Tag: InternationalNews

The previous record for most new US COVID-19 deaths in a single day was on April 4 with a spike of 1,344 cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Across the country, there are 402,383 cases of the virus reported as of Tuesday evening.

In the US there’s a reported fatality rate of 3.2 percent from the virus. More than 22,000 people have recovered from respiratory illness.

Figures show the number of fatalities has increased drastically by more than 8,000 in the first week of April compared to the entire month of March when 4,000 deaths were recorded.

The harrowing figures come as health officials warned this week would be one of the hardest for Americans given the death toll is expected to continue to rise in stark numbers.

Data has predicted the peak of the pandemic is still set to hit on April 16 when 3,000 deaths are expected to occur in 24 hours, according to forecasters at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine.

Health officials have warned that the death toll from coronavirus is likely much higher than is being reported because there is no national, streamlined way of reporting fatalities amid the pandemic.

The epicenter of the outbreak in the US lies in New York , where 731 new fatalities were reported Tuesday – its biggest one-day jump yet – bringing the total number of deaths in the state to 5,489 deaths.

There are now 139,876 confirmed infections across the state following an increase of 8,046 cases in 24 hours.

The event consisting of a peace walk and peace song contest was held at the Islamic College Thailand in Bangkok on July 15th in attendance with students, faculties, and journalists. To spread a culture of peace, the peace walk took place from the Thonburi Youth Center to the Islamic College Thailand and the speeches calling for a sustainable peace secured in legal framework continued.

The participants also joined the “Peace Letter Campaign” that collects the voice of citizens of each country to establish international law for peace based on the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War(DPCW). According to the official of the host, the letters will be delivered to the leaders of Thailand.

The DPCW of 10 articles and 38 clauses addresses the principles of conflict resolution and international cooperation for peacebuilding such as respect on the international law, peaceful dispute settlement, and spreading a culture of peace. Currently, the letters supporting the DPCW written by approximately 1.3 million citizens in 193 countries have sent to their president or prime minister with expectations for responses from heads of each state.

Ms. Chollada Suawong, a coordinator of this event, said: “I am happy to cooperate in organizing this event participated with people from various religious backgrounds that can help to transform the differences into harmony.”

Mr. Supalak Ganjanakhundee, a former chief editor of The Nation, said in his speech “Thai people should learn how to make peaceful resolutions such as peace talks. To do that, Thai people should have faith in peace and should reject any form of violence. Thailand needs to establish a credible rule of law. It can also be supporting the DPCW that means ruling by just and legitimated laws.”

The event was hosted by an international peace NGO called Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light(HWPL) and its affiliated youth organization, International Peace Youth Group. This event also marked the 6th Annual Commemoration of the Declaration of World Peace and the Peace Walk that has been held at about 126 places in 77 countries including Myanmar, Australia, China, Germany, India, South Africa, the Philippines, and the United States of America.

To realize the world of no war and sustainable peace, HWPL has been carrying out its peace initiatives such as international law for peace, interfaith dialogue meetings, and peace education in cooperation with various sectors of global society from citizens to heads of states with the slogan of “Everyone should become messengers of peace”.

With the title of ‘The role of teachers for peace education’, 2019 Peace Education Conference was an event that presented the progress of the peace curriculum customized for European background and the direction of developing a culture of peace backed by international law for peace.

{{Planting the value of peace to the students, Peace Education
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“This is a very complex subject. But just like all journey starts with a first step, raising the awareness of peace should be done for the most basic level. Through this education, children understood that they have the power to do good acts on their level. They can actually change their lives and the lives of their family in the future. I try to make them see the importance of the value of respect, helping others, and tolerance that create better students as righteous adults,” said Mr. Dumitru Marius-Gabriel, a teacher of 1 Mai Technical High-school of Ploiesti, who has operated the peace education.

“Working with HWPL for this project brought me much joy and fulfillment because I could blend my normal lessons with the message of peace. I realized how important it is for us, teachers, to become a role model of our students. I’d like to add this peace education exists to create a peaceful world for future generation to cease all wars. Furthermore, this education should spread not only to our students but to all the students everywhere. They are the future of our peace,” he added.

