HWPL Peace Education : a Pathway to Peace

 

 

 

 

HWPL Peace Education

:

a Pathway to Peace

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#DPCW_1038 #IPYG #IWPG #WARP_OFFICE #PEACE_WORLD #UN

#INTERNATIONAL_DAY #CITIES #GLOBAL

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https://www.hwpl.kr/language/en/hwpl

 On 23 July, an online event was held in Lebanon for the implementation of HWPL peace education under the theme,

 

“HWPL Peace Education : a Pathway to Peace.”

 

This event hosted by HWPL’s Gwangju & Jeonnam Branch was held with an introduction to HWPL and an explanation of the peace education initiatives conducted by HWPL. The peace educators in different countries presented their progress and feelings while conducting HWPL peace education. Various people in the education field who are cooperating in HWPL peace activities in Lebanon attended this event with interest in HWPL peace education and delivered an address on the reason for starting peace education and how it has made a positive impact on the students.

 

Dr. Ahmed Abdulaziz Muhammad Zangana, the Dean of English Department at Koya University in Iraq said, “I myself believe that within a peaceful world everyone in this life could, of course, get a better chance to live in dignity. We all have to feel the great responsibility we have in order to convey this message of peace. I really appreciate what this organization, this lovely organization HWPL is doing for the people. I myself am very happy to be a part of any project which of course is related to peace education.”

 

Ms. Berivan Mohammed Ahmed Abdullah, the Head of the Career Development Center at the University of Zakho in Iraq explained, “Especially in a country like Iraq, which suffered a lot from war poverty and having effects on the community, the subject of peace education is very crucial to be taught here. This will help in avoiding the racism and bully issues at schools and universities.” Also, she said, “Therefore, one of the greatest steps that I took in my life personally was joining the training course, the HWPL education course that was organized and run by the HWPL organization. And we have plans to implement it for the rest of the departments, coalitions, and faculties from the coming year.”

 

Mr. Bouzerdan Jupiter, the Vice Rector for Finance of Saint Joseph School, said, “We’ve been trying four years to help our students accept others live in peace and promote the culture of peace. But you know our country is suffering, really suffering from a lot of difficulties. And it is not only war, we don’t have a war here, but we have a crisis. We have a financial and economic crisis and it is really hurting everyone. Now what I would like to ask is how can we get the booklets or the textbooks related to peace education? Because it’s really interesting to have such textbooks, and from the experience of one of the participants said that the textbooks helped a lot.”

 

 

World Cities Day 31 October

The weight of cities

Cities should be encouraged to innovate and experiment, and also to learn from one another in order to hasten this transition, for instance through “twin town” initiatives or city networks. Moreover, the report says it will be necessary to replace a “competitive cities” governance approach to urban economies with a “well-grounded cities” approach that serves the interests of all citizens.

Act Local to Go Global

World Cities Day brings Urban October to an end on 31 October each year and was first celebrated in 2014. As with World Habitat Day, a global observance is held in a different city each year and the day focuses on a specific theme.

This year’s global observance is planned in Shanghai, China under the theme "

Act Local to Go Global.

"

 

We want to bring different partners and diverse stakeholders together to share their experiences and approaches to local action, what local action worked and what is needed to empower local and regional governments to create greener, more equitable and sustainable cities.

 

Local action is critical to achieve the sustainable development goals by 2030. UN-Habitat has been at the forefront of SDG localization since the very endorsement of the 2030 Agenda.

 

 WWW.UN.ORG

 

Since then, UN-Habitat has been working to advance SDG localization by providing technical expertise to partners across the globe, by leading the development of cutting-edge research, by capacitating local and regional governments on SDG localization, and by strengthening the voice of local governments and local actors within the main international and UN-led fora on SDGs.

 

#DPCW_1038 #IPYG #IWPG #WARP_OFFICE #PEACE_WORLD #UN

#INTERNATIONAL_DAY #CITIES #G

Disarmament: Securing Humanity's Future

WWW.UN.ORG

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Disarmament Week seeks to promote awareness and better understanding of disarmament issues and their cross-cutting importance. Starting on 24 October, the anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, the week-long annual observance was first called for in the Final Document of the General Assembly’s 1978 special session on disarmament (resolution S-10/2). In 1995, the General Assembly invited governments, as well as NGOs, to continue taking an active part in Disarmament Week (resolution 50/72 B, 12 December 1995) in order to promote a better understanding among the public of disarmament issues.

