of illnesses carriedby polluted air and water. Emissions from fossil fuels contribute directly to the buildupof greenhouse gases that envelop our planet and threaten widespread climatechange.

Indonesian boy collects plastic in polluted river in Jakarta.


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What Can We Doto Promote Human

Security?

In 2000, leaders rom every country agreed on a vision for the worldsfuture. They agreed to take action to achieve eight Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) designed to reverse the grinding poverty, hunger and diseaseaffecting billions of people. The goals provide a framework for developmentand de ne targets to measure progress by 2015.

The MDGs have inspired exceptional efforts to meet the needs of the

worlds poorestand there is much more to do.You can nd out more about the MDGs and their targets and what you cando to support the goals.

www.un.org/millenniumgoals/index.html


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Millennium Development Goals

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education

3. Promote gender equality and empower women

4. Reduce child mortality

5. Improve maternal health

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

7. Ensure environmental sustainability

8. Develop a global partnership for development

DOLLARS AND SENSE

We spend more than $1trillion a year on global militaryexpenditures and the armstrade, an average of $173 foreach person on the planet.The United States spendsalmost half the world total.

It is estimated that anadditional annual expenditureof $19 billion on basicservices could eliminatestarvation and malnutritionglobally.

An additional $12 billionannually could educate everychild on earth.

And $23 billion a year couldreverse the spread of AIDSand malaria.

We could meet the basichuman needs of every personon earth if $70$80 billionless than 10% of the worldsmilitary spendingwasredirected to that purpose.

Which is saferthe heavilyarmed world we live in now, ora world in which all peoplesbasic needs are met?

Human security means to be ree rom ear o being killed, persecuted or abused; ree rom the abject poverty that bringsindignity and sel -contempt; ree to make choices. As threats to

national and international security emanate more and more rominternal sources rather than external aggression, it is important to shi t attention rom the security o states to that o people.

Sadako Ogata


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Is it possible thatanger and violenceat home promotesanger and violence

in the world?

Can it be that loveand kindness ripplesout from our lives untilthey reach distantshores?

Since wars begin in the minds of men,it is in minds of men that the defenses of peace

must be constructed.Preamble to the UNESCO Constitution


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Arms-Based Security:A Precarious Logic

In the search or security, humanshave developed increasingly deadlyand powerful weapons over thousandsof years. But the relatively recentdevelopment of weapons of massdestruction has led us to theunimaginable the time when we arecapable of extinguishing all life on earth.

WMD are weapons that canindiscriminately kill large numbers of people. The term includes nuclear,biological and chemical weapons.

Biological and chemical weaponshave been outlawed by internationalconventions. Nuclear weapons have not.

Conventional weapons also undermine thesecurity of all people. There is a growinginternational trade in small arms and lightweapons. Many of the weapons end upin developing countries with poor humanrights records. Small arms and lightweapons fuel civil wars and other con ictsand harm millions of people.


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The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power withoutconscience. Ours is a world o

nuclear giants and ethical in ants.We know more about war than we know about peace, more aboutkilling than we know about living.Omar N. Bradley

THE TRAGIC IRONY OF MAD

During the Cold War, both Eastern and Western blocs werefrantically developing nuclear weapons and conducting testblasts. The theory of nuclear deterrence was based on MADMutual Assured Destructionan idea that held the worldspeople hostage, one button-push away from annihilation.MAD represented the nal bankruptcy of the logic of war. Warwas revealed for what, on some level, it has always beenasuicide pact between armed parties.

Despite the end of the Cold War, billions of dollars are stillbeing spent to maintain and develop nuclear arsenals.

Huge stocks of nuclear weapons, many on hair triggers,are ready to be detonated within minutes. The possibility of accidental use remains very real.

And the threat posed by terrorist groups looms large. For suchgroupswith nothing to protect and nothing to losethe logicof deterrence means nothing.


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The ContinuingThreat of GlobalDestruction

As the Cold War aded in the nalyears of the 20th century, the threatof global nuclear war seemed torecede. This was an opportunity todismantle the structures and thelogic of nuclear deterrenceand theworld passed it by.

