Parliamentarians, Planet and Peace: International Leadership Conference

Kathmandu – More than a year after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook Nepal, the city held a gathering of peacemakers and peacebuilders last July 27-30, 2016, hosted by the Universal Peace Federation and the Partliamentarians Peace Council of Nepal.

About the Universal Peace Federation
Founded by Korean religious leader and political activitist Reverend Sun Myung Moon and his wife, the Universal Peace Federation, with chapters in over 150 nations, is a worldwide network of individuals and organizations dedicated to building a world of peace centered on universal and spiritual values. True Love, manifested through living for the sake of others, is the ideal and guiding principle of the Universal Peace Foundation.

International Leadership Conference
The Universal Peace Federation organized this year’s International Leadership Conference with the theme: Addressing the Critical Challenges of Our Time: The Role of Government, Civil Society and Faith Based Organizations.

The conference addressed peace issues with sessions on peace-building, human rights, overcoming extremism, and the roles of religion and faith-based organizations, media, and climate change.

Dr. Thomas Walsh, President of the Universal Peace Federation said in an interview with Panahon.TV, “The most significant outcome as we discussed critical issues from climate change to the growing problem of violent extremisim is that we brought together representatives of diverse nations, nations of different religious, cultural ideological background, collaborating, working together to examine these problems.

At the culminating activity, parliamentarians pledged their support at the launch of the International Assocation of Parliamentarians for Peace. Five-time Speaker of the House of Representatives from the Philippines and Founding Chairman of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties of the UPF Presiding Council, Jose de Venecia, Jr., led the signing of the pledges for peace.

Peaceful Planet
Climate Change and the resulting rise in sea levels have been affecting big and small nations alike. In this session, Hon. Anuradha Jayaratne, Deputy Minister of Environment of Sri Lanka, Hon. Ramkumar Sharma, Member of Parliament of India, Hon. Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav, Member of Parliament of India, shared the effects of climate change on their respective countries and their courses of action to mitigate this global concern.

Philippine Participation
Hon. Jose De Venecia, Jr. gave one of the keynote remarks at the inaugural session. Meanwhile, Atty. Dante Liban spoke at the session on Overcoming Extremism and Promoting the Peaceful Resolution of Conflict: The Role of Religion and Faith-Based Organization. Philippine broadcast journalist Aljo Bendijo shared his experience at the session for media.

Rev. Julius Malicdem, Chairman of the Universal Peace Federation Philippines facilitated the closing session.


Lasting Peace
According to Dr. Thomas Walsh, “Continuous dialogue and collaboration will be held in different parts of the world as the International Association of Partliamentarians for Peace tackles the critical challenges of our time in line with with the UPF’s mission to transform this world into a world of lasting peace, human development and human dignitiy for all people.”

The conference concluded with the presentation of the Peace Awards by Dr. Thomas G. Walsh. Hon. Ek Nath Dhakal acknowledged all the delegates for a successful international leadership conference.

Report from Donna May Lina, Panahon TV Executive Producer