"They told me it would never happen. They said a City of Peace for Children was an unreachable goal. But 'they', the doubters, were wrong," says Betty Williams, Nobel Peace Laureate in 1976 for her work in Northern Ireland.

"When you have a dream of how the world can change and how Mother Earth's greatest resource, her children, can begin that process of change, turning a brutal world into a loving, just and peaceful planet, that dream becomes a goal, and you work hard to reach that goal." Mrs. Williams is in Rome attending the 8th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates organized by the Gorbachev Foundation and the Municipality of Rome.

"The City of Peace for Children in Basilicata will not only be a project to host minors and their families coming from war areas, but is in our intention to realize a par excellences for peace education, the research on clean energy and for the study of new technologies in the medical field. The children and their families who will be hosted in Basilicata will have the best that life can give to a child: love, excellent education and the possibility to learn a skill. My experience in Ireland has taught me that is not possible to transform a life that is destroyed from war and violence into a better one if one do not substitute it in opportunities to live a life full of dignity, filled with justice and love."

"I am very humbled and grateful to the Region Basilicata and all those who are involved in helping the children of our City of Peace live lives of joy and love. I am especially grateful to President De Filippo, a man of courage, who saw my dream and worked tirelessly to make it happen. Italy and especially the Region Basilicata will create a new paradigm of peace. We will change the lives of disenfranchised and brutalized children of our world. Italy will lead the way."

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