Maison de la Paix || Casa Universale delle Culture (EN)

 

CASA UNIVERSALE DELLE CULTURE

The Maison de la Paix - Casa Universale delle Culture is a place strongly representative, in which will convey the knowledge of the different identities and cultures, structuring permanently initiatives aimed at the spreading of peace, necessary for the shared development.

The Maison de la Paix - Casa Universale delle Culture (MdP) is a project conceived by Michele Capasso, approved by many Countries and international organizations. It is an architecture that keeps the memory of many Peace activities which created history, often more than the wars, but it is – above all – a space "to build” Peace.

The architectonical complex has an important symbolic worth: it represents the Countries of the World engaged in the Peace process and the Countries victim of the conflicts.

Proposed by the Fondazione Mediterraneo with the Maison des Alliances – together with the main adherent organizations, such as the Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly, the League of Arab States, the "Anna Lindh" Euro-Mediterranean Foundation and others, the MdP represents a referent point for all the ones who dedicate their lives to peace.

The symbol of the MdP is the "Totem for Peace", an artwork by the Italian sculptor Mario Molinari which the Fondazione Mediterraneo is promoting all around the world, creating the network of the "Cities for Peace".

The first seat of the MdP was inaugurated on the 14th of June 2010 (Maison de la Paix - Casa Universale delle Culture) in the historical building of the Grand Hotel de Londres in Naples.

The action of the Maison de la Paix - Casa Universale delle Culture aims at improving the main activities of the "Universal Forum of Cultures" in: Barcelona (2004), Monterrey (2007), Valparaiso (2010) and Naples (2013).

The Maison de la Paix performs most of the initiatives jointly with the Maison de la Méditerranée.

 

On March 11th, IPI hosted a virtual conversation among four former UN senior officials on “The War in Ukraine: Anticipating Dilemmas for the UN as it Strives to Stop the Fighting.”
As the war progresses in Ukraine and millions of lives are upended, questions concerning ceasefires, humanitarian pauses and the like will advance. What dilemmas will the UN inevitably face when working to establish mechanisms to stop the fighting?
How can a ceasefire or humanitarian pause be negotiated without rewarding aggression?
What are the lessons from past experience?
And how can a constructive path forward be established?
Speakers:

  • Mark Malloch Brown, President of the Open Society Foundations, former UN Deputy Secretary-General, and Administrator of the UN Development Programme;
  • Karin Landgren, Executive Director of Security Council Report, former UN Under-Secretary-General, and Head of three UN Peace Operations;
  • Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council and former UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator;
  • Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, President of the International Peace Institute and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Among the discussants was Michele Capasso, President of the Fondazione Mediterraneo.

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The President, the members of the Governing Board, the International Committee and the heads of the branch offices in various countries express their deep condolences for the death of Antonio Martino, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Italian Republic and member of the Foundation's International Committee.
In particular, President Capasso - who was moved - recalled his support for the UNITED STATES OF THE WORLD project and its symbol, the TOTEM OF PEACE, presented in Rabat in 2010 with the Honourable Claudio Azzolini to the Presidents of the Parliaments of the Euro-Mediterranean countries.

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The "Marina di Stabia" - one of the largest and most efficient marinas, geographical centre of the Mediterranean - has welcomed the "Peace Boat" launched in 2009 by the Fondazione Mediterraneo after complex restoration work and recognised by over 160 countries around the world.
Of high political and symbolic significance, the small schooner has a centuries-old history and it is no coincidence that - thanks to the generosity and sensitivity of Giovanni La Mura (patron of Marina di Stabia) - the boat arrived at the site at the very moment when the meetings for a negotiation between Russia and Ukraine began and while the Salesians blessed the boat by recommending it to the Virgin of the Holy Rosary of Pompei, whose Sanctuary is a few kilometres from Marina di Stabia.
With the help and commitment of many, under the direction of Giovanni and Salvatore La Mura, the boat will be refitted after being grounded due to the Covid 19 and the hope is that its first use will be the seal of Peace in Ukraine and Europe.

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The Fondazione Mediterraneo has launched an international appeal for peace in Ukraine and for the establishment of a United States of Europe and a United States of the World. President Michele Capasso said he was appalled by this war in the heart of Europe and that "more than 30 years of peace-building efforts seem to have been in vain". "One of the reasons," said President Capasso, "is to be found in the unpreparedness of the ruling and political classes in Europe and, in general, in the rest of the world".
The appeal highlights "a UN unsuited to the changes in our world with bureaucratic rules and vetoes that prevent real peace action; a NATO that is still a prisoner of archaic defence models; a European Union that cares so little about the rest of Europe except for economic needs and following the law of markets and merchants; a Russia that is trying to take over the place of the former Soviet Union using force and violence and all the games barely disguised by the great powers and their interests".
The Appeal concludes with a condemnation of what is happening and the following demands:
"Let us again throw a bottle into our sea with a common appeal, intended for what remains of conscience on our shores. We address these words to our friends in Europe, the Mediterranean and the world to ask them to join us and support us.
Therefore:

  • We condemn any military attack on Ukraine and denounce that war not only does not solve problems but increases them both in Ukraine and in Europe, in Russia itself and in the rest of the world.
  • We condemn those who ignore the will of the Ukrainian people, including by trying to remove a government democratically elected by the people to create disaffection between the real and legal country.
  • We call on the government of the United States of America and the governments of the European Union to demand forcefully and by all democratic means respect for international law, especially the Geneva Convention and the UN Charter.
  • We call on the government of Russia, a country with ancient traditions of culture and civilisation, to respect human rights and to accept the demands for democracy expressed by its people towards all and, in particular, towards a 'brother' country: Ukraine.

The governments of the West, just as they were silent when the holocaust of the Jews was being prepared and perpetrated, are now prevaricating with sanctions, even if they are strict, while waiting for the victor - when the fighting is over - to give them the appearance of having brokered peace.
It is up to civil society to rise up and say STOP!  STOP the slaughter of innocents!"

TO JOIN THE APPEAL SEND AN EMAIL TO: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

FOR INFO: www.fondazionemediterraneo.org

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