Montreal, Canada—On April 10, 2018, 20 people participated in UPF-Montreal’s monthly breakfast meeting. Mr. Famularo, president of UPF-Montreal, reported on UPF’s World Summit held in Dakar, Senegal, on January 18 and 19, in cooperation with the Senegalese government under the chairmanship of H.E. Macky Sall and the Senegalese National Assembly. He discussed the theme of the conference, “A New Africa—Interdependence, Mutual Prosperity and Universal Values,” and how UPF could become a real vehicle for building the bridges needed to achieve shared prosperity for all in Africa.
Mr. Famularo then quickly introduced UPF’s International Leadership Conference held in Korea from February 18 to 22 that brought together 550 politicians, religious leaders and civil society leaders from 90 countries to consider the theme “Building a World of Lasting Peace—Interdependence, Mutual Prosperity and Universal Values.”
Then Mr. Daniel Picot, a director of Religions for Peace, and Pastor King-Kabu who were part of the Canadian delegation to the conference in Korea, shared their experiences. Both were very impressed by the unique opportunity offered by this conference, which allowed elected representatives, religious and community leaders from across the globe to meet together on panels and share in a framework that transcended ethnic, religious and national barriers, to create real bridges of peace. Rev. King-Kabu spoke of the “New Jerusalem” that he experienced, where people of all backgrounds met in an elevated spirit of peace and goodwill. Mr. Picot dubbed the conference, which coincided in part with the Pyeongchang Olympic Games, the “Olympics of Peace."
The breakfast meeting participants, who were from not only political, religious, research and community backgrounds, but also from Africa, the Middle East, Europe and South America, shared their appreciation for such a global and inclusive project.
It was a very uplifting meeting about the potential of UPF to be a central link in building a world of lasting peace.