Victoria, Seychelles—A delegation from UPF-Seychelles participated in the African Summit and Interfaith Family Blessing Festival convened on December 07, 2019, in Johannesburg, South Africa. The delegation consisted of six couples and an individual and included the chairperson of UPF-Seychelles, Mr. Roger Alphonse, and the treasurer, Mr. Jacob Terence Madeleine.
The festival was held at the FNB Stadium in Soweto under the theme “Building a Peaceful and Prosperous Africa Centered on Universal Values.” Its purpose was in part to support efforts of the South African government’s endeavors for peace, prosperity and social cohesion. Invited by the national chapter of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification which included many religious leaders from different denominations, all of whom are advocates of a new and shining Africa of dignity and prosperity, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, the cofounder of the Universal Peace Federation, came to pray for a peaceful and prosperous South Africa and Africa. It is worth noting that the vice-president of UPF-Seychelles, Anna Faerber, was actively involved in duties in preparation for the Seychelle delegation’s arrival, logistics and accommodations and other preparations for the African Summit.
In recent public speeches given in Africa, Dr. Moon has repeatedly called for a “Heavenly Africa,” which refers to the continent’s future as one that realizes God’s ideals of peace, freedom, equality and happiness. “Africa can become the heavenly Africa that attends God, becoming the light of the world. Africa is a blessed continent,” she has said, referring to its position as the birthplace of humanity, the continent's rich natural and human resources, and most significantly, the willingness of many African people, including civic, faith and traditional leaders, to unite with UPF's goal and vision for a world of sustainable peace in which everyone can live in freedom, harmony, cooperation and prosperity.
The Seychelles delegation enjoyed their short stay at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Sandton. During the stay, the chairperson and treasurer of UPF-Seychelles ensured that the couples had an comprehensive overview of UPF and the expectations from them after returning from the African Summit to Seychelles.
This Family Festival 2019, co-organized and co-sponsored by UPF together with Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU)-South Africa, was part of a series of programs that focus on the urgent need for new vision and moral leadership by offering a framework for peace building and development, grounded in its core values and universal principles.
A group of more than 100,000 people from throughout Africa and beyond, including dignitaries from every nation, attended the Family Festival 2019. Additionally, there were former heads of states and governments, presidents of institutions, parliamentarians, government ministers, religious leaders, traditional rulers, women, youth and business and civil society leaders in attendance.
This gathering also served as an occasion for a series of communications related to the development of the Interfaith Association for Peace and Development (IAPD) and of the Project for a Heavenly Africa launched in Dakar, Senegal, in January 2018 by Dr. Moon together with Senegal’s president, Macky Sall.
The Executive Committee of UPF-Seychelles would like to thank UPF and FFWPU-South Africa, for co-organizing and co-sponsoring this Family Festival 2019, and for inviting the Seychelles delegates to the African Summit and Interfaith Family Blessing Festival in Johannesburg.