Le istituzioni locali e il mondo associativo per la costruzione di una rete in materia di cooperazione, cultura di pace, integrazione multietnica, promozione dei diritti umani e della solidarietà fra i popoli.
Here is the assessment of the March for Peace
500 buses, more than 200.000 persons. A 15-km-long procession (it takes more than 3 hours to walk the distance from its head to tail). It is an immense enthusiasm. These numbers characterise the March for Peace 2007 organised by the National Coordination of local organisations for peace and human rights and "Tavola della Pace" .
On Monday, 8 October, the day after the most anticipated March for Peace, the numbers speak for themselves proving the success even greater than the past editions. But the numbers can’t describe the emotions, interest, cheerfulness of all the participants. Side by side, associations, scouts, representatives of institutions, men, women and children from all over the world marched from the Gardens of Frontone (Giardini del Frontone) of Perugia to the Rocca of Assisi. Some of them joined a few kilometres later, others joined from the half-way to form a procession of red t-shirt of more than 15-km-long to commemorate the monks of Burma and the flags with the slogan of the March 2007 “All human rights for all”.
Moments of the day. From 8.30 a.m. in the morning after opening by Flavio Lotti, coordinator of Tavola della Pace, who reads the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…”, till the afternoon the streets from Perugia to Assisi were filled with the banners of the “Peace”.
In the afternoon the action “Stand Up” against the poverty and for the UN Millennium Development Goals took place near the Bastia Umbra square (piazza di Bastia Umbra). Thousands of participants sat down on the ground and then stood up claiming “We are calling for more help for the poor from the next “Finianziaria” 2008!”. Politicians Rosi Bindi, Barbara Pollastrini, Franco Giordano, Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, Paolo Ferrero and Oliviero Diliberto also participated, even though Tavola della Pace asked them not to give interviews in order to give the space to the people of peace and other international participants. The space for the Russian delegation to commemorate journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the space for the Amnesty International with the picture of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the League for democracy in Burma, standing for freedom of Burma, and for the Focsiv and its volunteers commemorating not only Burma, but also Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the countries where human rights are denied, and for Father Kizito Sesana, director of Nigrizia, who commemorates the ongoing war in Darfur. But also the space for collecting signatures for “the future without nuclear” so that Italy would be declared the “nuclear-free zone”.
Arrival. The head of the procession arrived in Santa Maria degli Angeli at about 1.40 p.m. At 3 p.m. the whole procession gathered in front of the Rocca d’Assisi for the final manifestation. The participants prayed with Tibetan monks and then they joined in a moment of silence “for all the Burmese of the world”. The music of John Lennon “Give peace a chance” was replayed. Flavio Lotti concluded “We are here to say that human rights are the compass for navigation in our difficult times. Human rights are the stone for creating a new world…”
And the people stayed on the lawn of the Rocca till the evening promoting stands, dancing events and initiatives.
