History of the World Organization for Peace
The World Organization for Peace, OMPP/WOFP, grew out of an international call to gather messages of peace from the world’s leaders, promoted by Argentine journalist Carlos Alberto Peralta, also known by his author’s name Carlos Fortunato Peralta.
Background and the international call
The institutional biography lists among its antecedents the Messages of Peace to the World Foundation, created in 1982, and initiatives to bring together representatives of different religions. In the early 1990s, the Organization for Peace (OPP), forerunner of today’s OMPP/WOFP, began its work. Institutional biography (in Spanish) · Historical summary (in Spanish).
One of its central projects was Messages of Peace for the New Millennium. The call, promoted by Peralta from 1991, mobilized journalists and collaborators to obtain messages from political leaders. Swiss publisher Eric Tschumi took part in its editorial development. Swissinfo documented a first special edition in English published on 14 September 2002, intended mainly for governments and embassies. The book included a message from United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Swissinfo, 18 March 2003 (in Spanish).
The founding of OMPP/WOFP
According to its institutional documents, the founding charter of OMPP/WOFP was signed in Geneva, Switzerland, on 6 August 2005. The organization describes a ceremony in which the Peace Bell rang 365 times, a symbol of its daily commitment to peace. This stage consolidated its international name and a mission focused on dialogue, human dignity and coexistence between peoples and cultures. Institutional history.
Sport as a meeting ground
Football came to play a prominent role in its activities. The institutional archive presents Football and Peace in the World and the work of Sport and Peace, whose idea and direction it attributes to Ariel Fernando Peralta Pérez. It also keeps images of Lionel Messi with the book. Institutional archive (in Spanish).
On 22 December 2008, Milan’s San Siro stadium hosted Un Goal per la Pace, which brought together Iraq’s national team and a team of Ambassadors of Peace coached by Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti. The initiative involved OMPP/WOFP and Un Goal per la Vita Onlus, in collaboration with AC Milan, Inter and the City of Milan. Contemporary preview of the match (in Italian) · Institutional account.
A track record of calls for peace
OMPP’s documents record interfaith, educational and humanitarian initiatives as part of its history. That history brings together the work of promoters, collaborators and participants who have used words, culture and sport to call for understanding. Institutional speech, 2007 (in Spanish).