After the terrorist attacks of

September 11, 2001, the idea of nuclear deterrence took hold again,largely because of a lack of clearalternatives. Today, progress towardnuclear disarmament has stalled andnew threats of nuclear proliferationare emerging.

Despite treaty obligations dating backto the 1968 Nuclear Non-ProliferationTreaty, the traditional nuclear weapon

states have failed to take meaningfulmoves to disarm.

India, Israel, Pakistan and possiblyNorth Korea have developed nuclearweapons outside the NPT framework.Such actsand failures to acthaveundermined the worlds most importantlegal protection against the uncontrolled

spread of nuclear weapons.


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Almost everyone in todays world eels insecure, but not everyone eelsinsecure about the same thing. Di erent threats seem more urgent to

people in di erent parts o the world.... We need common global strategiesto deal with all o themand indeed, governments are coming togetherto work out and implement such strategies, in the UN and elsewhere. Theone area where there is a total lack o any common strategy is the one that

may well present the greatest danger o all: the area o nuclear weapons.

Kof Annan

How many nuclear weapons are there?

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)reports in its 2006 yearbook that there are about 27,000nuclear warheads. This is enough to destroy all life on Earthmany times over.

The United States and Russia have the most nuclearweapons. The United States has 10,000, Russia 16,000.

It is estimated that the United Kingdom probably has 185,France 350, China 130, India 50, Pakistan 60 and Israelbetween 100 and 200. In October 2006, North Korea appearsto have conducted a nuclear test explosion.

What are the types o nuclear weapons?

Nuclear weapons are classi ed as either strategicweaponswhich are used to strike targets deepinside enemy territoryor tactical weaponsshort-range weapons designed to destroy speci c military,communications or infrastructure targets on thebattle eld.

Atomic, or ssion, bombs were the rst developed.Then, in the 1950s, the United States and the SovietUnion developed vastly more powerful thermonuclear,or hydrogen, bombs.

Once the materials for an atomic weapon are acquired,assembling them is frighteningly simple. The threatthat terrorist groups or rogue states could acquire thematerials needed to construct a ssion weapon is veryreal.

In recent years, proposals have been made to developa new generation of low-yield nuclear weapons,including bunker busters, to destroy secureunderground targets. Such weapons would lower thethreshold to the use of nuclear weapons, making itmore acceptable and thus more likely.


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What happens when anuclear bomb explodes?

The degree o damage depends uponthe distance rom the center o the bombblast, or ground zero. Heat, pressure andbomb debris that alls back to the groundcause the major immediate damage.At ground zero, the high temperatureimmediately vaporizes everything. A largenuclear bomb could level buildings veor six miles rom the hypocenter. Hugerestorms with gale orce winds developshortly a ter the blast.

Beyond the immediate blast area,casualties are caused by heat, radiationand res. A large bomb could causeres or 25 miles rom the hypocenter,and burns to humans and animals ormore than 50 miles.

A nuclear bomb explosion creates anelectromagnetic pulse that causes metal cablesto act as antennae and generate high voltageswhen the pulse passes. Such high currents destroyelectronics and even the wires themselves. Thelargest-yield nuclear devices are designed to destroycommunication systems. An airburst at the rightaltitude could produce continent-wide e ects.

B L A S T D A M A G E

E L E C T R O M A G N E T I C P U L S E


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There is no doubt that, i the peoples o the world were more ullyaware o the inherent danger o nuclear weapons and the consequenceso their use, they would reject them, and not permit their continued

possession or acquisition on their behal by their governments, even oran alleged need or sel -de ense.Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

Local e ects o a nuclear explosion include largeamounts o earth or water that are vaporized by theheat o the reball and drawn up into a radioactivecloud. The larger particles cascade down theoutside o the reball in a downdra t even while thecloud rises, so allout begins to arrive near groundzero within an hour. More than hal the total bombdebris is deposited on the ground within about 24hours as local allout.

