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S. Kim: Address to Latin America Summit 2018
Written by Rev. Sang Seuk Kim, Regional Chair, FFWPU Latin America
Thursday, August 2, 2018
Address to Latin America Summit 2018, São Paulo, Brazil, August 2–5, 2018
Distinguished Leaders from South America, Central America,the Caribbean, North America and other parts of the world:
It is a great pleasure to give you the warmest welcome to this first, historic Latin America World Summit. At the same time, I feel very honored to be in the presence of notable guests from 39 countries.
Our world is facing a wide range of problems, including territorial disputes, religious and racial conflicts, climate change, poverty, hunger, and corruption,among others. Each of them constitutes a serious threat to human development and to the realization of peace in our world.
Distinguished Leaders,
The founders of the Universal Peace Federation, the Reverend Dr. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Já Han Moon, launched in 2001 the global initiative of "Parliamentarians for Peace," focusing on Ambassadors for Peace. The inaugural tour of the Universal Peace Federation in 2005 to 120 nations brought together many parliamentarians from around the world.
Parliamentarians play a central role in the nations of the world, representing the people, respecting the rule of law and defending human rights. Certainly, parliamentarians are working to build secure, stable and peaceful societies.
That is why, on February 15, 2016, the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea presented the resolution that supports the creation of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP), which has more than 20 chapters in Latin America and more than 100 chapters in the rest of the world.
Among UFP’s initiatives in addition to the IAPP, there are the Interreligious Association for Peace and Development, the International Peace Highway Project, the Sunhak Peace Prize, and the Leadership and Good Governance Award.
Also as a member of the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), UPF seeks to increase the efforts of the UN’s objectives that UPF shares, working in more than 190 nations with other international, regional and national organizations, as well as with the UN, its agencies and related organizations.
In the religious framework, the Interreligious Association for Peace and Development (IAPD) promotes the exchange of ideas, experiences and knowledge to meet the challenges of our time, with particular attention to the consolidation of peace, reconciliation and development, connecting with an extensive network of global leaders of religious and civil society, government leaders, women leaders, media members, peacemakers and more.
Let’s not forget something as important as strengthening families as the fundamental unit of stable societies, improving educational systems and methods to teach our children to live for the good of others and for the good of future generations, who will become the seeds that will bring true peace to our world.
The World Summits of Asia, Oceania, Africa, Europe and the World Summit of Latin America are just samples of the huge effort that UPF has made to create bridges for dialogue, confraternity and initiatives to promote cooperation, the exchange of ideas and the quest for a peaceful world.
Distinguished Leaders,
It is time for humankind to adopt universally shared values. Let's work together to overcome the differences of ideology, race, nationality and religion.
Please make an example of following the path of cooperation and mutual prosperity, building a world of lasting and sustainable peace that can be bequeathed to future generations—what finally is our greatest treasure.
Thank you very much for your commitment to peace.
To go to the Latin America Summit 2018 Schedule page, click here.