Santa Clara School Students Present “Manifesto for Peace” to Vice-Mayor of Évora

December, 2024[Évora, Portugal]

Report by Ms. Paula Helena Santos, the City of Évora

As part of an activity carried out at school, the 7th-grade students of Santa Clara School drew up a ‘Manifesto for Peace’ which they hand-delivered to Mr. Alexandre Varela, Vice-Mayor of Évora. The hand-over took place in Évora’s Public Garden on 10 December, next to the place where the seeds of the hibaku trees are deposited. In the Manifesto, the students call on the Mayor to pass on their message to other leaders, in order to urge them to put an end to wars and to think about the suffering of children.

The “Manifesto for Peace” reads (original: Portuguese):
Children should live in peace.
War is unnecessary, traumatises people and is destructive.
Profit and power make no sense, wars seems to be waged by irrational people who do not think.
Stop and think! You’re hurting people!
Don’t you have enough power? Think about your decisions!
Put yourself in the other person’s shoes!
Mr. Mayor,
Pass on our message to other powers!
Children suffer. Children know how to think about it.
WARS ARE pointless, painful, sad, useless, horrible, chaotic, destructive – THEY SHOULD BE ILLEGAL”

Photos: courtesy of the City of Évora