By UPF Africa
Written by UPF-Africa
Thursday, May 13, 2022
Africa- The International Leadership Conference 2022 was held by UPF-Africa on May 12 and May 13, 2022. This conference was aimed to promote various initiatives related to the culture of peace, living together and family values guided by the principles of interdependence, mutual prosperity and universal values.
Since 2020, the world has experienced dramatic new upheavals marked by the rise of the Covid 19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, but also in the areas of geopolitics, global economics, education, media, religion and culture at all levels of society.
While there is reason to despair at the many consequences and damages caused, there is also great potential for the emergence of a wide range of opportunities, new ways of looking at our life together as a global family, with innovative ideas and policies that enhance and accelerate human development.
ILC 2022 will feature webinar sessions that will highlight the work and experiences of experts from UPF Associations and Partners. The ILC 2022 will address the challenges, while promoting realistic and hopeful solutions. This event brought together eminent personalities and state authorities who collaboratively deliberated offering ideas and recommendations that contribute to the establishment of a lasting peace in the world.
The main theme of the International Leadership conference was: “Contemporary Challenges to the World Order: The Search for Solutions” and it is also held in commemoration of the 62nd anniversary of the Holy Wedding of UPF Founders, Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon (1920-2012) and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, the Mother of Peace.
Right from the start, an introductive video of UPF activities and works of the founders was shown to the audience in order to see wat has been done until that day. Then the conference started under the leading of Ambassador Adama Doumbia, UPF Africa Regional President and Regional Coordinator of ISCP Africa, as the moderator.
Session one the opening plenary, started with Mrs. Katherine Rigney, Chairman of UPF Africa Region. She started by greeting all the panelists and participants to this ILC and she recalled the mission entrusted to the UPF associations which is none other than to provide a meeting place for world leaders where their wisdom and their experience can be utilized. Their initiatives can be discussed and shared for the benefit and service of global peace. she continued saying that all of the Universal Peace Federation associations committed to building a world of peace in which everyone can live in freedom, harmony, cooperation and prosperity centered on the ideal of our heavenly parents.
Mrs Rigney ended her remarks with those True Mother of peace words: if the heavenly parent is at the center of a community of people united, under the values of interdependence, mutual prosperity, and universal values, all problems can be solved.
Dr. Thomas Walsh, Chairman of UFP International took the floor and expressed his thanks and appreciation for the participation of eminent personalities such as His Excellency, Luc Adolf Tiao, former prime minister of Burkina Faso. His excellency Paul Mba, former prime minister of Gabon and, Excellency Dr. Nevers, Mumba, former vice president, Zambia. He did not fail to pay tribute to His Excellency Dr. Goodluck Jonathan for his involvement and great dedication to the work of peace in the world and in Africa. In his speech, Dr. Walsh mentioned the situation of the pandemic that we are living and the aftermath that it leaves on the world. He ended by saying that Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon advocated for UPF that the role of religious leaders should be more strongly represented in various multilateral institutions their voices heard and their counsel taken seriously to complement the work of diplomats and the representatives of the governments.
H. E. Dr. Nevers Mumba, Vice President (2003-2004), Zambia expressed himself saying; thanks to the organizers for the opportunity to be able to share these thoughts about our changing world and the challenges that we are all facing as a result of the recent developments, you know, global community. A lot it is of the last three years have set the new platform for new possibilities to realize global peace, to anything that happens to us or to the human race. We should always look for the silver lining, the most difficult seasons of world history. It's out of the darkness, seasons of world history that people have resolved. People of vision have come up with solutions that have lived with us for many years. We hope to do the same arising from the calamities that we have faced over the past two years.’’
H. E. Paul Biyoghe Mba, Prime Minister (2009-2012) Gabon was the last speaker of the session. For him: ‘’we should not hesitate to create forums for dialogue and the UPF is a good forum for dialogue where we can discuss with nationals from all continents and this is one of the great advantages of the UPF, we we talk, we discuss, we put forward ideas and we must therefore prioritize dialogue, concerted action between nations. so I think that the FPU has an essential role to play given that the FPU has promoted these events and has a consultative status at ECOSOC in the UN.’’
