Lisbon, Portugal—UPF held an event for two of the international holidays of the United Nations: the International Day of Living Together in Peace, celebrated on May 16, and the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, celebrated on May 21.
After almost three years, UPF again was able to hold an event not only online but also in person at the Lisbon Peace Embassy.
The event was planned as a "discussion and brainstorming" forum to animate and make this event more productive based on the theme "A Culture of Peace: Coexistence and Dialogue through Education and Diversity.”
About 40 people attended the event on June 25, 2022, both online and in person, including several Ambassadors for Peace.
After the UPF Board secretary opened the program, the UPF-Portugal president offered welcoming remarks. He recalled that June 25 was the day in 1950 when the Korean War began, a fratricidal war in which 16 United Nations member states sent their military to support South Korea.
The program started with the video Summary of the Korea Peace Summit 2022, followed by the first two speakers:
Elder Joaquim Moreira, the national director of the Mormon Church (in person);
Professor Paulo Mendes Pinto, the coordinator of the Science of Religions Department, Lusophone University of Lisbon (online).
After a brief musical moment, a second video was shown: World Peace and the Vision of the Three Universal Principles of UPF.
This was followed by the other two guest speakers:
Professor Nuno André, a professor and researcher, New University of Lisbon (online);
Dr. José Luís Tavares, an advisor to the councilor, Housing, Works and Local Development, Lisbon City Hall (in person).
After the four interesting perspectives that, although coming from different areas, were complementary, the forum was opened to the participants.
Through the interaction with speakers some interesting points of view were put forward, deserving of concluding words from each speaker.
In his closing speech, the president of UPF-Portugal spoke on "Turning Point Era! Paradigm Shift." He highlighted the objectives and the importance of the work that UPF has been doing all over the world. The world situation currently is more dangerous and uncertain, he said, which requires us to work together for a character education that helps and acts in the prevention of future problems.
To watch a recording of the event (in Portuguese):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iaEZp0didLgm4RSInOqlU0nVMuPlvKY5/view?usp=sharing