4th Global Alliance Summit for Ministries and Departments of Peace Communique

I am writing this on an airplane heading to Los Angeles from Costa Rica. We had our most successful Global Alliance summit ever and "We made a history today" as Dot Maver of the Peace Academy, USA said.

I am more than grateful to Rita Marie of the Rasur Foundation and all her amazing volunteer team and the Global Alliance summit members who made it all possible. My heart is filled with love and gratitude as I write this and the energy of love and gratitude will go a long way in helping me in my work to form a Ministry of Peace for Japan.

Thank you All!!

Below is the communique that was released on the final day.

COMMUNIQUÉ (PDF 279 KB)
September 21, 2009

4th Global Alliance Summit for Ministries and Departments of Peace
San Jose, Costa Rica, Sept. 17-21, 2009

The 4th Global Alliance (GA) Summit was a resounding success with 200 participants attending from more than 40 countries, enhanced by a live streaming video link to the world. The Summit was inspired by Costa Rica's declaration, earlier this month, of a Minister of Justice and Peace, making it the third country in the world to have such a Ministry. The President of Costa Rica, Dr. Oscar Arias, addressed the opening of the Summit, and told us that:

“The task is only just starting; the creation of a Ministry for Peace…is not the final achievement, merely the making of a road to achieve sustainable order that would allow resolution of human conflicts without violence.”

The mission of the GA is to support the establishment of Ministries and Departments of Peace in all nations. The Summit, in order to prepare itself to work with governments to build national infrastructures for peace, heard from experts in the fields of : Unarmed Civilian Peace Services and Youth Engagement in Peacebuilding; Academies for Peace, Restorative Justice Practices; Peace Economics; Innovation in the Use of Media; Nuclear and General Disarmament; Civil Society and Government Cooperation; and, Networking with the UN and Business.

The GA also established strategic direction and an action plan for its next phase and formed a dynamic Leadership Council, with membership from 6 continents, to carry its mission forward, partner with other international sister organizations and plan its next Summit.

Rita Marie Johnson of the Rasur Foundation in Costa Rica, Summit convener, summed up the achievement of the Summit, stating, “The GA members embodied peace as they took a quantum leap toward national peace infrastructures by presenting a detailed picture of hope for the world. We know what to do and we will do it – together in the name of peace.”

The Summit concluded with a determination to witness the formation of at least 2 more Ministries or Departments of Peace by the time of the next Summit to be held in 2011.

Contact: Milena Sanabria, Vice Minister of Justice and Peace

Email: milesanabria@gmail.com

www.gasummit.org