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S. Siphana: Address to Summit 2022, Session II
Written by H.E. Dr. Sok Siphana, Chairman, Asian Vision Institute, Cambodia
Thursday, August 11, 2022
Address to Summit 2022 and Leadership Conference,
Seoul, Korea, August 11-15, 2022
Excellencies, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, I am truly honored to be part of this International Leadership Conference which has as its thematic focus, “Contemporary Challenges to Global Order: The Search for Peace, Security and Sustainable Development.” This session on the work of UPF Associations and the Think Tank 2022 is certainly a very interesting contribution to the Conference.
At the outset, let me first congratulate the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) for its tremendous efforts in mobilizing a worldwide network of professionals to organize this high-level event, with indeed great success. I am confident that this forum will serve as an important platform to contribute in a significant way to the promotion of peace, stability and development in the region and beyond.
My organization, the Asian Vision Institute (AVI), has been working very diligently with UPF to advance our collaborative ideas and objectives to promote cooperation on peace and peace-related research, dialogues and training programs. AVI is an independent think tank based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was founded four years ago with the mission to promote peaceful, inclusive, sustainable and resilient societies in Asia by connecting people, connecting knowledge and connecting action. In a very short time, we have become the most influential think tank in the country, having earned the respect from key government ministries and both houses of the Cambodian Parliament.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is worth recalling that at the 6th Rally of Hope in 2021, Think Tank 2022 was established to address critical challenges of our times, especially those that threaten peace in the Asia Pacific region, with a special focus on the Korean Peninsula. As a global network of multi-stakeholder experts, this Think Tank 2022 aimed to provide solutions to critical global challenges, while promoting interdependence, mutual prosperity, and universal values of love and peace.
It is a great honor to have H.E. Ban Ki-moon serving as the Chair of Think Tank 2022. AVI, based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia was proposed to act as the Asia Pacific Secretariat for Think Tank 2022. With the full endorsement of the Royal Government of Cambodia and the UPF, AVI was entrusted with this big responsibility to promote and facilitate peace, dialogue and mediation, but particularly to strengthen the ecosystem for peace in the Asia Pacific region.
Speaking of peace, my Prime Minister, Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, was honored to receive the Sunhak Peace Prize at the last UPF 2022 World Summit in February this year, here in Seoul. At that World Summit, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, and H.E. Ban Ki-moon worked together to deliver the “Seoul Resolution 2022: Toward Sustainable Peace and Prosperity on the Korean Peninsula.” This Resolution recognizes that the Korean War, which started in 1950, was concluded with an armistice, not a peace treaty, which has left the once unified Korean Peninsula divided, despite being populated by a people with a common history, culture and language.
At that Summit, it is noteworthy that to foster peace and shared prosperity for the region and beyond, Samdech Techo Hun Sen envisioned establishing a Mekong Peace Park, not just for the Mekong River nations but also for the wider Asia Pacific region. Samdech Techo Hun Sen is well known for his Win-Win Policy which had brought an end to several decades of civil war in Cambodia. He has been dedicating his life since then to peace, prosperity and progress in the Mekong region and the advancement of the ASEAN Community, and certainly to the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula. I am pleased to let you know that this Mekong Peace Park initiative has received the full support of the UPF.
Excellencies, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, as the Secretariat of the Think Tank 2022, AVI has the mandate to provide platforms for dialogue on five peace themes, namely: culture for peace, diplomacy for peace, sustainable development for peace, food for peace, and youth for peace.
AVI has persevered in our contribution to the initiation of the Asia Pacific Union (APU) as per the Phnom Penh Declaration that was adopted at the Asia Pacific Summit in 2019. We have also undertaken the implementation of the Seoul Declaration 2022, with activities all aimed at supporting the peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula based on the initiative of the “Two States toward One Nation: One Peninsula, One Culture, One People.”
We have worked recently on a Concept Note for the creation of a Universal Peace Charter, driven by the six interconnected core principles of peaceful co-existence, mutual respect, tolerance, unity in diversity, non-interference, and peaceful settlement of disputes and differences. This Universal Peace Charter thus embraces the tenets of the United Nations in promoting peace, tolerance and sustainable development in the context of a complex new world order, characterized by conflicts between societies and nations.
Moreover, at the recent international conference held last July in Phnom Penh we called for the reuniting of millions of separated families as well as the promotion of Cultural Corridors to connect peoples and civilizations toward peace building based on humanity and humanism for sustainable peace and prosperity.
Excellencies, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, aside from these key achievements, AVI, as the Secretariat of the Think Tank 2022, has organized several activities and projects thus far. Let me name just a few major ones:
(1) A series of Think Tank 2022 Peace Forums, which is a Track 1.5 dialogue seeking to further connect people, knowledge and action on peace-making and peacebuilding on the Korean Peninsula, in the Mekong region and the wider Asia-Pacific region;
(2) A series of Think Tank 2022 Sherpa Meetings, which are aimed at soliciting input from experts in preparation for the World Summit;
(3) The Mekong Peace Boat, which is a project aimed at offering dialogue platforms and training programs on diplomacy, mediation, peace and leadership which will be conducted on a Mekong River cruise;
(4) Think Tank Public Lecture Series, which is a bi-monthly public lecture series with a focus on peace in general and case studies on peace, conflict resolution and mediation diplomacy in the Mekong region and the Korean peninsula;
(5) We have established a Peace Resource Centre to serve as an E-library to compile documents relevant to peace, including local, regional and international cases that will provide value and support to the UPF in its work that contributes towards peace and stability in the Asia Pacific region; and finally
(6) We have initiated a Peace Research and Publications department which mainly focuses on peace and peace-related issues.
To conclude, I would like to stress that AVI’s goals are aligned with UPF’s firm belief that the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula will bring greater peace, stability, prosperity and development not only to the Korean Peninsula, but also Northeast Asia and the world at large. On this optimistic note, let me say Thank You for your attention.
To go to the World Summit 2022 Schedule page, click here.