The most recent winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, is to deliver the opening address for the One Young World Summit 2017.
President Santos will speak on the Summit’s overarching theme of Peace & Reconciliation as he opens the four-day event on the evening of Wednesday 4 October at the Simón Bolivar Plaza, in the heart of the Colombian capital Bogotá.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2016 in respect of his “resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end”, by his negotiation of the historic peace treaty concluded between the Government and the rebel group Farc.
President Santos will discuss the significance of the One Young World Summit’s focus on Peace & Reconciliation in the wake of the landmark treaty. His delivery of the opening address follows Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s appearance in a similar role at One Young World’s last Summit in Ottawa last September.
This year’s opening ceremony will also feature performances by Fernando Montaño, the Colombian-born soloist with the Royal Ballet, and the Bogotá Children’s Choir.
The historic Simón Bolivar Plaza in the 17th Century La Candelaria district of Bogotá has previously played host to numerous state visits and is surrounded by some of the most significant buildings in Colombian political and cultural life. The square is home to the Capitolio Nacional de Colombia (which contains both houses of the Congress of Colombia), the Palacio Liévano (Bogotá’s City Hall and the Mayor of Bogotá’s offices), and the main cathedral of Bogotá.
