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K. Nailatikau: Address to Summit 2022, Session II
Written by H.E. Adi Koila Nailatikau, First Lady (2009-2015), Fiji
Thursday, August 11, 2022
Address to Summit 2022 and Leadership Conference,
Seoul, Korea, August 11-15, 2022
Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, Dr. Julia Moon, the Moon Family, Dr. Thomas Walsh, your Excellencies, distinguished participants and Universal Peace Federation Family, Ni Bula vinaka and a good afternoon to you all. It is so wonderful to see you all and to be able to speak again in person after so long.
My, how times have changed for travel, and I for one must admit I do miss the ease of travel we had pre-COVID and at the same time I am so grateful for the assistance we received to be able to get through the difficulties of travel we experience now. It goes to show that some values are deeply instilled within our UPF family. My thanks to everyone on the ground at the airport and working from the Philippines and Australia to make bookings work for us and as always, thanks for the wonderful, unwavering hospitality of Korea. Vinaka vakalevu and thank you so very much.
How do we cultivate a culture of Peace? And how do we continue to nurture it despite everything that gets thrown at us, our people and our countries: political issues, division, natural disasters and everyday matters?
Especially with us all going through COVID and still going through it, what allows us to continue to keep peace at the forefront? I believe it is choice and practice. You choose to practice something until it becomes a habit, and the habit becomes a culture with the continued practice of it. As an indigenous Fijian, from the Pacific whose ancestors did not have western literacy to record our traditions and practices on paper, I can tell you it works.
My people chose to practice and passed down all our cultures and customs for thousands of years to ensure they survived with it only being recorded by our own people in the last two centuries. That is important to note because prior recordings lacked accuracy due to the difference in language and in understanding from a subjective viewpoint.
Understanding that, that a story of a people should be told and owned by them and that the values they have need to be chosen and practiced by them is what lays the foundation for me to speak of the unification of the Korean Peninsula.
- The unification of the Korean Peninsula needs to be led by the Korean people with a diversified world support.
- A culture of peace starts with choice and practice and is something we in this room are already doing and are familiar with.
This was evident and beautifully illustrated, from the arrival into Korea and the hospitality shown from the airport right to the hotel. It goes to the heart of the work that the late Reverend Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon have been doing over the last 50 years.
Having a strong family unit, and then extending that love to the Universal Peace Federation family and nurturing it over the years is what will be the foundation for Peace and Unity of the Korean Peninsula.
With over 30 years of experience as a civil servant and politician in my own right, I can honestly attest that the work done here surpasses barriers and obstacles that governments and politicians face since it comes from the heart. It works without wanting anything in return and is from one stable and fortified foundation. Additionally, it is distinct in what Reverend Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon have achieved internationally for the last 50 years.
With Reverend Moon’s passing, Mother Moon has continued this incredible work and is a living example for women. It also speaks to what women are capable of, continue to do and their integral role in achieving peace and passing it on to the next generations.
This was one of the important points we spoke about just before COVID hit in 2019 at the inaugural meeting for the International Association of First Ladies for Peace hosted in the beautiful Republic of Palau by the former First Lady, H.E. Debbie Remegesau. It was a timely year to have it as it was just two months after the United Nations Security Council had just unanimously adopted resolution 2493 which is a recommitment to their original resolution 1325 from the year 2000. That resolution urges States to recommit themselves to its women, peace and security agenda which reaffirms and continues to recognize the most important role that women have in the prevention of conflicts and peacebuilding and the importance of creating safe environments for women leaders, peacebuilders, human rights defenders and political actors around the globe.
Women are a central part of many families and communities, and in the Pacific, it is no different. We women know the medical issues of each person, the strengths and weaknesses, the important dates and what each person does and who could be and should be involved in various activities, as well as being the first contact and teachers for the next generation.
I am sure that most, if not all, the men in this room can attest that it is their wives or their mothers they turn to for valuable information on each member of the family. This practice and knowledge comes naturally from a place where women usually hold the role of mother and nurturer.
In times of disaster and crisis, for us particularly in the Pacific, the rates for women being victims are usually higher than men, in most cases because they are either targeted in times of conflict or in times of natural disasters. It is the women who go back for their children, or for more vulnerable members of the community and family to try and save them, having prior knowledge as to where these people are at a given time.
It has also been more and more realized that because of such knowledge of the family and community and instinct to protect, women are just as capable leaders in not just normal times, but times of disaster. Disasters are becoming more severe and frequent for us in the Pacific and now it is more evident all around the world.
For the Pacific, a huge obstacle for us is the changing climate and, as ocean states, accelerated rising sea levels is claiming our lands, making it slowly impossible to live on, displacing our people across our Pacific Region.
We also acknowledge what the rest of the world has been facing: issues of heatwaves, droughts, extreme rainfall and flooding and it only exacerbates the issues we are facing already with the ongoing pandemic as well as other issues within our own countries.
At this time, I would like to acknowledge the people of Korea for what you are facing now with the recent rainfall and flooding. We stand by you and our hearts, prayers and thoughts are with all those who have suffered and their families.
We as a Global Family must exhaust all means we can to fight this battle against global warming and climate change together.
A hard reality is that climate change is the most serious single obstacle to the full realization of our hopes and vision for our world. It undermines and halts movements for many things within our countries, forcing us to put other important issues on the backburner until we are able to get back on our feet.
How then do we, further to this conference, continue to commit to sustainable peace and development, in our individual countries, region and globally?
We choose to practice and commit. Our conference today allows us to continue to make that commitment to support peace in the Korean Peninsula, promoting peace and justice, and has always given space and opportunity for women to speak, lead and be acknowledged for their incredible work alongside men. I thank the Federation and Dr. Julia Moon for us all to be able to do so.
These summits, online and in person, remind us of the overall cause we fight for together, the commitments we make and the importance of unity in this movement toward peace.
On that note, I would like to share with you a quote from the Pacific that speaks to this. First, let me give some background. For those of you who are unaware, the Pacific is a vast region. It contributes to 70% of the world’s ocean territory and is shared by just over 20 countries. We are small populations with a huge ocean space, all united in our common challenges and kinship ties.
Our land and ocean teach us of unity and harmony. We are dependent on them for survival and they in turn depend on us to be sustainable with our practices and allow them to replenish as they should. Our sisters and brothers in Palau put it so beautifully in their declaration: “It is the fabric of unity upon which we have woven individual and collective relationships and agreements on sustainable development, now and into the future. It is our Life and our Future.”
We learned that with our scattered islands we are stronger as one people, though we have our cultural differences. Our islands and our ocean tie us together as different cultures but one Pacific people. As a Pacific people, we have a way called The Pacific Way that best describes how we achieve things. I quote: “People of different races, opinions and cultures can live and work together for the good of all. People can differ without rancor, govern without malice and accept responsibility as reasonable people intent on serving the interests of all.”
In this room now, we are all of different races and backgrounds but we all have common vision that allows to see beyond our differences for the common good—as long as we continue to believe in this, commit to this, and practice it individually as well as a collective. I truly believe we can achieve the peace we want in our lifetimes.
Kamsahamnida, vinaka vakalevu, thank you very much.
To go to the World Summit 2022 Schedule page, click here.