"Toward a New Paradigm of Leadership and Governance in a Time of Global Crisis"
From January 27 through 29, the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) held in Montevideo, Uruguay, an International Leadership Conference under the theme “Toward a New Paradigm of Leadership and Governance – Latin America and the World.”
The conference began on Sunday, the 27th, with a gala dinner attended by distinguished government figures, high-level diplomats, academics, spiritual leaders and representatives of civil society. Welcoming words were given by Rev. Jung Soon Cho, President of UPF in Latin America and the Caribbean; Dr. Thomas G. Walsh, Secretary General of UPF International; and Mr. Alejandro de Souza, Secretary General of UPF for Latin America and the Caribbean. We appreciated the prestigious presence of the President of The Washington Times, Mr. Douglas Joo; Dr. Antonio Betancourt, Director of Government Relations of UPF International; and Mr. Ricardo de Sena, Director of the office of UN Relations of UPF International. Likewise, we appreciate the work of the Uruguayan team composed of Mr. Jesus Gonzalez, Director of the Uruguayan chapter of the International Educational Foundation; Mr. Jorge Guldenzoph, Columnist of the "Ultimas Noticias" newspaper and Regional Correspondent of UPI; and Mr. Raul Rey Banegas, Secretary General of UPF in Uruguay.
Monday, the 28th began the official agenda of the conference with the Plenary Session under the theme: Toward a New Paradigm of Leadership and Governance in a Time of Global Crisis.
Session II: Building a Worldwide Family under God
Presentation I: God’s Ideal of Peace
Presentation II: Spirituality and Leadership
Session III: Understanding the Origin of Conflicts and the Principles of Reconciliation
Presentation I: The Origin of Conflicts
Presentation II: The Principles of Reconciliation
Session IV: Education for Peace
Presentation I: The Family – School of Love
Presentation II: Character Education
For lunch and dinner, we enjoyed the presence of two distinguished speakers, Prof. Nelson Pilosof, President of the World Trade Center at Montevideo, and Dr. Julio M. Sanguinetti, President of the Republic of Uruguay from 1985 to 1990 and from 1995 to 2000.
|
President Julio M. Sanguinetti |
President Luis A. Lacalle |
Session V: Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution
Session VI: Peace initiatives
Middle East Peace Initiative
The United Nations and the Millennium Development Goals
Session VII: UPF – Ambassadors for Peace
Developing a Latin America Peace Initiative
For lunch on this day, we were also honored with the presence of Dr. Luis Alberto Lacalle, President of the Republic of Uruguay from 1990 to 1995.
Session VIII was the official closing of the international conference; here the Secretary General of UPF International, Dr. Thomas G. Walsh, with fraternal words, encouraged all participants to take an active role in building a world of peace.
 |
 |
 |
In summary, it was a very high-level conference, in number and level of leadership of the participants. This all gave a high level of social relevance, which was reflected in the media coverage about the event.
A total of 350 persons participated. Among the participants were:
2 Ex-presidents (Dr. Julio M. Sanguinetti and Dr. Luis Alberto Lacalle)
Senator Carlos Baraibar, who was present for the entire conference, as well as 4 other Senators.
16 national representatives
1 Minister
2 First Ladies
24 Diplomats
Ambassadors: US, Israel, Russia, France, Switzerland, Ecuador and Bolivia
Business attaches: South Africa and Russia
Consuls: Nicaragua, Cote d'Ivoire, Indonesia and Spain
Press attaches: US and delegations of the same countries
5 Pastors
29 NGO representatives
75 Educators (teachers, professors and inspectors of secondary education)
97 Professionals (psychologists, engineers, architects, doctors, lawyers, etc.)
27 Businessmen
11 Police and Military Officers
12 Journalists (accredited)
Media coverage by television Channels 4 and 12 and various radio and print media
Participants from abroad: 26 persons
12 from Argentina (3 professionals, 1 journalist, 4 educators, 2 Ambassadors for Peace)
6 from Chile (3 businessmen, 2 professors, 1 journalist)
5 from Paraguay (1 senator, 4 professionals)
2 from Brazil (1 pastor, 1 UPF representatives)
1 from Colombia (political analyst and director of an educational institution)
-------------------------------
Translated by Mr. Kenneth W. Whitmore