UN Secretary General Gives Enthusiastic Support to World March

The Secretary-General of the United Nations met today with the marchers of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence at the UN Headquarters in New York to discuss the goals of this unprecedented global initiative.

During the meeting, Rafael de la Rubia, Spokesperson of the March, shared the proposals of the World March with General-Secretary Ban Ki-moon, and explained how the international response to the March, in the more than 55 countries already traveled, had been even stronger than had been anticipated, especially among the youth.

The Secretary General expressed his enthusiastic support for the March and its goals, praising it as a “noble” effort whose impact will be felt beyond the march’s end in January 2010. Both parties agreed on the necessity of joining forces to work toward the common goal of elimination of the nuclear arsenal, which is the first of the five proposals of the March and the focus of Mr. Ban’s own 5-Point Plan. As a result of the meeting, the March organizers agreed to adopt the Secretary-General’s 5-Point Plan as one of its official documents.

Chris Wells, Spokeperson for the United States, described the meeting as “very friendly,” and added that “the Secretary General expressed his full support for the World March and his willingness to work together to advance the very important aim of nuclear disarmament."

Tomás Hirsch, the Spokesperson of the March for Latin America, told Mr. Ban that “the March was initiated by World Without Wars, an international organization launched by the Humanist Movement and it will end at Punta de Vacas Park, Argentina at the foot of Mount Aconcagua on January 2nd, 2010.”

The meeting took place a day after the March arrived in New York for a four day US tour. From New York, the marchers travel to Washington, DC, Montreal, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The March will continue to Mexico, with events planned on both sides of the US-Mexico border, before heading south through Central and South America, completing its historic journey after passing through more than 90 countries and 99,000 miles.