Author: John Mbaraga

In an effort to find solutions to achieve sustainable peace, the participants discussed their roles and actionable plans in relation to the enactment of the international law for peace, the development of peace education, the promotion of a culture of peace as well as religious harmony.

On the last day of the 3-days summit, the host organization, Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) held sectorial conferences for members of youth and women organizations, religious leaders, and media.

The Role of the Youth and Women in Realizing Peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the World

Organized by International Peace Youth Group (IPYG), an affiliated group of HWPL, the youth session titled ‘The Role of the Youth in Spreading a Culture of Peace for the Realization of World Peace’ had an agenda of the support and the participation of youth for the ‘Peace letter campaign’.

Peace letter campaign is one of the peace projects of IPYG to urge the government to support the implementation of the international law for peace based on the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW).

Mr. Herculano Amaral, Coordinator of International Rotary Club of Dili Lafaek in Timor-Leste, introduced the result of the peace letter campaign. “Last year, IPYG members of Timor-Leste Branch met the former president and introduced about HWPL and IPYG’s activities. And this year, our team convey the documents of the DPCW and a peace letter to the cabinet of the president. The movement is intended to get support from the president of our country and also those who involved in the decision making.”

In particular, this year’s conference also aimed to call for the support for the peaceful reunification on the Korean Peninsula. According to the General Director of IPYG, Mr. Young Min Chung, IPYG has made progress within Korea. The Declaration of Unification of Korea, declared by Chairman of HWPL in 2010, stated the need for the two leaders of Korea to listen to the voices of the Korean citizens. To achieve this, thousands of youths in Korea have written peace letters to President Moon to voice their support for the unification. At the same time, hundreds of political leaders from around the world wrote letters to urge the leader of North Korea to talk to HWPL for the peace of the Korean peninsula.

In the same vein, “2018 Worldwide Women’s Peace Conference” was held by International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG) affiliated with HWPL to share the progress of its peace activity such as women’s peace education and plant peace campaign and to discuss the role of women leaders to bring peace in the world as well as to the last divided nation, Korea.

On the topic of the conference, Former First Lady of Croatia, Dr. Tatjana Josipović said, “The only legitimate and reasonable politics is to search for the permanent peace, without any violence. Women in the creative fields of activities can contribute to the implementation of peace influencing other people to advocate the DPCW to become a binding legal instrument. I think the provisions of the DPCW should be not only a moral obligation but to be binding rules for all world leaders. Our voice must be heard from political institutions, art scene, sports fields, classrooms, and media to warn humanity that we must do everything to stop wars and violence once forever.”

4th International Religious Leaders’ Conference: Spreading the Culture of Seeking a Trustworthy Scripture to Realize the Era of Peace

World religious leaders from 20 different denominations gathered together to promote the culture of peace among religions and seek for the dedication of faith leaders to realize peace. For this, the members of ‘Solidarity of Religions’ Peace Committee’ were appointed as a role of spreading the culture of seeking a trustworthy scripture.

The Most Rev. Wattegama Dhammawasa Nayaka Thero, President of Sri Subodharama International Buddhist Center in Sri Lanka, said, “Even though my place is peaceful right now, we cannot be completely free from conflicts deeply. Religious extremists do not practice their own religion and some hold strongly to their own religious views, hence conflicts and misunderstandings occur due to this discrepancy. Therefore, I could agree the goal of HWPL that we should find out the most trustworthy scripture that can overcome the differences of ideologies among religions to achieve world peace.” stressing the need for the religious harmony based on a trustworthy scripture.

Speaking about the need of the comparative studies of the scripture, Chairman of HWPL said, “Why do people need the scripture? It is because the scripture leads the righteous way for people. Thoughts or wisdom of one’s own can’t be defined as a scripture. At this time, the comparative studies of scripture are the most urgent since it is the definite way for the religions to become one.”

2nd Conference for Global Peace Media Network: International Peace Media Community, “Peace Initiative”

Journalists and representatives of media outlets from about 30 countries took part in the conference for global peace media network where the peace media platform ‘Peace Initiative (PI)’ launched.

‘Peace Initiative’ is designed by the ideas of the journalists around the world in order to spread the news of peace and promote peace journalism with protecting the freedom of the press. To forge the cooperative partnership for ‘PI’, participated representatives of media outlets and HWPL signed an MOU.

Ahead of the addresses from the journalist, Former President of Tunisia and Bishop of Poona diocese delivered the messages on the significance of the role of media to promote peace in the mind of people and the society.

