Meeting for Peace «For Peace, we are all never too many»

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

he Meeting for Peace, held on June 5 at the Luísa Todi Forum, in Setúbal, Portugal, under the motto «for Peace, we are all never too many», was an important moment for affirmin the values of peace, disarmament, solidarity and cooperation.

The Meeting for Peace was initially promoted by 12 organisations: Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation (CPPC), Loures City Council; Setúbal City Council; General Confederation of Portuguese Workers – National Inter-union (CGTP-IN); Portuguese Confederation of Culture, Recreation and Sport Collectivities (CPCCRD); National Federation of Teachers (FENPROF); Catholic Workers' Youth (JOC), Democratic Movement of Women (MDM), Movement of Municipalities for Peace, Movement for the Rights of the Palestinian People and Peace in the Middle East (MPPM); Portuguese Catholic Work on Migration; and the Union of Portuguese Antifascist Resistances (URAP).

During its preparation the Meeting for Peace was joined by more than 90 organisations and entities from various areas of intervention, including municipalities and parish councils, clubs and cultural associations, trade unions, schools, and various organisations of intervention and public opinion.

The Meeting for Peace was preceded by the realization of several initiatives, such as debates and exhibitions, in several places in the country.

The opening was made by Maria das Dores Meira, Mayor of Setúbal, and Ilda Figueiredo, Chairman of the CPPC Board, on behalf of the promoting organisations and entities.

With dozens of contributions, the debate took place around three themes: Peace and Disarmament; Culture and Education for Peace; Solidarity and Cooperation.

After the Meeting, hundreds of people marched on the streets of Setúbal in a parade that culminated at the Monuments to Anti-fascist Resistants.

The «Call for the defence of peace» adopted at the Meeting, presented by the 12 promoting organisations and read at the end of the parade, constitutes a platform for unity to take further the action for peace.

Call for the defence of peace

On behalf of the organisations that promoted this II Meeting for Peace, we salute all who participated and contributed to its preparation and holding in such a complex moment of the international situation. Its success demonstrates the opportunity and importance of the Meeting, emanating from it the commitment and willingness to continue and further expand the convergence of wills for action in defence of peace, considering it essential to human life and an indispensable condition for freedom, sovereignty, democracy, rights, social progress and the well-being of peoples – for the construction of a better world for all Humanity.

Acknowledging that upholding the spirit and principles of the United Nations Charter and International Law is the fundamental basis for ending militarism, the arms race and war, as well as for upholding and promoting peace and the development of fairer and more equitable relationship among peoples all over the world, we affirm our commitment and call for the promotion of a culture of peace and solidarity among peoples, with particular attention to peoples victims of interference, aggression and oppression, including migrants and refugees, and developing an action to encourage peace and cooperation as an alternative to war and rivalry in international relations.

Attributing the greatest importance to education for peace, namely among the new generations, this Meeting projected the topicality of the values of peace, friendship, solidarity, cooperation, dignity and equity – values that should characterise the relations between States and among peoples - prompting our commitment and call to promote initiatives in this area, namely in schools, associations and municipalities, notably regarding the International Day of Peace (September 21) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Aware of the pressing need to end weapons of mass extermination, in particular all nuclear weapons, we affirm our commitment and call for public initiatives that do not forget the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (September 26) and fight for the signature and ratification by Portugal of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Emphasising that on April 2, 2021, was celebrated the 45th. anniversary of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, a result of the April Revolution, which ended 48 years of fascism, including 13 years of colonial war, which enshrined important principles of international relations for Portugal and the Portuguese people – such as national independence and equality between States, respect for human rights, the rights of peoples, the peaceful solution of international conflicts, general, simultaneous and controlled disarmament, the dissolution of political-military blocs or the creation of an international order capable of ensuring peace and justice in relations between peoples – we affirm our commitment and call for initiatives to be promoted with a view to their dissemination and implementation.