#NGO

#IPYG

#IWPG

Throughout history, countries have pursued disarmament to build a safer, more secure world and to protect people from harm. Since the foundation of the United Nations, disarmament and arms control have played a critical role in preventing and ending crises and armed conflict. Heightened tensions and dangers are better resolved through serious political dialogue and negotiation—not by more arms.

#INTERNATIONAL_DAY

#PEACE

#HWPL

Weapons of mass destruction, in particular nuclear weapons, continue to be of primary concern, owing to their destructive power and the threat that they pose to humanity. The excessive accumulation and illicit trade in conventional weapons jeopardize international peace and security and sustainable development, while the use of heavy conventional weapons in populated areas is seriously endangering civilians. New and emerging weapon technologies, such as autonomous weapons, imperil global security and have received increased attention from the international community in recent years.

#INTERNATIONAL_DAY

Measures for disarmament are pursued for many reasons, including to maintain international peace and security, uphold the principles of humanity, protect civilians, promote sustainable development, foster confidence and trust among States, and prevent and end armed conflict. Disarmament and arms control measures help ensure international and human security in the 21st Century and therefore must be an integral part of a credible and effective collective security system.

#DISARMAMANET

The United Nations continues to celebrate the efforts and involvement of a range of actors contributing to a safer, more peaceful common future through disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation efforts.

#NON_PROLIFERATION

#UN

In a world threatened by weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms and emerging cyberwarfare, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres presented a new agenda for disarmament to save humanity, save lives and secure our common future.

#NO_WEAPONS

#SECURE

DPCW_1038 : Civil Society-led Peace Agreement and HWPL Peace Day

https://www.hwpl.kr/language/en

 

On 24 January 2014, a ceremony was held to celebrate signing an agreement reached through the effort of the civil society for Mindanao’s peace in General Santos City of the Philippines.

The function hosted and organized by HWPL, the IWPG, and the IPYG invited the region’s politicians, university professors, religious leaders, students, and around 300 civilians to witness two representatives, Fernando R. Capella, an Archbishop Emeritus of Archdiocese of Davao, and Esmael Mangudadatu, the governor of Maguindanao, sign the peace agreement, promising to cooperate for the cessation of conflicts and establishment of peace.

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#PEACE

#IPYG

#IWPG

#DPCW_1038

#WARP_OFFICE

#PHILIPPINES

#HWPL

#MINDANAO

#AGREEMENT

 

The Mindanao Peace Agreement mediated by HWPL proposes an approach that adopts a civil society-centered stance to improve awareness and take action for peace.

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Hence, HWPL is currently focusing on carrying out civilian-led peace activities to reaffirm the shared commitment to peace that the people of Mindanao have as they dwell in the very sites of disputes, and to lay the foundation for sustainable peace to naturally grow and take root together with the international community.

 

The Provincial Government of Maguindanao and the leadership of the MILF declared 24 January 2014, when the Mindanao Peace Agreement was signed, as HWPL Peace Day. HWPL Peace Day is observed on 24 January every year in Mindanao.

 

INTERNATIONAL DAY : Global Media and Information Literacy Week (24-31 October)

 In Our Common Agenda report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, twelve commitments were made by world leaders. Among these commitments, UN Secretary-General Mr. António Guterres highlighted the values of trust and solidarity as being the glue for social cohesion and social breakthroughs for the common good.

 

However, the harsh reality is that the trust factor is being eroded. Considering Our Common Agenda, we are calling on the global community to not only reaffirm and increase commitment to MIL for all, but to also develop new initiatives on MIL to nurture trust.

 

#INTERNATIONAL_DAY #HWPL #DPCW_1038 #WARP_OFFICE

#IWPG #IPYG #PEACE_WORLD #UN

 

The Global MIL Week 2022 focuses on trust and solidarity as it relates to people, media, digital platforms, governments, private sector, and non-governmental organizations. It highlights some promising actions in connection with media and information literacy in the last year and how media and information literacy helps with nurturing trust and countering mistrust.