As a special speaker, H.E. Dr. Moncef Marzouki, Former President of Tunisia, emphasized the mission of the media. “As a human rights activist, I know how much I owe to the independent press that has always unveiled the violations of the dictatorship in Tunisia and the Arab world and thus contributed largely to the Arab Spring. Today there is a new mission. In the face of the surge of hatred, rumors and false information that infect social networks, only honest and serious journalists are the guarantors of the truth, which is the essential condition for peace in hearts and minds. I am sure you will live up to the immense task ahead and wish you good luck in this vital mission.”

Mr. Avtandil Otinashvili, Editor in Chief of Newsday in Georgia, said “We journalists should let the whole society know about the peace-building efforts of various sectors of the society. By raising awareness of peace through news reporting, we can stop those innocent people, especially youth from losing their lives in the futility of war. I believe it is our noble duty and responsibility as a journalist.”

“In this context, I am glad that HWPL and journalists from different countries considered the need to create a ‘Global Peace Media Network’ in order not only to inform the population about the existence of conflicts but also to outline ways to resolve them. We are confident that the content called ‘peaceinitiative.net’ will become the platform that will prepare and disseminate information on the subject of peace, which, in turn, contributes to establishing peace on our planet.” he added.

The conference concluded that the participants signed “Joint Statement on Media Cooperation for Press Freedom and Global Peace” which contained the mutual assistance and cooperation to foster global peace through sharing peace-related news, to report to help protect human rights as well as democracy, and to take joint action onto inhumane atrocities.

The host of this summit, Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL participated in each session and delivered his message to the attendees, the peace-builders. “We founded HWPL for the security and peace in the world. However, HWPL cannot achieve world peace and the cessation of war by itself. Power of an individual is merely that of one person. However, if these individuals gather, we can foster great strength. If we abide by the DPCW of 10 articles 38 clauses, we can achieve peace. For this very reason, everyone should acknowledge and promote the DPCW. Let every one of you become one and achieve peace. We are one!”

‘Goseong Peace Talk’, which was jointly organized with International Centre for Black Sea-Baltic Studies and Consensus Practices (Centre BBS), sought the means of collaboration for the implementation of peace project suggested by Centre BBS and the establishment of the international law for peace based on the DPCW.

Topics of the talk on the roles and responsibilities of global leaders for cessation of war were as followed: Fundamental solution for the cessation of war; Cooperative measures to develop the DPCW into a legally binding document; Cooperative measures to achieve peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula; HWPL’s cooperation for Centre BBS’s ‘World Peace Order Project’.

Regarding the main topic of the meeting, the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW), Mr. Pravin H. Parekh, President of Confederation of Indian Bar, highlighted the principles of the DPCW and its value.

“The DPCW reaffirms the principle of equality of national sovereignty and encourages the State to promote international peace in consultation with other countries on the premise of mutual respect, equal rights and self-determination rights of all people. Also, it mentions all the elements that can cause war and conflict and tries to prevent it from evolving. Based on this declaration, HWPL is making a real war-ending peace activity with family of peace.“

The peace talk concluded with the presentation of ‘Goseong Agreement’ and MOU between HWPL and Centre BBS to advance their collaborative efforts for peacebuilding in the world as well as in the Korean Peninsula.

The ‘Goseong Agreement’ was written in conforming with the joint action to present the DPCW to UN for its adoption, to support the peaceful reunification of the two Koreas, and to form the sustainable relationship to fulfill world peace.

Viktor Yushchenko, Former president of Ukraine, said “If a country is attacked, no one is safe, because we are one. What we are going to talk about is solidarity. We need to get the signatures of a million people because it can bring many people to affirm the solidarity. I think Chairman Lee of HWPL is doing great work to gain support from many people in various countries. We are becoming one. The work we are doing is the way we unite.”

The members of Centre BBS, expressing regret over the division of the Korean Peninsula caused by the Cold War, had a deep discussion on the ways to support and cooperate to end the decades-long division of the peninsula.

The countries of the Black Sea region that experienced the Cold War since the 2nd World War have continued their efforts towards freedom of the people, democracy, and self-determination. The ‘Belavezha Accords’ of December 1991 virtually disbanded the Soviet Union in its 69-year history and laid the foundation for democracy in Eastern Europe today.

