Thanks to its long and rich history, the Caux Palace is always good for a surprise! And so a seemingly normal event in Caux can unexpectedly serve as a reminder of significant moments of the past, resurrecting fascinating stories and making us dig into history to find out more. Last week, our in-house historian, Andrew Stallybrass, travelled to Lausanne on a mission: to have a little wooden cross from Hiroshima, which had been given to Initiatives of Change in the 1950s as a sign of peace and reconciliation, tested for radioactivity:

In 1950 a delegation of 67 Japanese politicians, trade unionists and industrialists came to Caux in their quest to re-establish their country after defeat in war. When they arrived at the Caux Palace, the Japanese flag was flying outside the conference centre and the delegation was welcomed by a chorus singing in Japanese. It was a moving moment as in those days, Japan was still under American occupation and displaying the Japanese flag was still forbidden there.

The delegation included the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and seven prefectural governors. After their stay in Caux, they went on to meet political leaders in Paris, Bonn, Rome, London and Washington. Speaking in the American Senate, the personal representative of the Japanese Prime Minister apologized for ‘Japan’s big mistake’ and said: ‘We ask your forgiveness. We found in Caux the true content of democracy.’ The Senate responded with a standing ovation, as did the House of Representatives the next day.

On the fifth anniversary of the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima, the delegation was in California. They were invited to speak on CBS radio and Yukika Sohma, a young Japanese woman who travelled with the delegation as a translator, described Caux as a ‘family of nations where differences of race, of class and of point of view were superseded... we saw and experienced reconciliation of hearts.’

The Mayor of Hiroshima, Shinzo Hamai, also spoke in the broadcast, quoting words that he had had heard in Caux: ‘Peace is people becoming different’. He also declared: ‘I for one intend to start this effort from Hiroshima. The one dream and hope left to our surviving citizens is to re-establish the city as a pattern for peace.’

In many places, including the Caux Palace, the mayor (a Christian himself) offered a little wooden cross as a gift from his city. The notice under the cross reads: ‘An old giant 400 year old camphor-tree stood in the corner of a temple called “kokutaiji” where the remains of the feudal lords of Hiroshima are entombed. This cross was made of the tree after it died in the blast of the atomic bomb on 6 August 1945.’

One cross was presented to the Baroness Diane de Watteville, the hostess of the former Initiatives of Change (then known as Moral Re-Armament) centre in Paris. Before her death, she gave it to two close IofC friends, Michel and Catherine Koechlin, and they in turn entrusted it to our safe-keeping (my wife Eliane and myself).

In September 2023, on the occasion of a major event at the Caux Palace, we put together a small, temporary exhibition of documents and objects in the Salon Belle Epoque, including the cross from Hiroshima. Several people commented on it, and a couple of them even wondered if it was dangerous – radioactive.

I confess that this thought had never crossed my mind, despite it being such an obvious question. I was then undergoing radiological treatment at the local hospital. The senior technician there said that his equipment couldn’t test the cross, but he put me in touch with his colleagues in Lausanne where the cross was tested for radioactivity on 16 January 2024.

To our relief, we discovered that there is no danger. Measurements of the cross using various detectors revealed the same level of radioactivity as the background radiation present in the room.

The technicians explained that if the tree, from which the cross was made, had survived the explosion for some years, it could have incorporated radioactivity through its roots. However, the outside of the tree protected the heart from any contamination.

In 2015, the current Mayor of Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsui, sent a letter to the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation in which he stated how deeply the visit to Caux in 1950 had influenced the then mayor, Shinzo Hamai, and his colleague from Nagasaki, as they faced Japan’s reconstruction after the bombing.

In his letter to Caux, Kazumi Matsui called for a ‘world in which we can have a future-oriented dialogue’ and wrote: ‘If every person listens to the voice of his conscience, he can orient himself in a positive direction, bringing about positive changes not only in the family, workplace, school, community and nation, but also in the relationship between both people and countries.’

Today, the message of peace and reconciliation, connected to this small wooden cross from Hiroshima, remains more important than ever.

‘If every person listens to the voice of his conscience, he can orient himself in a positive direction, bringing about positive changes not only in the family, workplace, school, community and nation, but also in the relationship between (...) people and countries.

