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SGI News: Global activities for peace, education and culture

"Disarmament Now" Conference in Mexico

photo The SGI's representative to the United Nations, Hiro Sakurai (left), speaks at the plenary roundtable

An SGI delegation attended the 62nd Annual DPI/NGO Conference in Mexico City, Mexico, from September 9 to 11. The conference, which brings together nongovernmental organizations which are associated with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) from throughout the world, was held outside the UN Headquarters in New York for only the second time in its history. Holding the event in Mexico City was particularly important as it facilitated the participation not only of Mexican civil society, but also NGOs from throughout the Latin American and Caribbean region.

The opening ceremony featured speeches by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams. Ms. Williams, who gained renown for helping build the international campaign that culminated in the adoption of the treaty banning land mines in 1999, urged participants to work with even greater focus and energy for the realization of a world without nuclear weapons.

On the final day of the conference, the SGI's representative to the United Nations in New York, Hiro Sakurai, was one of the speakers at the plenary roundtable held at the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Noting that this was the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Mr. Sakurai described how those events had led him personally to rethink the meaning of security. He also related experiences of young people who had participated in activities in support of the SGI's People's Decade for Nuclear Abolition and how the dialogues they engaged in with their peers had had a transformative impact on their consciousness. In the afternoon, the SGI and Mayors for Peace jointly sponsored the workshop "International Decade for Disarmament: How NGOs can make it a success with a focus on human security and nuclear disarmament."

photo Viewing the "Transforming the Human Spirit" exhibition

On September 10, an opening reception for the SGI-organized exhibition "From a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace: Transforming the Human Spirit" was held at the Mexican Senate. The reception was attended by President of the Mexican Senate Carlos Navarette Ruíz, Senator María Elena Orantes López, UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Kiyo Akasaka and UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Sergio Duarte, as well as numerous representatives of the NGO and diplomatic communities.

In his welcoming remarks, Senate President Navarette noted the connection, stressed in the exhibition, between human security--eliminating extreme poverty, promoting universal education, assuring sustainable development--and nuclear abolition. Under-Secretary-General Akasaka noted that "The work of the Soka Gakkai underscores the enormous influence the voice of the people can have on what might otherwise be regarded as matters of state," and welcomed the proposal by SGI President Daisaku Ikeda, "Building Global Solidarity Toward Nuclear Abolition," which was issued on September 8 and circulated at the DPI/NGO conference.

photo Viewing the "Transforming the Human Spirit" exhibition

"From a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace: Transforming the Human Spirit" was created by the SGI in 2007 as a tool to help raise awareness toward nuclear abolition. It commemorates the 50th anniversary of second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda's declaration calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons made on September 8, 1957. The 36-panel exhibition addresses the dangers of nuclear weapons and the role that ordinary citizens can play in creating a culture of peace.

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