[Newsis]

International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP) Holds the Asia-Oceania Foundation Ceremony in Nepal on August 28.

The IAPP Asia-Oceania Foundation Ceremony was held at 7 pm (local time) last August 28, at the Hyatt Regency Kathmandu Hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal.

This foundation ceremony, which was hosted by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) and sponsored by Nepal Peacebuilding Initiative and the Parliamentarians Peace Council, etc., was administered as the opening ceremony for the International Leadership Conference (ILC), which would be held until the 30th, starting from that day. 

At this event, a few hundred sitting congressmen attended, including H. E. Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, the current Prime Minister of Nepal; Hon. Ek Nath Dhakal, the Minister of the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction of the Government of Nepal, etc.; and over 120 current congressmen from 29 nations including India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Bhutan, Sikkim, etc., of the Asia-Oceania region; as well as more than 800 religious leaders, women leaders, journalists and private organization leaders, etc., from each country.

Congressmen Duk-Kwang Bae (Saenuri Party) and Jong-Seong Lim (The Minjoo Party) also participated from South Korea.

H. E. KP Oli, the current Prime Minister of Nepal, said in his welcoming address, "At this ILC, which will be held three days from today, the participants will discuss the core problems of this modern age. The most important part of this conference is that we have all gathered in one place to work together. We have gathered here to create a peaceful and prosperous world, a world of community." He expressed his hopes saying, "The people are destroying the earth even at this moment. They are destroying humanity. I sincerely hope that we can create a world where everyone can live in happiness by truly changing the people and forming a society based on morality. There are many problems that we need to solve, such as family problems, ideological conflicts, climate change, poverty, terrorism, etc., but we will be able to find the solutions through your wisdom. This conference will bring a positive wind of change."

Jose De Venecia, former Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, said in his keynote address, "I hope that the message of peace will pass through Kathmandu and India to ISIS, Syria, Iraq and all of Africa. I pray that the peace, which UPF is striving to achieve, will go beyond Asia and out to the whole world. We need to overcome the problems of starvation, poverty, climate change and religious extremism. I congratulate Nepal, who had sacrificed many lives through 10 consecutive years of civil war, is now established as a democratic country. I am surprised at this cataclysmic change from conflict to peace, and from a kingdom to a democratic country. The great nation of the Himalaya Mountains must become a model nation of world peace."

Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, founder of Family Federation for World Peace and the founder of UPF, especially asked everyone to join hands together for world peace, through her message, which was read in the keynote address by Professor Yeon-Ah Moon, International President of the Women's Federation for World Peace (WFWP): "We can change the world if the politicians all around the world, who represent their fellow countrymen, work together for peace. We can create a world of everlasting peace by living in happiness and harmony. Nothing is impossible if all of you, who represent the 7.3 billion citizens of the world, become one."

The International Parliamentarians for Peace Association began by sympathizing with the necessity of an international network and the joint disposal of the international society towards the problems that endanger the realization of a peaceful world and the development of humanity, such as territorial disputes, religious rivalries, racial conflicts, environmental damage, climate change, violent extremism, poverty and starvation, as well as nuclear proliferation, etc., which endanger the existence of humanity.

Previously on February 15, the resolution ceremony to support the founding of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP) was held at the National Assembly of South Korea. On this day, a total of around 450 participants, including 150 current National Assembly Members from 40 nations, key representatives including journalists and religious leaders from 60 nations, attended to make a firm resolution to support the founding of IPPA. At that time, National Assembly chairman Eui -Hwa Chung, Vice Chairman Gap-Yoon Jeong and Korea Council on Foreign Relations leader Tae-Ik Chung, etc., lent their support as congratulatory speakers.