We want to acknowledge the tremendous support we received from so many Returnees, Volunteers, Host Families, and everyone else within the AFS community that made our Peace Petition such an incredible success. Between May of 2007 and July of 2008, 73,100 people from 172 countries, territories, and regions across the world visited the Petition Web site, then participated by signing electronically or by submitting paper signatures. In our culminating ceremony at the United Nations in June of 2008, AFS presented 397,332 signatures, 320,000 of which were paper signatures. From our launch at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway in April of 2007 to our final presentation of signatures to the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, participants helped make our campaign for peace an exceptional success. Because of your support, AFS Intercultural Programs succeeded in spreading increased awareness of intercultural exchange programs and established a number of strategic alliances with some like-minded organizations such as the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, an organization that aims to improve understanding and cooperative relations among nations and peoples across cultures and religions and to help counter the forces that fuel polarization and extremism. Thank you again for all of your hard work!