The majority of Centre BBS including Ms. Iryna Vereshchuk, H.E. Gennady Burbulis, H.E. Viktor Yushchenko, H.E. Stanislaw Shushkevich, Hon. Emil Constantinescu, and H.E. Petru Lucinschi, attended this peace talk, was the leaders of Eastern Europe who led the ‘Belavezha Accords’.

International Centre for Black Sea-Baltic Studies and Consensus Practices (Centre BBS) is an organization where discusses maintaining security and peace in the European region. This year’s forum was taken place in South Korea where has been divided for 65 years to establish the network for peace between Asia and Europe.

Former President of Romania, Hon. Emil Constantinescu, said, “We have seen too many fall victims to conflicts from misunderstandings. Therefore, it is important to respect each other’s values. It will serve as an opportunity to construct a new form of international relations. We can pursue the safety and stability by holding conversations. Instead a superficial one, the true democracy is achieved through conversations. Peace cannot be achieved under the oppressive environment. Peace that comes from the hearts of millions is true peace.”

In attendance with 116 participants from more than 50 countries including former and current presidents of the states, national assembly members of each country, educators, and journalists, Centre BBS announced ‘Seoul Statement’ to seek for methods in order to strengthen the solidarity of peacekeeping based on the values of humanism, spirituality, freedom, and human dignity.

Emphasizing the importance of the collective efforts for building peace, Former Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Belarus, H.E. Stanislaw Shushkevich, said, “The peace initiatives here are sophisticated approaches that we also pursue. It is also the form of international law we have been waiting for. I’d like to thank all of your efforts and actions, and I look forward to the future after we affirm our solidarity in peace.”

The members of Centre BBS were also invited to the peace summit held by Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), the co-host of the 5th Baltic Black Sea Forum. This organization holds a summit annually for the enactment of the international law and interfaith dialogue for world peace and cessation of war.

The peace festival with the theme of “Heavenly Culture on Earth, Onward to a World of Lasting Peace” was held at Incheon Asiad Main Stadium in South Korea, a spot of 2014 Asian Games. On the occasion of the 4th Anniversary of the WARP Summit, this outdoor event invited world political leaders, religious leaders, social representatives from women and youth groups, educators, media along with citizens from across the country.

Started with the trumpet sound of a marching band that signaled the era of peace has come, the daylong festival continued with the various cultural performances such as Korean folk music tradition called ‘Nongak’, 12 different peace parade, and Korean traditional dance performance.

According to the host organization, Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), the peace parade contained the message about the peaceful world that the global village dreams of achieved through religious harmony, peace education, and international law for peace.

In his address, H.E. Donald Ramotar, Former President of Guyana, stressed on the collaborative efforts for the world peace as well as the reunification of Korean Peninsula. “I am particularly happy that one of the emphases of your work is to get the ordinary women and men involved in the work and struggle for world peace. Many times, we have seen that it is through our collective voices and representation of progressive leaders that changes can be made and resources can be diverted to raise the quality of life and standards of living of humankind.”

“It is most gratifying to see Korean people united in sports and families are once more able to meet and greet each other. I wish to extend my support to all of you working for this unification of this great land. I am happy to be here at this time and hope to return to see the border which now separates the two Koreas, will be turned into a line of the 33 unity of your people and century.”

H.E. Viktor Yushchenko, Former President of Ukraine, said, “Together with you, we feel the pain of your people unfairly divided by the two great empires and pray for the unification of your country. I believe that peace is approaching every day due to the indefinite activities of Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL and his organization, as well as the genuine desire of millions of people. I sincerely thank you for the fact that your organization is carrying the peace initiatives with the concrete action plans. The DPCW is a perfect and balanced document that can be the basis of solidarity for peacekeeping in all countries of the world. I think all the leaders of the countries should support the DPCW.”

At the end of the festival, the whole stadium was filled with the lights and the chants of 100,000 attendees, shouting “We are one!” wishing for a harmonious world of peace.

Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL, the host of this festival, delivered his thanks message to the attendees, saying “I have noticed that no one in this world wanted war, but everyone wanted peace. Hence, I am certain that peace will be achieved. Journalists, former and incumbent presidents, chief justices, university chancellors, ministers of education, presidents of parliaments, and mayors of different cities and nations have expressed their endorsement of the 10 articles and 38 clauses of the DPCW, and they are signing MOUs with HWPL. I would also like to express my gratitude to politicians, religious leaders, and heads of organizations for supporting the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula and the DPCW, and working together with HWPL shouting, “We Are One!”.