The 1st International Conference for a Culture for Peace, was organized at the “King Juan Carlos” University in Madrid, Spain, by the “Foundation for a Culture for Peace” and its Founder, Professor Federico Mayor, former Director General of UNESCO, in October 2000.

T.M King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia of Spain opened the Conference. The Conference was attended by many Nobel Peace and Literature Prize winners, the former UN Secretary-General, Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and Dr. Javier Perez de Guejiar , the former President of Portugal Mr. Mario Soares, the former President of Iceland Mrs. Vigdis Finnbogadottir, H.H. the Grand Duchess Maria-Teresa of Luxembourg, the President of «France Libertes», Mrs. Danielle Mitterrand, the Secretary General of Amnesty International Mr. Pierre Sane, the Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO Mrs. Kim Puc, the deputy of the European Parliament Mrs. Emma Bonino, the Representative of the “ Jean Yves Cousteau” Foundation Mrs. Francine Cousteau and many other personalities renowned for their endeavours in the name of peace.

Mrs. Marianna V. Vardinoyannis was one of the speakers of the Conference, who opened her speech using the words of Antigoni, from the tragedy of Sophocles, “I was not born to hate, but to love” and she stressed out that peace can not be imposed by laws and high level decisions but it is born in the soul of each one of us. Closing her speech Mrs. Vardinoyannis presented and submitted the “Declaration of Athens and Delphi on Children and Peace” which was conducted and signed at the Athens-Delphi Meeting on Children and Peace, organized by the Foundation on June 2000.

The participants drafted and signed the Declaration of Madrid for a Culture for Peace; this was an Appeal, in all directions, towards the decision making centers, but also towards every citizen of the global community.