Smaller radioactive particles will enter the

atmosphere and gradually settle to the earthssur ace a ter weeks, months, and even years.

Radioactive allout particles enter the water supplyand are inhaled and ingested by people thousandso miles rom the blast.

Between 1946 and 1996, more than 280 nuclearweapons were tested in the Paci c region alone.Each o these weapons had much higher yields thanthe bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.Testing o nuclear weapons has resulted in radiationexposure in countries around the world. Radiationis known to cause chromosomal damage and

illnesses such as cancer.

FA L L O U T

What Were the Effects of the Atomic BombsUsed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

On August 6, 1945, a B-29 American bomberdropped a nuclear bomb called Little Boy overthe center o Hiroshima, Japan. It exploded

about 2,000 eet above the city with a blastequivalent to about 13 kilotons o TNTonlya raction o the destructive power o nuclearbombs today.

An estimated 90,000 people died instantly.The radius o total destruction was about onemile, with resulting res across more than oursquare miles. Ninety percent o Hiroshimasbuildings were damaged or completelydestroyed.

By December 1945, thousands had died romtheir injuries and radiation poisoning, bringingthe total killed in Hiroshima in 1945 to perhaps140,000.

Three days a ter the rst bombing, on August 9,

1945, another B-29 dropped a second atomicbomb on Nagasaki, over the citys industrialvalley, about two miles rom the planned target.

The resulting explosion had a blast yieldequivalent to 21 kilotons o TNT.

According to some estimates, about 70,000o Nagasakis 240,000 residents were killedinstantly, and up to 60,000 were injured.

H I R O S H I M A A N D N A G A S A K I


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At theCrossroadsThe threat of nuclear weapons is not in the pastit is a crisis today.

This crisis is driven by the ailure o the nuclear powers to disarm and bythe increasing number o other states that seek nuclear weapons.

There are growing ears that rogue governments and terrorist groups willacquire nuclear weapons. The doctrine o deterrence means nothing toterrorists.

It is time to move beyond the myth o nuclear deterrence. It is time todismantle existing weapons and ban their urther development.

The idea that war can produce real solutions to human problems isdeeply rooted. Violence is part o the abric o humanparticularlymale-dominatedcivilizations. It can only be overcome by developing anequally strong culture o peace.


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Trans orming theHuman SpiritCreating a global sense of the deep connection among peoples shi tingour consciousness to human securityis a rst step toward world peace.

We can never lose sight o the bonds we share as members o the samehuman amily, a connection that goes beyond cultural, ethnic and nationalborders. At the same time, clashing interests and outlooks are real andneed to be aced.

The stronger our sense o connection as members o the human amily,the more e ectively we can resist the impulse to hard power or violence,resolving conficts through the so t power o dialogue.

We must express our loyalty to the human race and take action towardconsensus and dialogue to create conditions o genuine security or all.


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We must frmly establish the awareness that no societycan ound its security and wellbeing upon the terror and

misery o another; we must create a new set o global ethics.The theory o nuclear deterrence, in seeking to ensure the

security o one state by threatening others with overwhelmingdestructive power, is diametrically opposed to the global

ethics the new era demands.Daisaku Ikeda


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InterconnectionsThere are deep connections between all life and all things.Both science and religion suggest the critical nature o understanding this network o relationships. Every actionhas an e ect and the e ects are elt in ways and placeswe cannot imagine.

Today the network o relationships linking

the human race to itsel and to the rest o the

biosphere is so complexthat all aspects a ect

all others to anextraordinary degree.

Murray Gell-Mann


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DialogueGenuine dialogue requires courage and strength. We must recognize oneanothers positions and interests, identi y the obstacles to progress, andpatiently work to remove and resolve the obstacles. Confict resolutionthrough dialoguerather than through the destruction o orceholds thepromise o genuine and lasting solutions.

We have to acethe act that eitherall o us are going todie together or we are

going to learn to livetogether and i we areto live together we haveto talkEleanor Roosevelt


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EducationLasting peace depends on education. Students must learn to dealpeace ully with confict in their own lives and communities andunderstand and respect other cultures and values. Education or peaceosters nonviolent problem solving, cooperation, critical thinking, clearcommunication and dialogue.