 

WWW.UN.ORG

 

 

 

 

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 17 October

2022 Theme: Dignity For All in Practice

The commitments we make together for social justice, peace, and the planet

Dignity for all in practice is the umbrella theme of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty for 2022-2023. The dignity of the human being is not only a fundamental right in itself but constitutes the basis of all other fundamental rights. Therefore, “Dignity” is not an abstract concept: it belongs to each and every one. Today, many people living in persistent poverty experience their dignity being denied and disrespected.

 

With the commitment to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure all people everywhere enjoy peace and prosperity, the 2030 Agenda again gestured toward the same promise established under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet, the current reality shows that 1.3 billion people still live in multidimensional poverty with almost half of them children and youth.

 

Inequalities of opportunities and income are sharply on the rise and, each year, the gap between the rich and poor gets even wider. In the past year, as millions struggle through the erosion of workers’ rights and job quality to make it to another day, corporate power and the wealth of the billionaire class have recorded an unprecedented rise.

 

Poverty and inequality are not inevitable. They are the result of deliberate decisions or inaction that disempower the poorest and marginalized in our societies and violate their fundamental rights. The silent and sustained violence of poverty – social exclusion, structural discrimination and disempowerment – makes it harder for people trapped in extreme poverty to escape and denies their humanity.

 

#poverty #UN #INTERNATIONAL_DAY

#HWPL #PEACE_WORLD

#DPCW_1038

#WARP_OFFICE

 

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted this dynamic, exposing social protection system gaps and failures as well as structural inequalities and diverse forms of discrimination that deepen and perpetuate poverty. In addition to this, the climate emergency constitutes new violence against people living in poverty, as these communities are unduly burdened by more frequent occurrences of natural disasters and environmental degradation, leading to the destruction of their homes, crops and livelihoods.

 

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the World Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty and the 30th anniversary of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. This Day honors the millions of people suffering from poverty and their daily courage and recognizes the essential global solidarity and shared responsibility we hold to eradicate poverty and combat all forms of discrimination.

 

www.un.org

 

 

8th Anniversary of the September 18th HWPL World Peace Summit

On September 18th, the 8th Anniversary of the September 18th HWPL World Peace Summit was held online with the theme of ‘Peace as an Institution: A Foundation for Sustainable Development’. This event held across the world in 146 countries with 5,000 participants aired online to reaffirm the importance of the sustainable development guaranteed by institutionalizing peace while the global community has yet to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and faces another threats caused by the Russian-Ukraine conflict.

 

#RUSSIAN_UKRAINE #GLOBAL #HWPL #PEACE #PEACEBUILDING

 

Since September 18th in 2014 when the peace summit was held for the first time, HWPL has called for solidarity for peacebuilding at the global level through collective actions with various actors including heads of state, ministers, law makers, religious leaders, educators, youth and women leaders, and reporters. This annual summit shares peace activities and achievements in cooperation with governments and civil society around the world every year.

#WAPR_OFFICE #DPCW_1038 #UN 

Regarding the cause of peacebuilding at the global level, Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL said, “The global village has suffered from the unexpected COVID-19 that has hit every country. People are not alone in the midst of difficulties. We live in the same global village, and we are neighbors and families. Each one of us is the one who are obliged to make our world a better place to live. And shouldn’t we pass on our good world to our descendants?”

 

H.E. Marinus Bee, the chairperson of the National Assembly of Suriname, expressed his willingness to establish peace at the legislative level by saying, “The role of parliaments in building peace and preventing conflict is crucial.” He added, “In collaboration with HWPL the National Assembly would like to establish a framework of cooperation in achieving cessation of war and spread a culture of peace through activities to raise awareness of peace and encourage policies and programs regarding peace education.”