One of the distinguishing aspects of this education was the collaboration between a local organization and an international NGO to proceed with the curriculum. The teachers belong to Master Peace, a local Romanian youth group, have carried out peace education. And the curriculum and materials for peace education were provided by an international peace NGO called HWPL.

According to the official of HWPL, the peace education is designed with the aim of to leave peace as a legacy to the future generations by raising the awareness of the importance of realizing peace and fostering a culture of peace. It recently provides the books, which contains the worldwide peace activities and peace agreements that HWPL has carried out, to the schools and libraries to encourage every citizen to participate in peace work.

As a part of peace initiatives, more than 200 educational institutions in 21 countries including Romania, Republic of South Africa, India, Israel, Kosovo, the Philippines are designated as HWPL Peace Academies to train the educators and students with the value of peace beyond boundaries, races, and religions.

Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL said: “As you can see the name of our organization, “Heavenly Culture” refers to the highest culture from heaven above worldly cultures that can realize peace by harmonizing all the people in the world. Even if you are born in a family or in a country with great wealth, you may feel infernal when there’s no peace in your family or your country. The first start is important, so peace education should start with the family, and then to the schools and society. Everything you see, hear, feel, and learn should be engaged with peace education. We can call it practical peace education. And it starts with the mindset that we can achieve peace. HWPL aims to create a world like this.

That’s the reason why we designed the peace materials and textbooks under several times of advice so that we send the materials to every educational institute to help encourage peace education.”

Since last year, Romanian schools and organizations including Comuna Sottile College, 1 Mai Technical High-school of Ploiesti, and Master Peace have signed MOUs for further participation-based peace education and activities that customized for European culture using the peace materials provided by HWPL

{{Spreading a culture of peace with peace education yet needs a legally binding international framework for peace.
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“What HWPL is proposing is the new way of seeing topics such as anti-bullying, non-violent communication, and collaborative activities that are the very important currency in the Romanian educational system. The HWPL peace curriculum emphasizes the value of tolerance, care, social equality, peace, justice, cooperation, solidarity, and human right that can create a culture of peace. It helps us define peace and its value that would lead the students to the leaders of peace. I’d also like to stress that the students should be peace messengers and work for realizing peace with this systematic peace education.” Magellan Isabel, a student of Mihai Viteazu National College, expressed her impression of the HWPL peace education.

Mr. Dragomir Marian, President of Master Peace, said “My belief, that made me work with HWPL with its peace education curriculum, is that education in personality, skill, value, and attitude is important for social, economic, and political development in any country. This role is well articulated in the “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” No. 4 containing a quality education for all to promote lifelong learning. This is also shared by article 10,

“Spreading a culture of peace”, in the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) which mentions that education is important to promote respect and mutual understanding among different religions, ideologies, and ethnic groups.”

The DPCW consisting of 10 articles and 38 clauses addresses principles of conflict resolution and international cooperation for peacebuilding such as respect on the international law, peaceful dispute settlement, and spreading a culture of peace. Currently, it is in the process of submitting this declaration as a resolution to the UN in order to develop it into a legally binding document, while citizens around the world are supporting it by participating “Peace Letter Campaign”.

“Articles 1 to 5 of the DPCW deal with preventing conflicts, articles 6 and 7 are about resolving conflicts, and articles 8 to 10 present the measures for the sustainable peaceful global society. This declaration is different from existing clauses of international law because it offers a comprehensive solution and compassing principles for conflict resolution according to the international order,” said Mr. Young Min Chung, Director of the IPYG.

“The future is counting on us to complete the world of peace. Let’s take what we’ve learned from the peace education and put it into our lives as peaceful citizens. World peace can be achieved with the DPCW that will lay the foundation of international law toward world peace. I invite you all to join the “Peace Letter Campaign”.” He urged for the participation for establishing a legally binding international framework for peace based on the DPCW.

The conference held in April 2nd was hosted by Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), an international NGO under UN ECOSOC, organized by Master Peace, a youth group of Romania, and sponsored by International Peace Youth Group (IPYG).