In closing the session, Dr. Nevers Mumba commended the efforts of UPF and the Africa team for doing everything possible to make this program possible so that our small voice could also be added to try to find solutions to the global challenges we face. Once again, he thanked for the invitation and expressed his willingness to work with the UPF team again. Ms. Katherine Rigney once again thanked the participants and encouraged them to continue by attending all the sessions as planned in the program.
In the second session, the parliamentary session of the conference, the Honorable Issa Mardo, Chair of the Chadian Parliamentary Commission on SDGs, was the moderator. They discussed parliamentary, social and economic perspectives for global peace in relation to the main theme.
In this session, political actors from society came together virtually and gathered their ideas on how to build a world of peace according to their different areas of work.
The Honorable Dan Burton, member of the U.S. House of Representatives and International Co-Chair of the IAPP, gave the opening address and began by recognizing the tireless work of Mother Moon, Dr. Hak Ja Han, who has been the leader, the greatest leader in the world in trying to bring people together to talk about solutions to these problems. For him, "the only way to solve the problems is to talk to each other and for the small voices to be heard by the world leaders. There are many ways to do this. We can do it by holding meetings like the one today. We can do it by bringing our leaders together, like you, and contacting the leaders of countries that might be involved in a conflict."
Hon. Dr. Tulia Ackson, Speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania, represented by Hon. Joseph Mhagama, listed according to her the problems that may be causing the instablilites we are seeing today. Among them, we can find the economic conditions, especially inflation, climate change ...
The Honourable Dekow Falhada, Senator from Kenya, spoke about economic stability. She stated her thoughts as follows: Compared to previous centuries, the less understood challenges of the social, economic and natural system have intensified now, more than at any other time in history, the process of globalization has accelerated dramatically in recent years in the advancement of computer technology. Intense competition for the global market has, however, led to an economic decline.
Hon. Benjamin Andriamitantsoa, former Prime Minister of Madagascar, began by putting forward the image of the current situation as that of a society globally threatened by conflicts of all kinds, as we know from the history of the two wars, taking the example of the situation between Russia and Ukraine and North Korea. "The work of a global village or globalization is evaporating before our eyes.
The honorable shared the notion of family in Malagasy culture which defines all members of the extended family as brothers and sisters and this can extend even to strangers on the street. "The attitude of all individuals included in this society at all levels is important from the national to the global level" and "Education for peace begins with the education of what we define as the other, the other should only be seen as another member of the family" he said and ended his presentation with this appeal: "Our wisdom in Africa must serve as an example to the world which is today engulfed in unnecessary conflicts".
The Honourable Issa Mardo also gave his opinion on the theme. He said: "Parliamentarians have an important role to play, they intervene to vote laws, control the actions of the government and also represent the people in their function. A strong parliament can help the government to better play its role". He also added that the role of parliamentarians is not only local, regional or national, but global.
After a brief question and answer session, Dr. Michael W. Jenkins, President of the International Federation for Universal Peace and International Coordinator of the IAPP, gave the closing remarks: "We have the power to change the state of peace, economic development, and even climate change. We can address each of these issues because we are the voice of the people to the president of the nations and you are the ones who set the budget for your nation. Thank you very much and may God be with you all."
The second day started with the third session which is also the Women's session on the theme “Women Leadership Vision and Perspective For World Peace” with Mrs May Gaye the Communication Director of WFWP Africa and Mrs Kefilwe Lebepe, WFWPI Young Professionals leader as co-moderators.
Hon. Erinah Rutangye began her opening remarks by expressing her gratitude to Reverend Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, the founders of the Universal Peace Federation, who have invested their entire lives for world peace. This is one of the most noble visions I have ever encountered," she said. She expressed her expectations in attending this conference to hear the perspectives of building a world of peace from the experts of different fields who are participating in this event. And she ended by calling on African mothers to unite, to forget all differences and to put their talents at the service of peace in Africa and in the world.
