[HWPL]

[HWPL] 7th Annual Commemoration of the DPCW in Zambia

Peace as Institution to Change Daily Lives of People : 7th Annual Commemoration of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War in Zambia

Under the theme of “Institutional Peace: Strengthening Communication to Build Trust”, an international peace NGO, Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light(HWPL), holds its 7th Annual Commemoration of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War(DPCW) on March 18th in Zambia, and 41 countries from Africa, Europe, North America and Asia from March 14th to 19th.

With the foundation of “Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW)” as a tool for comprehensive global peacebuilding cooperation, 60 people in the fields of politics, legal profession and religion, education, media, women and youth, will join the event where the participants share the cases of conflict prevention, mediation, and resolution to institutionalize peace as a universal culture and norm.

Salifyanji Silungwe, President of the Salifyanji Silungwe Foundation, began by asking the audience, 'Is peace visible?'. As a symbol of peace, he emphasized the ‘substantial peace’ by referring to the completion of the HWPL's Peace Monument at Zambia's Childhood Joy Academy (CJA) on March 1 and voluntary youth peace promotion activities at communities and schools in Lusaka and Copperbelt areas.

"Zambia is a young country where about 50 percent of the population is youth. We are the pillars of civil society, we are the future of Zambia, we are the voice of Zambia. If the issue of children's rights is left only to the country, this issue will not be resolved even after 100 years. Therefore, young people, let's all unite our hearts and work hard to protect children's human rights. let's work together," he said, proposing practical promotional methods such as social media posting and community visit programs for the promotion of the Children's Code Bill.

Swami Guneshananda, spiritual leader of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre highlighted that HWPL has widened their concept and understanding about other religions by saying, "Hinduists, Christians, Buddhists, Mohammedans and all other religious people sitting in their own little well and thinking that the whole world is my little well. I am thankful of HWPL to bring religious leaders on one platform and making them to do good communication between them" he said. In addition, he stressed the importance of communication and cultural exchange between religions for peace, referring to 'help and not fight', 'assimilation and not destruction', 'harmony and peace and not dissension’ as importance values that all religions should pursue.

In the event, action plans to advocate peace in Ukraine were prepared. Participants of this event write “Peace Letters” to denounce Russian invasion of Ukraine as a violation of international law and demand Russian President Putin a total withdrawal from the Ukraine territory. “For you to send soldiers to invade Ukraine is tantamount to contradicting the rules you, yourself has created at the UN General Assembly. If you do not end this war a lot of youths will be killed in it. Therefore, I urge you to stop the war for the good of the world peace,” the letter stated. These letters will be collected and sent to Ukraine, where a peace monument will be erected.

During the speech, Chairman Lee Man-hee of HWPL emphasized, “Peace cannot be achieved alone. If everyone can live together as one, there will be no wars or conflicts. As the saying goes, love your neighbor as yourself, war will disappear only when there is love for each other. Current international law cannot prevent war. Russia, a permanent member of the United Nations, waged a war. The DPCW was introduced to renew the inoperative international law to eliminate war. Now is the time to achieve peace. Just as people learn when they have to create (something), peace must be taught at home and at school to create peace. If people's hearts change, a better world will be created. Let everyone in the global village become messengers of peace.”

Peace!