“The 7th HWPL September 18th Peace Summit Commemoration Event” was held online. This year’s event discussed the progress of international efforts and future plans to promote the peace agenda in the new normal era shifting from post-Covid to co-exist with-Covid.
The organizer of the event, Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), has carried out citizen-centred peace building activities to create peace and established an international legal framework based on the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) since the Peace Summit world in 2014.
The event, which was held on Saturday (18/9/2021), presented “Joint Efforts for Sustainable Peace” with cases from various sectors such as international law, religion, education, and media. Also discussed international cooperation to overcome the current crisis that threatens the coexistence and harmony of mankind, which surfaced during the pandemic.
Peace efforts led by HWPL to build a legal basis and international norms for peace through liaison with global actors, are manifested by its efforts to press international law for peace by drafting the DPCW. “The DPCW Handbook allows us to systematically teach international law and the essence of peace to students and citizens. This allows them to become lecturers in the next course,” said Mr. Mizanur Rahman, Chief Adviser of the Asian Association of Law Professors (AALP) and Former Chair of the National Human Rights Commission, Bangladesh (NHRC-BD), highlighted the need to encourage public discourse on peace building by academics.
In addition to the basic principles of peace that must be upheld by nations, DPCW has conveyed principles that must be faced in the current era, such as prohibiting the use of violence, fostering religious freedom, and community participation to spread a culture of peace. It is specifically mentioned that peace efforts come from all members of the global community by identifying not only nation-states but also international organizations and all citizens as the main actors in building peace.
“We know that it will be difficult to achieve peace if we all don’t work for it. This is why we need to encourage children, youth and adults to prevent verbal abuse and work to reduce inequality and erase differences to achieve a more just, stable and peaceful world,” said former Ecuadorian President Rosalia Arteaga Serrano.
Octavia Alfred, Dominican Minister of Education, Human Resource Planning, Vocational Training and Excellence, said that through peace education, students learn about the need for coexistence and mutual cooperation and pass on what they have learned to friends, parents and teachers. .
He said that HWPL peace education is related to concepts that can develop psychosocial competence skills, such as respecting diversity, order, conflict resolution, and negotiation, so that it is used for training not only students but also teachers. “Our goal is to end wars around the world and build peace so that it becomes a lasting legacy for future generations. Without peace, everything we have built will be destroyed. We can’t let this happen. So, in order to achieve peace, shouldn’t we achieve our goals with the same heart?” said the Chairman of HWPL, Mr. Man Hee Lee at the event.
Anang Fadhilah