Education is the most power ul

weapon which youcan use to change

the world.Nelson Mandela


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CourageThe road to peace can seem long andlonely. It takes courageand conviction,perseverance and determinationto workor peace.

One isnt necessarily born with courage, butone is born with

potential. Withoutcourage, we cannot

practice any other

virtue with consistency.We cant be kind, true, merci ul, generous, orhonest.Maya Angelou


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EngagementWe reveal who we are in our actions. Action or peacecan take many orms, but every act or a peace ul uturehas ar-reaching consequences.

The di erence between what we do and what

we are capable o doing would su fce to solve

most o the worlds problems.

Mahatma Gandhi


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HopeWe must not be defeated by helplessness. The eeling that we arepowerless breeds violence. It was human beings who gave birth tonuclear weaponsthese instruments o hellish destruction. It cannotbe beyond the power o human wisdom to eliminate them. Togetherwe must hopeand act.

Every one o us can make a

contribution. Andquite o ten we arelooking or the big thingsand orget that, wherever

we are, we can make acontribution. SometimesI tell mysel , I may only be

planting a tree here, but justimagine whats happening i there are billions o people outthere doing something. Justimagine the power o what

we can do.

Wangari Maathai


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From a Culture o Violence to a Cultureo Peace

The United Nations designated 20012010 as the InternationalDecade or a Culture o Peace and Non-violence or the Children o the World.

A culture o peace, as de ned by the United Nations, consists o values, attitudes, behaviors and ways o li e that reject violence andprevent conficts by tackling their root causesto solve problemsthrough dialogue and negotiation among individuals, groups andnations.

1 Fostering a culture o peace through education

Promoting sustainable economic and socialdevelopment

Promoting respect or all human rights

Ensuring equality between women and men

Fostering democratic participation

Advancing understanding, tolerance and solidarity

Supporting participatory communication and theree fow o in ormation and knowledge

Promoting international peace and security

E I G H T A C T I O N A R E A S F O R ACU LTU RE O F PEA CE

The culture o peace is much morethan just the absence o violenceand war. It includes the ull rangeo positive values and patterns o behavior needed to replace theculture o war and violence that hasdominated 5,000 years o humanhistory.

In 1999, the UN de ned eight keyaction areas necessary to cultivatea culture o peace. Each o thesepoints highlights a critical action thatwenations and individualsmusttake to ensure a peace ul uture.

2

3

4

5

6

7

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We call on the human amily to address the rootcauses o violence and build a culture o peace andhope. We know that another world is possible, a worldo justice and peace. Together we can make it a reality.

Nobel Peace Laureates Centennial Appeal


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People Actingor Peace

We appeal as human beings to humanbeings: Remember your humanity and orgetthe rest. I you can do so, the way lies opento a new Paradise; i you cannot, there liesbe ore you the risk o universal death.

Russell-Einstein Manifesto

The Berlin Wallseparated East andWest Berlin or morethan 28 years. It wasdestroyed in 1989.


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1955

The Russell-Einstein Mani esto, signed by Bertrand Russell,Albert Einstein, Max Born, Joseph Rotblat, Linus Pauling and sixother eminent scientists, warns o the dangers posed by nuclearweapons and calls on world leaders to nd peace ul solutions tointernational tensions.

1958

American chemist and peace activist Linus Pauling presents

the United Nations with a petition signed by 9,235 scientists,including 37 Nobel laureates, urging an international agreementto stop testing nuclear weapons.

1979

Dr. Helen Caldicott organizes a symposium o experts onthe subject o The Medical Consequences o Nuclear War,addressing large audiences in major cities across the UnitedStates.

1981

Greenham Common Womens Peace Camp is established toprotest a nuclear weapon being sited at RAF Greenham Commonin Berkshire, England. The camp remains in place until 2000.Peace camps outside military installations continue worldwide.

