Betty Williams, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work against violence in her native Northern Ireland and is the founder and president of the World Centers of Compassion for Children International. Her public life started by chance, after having witnessed the death of three children killed by a car. Two days after the tragic accident, Betty Williams had already collected 6000 signatures in a petition asking for peace in northern Ireland. A march was organised at the same time, together with Mairead Corrigan, sister of Anne Maguire, mother of the three children. More than 100.000 people participated, mostly women, both catholic and protestant.Together, Williams and Maguire founded the Community of Peace People, an organization which is still involved in the betterment of life in Northern Ireland. Since 1997 Betty Williams is President of the World Centers of Compassion for Children International with which she promotes the creation of “Cities of Peace for Children” in the world. In 2004 World Centers of Compassion for Children Italia (www.wccc-italia.org) was founded, with the aim of building a “City of Peace for the Children in Basilicata” a project financed by the region in 2007 with 4,4 million Euro. On the 28th of January 2008, Betty Williams was conferred by the University of Basilicata a Laurea Honoris Causa in “Scienze della Formazione Primaria” for her commitment in producing teaching systems dedicated to children, for her humanitarian activities and for her initiatives in promoting peace in the world.

Rigoberta Menchú Tum was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, “in recognition of her efforts towards social justice and ethno – cultural reconciliation based on the respect of the rights of the Indian population." This prize was partly conferred to her thanks to her biography, (1987 )” I, Rigoberta Menchú. An Indian Woman in Guatemala” edited and introduced by Elisabeth Burgos-Debray. Rigoberta Menchú was born to a poor Indian peasant family. In her early years she helped with the family farm work, where both adults and children went to pick coffee on the big plantations. Her father and brothers were tortured and killed by the military junta, after being accused of taking part in guerrilla activities As an adult she joined other members of her family in their struggle of educating the Indian peasant population in resistance to the military oppression of human rights. In 1991 she participated in the preparation of a declaration by the United Nations for Indian peasant peoples' rights. For years she was forced to live in exile, today she is an ambassador of the UN and has returned to Guatemala as a leading advocate of Indian rights and ethno-cultural reconciliation.

Scott Ritter, was the UN's top weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991  until 1998, an experience which deeply  changed his life. After having been a keen supporter of President Bush sr. he was later noted for his criticism of United States foreign policy in the Middle East.  Prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003, he publicly argued that Iraq possessed no significant  weapons of mass destruction and sustained that it was a cover to protect US economic interests connected  with oil. Following his statements he had to resign  and was out of work.  Today he is one of the major American experts on disarmament and non proliferation of nuclear arms,  as well as of the Middle East.

David Ives, executive director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute at Quinnipiac University, and univeristy professor, he closely collaborates with Rhena, the daughter of Albert Schweitzer to promote the values of doctor Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Peace Laureate in 1952. The Institute supports the World Centers of Compassion for Children International in its project for a “City of Peace for the Children” in Basilicata.

Laura Marchetti is an Italian politician, and was undersecretary of State for the environment in the second Prodi government. University professor in anthropology and environmental philosophy, she has also been alderman to the environment of the province of Bari. Current member of the political party “Rifondazione Comunista”.

Milena Kaneva, born in Rousse, Bulgaria studied acting at the Sofia Theater and Film Academy. She moved to Italy in 1987, before the fall of the Berlin Wall and began a career as a journalist and producer with the news agency WTN, later APTN. She has shot reports in Eastern Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. Her exclusive interview with Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Prize laureate kept under house arrest by the military dictatorship in Burma, connected her to that country forever. In 2000 she produced her first long-form documentary, "The Initiation" about female genital mutilation in Mali, and won first prize at the Festival of Due Mondi. Her shooting career started in 1997 when she covered the terrible massacre of the Sem Terra in Eldorado dos Carajas in Brazil. Kaneva wrote, produced, and shot Total Denial. It is the result of five years of hard work in the jungles of Burma and the U.S. Courts. She has been awarded the “Vacla Havel” prize for human rights in 2007.