Bogotá: launch of the book The Words of Peace

As part of an effort to promote a culture based on tolerance and reflection, Enrique Garcia, the CAF president, and Rafael Echeverri, president of Rural Mission, launched The Words of Peace in a ceremony on March 4 in the auditorium of the Modern Gymnasium in Bogotá.

"This work is a true homage to the conscience and heart of those who are striving to end a violence that only contributes to generating more poverty and marginality in the region," said García. The book is a selection of the most important speeches by Nobel Peace Laureates from the American Ralph J. Bunche - the first person to be awarded the honor in 1950 - to Kofi Annan who received the prize on behalf of the United Nations in 2001.

The launch was also attended Bogotá Mayor Antanas Mockus, and winners of the National Peace Prize, which has been awarded annually in Colombia since 1999. A recorded message was heard from Oscar Arias, Nobel Peace Laureate and former president of Costa Rica. The event was closed by the Children´s and Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Medellín Network of Music Schools, Honorable Mention in the National Peace Prize, which receives quarterly music training classes through the Andean Traveling Conservatory created by the CAF two years ago.

The Words of Peace is an example of the CAF´s decision to contribute to a new agenda for regional development, with policies and instruments focused on an integrated concept of human beings and peoples.

The book´s prologue, written by Mexican writer and journalist Elena Poniatowska, describes how the Nobel Peace prizes have been awarded. Women laureates include Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan in 1976, Mother Teresa of Calcuta (1979), Alva Myrdal (with Alfonso García Robles) in 1982, the Burmese political activist Aung San Suu Kyi (1991) and the Guatemalan leader Rigoberta Menchú (1992).

The list of prizewinners since 1950 also includes 41 men and eight associations, particularly UNHCR (UN High Commission for Refugees) which has received the prize twice. Other winning organizations are the International Committee of the Red Cross, UNICEF, the ILO (International Labor Organization) and Amnesty International, among others.