Address to World Summit 2020, Seoul, Korea, February 3-8, 2020
Esteemed Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, co-founder of the Universal Peace Federation;
Dr. Thomas Walsh, chairman of UPF International; ladies and gentleman; dear friends:
The circumstances which have put the international community on alert led me to cancel the trip I was about to start to go to Seoul. I felt a deep regret for not being able to join you in person, as I had expected. I would like to thank the president of Korea, President Moon Jae-in, for all the arrangements he had made for my stay in his country. I pay tribute to the memory of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the man of vision and inspiration who founded UPF. We celebrate his centenary this year. I also pay tribute to Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon. For many years, she has been motivated by a deep heart and a wonderful impulse of generosity, and has dedicated much time and a considerable amount of effort to contribute to peace and the welfare of humankind. She has a unique ability to care for some people, while also bringing comfort to others, in order to build a community of love and solidarity. This is a lesson of life, which arouses a profound admiration. I want to express again my respect for her.
My respect also goes to all the members of UPF. Ladies and gentlemen, in these times of havoc and uncertainty, no task is more urgent than to promote dialogue in order to ease tensions and foster mutual understanding. We also have to advocate the peaceful coexistence of people.
It is in this spirit that Senegal had hosted the first summit of UPF on African soil in January 2018.
It is in this same spirit that I humbly accept the Sunhak Peace Prize that you have awarded to me.
I accept it with humility, because, in my eyes, this distinction is not really an end in itself. I rather accept it as an incentive to persevere in the culture of peace and human brotherhood.
I accept it with humility, because I am fully aware that much of this award is owed to the qualities of my people in Senegal; all the various components of our population have maintained, through the ages, a common desire to live together, in respect of their diversities.
Beyond my modest person, this award is therefore a tribute to the Senegalese people; thus, I dedicate this prize to the people of Senegal.
As I accept this award, I also think of all those people whose peace is confiscated by violence and the vagaries of life.
I am thinking of the victims of war and terrorism; of refugees and displaced persons; of those who suffer from xenophobia, racism and racial discrimination, simply because of their origin or the color of their skin.
I decided, in agreement with the Commission of the African Union, to offer the 500,000 U.S. dollars, the amount of Sunhak Peace Prize, to the Union Peace Fund, as a contribution to the peace effort in Africa.
As the laureate of the Sunhak Peace Prize, I shall commit myself to remain faithful to the ideal that brings us together, to pursue the common ideal of the peaceful coexistence of peoples, cultures and civilizations.
May this event be highly successful.
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