Kazumi Matsui, Mayor of Hiroshima, 2015, in a letter to the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation

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• Learn more about the story of Yukika Sohma and the Japanese delegation in 1950
• Read more about Katsumi Matsui’s letter to Caux

Written by Andrew Stallybrass (research support U. Ott Chanu)

Video: IofC Film Archives

Caux Initiatives of Change are proud to announce that our Executive Director, Ignacio Packer, has signed a pledge to become an International Gender Champion.

The International Gender Champions (IGC) Network counts over 333 decision-makers at the highest levels from international organisations, permanent missions and embassies, civil society organisations and the private sector, united by a commitment to break down gender barriers and make gender equality a working reality in their spheres of influence.

The core of the International Gender Champions work begins with the Panel Parity Pledge, the Gender-based Violence Pledge and two personal commitments that each Gender Champion makes every year to advance gender equality in their organisation or programmatic work.

Panel Parity Pledge

In 2024, Caux Initiatives of Change will deepen its understanding of social power dynamics and discrimination – with particular attention to gender. At the organizational level, Caux Initiatives of Change will better equip its staff, volunteers and guests at our Center for Dialogue to be active participants in the prevention of and response to sexual harassment at the workplace including our center for dialogue, the Caux Palace. I have made it a priority to report on this to the council of the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation.

In 2024, Caux Initiatives of Change will increase its intergenerational leadership by inviting the youth leaders of the Caux Initiatives of Change Creative Leadership initiative to take more power and space, and to reinforce opportunities for their voices and leadership. With the support of these youth leaders from across the globe, our organization’s understanding goes beyond binary equality of men and women to consider differences in each individual’s sexual orientation, gender identity values, attitudes and life experiences. I make the commitment to support this type of leadership including to “get out of the way” when appropriate to offer power and space.

If you would like to learn more about the IGC Network, its members and activities, please visit their website.

As COP28 kicked off on 30 November 2023 as a global milestone to take stock of the progress made on the Paris Agreement and align the efforts on climate action, the Caux Initiatives of Change Foundation is delighted to announce that we are partnering with Swiss-based organization MyBluePlanet on their ClimateActions 4 Companies programme. This collaboration anchors cllmate protection at the core of our Foundation’s culture and activities.

MyBluePlanet is committed to climate protection in Switzerland, guiding organisations and their employees in developing and implementing activities to promote a more climate-friendly lifestyle. Together, we're working towards a more sustainable future, empowering our community to play a pivotal role in the global climate action movement.

At Caux Initiatives of Change, we have already invested heavily in energy and ecological transitions at the Caux Palace and Villa Maria, our centre for dialogue and trustbuilding. The collaboration with MyBluePlanet amplifies our ambition to champion sustainability through our Hospitality for Change work, using our convening power to promote ecological awareness across our employees and guests.

Through a maintained sense of urgency in relation to the climate crisis, we aspire to be the best we can be, both individually and collectively.

Stay tuned for more details on these impactful initiatives for more sustainability at the Caux Palace in our upcoming newsletters. You can sign up here.

The Caux Forum 2023 was an unforgettable experience. It brought together 550 people from 72 countries, representing diverse cultures and sectors, with the aim of inspiring, equipping and connecting participants to build a just, peaceful and sustainable world.

This year’s Caux Forum was especially meaningful as it was the first time convened in person since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. New relationships were forged and old ones rekindled within the grounds of the historic Caux Palace. These connections are the very heart of the legacy of Caux. As Taiwan participant Hsu Shoufeng put it, ‘To share concerns with delegates from 72 countries is a reminder of human solidarity.’

The 2023 forum offered a wide range of dialogues and workshops focusing on two pressing themes: Healing the Wounds of the Past and Trust and Integrity in Democracy. Against the backdrop of these themes, Initiatives of Change welcomed expert speakers to the Caux stage, their collective experience and wisdom serving as a foundation for dialogue, ideation and inspiration. 

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‘Caux provides an exceptional setting. It allows us to see beyond political rivalries and polarization. It gives us the space to think, exchange views and develop new lines of action. Caux connects individual and collective action and thus fills a gap in the current landscape of global efforts for peace and democracy.’

Rea Gehring, Minister / Deputy Head of the Peace and Human Rights Division, Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs

The Caux Forum 2023 Opening Ceremony set the tone for the conference with the theme, ‘Strengthening Democracy: The Journey from Trauma to Trust.’

In front of an international audience who had come to Caux or joined online from more than 70 countries, IofC International President Gerald Pillay, kicked off the ceremony with reference to the state of the world, growing threats to democracy and the devastating conflict in Ukraine: ‘War never brings real victories, it only hurts and brings violence and hatred to the next generations. As a team, how can we collaborate to march for world peace? Can we be the symbol for a new peacemaker or changemaker to the global community?’

