UPF holds International Leadership Conference in San José, Costa Rica

[Segye Times] “Parliamentarians of the Central American regions must unite and contribute to peace.”

Proclamation to launch the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace/ Parliamentarians of Costa Rica must “contribute to promote human rights”/ Distinguished Service Award for Peace sent to Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon

On the 8th (local time), the UPF held the “International Leadership Conference” (ILC) in San José, Costa Rica, and proclaimed the launch of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (Central America/ Caribbean Sea).

On the 7th (local time), the Chairman of Martial Arts Federation for World Peace Kwon Jin Moon (center), who participated in the launching event of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP) in Central America is taking a photo after receiving the “Distinguished Service Award for Peace” from the Vice-Chairman of the Costa Rican Parliament, Alberto Alfaro, on behalf of the Co- Founder of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon.

In her keynote speech read by the Chairman of Martial Arts Federation for World Peace Kwon Jin Moon, UPF Co-Founder Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon stated, “It is meaningful to launch the IAPP Central American

branch in Costa Rica, who has firmly maintained its position as a symbol of peace in the American continent,” and claimed, “If parliamentarians of the world join together in cooperation for the sake of peace, we can transform the current reality of our world.” She then continued, “I ask the parliamentarians of Central American nations to go beyond the confines of domestic politics and contribute toward world peace,” and emphasized, “You are the representatives of the 7.3 billion people of the world. If you join together in this way, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.” In her keynote speech, Vice-President of Costa Rica H.E. Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría stated, “World peace is an urgent problem confronting the international society and the national governments, let alone the UN,” and further revealed, “I would like to express my gratitude to the UPF for its contribution to world peace through continuous cooperation with governments, civil societies and religious organizations in every country.”

The Parliament of Costa Rica presented the “Distinguished Service Award for Peace” to Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon. Chairman of the Costa Rican Parliament Antonio Alvarez explained the reason for selecting Dr. Moon for the award. “We highly evaluated Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon’s continuous efforts for world peace and the prosperity of humankind,” and said, “They have contributed to the enhancement of global peace and human rights through the UPF they established in 2005.” He then expressed his expectation for the IAPP to contribute ultimately toward achieving peace in the global village.

The Forum of Presiding Officers of Legislative Assemblies of Central America and the Caribbean Basin (FOPREL) and UPF concluded a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in this event.

On the 6th, the “Parliament Invitational Celebratory Event for the Launch of IAPP” was held at the Parliament of Costa Rica with the participation of all 57 parliamentarians, who expressed their enthusiasm for peace and human rights. A representative of UPF-Latin America, Chang-Shik Yang, stated, “A UPF event was formally evaluated and celebrated at the initiative of the Parliament of Costa Rica, a nation who embraces diverse political parties including the Communist Party and the Christian Party,” and explained, “It is impossible to hold such an event without unanimous approval from all parliamentarians.”

Since last February, when the resolution to establish the IAPP was held at the National Assembly of Korea with the participation of Chairman of the National Assembly Eui-Hwa Jung, Vice-Chairman of the National Assembly Gab-Yun Jung and Chairman of Korean Council on Foreign Relations Tae-Ik Jung, UPF has held launching events of regional IAPP branches. The launching event of the IAPP in Central America was held following those in Asia/Oceania (July 28 to 30, Kathmandu, Nepal), West and Central Africa (August 8 to 10, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso) and Europe (September 7 to 9, London, UK). The UPF plans to launch the IAPP officially in Washington, D.C., in the USA in late November after concluding a series of regional launching events in Central and South America, as well as in East Africa…