{{The Philippines – Hub of peacebuilding with the central role of civil society and nurturing peace education}}

On February 15, a peace festival named “We are One for Peace to Attain Sustainable Development” was held. Hosted by HWPL and Volunteer Individuals for Peace (VIP), the 30,000 participants included governors, local political and ethnic leaders, university presidents and students, and NGO representatives to build an international association for peacebuilding and enhance the role of civil society.

HWPL has invested its efforts in interfaith communication and peace education for peace in Southeast Asia. On January 24, 2014, HWPL set up a peace agreement in Mindanao by mediating local leaders and civil society groups to overcome damages of the 50 years of conflict in the region. Since then, peace campaigns such as peace walk by youth, founding peace monuments, exhibitions in the museum and inter-faith dialogues continued to raise awareness of peace to citizens.

In 2016, 70 schools in Mindanao and HWPL signed MoUs to implement peace education for students. Along with MoUs with 189 institutions from 20 countries, HWPL established a partnership agreement with Commissioner of Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to introduce curriculums of peace education in both state and local universities and colleges to expand the synergy of peacebuilding efforts between government and civil society in the Philippines.

“Promoting peace education through the CHED will affect many Philippine educational institutions and play a crucial role in promoting peace in the Philippines. It is expected to transform the Philippines into a society where people live in harmony and respect each other to attain sustainable peace,” said Dr. Ronald Adamat, Commissioner of CHED, as well as Chairman of VIP.

{{South Pacific – Initiating global cooperation for the establishment of international law for peace
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Though not affected directly by wars, South Pacific has become the venue for regional cooperation for peace and stability as it faces newly emerging security factors – climate change, economic fluctuation, ethnic diversity, and multicultural coexistence.

On February 19, “2019 Pacific Leaders Summit for Peace: Centre of Spreading Peace beyond Ethnicity and Borders” was held at the New South Wales Parliament House in Australia to discuss the need for an international mechanism for sustainable peace based on the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War(DPCW).

As the main agenda of the summit, the DPCW drafted by international law experts includes principles of peacebuilding such as the prohibition of the use of force, development of friendly relations, and peaceful dispute settlement, which have been advocated by ASEAN and Pacific countries. It further emphasizes cooperation based on interfaith dialogue and civic participation to create and spread a culture of peace.

Hon. Gibbs Salika, Chief of Justice of Papua New Guinea, said, “I believe any threat against human security should not be overlooked but to bring awareness and resolve these matters through the implementation of the DPCW in the international field to challenge any threat against human security by cooperation of nations. We must work in solidarity in oneness to create a peaceful atmosphere, spreading the culture and good spirit of peace.”

In the summit, former and current heads of state and political leaders in 8 Pacific countries signed “HWPL-Pacific Islands Comprehensive Agreement on Advocacy for the DPCW”. This agreement stipulates that national leaders “actively cooperate and participate in the process of introducing the DPCW to the UN so that it can be adopted and developed into a binding instrument” and “express their support for the DPCW in the form of a document”.

{{Cambodia – Comprehensive discussion for peaceful mutual development in Southeast Asia
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On February 21, 1,000 social representatives including youth and women from ASEAN member states, religious leaders, and NGOs participated in the “2019 Southeast Asia Peace Forum” held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia to discuss practical approaches to peacebuilding in the region.

With the theme of “Cooperation and Leap for Realization of Peace”, the event discussed a global partnership for mutual development of peacebuilding measures while considering the achievements of the Southeast Asian version of peacebuilding efforts for the last decades to tackle violent extremism including terrorism and internal conflicts.

On 22 February, Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport of the Kingdom of Cambodia (MoEYS) hosted “2019 Launching Ceremony of the MoEYS-Affiliated HWPL Peace Education Committee” to execute discussion for the introduction of peace education in the country. To further expand partnership with the Ministry and HWPL from the MoU last year and successive pilot education programs applied to schools in Cambodia, 20 schools and universities and HWPL signed MoUs to implement peace education.

In order to seek for the solutions for religious harmony, a conference titled “Peace message for the Implementation of Peaceful Religions” was held in attendance with 450 participants including religious leaders from Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity in Cambodia, South Korea, Vietnam, India, and Singapore.

