[HWPL]

[HWPL] 8th Anniversary of the September 18th HWPL World Peace Summit  – Peace as an Institution: A Foundation for Sustainable Development

1. Introduction

The 8th Anniversary of the September 18th HWPL World Peace Summit will be held on 18 September 2022. The event commemorates the promises made for peace on 18 September 2014 by leaders in politics, religions, women's groups, youth groups, and journalism committed to working for world peace. Since then, annual commemorations are held every 18 September, where all parties share peace initiative plans, progress, and results. 

2. Background

Adding to violent conflicts, which have been a constant threat to safety for humanity, the pandemic has exacerbated the uncertainty for humanity's future.

The global community has yet to fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and still faces various threats such as the Russian-Ukraine conflict, increasing economic instability from supply chain disruptions and inflation, and unsuccessful attempts to address climate change. The situation poses a significant challenge to our chances for coexistence.

HWPL has proposed peace as an institution to resolve the above global threats. The main goal is to weave the values of peace into our social fabric, allowing mutual respect, harmony, cooperation, and co-prosperity to become part of our institutions as the norms and cultures of each society, domestic law, and international law. The principle of peace that enables this institutional peace is contained in the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW).

The DPCW lays the foundation for the institutionalization of peace, a process of establishing peace within a community. The 10 articles and 38 clauses of the DPCW underscore conflict prevention and resolution, gradual reduction of armament and the transition to instruments for daily lives, mutual respect and conflict resolution of religious and ethnic groups, and spreading a culture of peace. The DPCW not only unambiguously states "what" needs to be done for peace as an institution but also "who" needs to do it. From international organizations to central and local governments, non-governmental organizations, and civic groups, all actors in the global community are set as the main players in the run for institutionalizing peace.

HWPL's vision for peace as an institution goes beyond temporary measures to cease conflict actions and pursues peace incorporated into laws, values, and cultures, which serve as a mode of behavior for all

individuals and groups. The world is witnessing daily lives being uprooted due to disease, war, climate, and poverty, which, in turn, undermine human dignity and expose many people to an environment where basic rights are not guaranteed. In response to this, HWPL conducted a campaign last year to build a foundation for human dignity in the foreground, in effect promoting human rights. The event will present HWPL projects on universal human rights and their achievements.

3. Details and Results

HWPL has been working with governments and civil society globally for the past year to promote sustainable development and institutionalization of peace in various fields.

HWPL has carried out multiple projects in areas such as promoting human rights, protecting the weak, resolving conflicts peacefully, and spreading a culture of peace in order to establish a sustainable system that will maintain a common will for peace despite the crisis and changes in the global community. The event will cover the following topics.

• MOUs and MOAs with governments and IGOs for peace as an institution.

• Expansion of international discussions for judicial settlement of disputes and maintenance of peace

• Human rights webinars and media activities to highlight conflict and violence phenomena and raise public awareness of universal human rights

• Establishment of global religious scripture comparison discussions to prevent conflicts and promote mutual understanding among religions

• Improvement of access to education to promote universal rights

• Establishment of collaborative platforms for global youth and women, enabling them to play a greater role in conflict resolution and peace-building efforts

• Expansion of local region-based activities to promote coexistence and harmony and spread a culture of peace

The current global community must find answers to various problems, many of which are unprecedented for humankind. Searching for solutions to such challenges is beyond the scope of individual nations and can only be done through international cooperation. With that understanding, HWPL proposes civil society's participation and cooperation, not only that of nations, as a viable and promising path to finding solutions. HWPL is creating a wide-range peace community by inviting solidarity and unity with various actors in the global community, including governments and civil society. This will be a key contributor to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the blueprint for a new future for humankind.

Peace!