The World Poetry Movement (WPM), an international organization that brings together poets and poetry promoters of the five continents expresses its concern about and rejection of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and advocates for a peaceful solution in which both sovereign nations are protagonists.

 History teaches us that war is not a solution to conflicts, but a scourge that affects humanity as a whole and it is our duty to warn about the real danger of a nuclear escalation whose possibility poses an imminent threat to life on the planet.

 As poets we embrace the word as a means of sensitive creation but also as a political and social tool for the construction of a fairer, more equitable and more humane world.

Therefore, the WPM welcomes the initiatives of China, Brazil and other countries that have spoken in favor of a negotiated solution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and joins the call of social movements for dialogue as the only method of resolution of this and any other international conflict.

It is worth noting that from the ideological standpoint the World Poetry Movement (WPM) is a plural space where poets of different persuasions and positions converge. This plurality has been no obstacle to unite to defend the cultural and political diversity to which the peoples of the world are entitled. We know by experience that through willpower, what we have in common can prevail over small differences: the love of life. To paraphrase St. Augustine, in the face of war we ask no one how he thinks, but how he loves.

That is why we cannot and do not want to be indifferent to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine or forget that there are currently many other wars in the world that are ignored by international public opinion. The war in Yemen, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the crisis in Myanmar, the situation in Syria, in Colombia, among others, are painful events that require equal attention and actions from humanity as a whole to reach just and peaceful solutions.

It is our duty, as poets, to be witnesses and champions of human values, but also to mobilize from poetry and as citizens for the construction of real solutions. Combining words with action is the only way we know to achieve the utopia of a world for peace, for justice and for life.

From everywhere and for everyone

World Poetry Movement (WPM)

Fernando Rendón (Colombia)
Ataol Behramoglu (Turkey)
Rati Saxena (India)
Alex Pausides (Cuba)
Francis Combes (France)
Ayo Ayoola-Amale (Ghana)
Agneta Falk (United States)
Ismael Diadié (Mali)
Khalid Raissouni (Morocco)
Luis Filipe Sarmento (Portugal)
Zolani Mkiva (South Africa)
Freddy Ñañez (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela)
Oscar Saavedra (Chile)
Sue Zhu (China)