Kathmandu, Nepal—UPF-Nepal commemorated the UN International Day of Peace 2021 by organizing a webinar on September 21, on the theme for this year’s Day, “Recovering Better for an Equitable and Sustainable World.” Around 100 people participated in the event, which was broadcast on Facebook Live.
In his chairman’s remarks, UPF-Asia Pacific Chair and former Nepalese government minister Hon. Ek Nath Dhakal spoke of the need for an equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine globally to help all people of the world recover better from the pandemic. One-hundred countries still have not received a single dose of the vaccine.
Dr. Chula Senaratne, senior medical officer at the Colombo South Teaching Hospital in Sri Lanka, said that the word “peace” is important to Sri Lanka because it suffered through a 30-year civil war. UPF founders Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon wanted to change the situation in Sri Lanka and had visited the country, he mentioned. UPF has provided peace education and has presented the principles of peace to policy makers and educators, as well as has met Sri Lanka’s president, he also said.
Hon. Mohamed Hanim, former deputy minister of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Maldives, said that people of all nations, religions and races should think about universal peace. “I am very proud to be a part of UPF, as I believe [it] has great role to establish world peace.”
Prof. Dr. Shree Ram Prasad Upadhyaya, a professor at Tribhuvan University in Nepal, said that Nepal is the land of Lord Buddha. It is a peaceful land and has participated in many UN peacekeeping missions around the world.
Bishop Dr. M.M. Waqas, president of the One in Christ Ministries in Pakistan, expressed his gratitude to UPF for convening this program and underscored the need to raise young people in peace.
Mr. Kesav Prasad Chaulagain, secretary general of the Inter-religious Council of Nepal, said UPF can coordinate all sectors to bring about peace in the world.
Mr. Santosh Kumar Paudel, director of UPF-South Asia, gave the welcoming remarks, and Mr. Binod Dangi, secretary general of UPF-Nepal, moderated the event.