Aware that peace is a fundamental right of Humanity, without which no other right will be guaranteed, and alerting to the dangers that threaten it, we consider that this Meeting for Peace was an important step for the peace movement in our country and we affirm the will to continue joining efforts in Portugal in defence of peace in the world, assuming the commitment to carry out new initiatives with this objective, including a new Meeting for Peace, because for Peace, we are all never too many!

Meeting for Peace

Setúbal, June 5, 2021

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Apelo à defesa da paz

Em nome das organizações que promoveram este II Encontro pela Paz saudamos todos quantos participaram e contribuíram para a sua preparação e realização num momento tão complexo da situação internacional. O seu sucesso demonstra a oportunidade e a importância do Encontro, dele irradiando o empenho e a disponibilidade para que prossiga e se alargue ainda mais a convergência de vontades para a ação em defesa da paz, considerando-a essencial à vida humana e uma condição indispensável para a liberdade, a soberania, a democracia, os direitos, o progresso social e o bem-estar dos povos – para a construção de um mundo melhor para toda a Humanidade.

Reconhecendo que a defesa do espírito e dos princípios da Carta das Nações Unidas e do Direito Internacional é a base fundamental para o fim do militarismo, da corrida aos armamentos e da guerra, assim como para defender e promover a paz e o desenvolvimento de relações mais justas e equitativas entre os povos de todo o mundo, afirmamos o nosso empenho e apelo à promoção de uma cultura de paz e de solidariedade entre os povos, dando particular atenção aos povos vítimas de ingerência, de agressão e de opressão, incluindo os migrantes e os refugiados, e desenvolvendo uma ação de incentivo à paz e à cooperação em alternativa à guerra e à rivalidade nas relações internacionais.

Atribuindo a maior importância à educação para a paz, nomeadamente junto das novas gerações, este Encontro projetou a atualidade dos valores da paz, da amizade, da solidariedade, da cooperação, da dignidade e da equidade – valores que devem caracterizar as relações entre os Estados e entre os povos - motivando o nosso empenho e apelo a que se promovam iniciativas neste âmbito, designadamente em escolas, associações e autarquias, designadamente em torno do Dia Internacional da Paz (21 de Setembro) e da Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos.

Conscientes da premência do fim das armas de extermínio em massa, nomeadamente de todas as armas nucleares, afirmamos o nosso empenho e apelo a que se promovam iniciativas públicas que não esqueçam os bombardeamentos atómicos de Hiroxima e Nagasáqui e o Dia Internacional para a Abolição Total das Armas Nucleares (26 de setembro) e pugnem pela assinatura e ratificação por Portugal do Tratado de Proibição das Armas Nucleares.

Sublinhando que em 2 de Abril de 2021 se comemoraram os 45 anos da Constituição da República Portuguesa, fruto da Revolução de Abril, que acabou com 48 anos de fascismo, incluindo 13 anos de guerra colonial, que consagrou importantes princípios de relações internacionais para Portugal e o povo português – como a independência nacional e a igualdade entre os Estados, o respeito dos direitos humanos, dos direitos dos povos, a solução pacífica dos conflitos internacionais, o desarmamento geral, simultâneo e controlado, a dissolução dos blocos político-militares ou a criação de uma ordem internacional capaz de assegurar a paz e a justiça nas relações entre os povos – afirmamos o nosso empenho e apelo a que se promovam iniciativas visando a sua divulgação e concretização.

Conscientes de que a paz é um direito fundamental da Humanidade, sem o qual nenhum outro direito estará garantido, e alertando para os perigos que a ameaçam, consideramos que este Encontro pela Paz foi um passo importante para o movimento da paz no nosso País e afirmamos a vontade de continuar a unir esforços em Portugal na defesa da paz no mundo, assumindo o compromisso de realizar novas iniciativas com este objetivo, incluindo um novo Encontro pela Paz, pois pela paz, todos não somos demais!

Encontro pela Paz, Setúbal, 5 de junho de 2021