 

https://www.hwpl.kr/language/en/

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Octavia Alfred, Minister for Education, Human Resource Planning, Vocational Training and Nation Excellence of Dominica, said that HWPL’s peace education was introduced to the national school curriculum in Dominica as it was “integrated into Social Studies, and also as a stand-alone.” For the reason to develop the educational source into the civics curriculum in the country, she said that the HWPL peace curriculum is helpful “in addressing the challenges of … not just students, but even what they take home to their friends and their parents, and also out teachers.”

 

Mahendra Das, the Temple President of Sri Sri Radha Madhava Mandir of the Philippines, presented an institutional approach to interreligious dialogue in terms of the role of religion in contributing to peace. He suggested that regularizing international exchanges and programs to prevent conflicts based on religious misunderstanding can be a starting point for a foundation of peace.

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Mr. Chung Young-min, General Director of the IPYG emphasized the role of youth as the main player of international action for peace by saying that education programs for 1,500 global youth in 59 countries are hosted to “protect the basic rights of youth around the world so that everyone can live a happy life without being left behind.”

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Details of the event can be viewed through the following YouTube link.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXlB4XzQHQ4

 

International Day of Rural Women 15 October

 

Rural women confront the global cost-of-living crisis

 

Achieving gender equality and empowering women is not only the right thing to do but is a critical ingredient in the fight against extreme poverty, hunger and malnutrition.

 

Giving women the same opportunities as men could rise agricultural production by 2.5 to 4 per cent in the poorest regions and the number of malnourished people could be reduced by 12 to 17 percent.

 

Yet they face significant discrimination when it comes to land and livestock ownership, equal pay, participation in decision-making entities, and access to resources, credit and market.

In addition to this background, the war in Ukraine has had a devasting impact not just on Ukrainian women, but on women and girls worldwide, especially rural women.

 

According to the latest UN Women report, the current disruption to the food and energy markets has only intensified gender disparities, causing rates of food insecurity, malnutrition, and energy poverty.

 

The ensuing cost-of-living crisis has acutely threatened women’s livelihoods, health, and well-being. It has been propelled by the war’s disruptions of oil and gas supplies and staple food commodities, alongside the skyrocketing food, fuel, and fertilizer prices.

 

Alarming increases in gender-based violence, transactional sex for food and survival, child marriage (with girls forced to leave school), and women’s and girls’ unpaid care and domestic workloads are further endangering women’s and girls’ physical and mental health.

#RURAL #WOMAN #GENDER_BASED #VIOLENCE #HWPL #DPCW_1038 #HEALTH

This International Day, under the theme "Rural women confront the global cost-of-living crisis", let’s recognize the work of these heroines in the food systems of the world, and let's claim rural areas with equal opportunities for all.

 

https://www.un.org/en

 

 

 

DPCW_1038 : The Central Point of the institutionalization of religious peace: WARP Office

Hare Krishna, I am Mahendra Das the Temple President of ISKON Sri Sri Radha Madhava Mandir of the Philippines.

 

https://www.hwpl.kr/language/en/

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Our philosophy states that we are under one God and He is addressed by various names, so it is such an honor for me to be part of the WARP office and participate in dialogues with various religions to achieve peace and harmony.

 

The Religious Peace Academy is a comprehensive program and sustainable approach to deeper scripture-sharing that came out as a product of the WARP Office that facilitated the detailed presentation of the philosophy, practices, beliefs, and cultures which are based on the scriptures of the Muslim, Christianity, and the Hindu, specifically, the Hare Krishna Movement religions. Religious Peace Academy began during the height of the pandemic. Instead of slowing down, we doubled our efforts to contribute to peace in the field of religion.

#RELIGION

 

That is why I became very enthusiastic when HWPL Philippines developed this forum to an educational program called Religious Peace Academy or RPA. This allowed the lecturers and audience to have more time to discuss about various scriptures. The RPA started last June 2021 until November 2021 and conducted it every Saturday for 3 hours, 1 hour each for Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. It consists of 40 minutes of lecture by religious leaders, followed by a 20-minute Q&A session with the students.

#PHILIPPINES

We gained so much knowledge about other religions that we haven’t heard before. Moreover, it led us to launch the RPA 2 last March 12, of this year, and was completed on August 13, of 20 lessons from each of the 3 lecturers. Here, we are able to share about detailed practices and beliefs of each religion. Classes were made vibrant and lively by incorporating trivia about the religion, playing games, and showing videos for better awareness, understanding of the various lessons.