Regarding the important role of religious leaders, H.H. Samdech Preah Agga Mahā Sangharājādhipat Tep Vong said that religious leaders are responsible for educating peace to the people and cooperating with HWPL to gather at the interfaith dialogue meeting to leave the inheritance of peace to the future generations.

{{Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light – Collective efforts from citizens to the national leaders to realize peace
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“As humanity continues to evolve, this development is not just to save the world. We must change the world that we live in today. For this, international law is needed to realize peace. The DPCW was drafted by examining 21 international law experts several times. If we all become one and achieve peace, it will be recorded as the work of light forever,” said Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL at the 2019 Pacific Leaders Summit.

According to the official of HWPL, this strategic approach by HWPL gaining support from governments and civil society internationally is significant in collecting worldwide support for the great cause of peace.

Along with the adoption of the resolution supporting the DPCW in Central American Parliament, HWPL has established a partnership through an MoU with Pan-African Parliament (PAP) from 55 member states of the African Union (AU) and International Centre for Black Sea-Baltic Studies and Consensus Practices (Centre for BBS), which is composed of former heads of state in Eastern Europe for the support of the DPCW.

This flow of network for peace from Central America, Africa, and Eastern Europe where government officials, leaders of NGOs, and citizens are called to advocate the UN and global community for international law for peace.

The conference began with the congratulatory message from Cr. Stephan Barbour, the Deputy Mayor of North Sydney Council. “I was so surprised that young people are building a foundation for peace in support of the DPCW. I am also very excited to see the scene where the peace letters, which contain the voices of young people for peace, are delivered to the representatives of each country. This is evidence that young people are changing the world,” he said.

The “Peace Letter Campaign”, one of the IPYG’s initiatives that create the world without war, urges the heads of each state to enact legally binding international law for peace based on the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW). The DPCW consisting of 10 articles and 38 clauses includes provisions to avoid war-related actions and achieve peace and addresses respect on the international law, peaceful dispute settlement, and spreading a culture of peace.

Youth group leaders delivered the peace letters to 30 national leaders including Governor General of Tuvalu. In the speech, H.E. Iakoba Taeia Italeli, Governor General of Tuvalu, replied to the youth by saying “I have received your hearts through the letters, and will make the best of my effort to realize the world you dream to come true. I will do my best to encourage the rest of the world to support the DPCW so that we may bring a better future for the youth.”

Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL, an international peace NGO under the UN ECOSOC, said, “I met leaders of politics, religion, and social group from all over the world, but no one wanted war. If war does not happen, peace will be achieved. With the principles guaranteeing peace and avoiding conflicts and wars, the DPCW will contribute to the cessation of war, ultimately leading to the world of peace. It will be achieved when every individual of our global society advocates for it. Let us all become one and make peace.”

Mr. Young Min Chung, the General Director of IPYG, emphasized the role of youth in creating peace in this world for the responsibility of future lies in their hands. Also, he encouraged the participants to join the “Peace Letter Campaign” that will convey their longing for peace to the heads of state as well as their neighboring nations.

After the opening video of urging for the eradication of religious discrimination, 4 speakers delivered messages on the cases of religious discrimination and action plans of religious leaders for promoting religious harmony.

Nelson Pervaz, a pastor of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, read a letter that will be sent to the United Nations Human Rights Council, “I am a Pastor working in Australia and Pakistan. Pakistan is a dominantly Muslim country where religious tension and discrimination exists. I understand how we must all work to bring about true harmony between people of different faiths and cultures. The act of the Christian Council of Korea (CCK) about Ms. Gu Ji-In who were killed in the aftermath of coercive conversion in Korea should never be ignored and what they do should stop.”

Coercive conversion in South Korea has raised the issue of human rights violation as the number of victims especially women who are threatened by pastors and families to give up their religious faith has reached 1,000. After the death case of Ms. Gu from kidnapping, confinement and physical violence, there have been rallies to establish legal protection for freedom of religion and women rights.

