*{From Conflict to Peace [http://www.weforum.org/site/knowledgenavigator.nsf/Content/From%20Conflict%20to%20Peace?open&topic_id=300350000&theme_id=300]

            04.02.2002

            Annual Meeting 2002}

            *partie=titre Nobel Peace Prize Trio: Redouble Efforts for Peace *partie=nil

            Three Nobel Peace Prize laureates called for a redoubling of efforts to resolve conflicts and fight global scourges such as AIDS. In a taped message to participants, Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa, who won the Nobel Prize in 1993, said that the 11 September terrorist attacks had "dramatically brought home the horrendous consequences of a lack of peace". But, he added, "they should spur us to a renewal and redoubling of our commitment and efforts" to achieve peace. Later, 1996 Peace laureate José Ramos-Horta, Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of East Timor, argued that his country’s experience shows how partnerships and coalitions of diverse cultures can end war and strife. Finally, Shimon Peres, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, who was awarded his Nobel Prize in 1994, issued an eloquent appeal for the end of war: "We don’t need wars. We don’t need conflicts. We have to depart from the known past to the unknown, but promising and different future."

            In his video address, Mandela called for the world to focus its attention on alleviating poverty and deprivation through multilateral efforts under the UN and its agencies. Because of poverty, he explained, "the future of all of us is under threat." He urged participants to "move beyond high-sounding rhetoric" to tackle world problems such as AIDS and the debt burden on developing countries.

            Ramos-Horta thanked the international community for its generosity in helping to resolve the turmoil in East Timor, where presidential elections are to be held in April. He pointed out that his predominantly Catholic country’s first Chief Minister is a Muslim of Arab descent. Ramos-Horta’s explanation for East Timor’s success at achieving stability: leadership.

            Zoran Djindjic, Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, told participants that world leaders are not yet able to prevent conflict, but instead react to crises as they arise. It is important for the international community to reward progress of countries and regions struggling to achieve stability and steady development. His country faces 30% unemployment and must care for 600,000 refugees. "To keep stable, we need support," he pleaded. "The world will have something to lose if this stability doesn’t last."

            Session Chair José María Figueres, Managing Director, World Economic Forum, raised the issue of the US-led war on terrorism. He recalled that, in the Annual Meeting’s opening plenary session, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo proposed that the coalition against terror become a coalition to fight poverty. Responding to a question from Figueres, Richard Haass, Director, Policy Planning, US Department of State, said that America would lead such an effort. He stressed that the US commitment to fighting poverty should not simply be measured by the level of aid it provided to the developing world. He insisted that the US is willing to open up its markets to trade and channel direct investment to emerging economies. But, he said, Washington could not go it alone. The fight against poverty, Haass stressed, must be a cooperative effort among many nations. He also argued that the US is engaged in helping to resolve a number of conflicts around the world, from Northern Ireland to the India-Pakistan border, engaging its allies and other powers as necessary. "The US is doing what it can. American foreign policy won’t succeed without a large multilateral component."

            Peres argued that as the possession of land has become less and less a factor in a people’s success, land holdings may be small, but even in limited space, industrial and technological parks can be built. Countries should focus on education, not armed conflict. He proposed a "global pharmacy" which would dispense medicines to countries that need them so long as governments introduce reforms and seriously tackle domestic problems.                  

                  *{Contributors:       Abdullah Abdullah
                  Djindjic Zoran
                  Figueres José María
                  Peres Shimon
                  Ramos-Horta José}