Siavonga, Zambia—UPF-Zambia in partnership with the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP), held a 3-day orientation seminar for members of parliament, July 28-31, 2017 at Lake Safari Lodge in Siavonga.
A total of 45 participants including the area District Commissioner, journalists and UPF staff attended the seminar. Of these 25 are current members of parliament.
The seminar covered a wide range of topics, including: A New Vision of Leadership; Foundation for Leadership; God’s Ideal of Peace; New Village Movement Program; The Root Cause of Conflict; Principles of Restoration and Peace; Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen; and the Interfaith Peace Blessing.
The seminar was officially opened by the UPF-Zambia Chairman, the former Prime Minister of Zambia, Gen. Malimba N. Masheke who emphasized peace as a bedrock for national development.
IAPP Chairman, Hon. Prof. Geoffrey Lungwangwa echoed the call for peaceful development and gave a brief report on the IAPP program held February 2017 in South Korea.
UPF Secretary General Rev. Rudolf Faerber gave presentations on UPF’s philosophy of peace, while Rev. Abdoulaye Wone gave a presentation on the success of the New Village Movement in Korea as a rapid development model. Rev. Faerber also gave a report and overview of UPF’s activities and sister organizations established in Zambia since 1975. All the members of parliament present were given Ambassadors for Peace certificates and a copy of the founder’s autobiography.
On the second day in the afternoon, participants enjoyed a boat cruise on scenic Lake Kariba, the world’s largest man-made lake and reservoir by volume.
At the end of the seminar the members of parliament issued the IAPP Siavonga Resolutions, which serve as the raison d'être for the new organization and highlights important points of agreement, including: “Lack of effective conflict resolution mechanisms has the effect of bottling up violence among Zambians,” and “Peace is the cornerstone of development, and that we, the parliamentarians in Zambia and indeed elsewhere in the world, have a great role to play in fostering peace and development in our constituencies and nation as a whole.”