The Honorable Filomena Mendes Goncalves - Minister of Presidential Affairs - Cape Verde; spoke about the necessity and importance of the theme of this ILC by talking about solutions for world peace. She presented the current world situation due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. According to her, "the current crisis increases the strength of inequalities not only at the social and economic level, but it affects especially the inequalities between the sexes. Most of the time, women do not have opportunities and are limited to precarious work. She emphasized the fact that women's leadership can solve many problems that the world is facing today.
Her Royal Highness - Queen Kajwejwete - Elizabeth Nankya - Queen of Bunyala Kingdom - Uganda thanked the organizers for inviting her. She spoke about women's leadership, which contributes to the well being of the community and how we have been involved in making important decisions and in all sectors. She also talked about how we can also ask the government to recognize how much women can do and have an impact on how things are run and even on decision making. In all areas of society.
Professor Dr. Amb. Jared Akama Onyari, President of the African Peace Foundation (Kenya), took over and said, "Let me say that I am very, very proud to be associated with you among the panelists." He spoke about the four challenges facing the world today. The first one he mentioned was Covid 19, the second one is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine which is causing the cost of living to increase. He gave the example of some countries in Africa where the cost of goods and services are increasing. The third challenge facing the world is climate change. Finally, the last challenge according to him is terrorism which the world has been facing for years. He supports the idea of promoting the participation of women as decision makers to solve the problems that the world is facing. To sum up, he concluded by saying the following: "women have a key role to play in facing all the challenges of the world".
H.E. Mrs. Vera Chiluba, First Lady of Zambia (1991-2001), represented by her daughter, expressed her thoughts. For her, "It is very important for us to build an environment where young women have the opportunity to be educated to some degree to enable them to progress in life. However, I also believe that there are other ways to educate, but socially and artistically, and to find the specific skills that lie at the root and build sustainable practices to allow these young people to become self-sufficient and grow into themselves. And one day become women leaders.
Dr. Susan Kone, WFWP Africa International Vice President and IAFLP Africa Coordinator, gave the closing remarks and ended with the words, "We will always be grateful to our founders, Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon for their incredible efforts to create world peace and bring us together to have conversations that allow us to reach out and listen to each other. Let us unite with our founders, Mother and Father Moon, whose vision and dream of uniting the whole world has been the focus of their entire lives. They thought only of how they could unite the world and they have brought us together to this day. So, let us move forward without stopping, women of Africa.
The fourth session was the interfaith session, and was held under the theme: "Contemporary Challenges to the World Order: The Search for Solutions": Perspectives of Civil Society and Religions
Rev. George Ogurie, Sub-regional Director for West Africa and Regional Coordinator of IAPD, the first speaker, Imboni Uzwi Lezwe Dr. Radebe, Founder of the Spiritual House of God, South Africa began by congratulating True Mother on her 62nd wedding anniversary. He said that respecting, accepting and recognizing each other for who we are can make a big difference in our lives and livelihoods around the world. More importantly, global coexistence practiced honestly with true intentions can be meaningful and extremely powerful wherever we are in the world. It is essential that we understand that we are not ruled by humanity but by divinity, and that if our submission to power is misguided, divinity will always find a way to remind us of who it is. Our resolution as a people, then, is to seek spiritual maturity, for through it we will understand that we exist for a purpose. And when we all live for our spiritual purpose, we will discover that the world is a better place where there is a meaningful rule for all to share equally.
From his point of view and in conclusion as an Imboni, our solution to these contemporary challenges lies in our ability and willingness to find balance with our spirituality, individually and collectively.
Dr. Bellow Adetola, World President of the Churches of Celestial Christianity, Togo, stated that there should be a symbiosis between spiritual people to enable the peace we have taken as our theme to be a reality. Dr. Bellow believes that we must find solutions of cordial understanding and peace between civil societies and spiritual people and we must understand that without peace, you cannot build anything. He ended by praising the effort of the Mother of Peace who at every moment asks for prayers, which brings us to meet and join forces to reflect and find solutions.
