For the past 30 years, international efforts have
continued to recognize the importance of the environment and improve it. On 4
September 2021, the Western Seoul & Gyeonggi Branch of HWPL held the 2nd
Peace Talk online on the theme, “Protecting
Environment and Building Peace through Cessation of War,” joined by five countries including Zambia.
#ZAMBIA
Peace Talk is an online platform for
experts in different fields to come together and share their thoughts and
activities related to a given theme. Its first session was held in May 2021.
#ONLINE
Speakers from the
Netherlands, South Korea, Latvia, Zambia, Equatorial Guinea, and Tunisia
discussed what the environment and peace mean for us and how war affects the
environment. They also sought ways for improvement.
#PEACE
“The
displacement of large numbers of people due to armed conflict can also create
immediate pressure on the environment. A legal framework that imposes an
obligation on individuals and groups to protect the integrity of the
environment is much needed,” said John Bwalya, Acting Director of Dag
Hammarskjöld Institute
for Peace and Conflict Studies.
#DPCW_1038
Ieva Miļūna, Lecturer of International Humanitarian Law
at Riga Graduate School of Law, emphasized that “during a war, natural
resources are often taken forcibly and imprudently which is a clear act of
infringement of sovereignty, additionally to its destructive impact on the
environment. First, we need to use all the possible international legal
instruments to clear the remnants of war. Second, all the international
organizations need to work together. Lastly, the enforcement and education of
respective international legal instruments should be implemented as well.”
#NO_WAR
Beatrice Phiri
Tonguino, Co-founder of You-Retain Foundation, stated a message for achieving
peace together. “We all have one goal to be alive, be loved, be in peace,” she
said. “Let’s respect and unite together despite our ethnicity and religion to
protect the environment and support life for every person. The environment
needs us and we need it. And we all need each other to ensure that we create a
place that supports life for every person.”
Ashely
Song, Manager of the Western Seoul & Gyeonggi Branch of HWPL, mentioned
that global peace is possible through the DPCW. “Within the Declaration of
Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW), articles 2 and 3, the maintenance of
friendly relations and the prohibition of acts of aggression, are laws designed
to prevent conflict and refrain from using weapons. And, consequently, to pass
on peace as a legacy to future generations. Thus, as war and weapons are a
definite threat to our ecology, HWPL has been working to legislate DPCW as an international
law to bring positive peace,” she said.
#NO_WEAPONS
Oussama Jeljeli, Founder of University
Organisation of Human Development from Tunisia, encouraged others to join the
cause, saying, “World Peace is our target for all of us. I will never forget
the speech of the chairman Mr. Man Hee Lee, the president of HWPL, when he
asked us what we did to achieve world peace. We know it's not easy but it's not
impossible. It's our dream so we should focus on it every day. We should
discuss it every time to share the culture of peace and believe this dream to
come true. We know the youth has the power to make a change and are the future
of this planet. So let's make peace together and don't forget we are one!”
#MAN_HEE_LEE
War is the biggest terror to the
environment and the most vicious violence to all forms of life. For this
reason, peace activities aimed at preventing wars can be linked to the
environmental movement as well. Being a global peace NGO,
HWPL wants to take notice of
this point. In order to create a clean and peaceful environment where both the
current and future generations can live, countries around the world need to
cooperate together.
An excellent read. HWPL’s peace work is unprecedented. I sincerely hope it will continue with great vigour into 2022 and beyond, as it seems peace and stability is needed now more than ever in these uncertain times. More than 30,000 people from 157 countries attended the 7th Anniversary HWPL World Peace Summit online on Sept. 18th 2021, and more than 200 schools worldwide have been designated HWPL Peace Academies, educating today's youth on the importance of peace.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, many heads of state - both existing and former - have publicly declared their support for HWPL's Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW), citing it as the only solution to ceasing all conflict and achieving peace on a global scale. The words of H.E. Viktor Yushchenko, former President of Ukraine, sums up the importance of the DPCW very well: “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.”
May the words, 'We are One!' ring true as a lasting history✌️