Participants in the event urged the dissolution of religious organizations who engage in politics and persecute other religions or denominations by forcefully converting individuals. They signed Statement Denouncing Coercive Conversion Programs and Religious Discrimination and proclaimed to support the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW).

Regarding the role of religious leaders for establishing a world peace, Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL said, “I came to Australia for telling that 10 articles and 38 clauses of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) are necessary to make a world peace and leave a legacy of peace for future generations. This is more important than anything else, and we have to become a peace messenger.”

HWPL proposes peace initiatives such as the establishment of international law for peace, an interfaith dialogue meeting for religious harmony, peace education and so on. In particular, the interfaith dialogue meeting called World Alliance of Religions Peace (WARP) Office is currently in operation in 219 places in 129 countries. The DPCW addresses principles of conflict resolution and international cooperation for peacebuilding such as respect on the international law, peaceful dispute settlement, and spreading a culture of peace.

This festival was co-organized by Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a UN-affiliated NGO headquartered in South Korea, and Volunteer Individuals for Peace (VIP), a non-profit corporation registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the Philippines.

The event was attended by social, educational, and political figures such as governors, 11 Davao chiefs, presidents of 16 universities, professors, students, citizens, and media. In the opening ceremony, the students associated in 13 universities performed parades and performances for the festival.

Hon. Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado, Governor of the province of Bulacan, delivered his welcoming message by saying “I thank all those who made this peace rally together and will devote all my best efforts to serve you, the heroes of peace, to achieve peace.”

In his speech, Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL stressed on the importance of uniting one as we are all peace messengers regardless of religion and nationality. He also urged for collective efforts of all members of society to establish sustainable development and peace secured by international law for peace. “Every individual of the family of the global village born in this era should become a messenger of peace to end the war and make sustainable peace a legacy for future generations,” Mr. Lee said.

As a part of combined endeavor for the establishment of international law for peace, Director of International Peace Youth Group (IPYG), Mr. Chung Young Min, encouraged the participants to support the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) to develop it into a legally binding framework.

The DPCW was drafted by the collaboration of international law experts and HWPL in search of a resolution to build sustainable peace in the global society. It includes provisions to cease war-related actions and achieve peace such as respect on international law, prohibition of the use of force, peaceful dispute settlement, ethnic/religious harmony, and spreading a culture of peace.

According to organizers, this festival was the very result of a strategic partnership between HWPL and VIP to seek international cooperation for peacebuilding from civil society groups in the Philippines and South Korea through education and campaigns as a cultural approach. In their partnership through a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), the two organizations planned to expand the work of peace starting with State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) and also established January 24th as ‘Day of Peace’ in support of the DPCW.

Dr. Ronald Adamat, Commissioner of Commission on Higher Education (CHED), as well as Chairman of VIP, expressed the expectation on the further partnership to promote peace education and projects for a culture of peace by saying “The value of our organization, so as this MoA, is to transform the Philippines into a society where people will live in harmony, respect each other to attain sustainable development.”

The event concluded with a signing ceremony of “Philippine Peace Declaration” as a common standard protocol to achieve national and global peace by abhorring all forms of armed conflicts, supporting all unification efforts, and educating the respect, love, and understanding.

The MoU was signed by Frederick Silverio, President of Bulacan Press Club, and Mr. Man Hee Lee, Chairman of HWPL, at the Philippine Sports Stadium where the Grand Peace Festival was held with about 30,000 participants on the same day.

Provisions of the MoU include strengthening ties for cooperation in coverage of peace news by sharing peace-related articles or information in international peace media platform called Peace Initiative (PI).

Officially launched in 2018, Peace Initiative (peaceinitiative.net) “a global journalist network in efforts of facilitating a culture of peace as a contribution to conflict resolution and peace building through press freedom and freedom of information stipulated in the UN resolutions and international agreements.”

“This MOU between HWPL and Bulacan Press Club is expected to allow more journalists from 50 media agencies in the club to participate in producing and sharing peace-related news worldwide and to help establish a firm cooperative relationship in promoting peace journalism,” said Mr. Ian Seo, Department of Public Relations, HWPL.