For Archbishop Prof. Benezer David Mwang'ombe, National President of the AIPD of Tanzania, "to come to the contemporary challenges of the world order, I think first of all, as religious leaders, we can see the problems of loss of moral values, immorality. The problem is that somehow, somewhere, we have lost the good spiritual foundation of our religious leaders. So now, as religious leaders, we have to make sure that we have trained our members in the right way of living, in the spiritual knowledge of our holy books. He believes that religious leaders should not wait alone, but should combine their efforts with the head of state, all parliamentarians, educators, professionals and chiefs. If we do not unite, we cannot win, because this is not an individual war, but a global war that sometimes requires partnerships and affiliations.
The fifth session was the closing session with the theme "Education, Arts and Culture: Prospects for World Peace".
Professor Soumanou Séibou Toléba, former Minister of Culture, Tourism and Handicrafts of Benin as the first panelist of this session started with his main concern which is "How to perpetuate humanity?".
"Because we must preserve our offspring and we must avoid situations of conflict and crisis. So today's conference is certainly going to address also the youth; because we of a certain age, we have already made many mistakes so how to take into account these mistakes to correct many things. From the point of view of education, we should not only limit ourselves to books, but according to the specificity of Africa, we should try to put forward our values. The question is therefore how we will draw the best from others to grow further. We must avoid the disappearance of our cultures, because if the Supreme Being made us with so much diversity, it is so that we can live as brothers and sisters.
Senior Counsel and Advocate Dancun Mwanyumba, former High Court Prosecutor of Kenya, expressed how, through his work, he experienced sharing with others and how he was able to truly understand that we must unite as one family because that is our true essence.
Dr. Jean Delors BIYOGUE BI-NTOUGOU, Rector of the University of Theopolis in Gabon; began his intervention by thanking the organizers who associated him to this round table on a common concern which is peace. For him, we must reconcile ourselves with our own culture in order to promote the peace that society needs to be able to assert itself. This calls for the organizations and ambassadors of peace that we are", he insists on the fact that we must create associations in our different districts for the promotion of the culture of peace.
The Honourable Tahirou BARRY, former Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism of Burkina Faso spoke about the traditional methods of conflict management that exist in Africa and that are effective. There is this way of bringing the victim to accept the forgiveness of the executioner and without any regret afterwards. And for that, there are effective levers that must be promoted in this sense. We also have the establishment of a certain number of state mechanisms such as the High Council for Conflict Resolution and the High Council for Social Dialogue. These are tools that must be equipped, armed to try to treat and prevent cases of conflict. He ended by saying that we have the possibility to create spaces for dialogue. The spaces of dialogue can be created through cultural events that promote living together and tolerance.
For Professor Mohammed Marzuq Abubakari, academician and lecturer at the University of Ghana, it is important that we all understand that depending on where you come from, the factors may be different, and all the factors have played various roles, it is important that we all understand that these factors can be better discussed in the context of leadership. And leadership here can be divided into two, one is global leadership and the second is leadership at different national levels, unfortunately, at the global level, leadership seems to be defined by unfairness and this gives rise to the etymological provocation. At different national levels, especially in Africa, leadership seems to be defined by corruption and this type of corruption gives rise to other malpractices in governance and that is why we can list youth unemployment as one of the problems threatening world peace.
During the closing ceremony, Reverend Jean-Pierre Kadima, Regional President of FFWPU Africa said that it is therefore necessary that this peace be sought, that this harmony be achieved at all levels, that is why, different and eminent panelists have come here to show and talk about peace in the different aspects of human life, starting with researchers, women, young people, historians, religious people so that finally the peace that globalizes everything and brings concord and harmony can be realized on earth. Mrs. Moon, whom we affectionately call the Mother of Peace, is only holding the reins of this peace so that in the end all humanity can live in peace and that is why she is called the Mother of Peace.
Dear leaders, distinguished panelists, you have been eloquent in your presentations and your contribution has reached all those who also understand and work for peace. Together, with all UPF leaders, we are committed to working for peace in Africa.