1985

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the International Physiciansor the Prevention o Nuclear War, which advocates abolition o allnuclear weapons.

1995

On the 50th anniversary o the atomic bombing, Hiroshima andNagasaki issue an appeal or the total ban and elimination o nuclear weapons. More than 62 million Japanese eventually signthe appeal.

2005

The International Atomic Energy Agency and its head, MohamedElBaradei, win the Nobel Peace Prize.

2006

Representatives at the seventh World Summit o Nobel PeaceLaureates in Rome, Italy, issue a strong statement on nucleardisarmament and non-proli eration.

2007

Sixty years a ter the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists DoomsdayClock rst appears on the cover o the magazine, it is once againmoved orward. It now stands at ve minutes to midnight.

Dr. Linus Paulingat a US Senatehearing displayspetitions calling ora nuclear test banrom scientists in 50nations, 1960.

INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL EFFORTS TO CONTROLAND ELIMINATE NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Voices o protest were raised as soon as the United States revealed its atomicprogram and dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.Internationally known scientists like Albert Einstein and Linus Paulingwho quickly

understood the awesome power that had been unleashedled e orts to helpmake governments and the public aware o the ear ul danger. Many individualsand organizations continue to work tirelessly or the abolition o nuclear weapons.


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IntergovernmentalE orts or Peace

Weapons o mass destruction cannot beuninvented. But they can be outlawed, as biologicaland chemical weapons already have been, and their

use made unthinkable. Compliance, verifcationand en orcement rules can, with the requisite will,be e ectively applied. And with that will, even the

eventual elimination o nuclear weapons is notbeyond the worlds reach.

Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, 2006

Inside a US Titan II missile silo,later destroyed in compliancewith the SALT II Treaty.

Workers examine shatteredconcrete and twisted wire at adestroyed Titan II missile silo inArkansas, 1987.


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EFFORTS TO CONTROL AND ELIMINATE NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Many governments and political leaders have, since the dawn o the nuclearage, recognized the grave danger and responsibility that go with the possessiono weapons o such unprecedented power. Negotiations and treaties attempt toavoid the worst consequences o such power.

1961

The rst Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone treaty, the Antarctic Treaty,goes into orce. So ar, there are nine recognized zones that havebeen established or that are in the process o being established bymultilateral treaties or by UN resolution.

1963

To prevent contamination rom nuclear allout, the Partial Test BanTreaty restricts all nuclear testing to underground testing.

1967

The Treaty o Tlatelolco creates a Latin America nuclear-weapons-ree zone.

1970

The Nuclear Non-Proli eration Treaty enters into orce; 190 stateshave rati ed the treaty to date.

1978

The United Nations General Assemblys Special Session onDisarmament is held.

1987

The New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and ArmsControl Act prohibits the stationing o nuclear weapons on theterritory o New Zealand and the entry into New Zealand waters o nuclear-armed or propelled ships.

1988

The Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed by the United Statesand the Soviet Union, eliminates an entire class o nuclear weapons,those with a range between 500 and 5,000 km.

1989

The Berlin Wall alls as East Germany opens its borders with WestGermany, marking the end o the Cold War.

1995

178 states agree to extend the Nuclear Non-Proli eration Treatyinde nitely.

1996

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is adopted at the UnitedNations General Assembly. To date, it has been signed by 177states and rati ed by 137 but is not yet legally binding.

2000

A review con erence o the parties to the Nuclear Non-Proli eration

Treaty is held in New York. Steps to nuclear disarmament includethe unequivocal promise o the total elimination o nuclear arsenals.This momentum un ortunately did not continue.

2005

The United Nations General Assembly adopts the InternationalConvention or the Suppression o Acts o Nuclear Terrorism.

2006

The Weapons o Mass Destruction Commission, an independentcommission unded by the Swedish government and chaired by HansBlix, presents its report, Weapons o Terror, to United NationsSecretary-General Ko Annan, o ering sixty concrete proposals onhow the world could be reed o nuclear, biological and chemicalweapons.

