More than 1,000 delegates, including prominent politicians and business people, will attend a six-day international conference in Belfast next month.
The conference is being convened by the San Francisco-based State of the World Forum, in partnership with Belfast City Council. Announcing the event, the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Mr David Alderdice, said it would be the first time a conference organised by the forum had been held outside the US.
The idea was originally conceived by former Russian premier Mikhail Gorbachev and former US president Ronald Reagan following the end of the Cold War, Mr Alderdice said. "They saw it as a means of avoiding future conflict within the international community. Co-chairs of the organisation include Mr Gorbachev, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and the winners of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Mr John Hume and Mr David Trimble.
The theme of the conference, which takes place May 4th-9th, is "The Challenge of Reconciliation: Diversity and Community in a Global Age".
The forum's president, Mr Jim Garrison, said Belfast had been chosen as the host city because it represented a microcosm of many of the challenges and problems experienced in Europe and beyond.
"Our core mission is to establish an environment for concerned individuals around the world to think deeply about the most critical challenges facing humanity," Mr Garrison said, "and to take concerted action to help give shape to the world they envision".
