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UN International Day of Families 2022
Asia Pacific Celebrates International Day of Families
Written by UPF-Asia Pacific
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Bangkok, Thailand—UPF-Asia Pacific virtually held the opening session of the 12th Asia Pacific Leadership Conference (APLC), on the theme, “Providing Vision and Leadership for Nation-Building and Peace,” and a celebration of the UN International Day of Families 2022, on May 14. The session was attended by 60 participants on Zoom and has been viewed more than 700 times on Facebook and other social media platforms.
The APLC is a monthly virtual conference organized by UPF-Asia Pacific to provide deeper peace education to dignitaries and potential Ambassadors for Peace who have been supporting the work of UPF.
Hon. Ek Nath Dhakal, chairman of UPF- and the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP)-Asia Pacific, warmly welcomed the participants and delivered the opening remarks. He gave a brief background of UPF and its efforts toward achieving peace and harmony around the world. He highlighted that UPF-Asia Pacific has been closely working with the governments of numerous countries, especially that of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Afterwards, congratulatory remarks were given by Mrs. Annie Andanar, special assistant to former Philippines President H.E. Gloria Arroyo. She expressed her profound gratitude and congratulations to the APLC. She mentioned that the work UPF has done to heal broken families has been widely recognized and is remarkable. She concluded her speech with uplifting words, saying: “As brothers and sisters under one God, let us hold hands together and look more at our similarities than our differences. Let’s dedicate our lives to our children and for the future generations.”
After Mrs. Andanar’s beautiful and touching message, a congratulatory song, “Alo I Ou Faiva,” was sung by Mr. Lani Alo from Samoa for strengthening family relationships, which was followed by a commemorative group photo.
Dr. Robert S. Kittel, co-chair of UPF-Asia Pacific, gave the first lecture, titled, “The Need of Universal Principles.” He expounded on the definition of universal principles and gave a brief overview of the APLC course. Dr. Kittel explained that the universal principles UPF teaches applies to everyone, thus understanding these principles will lead us to understand the purpose of our lives. He emphasized the importance of living for the sake of others and honoring the sacredness of marriage as ingredients that will contribute to a world of peace. He also mentioned that UPF co-founder Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon was a genius in that he was able to discover the universal principles and convey them in a manner that people can understand easily. The family as the basic unit in society is the foundation of character and moral values of an individual. He concluded by stating that the celebration of the UN International Day of Families, whose theme this year was “Families and Urbanization,” is an apt time to appreciate the role of the family in society and not become isolated by urbanization which is one of the most important megatrends shaping our world today. However, we have to manage urbanization to benefit families and enhance the well-being of all generations living in cities.
The program closed with an announcement about the celebration of the UN International Day of Families. Dr. Venus G. Agustin, vice chairman of UPF-Asia Pacific, moderated the event.
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