US President Ronald Reagan and SovietGeneral Secretary Mikhail Gorbachevsign the Intermediate Nuclear ForcesReduction Treaty, 1987.


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I believe in morality, in justice, inhumanitarianism. We must recognize now

that the power to destroy the world by the useo nuclear weapons is a power that cannot be

used we cannot accept the idea o such monstrous immorality.

Linus Pauling (1901-1994) was born in Portland,Oregon. In 1925 he received a doctorate rom theCali ornia Institute o Technology and remained onits teaching sta until 1963. Pauling was a notedchemist and physicist, responsible or numerousbreakthrough discoveries. He won the Nobel Prize orChemistry in 1954 or his work on chemical bonds.

Paulings wi e, Ava Helen, was an activist who helpedpropel her husband into the peace movement.A ter the development o the atomic bomb,Pauling recognized the perils o atomic allout andcampaigned widely against nuclear weapons.

In 1958, Pauling presented the United Nations witha petition or nuclear disarmament signed by AlbertSchweitzer, Ber trand Russell, Albert Einstein and11,000 other scientists and Nobel laureates.

Pauling won the Nobel Peace Prize or his anti-warwork in 1962, making him the only person to havewon two unshared Nobel prizes.

Linus PaulingHumanitarian Campaigned

Against War

We are deeply, passionately dedicated to thecause o nonviolence, to the orce o truth

and love, to soul- orce. To those who say that we are naive, utopian idealists, we say that we are the only realists, and that those whocontinue to support militarism in our timeare supporting the progress towards total

sel -destruction o the human race.

Betty Williams was born in Bel ast in 1943 and wentto Catholic elementary and primary schools. Whenshe won the Nobel Prize or Peace in 1976 she was

a 33 year-old o ce receptionist, wi e and mother o a14 year-old son and a six-year-old daughter.

Williams shared the Nobel Prize with MaireadCorrigan, who co- ounded the Northern Ireland PeaceMovement (later renamed Community o PeacePeople). The movement was inspired by an incidentin which an Irish Republican Army gunman was shotdead feeing rom British soldiers. His car smashedinto a amily out or a walk. Three children were killedand their mother critically injured.

Betty Williams came upon the scene a ter she heardthe shot, and Corrigan was the aunt o the deadchildren. This senseless killing o innocent childrenproduced a wave o revulsion against the violencethat had been sweeping Northern Ireland.

Williams later immigrated to the United States, whereshe was on the aculty o Sam Houston Universityin Texas. She is now head o the Global ChildrensFoundation and is a stirring lecturer on peace.

Betty WilliamsNorthern Ireland Peace Activist

We understand it still that there is no easyroad to reedom. We know it well that none

o us acting alone can achieve success.We must there ore act together as a united

people, or national reconciliation, or nation building, or the birth o a

new world. Let there be justice or all.Let there be peace or all.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei,South A rica in 1918. He earned a law degree romthe University o South A rica in 1942 and was

prominent in Johannesburgs youth wing o the A ricanNational Congress (ANC). In 1952 he became ANCdeputy national president, advocating nonviolentresistance to apartheid. However, a ter a group o peace ul demonstrators were massacred in 1960in Sharpeville, Mandela organized a branch o theANC to carry out guerrilla war are against the whitegovernment.

A ter being acquitted on charges o treason in1961, Mandela was arrested in 1964, convicted o sabotage and sentenced to li e in prison. During histime in prison he became the leading symbol o SouthA ricas oppressed black majority.

Nelson Mandela was released on February 18, 1990.A ter his release, he plunged wholeheartedly into hisli es work or peace and justice. In 1991, Mandelawas elected President o the ANC while his li elong

riend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, became theorganizations National Chairperson.

Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Hewas the rst democratically elected President o South A rica rom May 1994 through June 1999.In December 1999, Mandela was appointed by agroup o A rican nations to mediate the ethnic stri ein Burundi; the Ar usha accords, a Tutsi-Hutu power-sharing agreement, were nalized in 2001. Now in his80s, Mandela continues to work or peace.

