The World March for Peace & Nonviolence is the concerted effort of more than 1 million people in 100 countries and 7 continents who yearn for peace and who are calling out for the eradication of nuclear arms and an end to war and all forms of violence that continue to plague humanity.

Through the manifestation of thousands of locally-developed marches, actions, and events around the world, the World March aims to generate consciousness of the dangerous global situation in which we are living – a situation marked by an extreme imbalance of wealth and resources, pervasive levels of violence and discrimination, a renewed arms race, the violent military occupation of foreign territories, and, most urgent of all, the heightened probability of nuclear conflict.

The WM is a proposal for an unprecedented social mobilisation, advanced by the Humanist Movement through one of its affiliated organizations, World without Wars.

Proposals of the World March

To avoid a future nuclear catastrophe we must surpass violence today, demanding:

• nuclear disarmament at a global level;
• the immediate withdrawal of invading troops from occupied territories;
• the progressive and proportional reduction of conventional weapons;
• the signing of non-aggression treaties between countries;
• the renunciation by governments of the use of war as a means to resolve conflicts.

It’s more urgent than ever to create conciousness for peace and disarmament. But it is also necessary to awaken a consciousness of nonviolence that rejects not only physical violence, but all forms of violence: economic, racial, psychological, religious, sexual, etc.. Just as environmental awareness has spread all over the planet, we believe a nonviolent consciousness can now do the same.

The World March is a call to all people to unite efforts and take responsibility for changing the world, to overcome their personal violence, and to work in their immediate environments, as far as their influence may reach.

The March in Action

The World March for Peace and Nonviolence is already inspiring various initiatives and activities. One will be the symbolic march of an international and intercultural team whose journey will pass through six continents. It will start on October 2, 2009 – the International Day of Nonviolence – in New Zealand, and will culminate on January 2, 2010 at the foot of Mount Aconcagua in Punta de Vacas, Argentina.

During this time, in hundreds of cities around the world, there will be marches, festivals, forums, conferences, and other events to create consciousness of the urgent need for Peace and Nonviolence. The development of these initiatives is open to any person, organization, school, collective, group, political party, business, etc., that shares the same aspirations and endorses the March’s proposals.

The true strength of the World March is born from the simple, conscious act of those who endorse this dignified cause and share it with others.