The Zones of Peace program was the vision of Dr. Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Prize winner and President of East Timor, a new democracy still emerging from a 24-year brutal occupation followed by devastating civil conflict in 1999.

During the occupation of East Timor, during which one third of the Timorese population perished, José Ramos-Horta was in exile, traveling the world as the voice of the Timorese people and fighting to keep them from being obliterated. The youngest diplomat to be appointed in the UN, he was the UN's Special Representative for the Timorese independence movement. Often sleeping on a supporter's couch and accepting an offered meal, he dedicated his life to the future of his people.

His efforts paid off when, in 1999, the Timorese people were allowed to vote for their independence from Indonesia. Dr. Ramos-Horta returned to the Timor a hero, with thousands in the streets cheering him home.

For two years he worked closely with the UN Mission to rebuild his country and help put a democratic government in place. He played a vital role in bringing East Timor through its first elections, where they elected it first Parliament, which then wrote the country’s first Constitution, established a functional justice system, and much more.

With a population of less than 1 million, and a Nobel Peace Prize winner and genuine hero as President, East Timor provides an ideal platform for the establishment of the model and creation of the first Zones of Peace.

TheCommunity.com (www.thecommunity.com) represents the Zones of Peace in the US and is the online home for the program. TheCommunity.com has worked closely with the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates for more than eight years. It has supported numerous projects of the Peace Prize winners and has at times been an online home for their messages.

President Ramos-Horta is the Chairman of TheCommunity.com's Advisory Board, and has worked closely with the web site for more than eight years. Mary Wald, Chairman of TheCommunity.com, frequently acts as President Ramos-Horta's Special Representative in the US.

Six Nobel Peace Prize Laureates sit on TheCommunity.com’s Advisory Board. TheCommunity.com’s partner organizations include Amnesty International, United Nations Foundation, Artists for Human Rights, and others.