From September 19 to 22, in Mérida City of Mexico, the 17th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates took place where four students from Soka University attended; Ms. Tami Kobayashi (Ph.D. Degree, sophomore), Mr. Ayush Barshinka (Graduate School, sophomore), Mr. Alan Maehara (Faculty of Economics, senior), Ms. Yusa Yamaguchi (Faculty of Law, senior).

The purpose of the summit, which is held every year, is for Nobel Peace laureates to gather together and discuss the current situations surrounding the world with youth representative groups that gather from around the world. This year, the summit was held in Mexico where there were 1,000 participants the world over including Nobel Peace laureates and others. This will be the 7th participation by Soka University students.

Panel discussions and workshops were conducted over the course of three days where discussions were held on issues that modern society faces. Lively exchanges of views took place, centering on important themes for building a peaceful society including poverty, disparity, education, human rights, conflicts, and the media.

At the final days’ closing ceremony, a Youth Declaration, which was created based on unanimous support of the youth who participated in the summit, was presented. From Soka University, Ms. Ayush and Mr. Alan were involved in the making of the declaration. The closing ceremony ended with President Ekaterina Zagladina, the sponsor of the summit, sharing her words.

Students at the summit shared the following comments: “Through wonderful exchanges with people around the world, I was able to deepen my understanding of peace and learned a lot about how to carry out dialogue and share our vision to build a peaceful society.” “I gained the conviction that if the youth of the world can create solidarity, have compassion for each other, and share our sufferings, world peace can be achieved.” “I learned that there is something that I can do to deal with social issues that are right in front of us. I learned the importance of determining that I will become the starting point of change and take action.”