South Asia Peace Initiative
In various nations of South Asia, UPF is promoting peace and cooperation through leadership consultations and grassroots activities. Bringing youth from diverse backgrounds together to build bridges of understanding respect and serve a local community are the focus of programs in Afghanistan, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In Nepal, programs focus on reconciling political divisions, addressing conflicts, and cultivating the spirit of one family under God. In India, leadership consultations promote interreligious cooperation and encourage good governance. In Bangladesh, promoting interreligious dialogue and strengthening marriage and family are ongoing programs. Scroll down for reports.
- Written by: UPF-Asia
The founding document of the Southeast Asia Peace Initiative, inaugurated during the International Leadership Conference, sponsored by the Universal Peace Federation of Asia, held at the United Nations Conference Centre, in Bangkok, Thailand on July 27-30, 2008
- Written by: Robert Kittel, UPI Correspondent
Kathmandu, Nepal — Nepal’s newly elected Constituent Assembly declared this nation a democratic republic on May 28, 2008, and ended the monarchy that had ruled for the past 240 years.
- Written by: Robert Kittel, UPI Asia Online
Kathmandu, Nepal - The election results that are emerging in the tiny Himalayan nation of Nepal are a surprise to nearly everyone. No one could have imagined the landslide victory for the Communist Party Nepal-Maoist, in both the direct and proportional elections.
- Written by: Robert Kittel, UPI Correspondent
Kathmandu, Nepal - Nepal's first elections in nine years were disrupted by scattered incidents of violence across the country April 10, 2008, but overall the elections were hailed as peaceful.
- Written by: Robert Kittel, UPI Correspondent
KATHMANDU, NEPAL: The special representative of the U.N. secretary-general in Nepal, Ian Martin, Tuesday called the Nepalese peace process "unprecedented," two days ahead of the country's first general elections since a 2006 peace accord ended 10 years of armed conflict.
- Written by: Dr. Chula Senaratne, Secretary General, UPF-Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA - Basketball clinics and peace lectures drawing on texts held sacred in Sri Lanka's multi-religious society were highlights of a recent Youth Leadership Development program in Sri Lanka. About 60 Sri Lankan youth attended the March 28-30, 2008, seminar at the Subodhi Center for Integral Studies in Moratuwa, Colombo.
- Written by: Robert Kittel, UPI Correspondent
KATHMANDU, Nepal – A “Movement for the Underprivileged” was launched in Kathmandu on March 11, 2008, to forge relationships between businesses and NGOs to help alleviate poverty.
- Written by: Dr. Robert Kittel, UPI Correspondent
KATHMANDU, Nepal - As Nepal faces the uncertainty of elections and an indefinite bundh, or strike, in the southern Terai region, the perfect match between entrepreneurial expertise and not-for-profit networking has been hammered out in a matter of hours in the capital city.
- Written by: Dr. Robert S. Kittel and Dr. Kishor Rajbhandari
Mention Nepal and the mind conjures images of mountains, trekking, and spiritual quests—all seemingly overlapping one another. Buddhist monasteries, meditation, and mantras; museums and thangka paintings; Vedic instruction and picturesque shrines.
- Written by: Dr. Robert Kittel, Director of Peace Education, UPF-Asia
Kathmandu, Nepal - Cooperation between civil society and the government of Nepal broke new ground on Jan. 16, 2008 at the "Parliamentarians for Peace" program at the Parliament Secretariat Hall.
- Written by: Dr. Robert Kittel, UPF-South Asia
Kathmandu, Nepal - Nepalese leaders from three major political parties found common ground at a South Asia Peace Initiative seminar in Kathmandu on Dec. 2, 2007.