HWPL has developed a partnership with 600 journalists in Europe, Asia-Pacific, North America, and Africa to develop “Global Peace Media Network” proposed by HWPL and global journalists, and PI has around 200 peace-related contributions and opinions from civil society leaders globally.

Also, HWPL press briefing was held on 14th February with 15 members of the Bulacan-based reporters including Silverio a member of HWPL media publicity ambassadors.

In search of the role of civil society to create a unified Korea with peaceful means, an inauguration of the {{‘North and South, Let’s Be “Us” Again’}} with the aim of raising the awareness of peace to Korean youths was held with 1,000 participants at the Grand Hilton Hotel in Seoul, South Korea on February 9th.

The event is held under the theme of “Youth pictures the peaceful future for the Korean peninsula”. The first half of the event was dedicated to an opening ceremony, congratulatory speech, and a series of the lecture while the second half was dedicated to the inauguration ceremony, joint statement presentation followed by the special performance.

At a congratulatory speech, Prof. Chang Ho-Kwon, invited professor at Hanshin University, said, “By showing public support for unification of Korea through collaborative efforts of civil society and subsequent government capabilities, the gate of unification will be closer. There is no chance for a nation without history and culture. We take the lead in unification issues to leave a legacy for future generations, which can be attained by participation in IPYG peace projects.”

Mr. Ahn Chan-Il, the President of the World Institute for North Korea Studies, gave a lecture on the recent change of North Korea and the potential positive effect on the unification. “The true meaning of cessation of the Korean War is unification. When today’s Korean youth who will lead the time of reunification prepares it with aspiration and achieve it in 20 years, Korea can stand firm in the global community,” said Mr. Ahn.

The host organization, International Peace Youth Group (IPYG), is a member organization of HWPL, an international peace NGO under the UN ECOSOC. IPYG initiated its peace activities with the aim of realizing world peace by the voice of youth themselves, the victims of the war, and has been carrying out various peace campaign around the world in cooperation with 851 youth organizations in 111 countries.

Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL delivered a message encouraging the youth’s willingness on a long-awaited reunion by saying “The desire for unification is the same voice of peace. There should have no more wars in our globe. Rather than pointing each other with guns, youth should be the front to lead the way to peace.”

“I think this is a gradual process to create an environment for peace and unification empowered by youth and citizens. Through this campaign, I hope that it can contribute to the better future of peace in Korea and the world,” said Ms. May Hwang, a member of IPYG.

“Global Citizens’ Human Rights Coalition to Call for the Shutdown of the Christian Council of Korea (CCK)”, a newly founded Federation of 100 civil society groups from the field of women, youth and religions, held “Press Conference and Rally to Call for the Shutdown of the Christian Council of Korea (CCK), an Anti-Nation, Anti-Society, Anti-Religion, and Anti-Peace Organization.”

According to the Coalition, this event was organized “to disclose the reality of the CCK as a representative Christian majority receiving an indulgence for itself from committing anti-social crimes.”

“The CCK originates its identity from the Presbyterian Church that led worship for shrine and emperor under the Japanese colonial times. For the last 10 years, it has been reported that 12,000 Christian pastors have been convicted of criminal activities including murder, sexual assault, and frauds,” said Mr. Shin Chang Kim, Secretary General of the Coalition.

“The CCK’s orientation started from its foundation when it was created to support the military dictatorship back in the 1960s. This alliance between politics and Christianity led to pastors free from ethical and civic responsibility. We have seen many of them exchange their pastorship with money and coercive conversion for their profit, many of which had been silenced in media because of its power,” added Mr. Kim.

In the official statement, it said, “In case of the rise of denominations that do not belong to the CCK, fake news is produced to judge them as “cult”. Also, women are targeted to force them to convert while they are confined. The recent death of two women in the coercive conversion shows how the life of citizens and human rights are at risk before the CCK.”

In the name of participating organizations, the Coalition called on “enactment of a special law against coercive conversion programs to enhance freedom of religion.” The Coalition includes International Women’s Peace Human Rights Commission, Christian Association for Anti-Corruption National Movement, IPYG Youth’s Human Rights Committee, and World Buddhist Summit.