On the occasion of the International Leadership Conference, sponsored by the Universal Peace Federation of Asia, held at United Nations Conference Centre, in Bangkok, Thailand on July 27-30, 2008 with 400 participants from South and Southeast Asia in attendance;
And building on UPF’s international foundation and its global peace initiatives that include:
− South Asia Peace Initiative
− Middle East Peace Initiative
− Balkans Peace Initiative
− Northeast Asia Peace Initiative
− Americas Initiative
− Cross-Straits Peace Initiative
− South Caucasus Peace Initiative
The Southeast Asia Peace Initiative (SEAPI):
• Will build an active partnership between government and civil society, as well as faith-based organizations, the private sector, youth, women, academia, media and sports;
• Will focus on the urgent need for new vision and leadership based on core values and universal principles of peacebuilding;
• Will take a multi-sectoral approach that will embrace and support on-going programs in such areas as: character education, strengthening marriage and family, interreligious reconciliation, service-learning programs, conflict resolution, and sports;
• Will develop in-depth analysis of root causes of conflicts, providing a sound basis for evaluating development and peacebuilding efforts, fostering interreligious and intercultural cooperation; and finally,
• Through its Ambassadors for Peace network, the Southeast Asia Peace Initiative, will support the UN’s mission to secure peace, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, to develop its Peacebuilding Commission, and to encourage interreligious understanding, dialogue among civilization, and the development of a culture of peace.
Specific to the Southeast Asia region, the South East Asia Peace Initiative will work with the UN, nation-states and civil society to contribute from a track II approach. These efforts will address regional-specific issues, such as:
1. Forging a path to reconciliation over the disputed temple on the Thai-Cambodia border
2. Peaceful resolution of the Muslim-Buddhist tensions in southern Thailand
3. Continued development and peace in East Timor
4. Formation of a unity government in Myanmar
5. Reconciliation in Thailand among the political parties, for the sake of national integrity
6. Peaceful resolution of the Taiwan Strait issue
7. Development of an interreligious council within the Association of South East Asian Nations