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Peace Education
Peace Education Conference in Moldova
Written by Mihai Calestru, UPF-Moldova
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Chisinau, Moldova - UPF-Moldova's July 3 conference in Chisinau on "A New Paradigm for Leadership and Good Governance for Peace and Development" concluded with a Legacy of Peace ceremony.
The goal of the conference was to empower Ambassadors for Peace with the UPF philosophy and principles of peace and encourage them to initiate and participate in local peacebuilding projects.
The main presenters were Mr. Jacques Marion (Secretary General of UPF-Eurasia) and Mr. Konstantin Krylov (Secretary General of UPF-Russia). The program included the following presentations: UPF initiatives and accomplishments in 2009-2010, Fundamental Principles of Peace and Development, the Cause of Human Conflict, the Principle of Restoration and Conflict Resolution, and UPF's Vision and Practice in Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding.
Mr. Marion emphasized the need for nations of the former Soviet Union to restore harmonious relations centering on altruism in accordance with fundamental principles of UPF Peace Initiatives.
Former Deputy Minister of Economy Dr. Marin Mazur proposed that UPF to launch a Transnistria Peace Initiative, to help solve in a non-political way, through grassroots diplomacy, one of the oldest conflicts in post-Soviet territories.*
Legacy of Peace ceremony
One moving part of the UPF conference was the Ascension and Unity Ceremony on the theme of "Honoring the Legacy of Peace." Mr. Mihai Calestru, Secretary General of UPF-Moldova, introduced the meaning of the Legacy of Peace ceremony that was initiated by Dr. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon at the United Nations in March 2010 and is being held in nations around the world.
Five international figures honored at the UN ceremony were included (US General Alexander Haig, UN diplomat Hédi Annabi, President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia, President Rodrigo Carazo of Costa Rica, and President Kim Dae-Jung of Korea) together with three Eurasian Ambassadors for Peace: Rolan Bykov (Russian writer), Mr. Victor Mocanu (Moldovan radio director), and Dr. Anatol Stamatin (Moldovan surgeon).
Dr. Otilia Stamatin, Chair of the Faculty of Applied Psychology at the State Teachers University and a long-time Ambassador for Peace, spoke about her husband, who was being honored at the ceremony.
The feedback from participants was good. In their reflections they suggested including in future conferences issues related to peacebuilding initiatives in Moldova and broadening the audience through promoting the content of this seminar in high schools, colleges, and universities.
*After the Republic of Moldova declared its independence in 1991, the small area to the east of the Dniester River that had been part of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic refused to participate and declared itself the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, or Transnistria, with its capital at Tiraspol. After the dissolution of the USSR, tensions between the Moldovan government and the breakaway republic escalated into a military conflict in March 1992, concluding with a ceasefare in July. Although the ceasefire has held, the territory's political status remains unresolved.
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