Lima, July 12, 2005

Your Excellency Senor Allan Wagner Tizon,
Honourable Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Peru,
Distinguished Ambassadors,
Honourable Representatives of the Diplomatic Community in Lima,
Dear Advisors and Staff of the Andean Community General Secretariat,
Distinguished Guests,
Friends of Peace,

On behalf of the Goi Peace Foundation, it is a great privilege and honour for me to award the Andean Community and its General Secretariat with this special Peace Pole.

Your steady devotion and tireless efforts to the creation of a culture of peace in the Andean region have fruitfully resulted in a more balanced and harmonious development of the member States Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, and have led to stronger regional integration, but also to a steady improvement of the standard of living of the Andean Community inhabitants.

By living up to its objectives and responsibilities, the Andean Community has developed a Zone of Peace in the Andean region, which has been made official last year and which first anniversary of the Presidential Declaration of an Andean Zone of Peace we are commemorating today.

This Andean Zone of Peace is the result and climax of 36 years of cooperation for peace among Andean nations. It has an enormous positive impact on the region s sustainable integration, which now covers all aspects of life and society; and additionally has boosted the implementation of peace and cooperation in Latin America.

It is in that spirit of further integration, that the Goi Peace Foundation commends the Andean Community for being instrumental, together with MERCOSUR and ALADI, to the establishment of a South American Community of Nations.

Thus, it can be strongly stressed and it is obvious, that the Andean Community is operating and living in the spirit of “May Peace Prevail on Earth” and is therewith strongly contributing to a world at peace and of harmony.

The Andean Community is indeed a Peace Pole to our world and is firmly devoted to promote peace, stability and cooperation among peoples around the world.

This special Peace Pole we are dedicating at the Andean Community General Secretariat here today symbolizes and underlines the Andean Community s unshakable commitment and outstanding achievements to peace on Earth.

The Andean Community General Secretariat, representing the Andean Community, joins today the global network of Intergovernmental Organizations, which have been awarded with a Peace Pole by the Goi Peace Foundation, like the UN Secretariat, the UN General Assembly, UNESCO, UNEP, the UNHCR, the World Bank, IMF, the World Trade Organization, the Organization of American States, the African Union, the League of Arab States, ASEAN, SAARC, the OSCE to name a few.

The Goi Peace Foundation believes that peace begins in the mind of each individuals and that we all share a common responsibility for the future of our planet.

The mission of the Goi Peace Foundation is to bring together people of wisdom, united in their hearts toward the common goal of peace on Earth. By encouraging public awareness of peace and by building cooperation among individuals and organizations in all fields, we aim to build an international peace network and to stimulate the global trend toward a culture of peace.

The Foundation carries the name of Masahisa Goi (1916=1980), a Japanese philosopher and humanist, who dedicated his life to peace and humanity. After witnessing the terrible destruction of the Second World War, particularly the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombings, Masahisa Goi started a world peace movement to spread the universal message, but also prayer “May Peace Prevail on Earth”, as a way of uniting the hearts of humanity, transcending all boundaries of race, religion or politics.

This simple and powerful message expresses without any ideology or creed, humanity s fervent wish for peace on Earth.

A way and form of promoting this message are Peace Poles.

Peace Poles are silent monuments and reminder of humanity s ultimate goal; namely the establishment of Peace on Earth.

Peace Poles are inspiring people to live in Peace and for peace in their daily lives.

As of today, more than 250.000 Peace Poles have been planted in more than 180 countries, including Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

People from all walks of life are dedicating Peace Poles at various occasions and various places: private homes, public parks, houses of worship, schools, universities, city halls, parliaments and governmental buildings.

Since its establishment in 1955, the Peace Pole project has become a popular and wide spread and completely decentralized global grassroots initiative and movement.

The Goi Peace Foundation, established in 1999 in Tokyo, Japan, has taken on this Peace Pole project as one of its activities, to award and honour Intergovernmental Organizations working for the improvement of multilateral cooperation and integration.

Like the Andean Community General Secretariat, which is committed to strengthening the peaceful cooperation and coexistence among Andean Community nations and inhabitants.

I would like particularly commend you, Ambassador Wagner, for having chosen the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in Quechua and Aymara to be put on the Andean Community Peace Pole.

Indeed, the existence of native peoples in the Andean region is very strong; stronger than in other Latin American countries. The existence of indigenous peoples is quite significant.

Indigenous peopes are holding the wisdom of the Earth and of Nature.

It is therefore very important to include their worldview and perception of life into our modern world, and to balance therewith archaic traditions and modernism, if we want to have an Earth in Balance for us and our children and future generations.

The reestablishment of this balance is very significant for the Andean Community, for instance what democratic consolidation in the region is concerned.

Thus, this Andean Community Peace Pole symbolizes, so speaking, the old and the new world; indigenous traditions (represented by the message in Aymara and Quechua) and the post colonial way of life (represented by the message in Spanish and Portuguese).

Both ways and perception of life need and deserve to be harmonized and integrated.

After all, each inhabitant of the Andean Community has, to quote the German humanist Johan Wolfgang von Goethe, “two souls in his chest”. Denying on of these soul mate would mean, to deny yourself.

This Peace Pole is a constant reminder to take both worldviews, perceptions and ways of life into account. This Peace Pole serves as mediator between both world.

May this Peace Pole inspire you in your most noble mission to bring peace and harmony on Earth.

Let me conclude by wishing you every success and a fruitful outcome for your upcoming Andean Community Summit.

May Peace be in Our Homes and Communities.
May Peace be in the Andean Community.
May Peace be in Latin America.
Que la Paz Prevalezca en la Tierra
Que la Paz Prevalezca no Mundo
Qasilla kayqa tiqsumuyupi kachun
Qasi Kankañaxa akapachanäphana

Thank you very much.