On May 25th, “6th Annual Commemoration of the Declaration of World Peace and the Peace Walk” was held at about 126 places in 77 countries around the world including Ethiopia, Australia, China, Germany, India, South Africa, the Philippines, and the United States of America.
Under the theme of “The World’s Call for Peace. Urging Support for the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW)”, the event was hosted by Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), an international peace NGO affiliated with the UN ECOSOC and the UN DGC.
At the day when this declaration was proclaimed, on May 25th in 2013, the peace walk of global citizens initiated with the slogan of “Let every person in this world become a messenger of peace.” This peace walk has been carried out simultaneously in various places all over the world in May every year with the aim of promoting the role and participation of individuals in the international community to achieve peace and spreading a culture of peace.
Especially, events of 6th Annual Commemoration of the Declaration of World Peace and the Peace Walk have held in Ethiopia two times until now. The first event, 18 professors and students of Leadstar Theological College (LTC) wrote a hand-written peace letter to urge the head of state supporting the DPCW on May 23rd.
The second event, 50 vice president, professor, and students of Kotebe Metropolitan University gathered to write peace letters for the president of the university. In addition, representative peace letter was delivered to the Vice President in English and Amharic. In response, the Vice President gave a message about the peace and cessation of the war and replied to peace letters on May 25th.
In South Korea, where the declaration was proclaimed 6 years ago, more than 150,000 citizens gathered and took part in the “Peace Letter Campaign” to call for the support for the DPCW in order to develop it into a legally binding document.
The DPCW, the crystallized form of the Declaration of World Peace, addresses principles of conflict resolution and international cooperation for peace-building such as the respect on international law, peaceful dispute settlement, and spreading a culture of peace.
Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL announced the significance of the DPCW by saying “The DPCW that permeates the will of global citizens asks for the global community to become one under peace with respect on mutual coexistence.
This Declaration advocates everyone to cooperate for building peace so that there will be no more productions of weapons that kill lives and no more invasions of other countries. As the national leaders support the 10 articles and 38 clauses of the DPCW and religions harmonize for peace, the global community can take the road to peace.”
Young Min Chung, General Director of the International Peace Youth Group (IPYG), an organization that leads the “Peace Letter Campaign” worldwide, said “Many people are taking part in this work since they found confidence in the DPCW that this hope can be realized for sure.
The DPCW is perfectly composed of the prevention of conflicts, dispute settlement, and maintenance of a world of peace. In addition, it is the possibility of realization. It has been only three years since the DPCW was proclaimed, but we have gathered a lot of support at the national level as well as the support from the citizens all across the globe.”
According to the official of HWPL, the DPCW stresses on the role of citizens as the most important peace-making nucleus, and it is the meaning of the peace walk to show the collective voice of the global citizens that voluntarily conveys the message of peace.
Also, the supporting signatures and letters for the DPCW by approximately 1.3 million citizens have been sent to their respective President or Prime Minister in 192 countries with expectations for responses from heads of each state.
At her congratulatory speech, Difie Agyarko Kusi, Ambassador of Embassy of Ghana to Korea, encouraged the active participation of the civil society for the enactment of the DPCW.
“I can’t think of anyone’s region in the world where there isn’t some conflict playing out or erupting. We should all, therefore, be grateful to HWPL for being in the forefront of the crusade to ‘construct the defenses of peace in the minds of men’ with their push for the adoption of the DPCW by the international community.”
She said adding, “I would strongly urge all right-thinking people to write letters to leaders, lawmakers, policymakers, heads of states, governments, and kings or queens, to tell them how much we are pinning our hopes on them to support this declaration and make it real.”
With no doubt, nationalist disputes and hatred between and among various ethnic groups in this country will surely move to mutual cooperation free of violent acts, extremism and distrust.
In sum, a nation of peace can be realized through forming a new and shared pluralistic identity supported by inter-reliant cooperation among regional states, and dealing with the past mutual respect.
It is significant if everyone in this country contributes to ensure peace at least within themselves, in families and at community level through this international law.
The recent peaceful endeavors have to be carried out simultaneously in various parts of the country with the aim of promoting the role and participation of individuals to achieve peace and spreading a culture of peaceful coexistence.
The Ethiopian Herald June 1/2019
BY ZELALEM GIRMA