#BIBLE

Aside from the Saturday lessons, we, the lecturers, met every Thursday for 1 hour and discussed the questions that came up during the previous class and understand more deeply the Quran, Bible and the Bhagavad Gita.

#ACADEMY

I remember vividly when we started planning that we were very excited to prepare for this Religious Peace Academy. Each lecturer believes that education is an important key to achieving peace. We wanted to reach many people to join this interfaith theology program. Our Muslim lecturer made an effort to post the banner of RPA on his personal SNS account to invite his family and friends. He also shared it on their group chat of the school where he teaches to invite his co-teachers to join the RPA. Likewise, I Invited and announced this program to our temple and congregational members.

#HWPL

It was participated by 30 students, who are Christian pastors, Hare Krishna devotees, and our Muslim brother and sisters on the first launching of the RPA. Through this effort, we operated the second RPA with 100 participants together with some graduating students of our university.

 

Through RPA, I found that the basic concepts of God, who is the cause of all causes, and the Creator of everything in all religions, are the same but different on how the details are explained. According to the Bhagavad Gita, the Supreme Godhead, who is omniscient, knows the past, present, and future, and who is also called omnipresent, present in everything, and everything happens due to His supreme will.

 

In the Bible, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. And the Quran states that everything Allah says will happen according to his will. As a result, there is only one God, who is known by many names, including Allah, Yahweh, Jehovah, Buddha, Elohim, Krishna, and many more.

 

I became convinced that we truly believe in the same one God, and that the ultimate goal of the human life is to get to know the Supreme Creator and learn how to love Him above all. Furthermore, I also realized that all bona fide religions should teach the highest goal of life, which is to know God and learn how to love Him. I was able to understand how God works. A trustworthy scripture must teach the truth. And it made my realization expand more and embrace my brothers and sisters of other religions.

 

The question of what will happen after death is one of the most interesting topics in RPA. The lecturers discussed them from the point of view of their own scriptures. And we saw that the concepts of heaven and hell are almost the same and how to attain them lies in the goodness and evil of each individual and the help of the mediator like the Lord Jesus Christ, and the prophets, and the spiritual masters.

 

In particular, most of the parts about salvation in other scriptures are recorded in parables. It made me very more interested in exploring the other scriptures and determining the commonalities and the intersections in them. This opportunity to such comparative knowledge of other scriptures allowed me to better interact, communicate, and bridge the gap between the members of other religions and our congregation, who enthusiastically attended weekly RPA meetings, listened attentively, and asked meaningful questions about the lessons presented.

 

#HWPL #DPCW_1038 #IPYG #IWPG #WARP_OFFICE

#NO_WAR #STOP_THE_WAR #DOMINICA #PEACE_WORLD

 

World Post Day 9 October

#POST_DAY #UN #INTERNATIONAL_DAY #LETTER

Innovation, Integration and Inclusion

World Post Day is celebrated each year on 9 October, the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 in the Swiss Capital, Bern. It was declared World Post Day by the UPU Congress held in Tokyo, Japan in 1969. Since then, countries across the world participate annually in the celebrations. The Posts in many countries use the event to introduce or promote new postal products and services.

 

WWW.UN.ORG

In 2015 countries all over the world committed themselves to working together towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to end extreme poverty and hunger, fight inequality and injustice, and take action to reverse climate change - to name just some of these 17 agreed new Goals. Playing its part in this global effort, the Post today has a more relevant role than ever by providing infrastructure for development.

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2022 theme: Post for Planet

The Post is the world's largest logistics network. How are these networks accelerating the green transition of the overall economy?

 

Although the circular economy may no longer be a new concept, it is now more clear than ever that we must align with the principles of the circular economy; we must raise awareness of the Post’s potential to tackle the climate crisis; and we must drive overall resource mobilization across sectors.

 

#HWPL #DPCW_1038 #IPYG #IWPG #WARP_OFFICE

#NO_WAR #STOP_THE_WAR #DOMINICA #PEACE_WORLD