H.H. the Dalai Lama Participates in 2nd Petra Conference of Nobel Laureates
Published: Wednesday, 21 June, 2006
Petra, Jordan, 22 June 2006 (ICT) – His Holiness the Dalai
Lama is among the more than two dozen Nobel Laureates participating in the
Conference of Nobel Laureates, Petra II: A World in Danger in the Jordanian
town of Petra, which began on June 21, 2006.
In his inaugural address, Jordan's King Abdullah underscored the need to
benefit from the leadership and knowledge of Nobel Prize winners in boosting
long-term development and called for giving special focus on settling
conflicts, stressing that peace largely relies on the trust upon which it is
built, according to a UPI report from Petra.
"The Nobel Prize recognizes that the sources of human progress are to be
found in every corner of the globe," said King Abdullah. "The
intellect, knowledge and talent of the world's Nobel Laureates have brought
better lives to millions of people in our world, and this week, we have a
unique opportunity to have them apply their highly innovative minds to some of
the most pressing contemporary global problems."
The Associated Press quoted the King as telling the gathering, "Peace
among nations depends on the trust that is built when people recognize common
values and goals."
Following the opening session, delegates broke into four groups for detailed
discussions behind closed doors. Besides the Israeli-Palestinian peace process,
their agenda included challenges to global security and development,
particularly in the fields of nuclear non-proliferation, education, health and
poverty and economic empowerment, according to AP.
The organizers hope that the conference - whose theme is "A World in
Danger" - will culminate in "concrete practical initiatives that will
involve peace and cooperation in the region," said Bassem Awadallah, an
aide to King Abdullah, AP reported.
The conferees have been invited to Jordan by the King Abdullah II Fund for
Development and the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. During the two-day
conference, they are expected to discuss challenges to global security and
development, particularly in the fields of nuclear non-proliferation,
education, health and poverty and economic empowerment. The participants will
also give special attention to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and other
regional issues.
"Hatred, an old and new infectious disease, is still ravaging the human
heart. Indifference imperils our future," said Professor Wiesel, a Nobel
Peace Prize winner, who will host Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and
President Mahmoud Abbas in separate conversations during the conference.
"While there may be a variety of responses to injustice and tragedy,
indifference cannot be one of them."
The Dalai Lama addressed the conference on the first day.
According to an official press statement, "Nobel Laureates from the six
fields in which the Nobel Prize is awarded each year - peace, economics,
literature, physics, chemistry, and physiology and medicine - are expected to
attend. They are: Peter Agre, Aaron Ciechanover, Johann Deisenhofer, Alan J.
Heeger, Walter Kohn, Avram Hershko, Rudolph A. Marcus, Kurt Wüthrich and Yuan
T. Lee in chemistry; Richard Axel, Baruch S. Blumberg, Stanley Prusiner,
Marshall W. Nirenberg and Eric R. Kandel in medicine; Claude Cohen-Tannoudji
and Klaus von Klitzing in physics; Finn E. Kydland, Clive W.J. Granger and
Robert Aumann in economics; Wole Soyinka in literature; and Jose Ramos-Horta,
David Trimble, Betty Williams and the Dalai Lama in peace."
They are joined by world-renowned leaders from the public and private sectors,
as well as from civil society, including former U.S. Ambassador to the United
Nations Richard C. Holbrooke, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand Sathirathai
Surakiart, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund President Stephen Heintz, Director of
the Earth Institute at Columbia University Jeffrey Sachs, President of
Investcorps Nemir Kirdar, and Library of Alexandria Head Ismail Serageldin.
Several leading media personalities from the Middle East, Europe and the United
States will also be participating in the conference.
They will be joined by around 40 Jordanian individuals from the public and
private sectors, according to an official press statement.