Jacqueline Coté, President of Caux Initiatives of Change, highlighted how climate change, population displacement, scarcity of public goods and pandemics, coupled with conflicts in many parts of the world, have shown that we are all interconnected. She went on to stress the significant impact Initiatives of Change can have: ‘We bring you down to the individual level, a level that is within each person’s reach. Change starts with oneself. If this is internalized, change will happen in the family, the community, the country, the region and end up influencing the global agenda.’

The opening ceremony also featured Rea Gehring, Minister and Deputy Head of the Peace and Human Rights Division of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. ‘Caux is a unique place,’ said Ms Gehring when she addressed the audience. ‘Initiatives of Change has established a diverse and creative platform to explore how we can optimize collective action through our individual efforts. This year's theme couldn't be timelier.’ At a time when ‘division and a lack of trust between people have grown deeper’, Ms Gehring also stressed the importance of constant dialogue to make democracy work. "Caux provides an exceptional setting. It allows us to see beyond political rivalries and polarization. It gives us the space to think, exchange views and develop new lines of action. Caux connects individual and collective action and thus fills a gap in the current landscape of global efforts for peace and democracy."

As in previous years, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs had brought delegations from several African countries to the Caux Forum and we are grateful for our collaboration with the FDFA which has been going strong for more than 15 years.

The ceremony’s keynote speaker was Elena Zhemkova, the Co-founder and Executive Director of Memorial, a Russian human rights organization shut down by the Russian Government in 2021. Memorial was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, along with Ales Bialiatski of Belarus and the Centre for Civil Liberties in Ukraine.

Ms Zhemkova described honesty as ‘a tool for healing historical wounds’ and spoke about her experience in implementing that tool, and the challenges it represents. Describing the origins of her work with Memorial, she openly questioned why it had taken her so long before she began to dig deeper and learn more about the victims of repression in her country. "Did I really know nothing? Or did I not want to know?"

In the face of difficult situations, she encouraged the audience to find new ways to reclaim the truth about the past and create ‘a future that upholds the principle of non-violence, respect for human rights and the importance of every human life in human history.’ In a reference to Caux, she concluded with the image of climbing a mountain and the hope that, even though the peak might not be reached, everybody can make a contribution: "Peace is at the centre of everything!"

Ignacio Packer, Executive Director of Caux Initiatives of Change, then moderated a panel discussion with Elena Zhemkova, Mô Bleeker, Independent Senior Advisor and former Special Envoy for Peace and Prevention of Atrocities for the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and Corinne Momal-Vanian, Executive Director of the Kofi Annan Foundation.

Mô Bleeker stressed the importance of dealing with the legacy of conflicts and atrocities through acknowledging what has happened and taking responsibility to address the consequences. ‘If we seriously wish to engage in healing the wounds of the past, the how is as important as the what,’ she explained. ‘In today's world the constructive management of diversity is not only a challenge but also one of our greatest opportunities.’

She concluded by sharing a quote from the preamble of the Swiss Constitution: “Let’s all together commit to promote a world where the strength of our global community is measured by the well-being of its weakest members,” and by calling on the audience to be “courageous, ethical and creative”.

Corinne Momal-Vanian emphasized the role of youth and urged the audience to remember that the same young people set aside when peace agreements are negotiated will probably be the ones implementing them. ‘Young people, better than politicians, have a capacity to envision the future. They are able to project themselves and they must. They have a key ability to play an important role in reconciliation efforts.’, she explained in her passionate speech and underlined the importance of making young people aware of ethical frameworks, enabling leaders to make just decisions, to take responsibility for mistakes and to put people back into the centre.

The arts have always played an important part in conveying Initiatives of Change's message and Norwegian musician Sveinung Nygaard added an artistic touch by performing one of his compositions. The Opening Ceremony was wrapped up by Nick Foster from the United Kingdom, thanking the audience and the speakers.

We are grateful for this summer and the many enriching moments with those who came to Caux. Colorful, diverse, creative, inspiring - the 2023 Caux Forum was the perfect proof that we are all connected, wherever we come from and whoever we are. As one participant summed it up:

This is what I dream humanity could be about: people being patient with each other, people appreciating the diversity we have.

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Discover the full Caux Forum 2023 highlights report

Watch the full replay of the Opening Ceremony on our YouTube channel