Nelson MandelaSouth A rican Leader Lives or Peace


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CompetitionBetween Despairand Hope

Every year since 1983, Daisaku Ikeda, president o theSoka Gakkai International Buddhist association, has issueda peace proposal to the United Nations and leaders o countries around the world. In 2007, Ikedas proposalmarked the 50th anniversary o the condemnation o nuclear weapons by the Soka Gakkais second president,Josei Toda.

In his 2007 peace proposal, Ikeda proposed anInternational Decade o UN Action or the abolition o nuclear weapons in partnership with civil society.

Ikeda continues to meet with world leaders to discussnuclear abolition and the creation o a culture o peace. His

published dialogues include those with Mikhail Gorbachev,Linus Pauling and Joseph Rotblat.

The SGI has developed grassroots activities to carry onTodas spirit, including anti-nuclear exhibitions and collectingand publishing the memories o those who survived war.

S G I A C T I V I T I E S F O R P E A C E A N DN U C L E A R A B O L I T I O N

Petition Drives:

In 1975, young members o the SGI in Japan presented 10million signatures calling or the abolition o nuclear weaponsand the elimination o war to the Secretary General o theUnited Nations.

In 1998, SGI members collected more than 13 millionsignatures or the Abolition 2000 petition, presented to theNon-Proli eration Treaty Preparatory Committee and to the UN.

Publications:

Between 1974 and1985, young members o the SGI inJapan compiled and published more than 3,000 World War IIexperiences rom victims o war and the atomic bomb.

The Womens Peace Committee o the SGI in Japan publisheda 20-volume work o womens war experiences. In 2005, theWomens Peace Committee also made an educational DVDincluding the accounts o 31 women war survivors.

Exhibitions:

Nuclear Arms: Threat to Our World was organized by the SGIwith the UN Department o Public In ormation and the cities o Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It opened at the UN Headquarters in1982 and was viewed by 1.2 million people in 25 cities in 16countries.

Nuclear Arms: Threat to Humanity, launched in 1996, is anupdated version o Threat to Our World. It was viewed by ahal million people in eight Latin American countries.

Linus Pauling and the Twentieth Century tells the storyo the tireless campaigner or peace and nuclear abolition.Since 1998 the exhibit has toured seven cities in the UnitedStates and ve cities in Japan. It was shown at the UNESCOheadquarters in Paris in 2003 and has been visited by morethan one million people.

Peace is a competitionbetween despair andhope, betweendisempowerment andcommitted persistence.

Daisaku IkedaDaisaku Ikeda and Mikhail Gorbachev

E X H I B I T I O N C R E D I T S

Copyright Soka Gakkai International

Development, Script: Mary Worthington

Layout and Production: Alton Creative, Inc.Manufacture: AAA Flag and Banner

Special thanks to: U.N. Under-Secretary-GeneralAnwarul K. Chowdhury, Joseph de Melo, Alyn Ware andKate Dewes

Images: Corbis: Sean Adair, Charles ORear, LynseyAddario, Ed Kashi, Tom Nebbia, Ronnie Kau man,Don Mason, Joe McDonald, Gianni Dagli Orti, RezaWebistan, Thomas Hartwell, Benjamin Lowy, RaminTalaie, Liba Taylor, David Pollack, Micheline Pelletier,Wally McNamee, Gideon Mendel, Kit Kittle, LousieGubb, Hans Strand, Roger Ressmeyer, ChristianPoveda; Sygma/Corbis; Patrick Robert, JP La ont, RgisBossu, Griggs Matt, Murray Andrew, Pelletier Micheline;Reuters/Corbis; Antony Njuguna, Corinne Du ka, NamirNoor-Eldeen, Romeo Ranoco, Michael Kooren, SeanAdair ; Ze a/Corbis; Emma Rian; EFE/Corbis; SalvadorSas; EPA/Corbis; Salvatore Di Nol , JurnasyantoSukarno; ImageShop/Corbis; Atlantide Phototravel/Corbis; Bettmann/Corbis, Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis; Smiley N. Pool/Dallas Morning News/Corbis


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