WFWP activities in Europe, 2019 — Carolyn Handschin · Following the Stories of Real People

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WFWP activities in Albania Albania April 2018 – November 2019

During the year 2018, Albanian WFWP has organized many activities with the focus of educating women, young people and promoting the ideal of living for the sake of others on many levels in society. From February to May 2018, WFWP has presented a series of character education lectures in a public school in Tirana. Our representative, Dorina Ndrejaj gave 16 presentation to around 40 students each time. At the end of this project we donated chairs to the preschool department of the school. The chairs were purchased with the funds gathered by our sisters in Germany.

WFWP Austria is active in three cities: Vienna, Austria p. 1/2 Linz (Upper Austria) and Feldbach (Styria )

WFWP- Austrian Branch is registered as “Österreichische Frauenföderation für Weltfrieden” as an association since December 1992.

Suzuko Hirschmann has been continuously working in Styria (hometown of her husband). Her area of activity: Competitions with children’s paintings “My Home and my Family” (in cooperation with WFWP Japan); these are greatly appreciated and supported by the school directors and town mayor. One school director Mrs Hirschmann has been cooperating with, became an MP. Recently Mrs Hirschmann was invited to speak as a Japanese representative at a symposium Mrs. Spiegl, School -director, Suzuko H., Town Mayor commemorating 150 yrs of friendship between Japan and Austria.

*** Linz – Upper Austria: Mrs Therese Heitzinger; Therese started intense WFWP activity in Upper Austria already in 1992/93; Recent events: *Celebrating “International Day of Women” March 2019, with speakers from China, Somalia, France and Austria; Ms Somara Gölser spoke on Dignity of Women; Therese Heitzinger shared the WFWP vision. We concluded with sharing Holy Juice and singing the Renate Aesbauer., Therese Heitzinger, song “Kumbaya” led with a strong voice, our friend Suad Mohamed, Somara Gölser, Hong Ju Florence Stiawa from Kenya.

*** Vienna: We have Jour Fixe of WFWP Austria and GWPNW once a month. Current reports and programs are shared. We are working as Global Women´s Peace Network in Vienna since 2015, so we always ask the other organisations present to briefly introduce themselves and their program as well. It is a way we get to know other organisations, cultures, representatives of UN bodies, connecting with embassies etc. On many occasions we cooperate with UPF and recently also with YSP!

WFWP Austria - UN Activity Austria (since March 2013) p. 2/2

In October 2018 we held our 7th conference on “Global Citizenship Education” at UN Vienna “Sustainable Peace through Education and Reconciliation” #SDG16: The topic found great interest, especially because of its timeliness: The reconciliation between Ethiopia and Eritrea after 20 years of war and closed borders had just taken place in June that year!

We were supported by the Embassy of Costa Rica, HE Mr Solano ORTIZ, by Embassy of Dominican Republic: HE Mrs Lourdes Gisela VICTORIA - KRUSE and the Honorary Consul of Mali, Mr Mamadou KONE; further Ms Petra BAYR, Member of Parliament, supported through her speech about the genocide in Rwanda and how it could have been prevented! To prevent war the tensions, that are in almost every society need to be bridged through communication and the readiness to serve, healing historical conflicts and pain. Two young ladies from Eritrea, explained how the fight for liberation of their country has been paralleled by the striving of freedom for women. Ms Etenes Hadis from Ethiopia and founder president of “African women’s organisation, that embraces 28 nations where FGM (female genital mutilation) is still a topic to be dealt with, shared the current situation of her country.

This year for the 3rd time WFWP –Austria could organise a side event at the “Commission of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice” attended by around 2000 international delegates:

“GOLDEN RULE in Daily Life Education preventing Crime resulting from Intolerance and Discrimination”. We introduced a view about the importance of character education, parents –teacher cooperation and how to create a good environment. We were again supported by HE Solano ORTIZ, permanent mission of Costa Rica, The Director Vienna International School, the Director of a Primary School, the Program Director for school curricula at Austrian study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ASPR) www.aspr.ac.at. And the UNODC Officer- in-Charge on Drug Prevention, Treatment & Rehabilitation Section introducing the “Strong Families” program. Closing remarks by the Hon Consul of Mali.

WFWP- Austrian members frequently attend conferences at UN that are organised by other organisations, eg. UPF, UNODC, OSCE.

France WFWP France report

29/09/2018 Bridge of Peace in the city of Wattrelos (North part of France) together with WFWP Belgium at the occasion of International day of Peace

Flee market to help a school in Senegal and the WFWP activities {2018)

July 2019: Partnership with another NGO on the theme: Women today at the crossroad of cultures

11 October 2019: International day of the girl

Germany WFWP Germany report “Frauenföderation für Frieden e.V., Deutschland Our main event at the end of 2018 was the WFWP Annual Conference, 16.-18.11 . 18, in Tirana/ Albania, with 4 Repras. from WFWP/Germany, including J Guestspeaker.

On 30th of March 2019 we held our lDay- ational Annual Meeting in Frankfurt/Main with 40 participants from WFWP and UPF, we heard reports on CSW 63/USAfrom our young sec.gen .Vicepres.and we had sessions with 2 guestspeakers on the topics: Reconciliation after warsituation and Energytherapy. Carolyn Handschin, WFWPI UN/Europe Pres. gave lecture about her work with UN in Geneva, Brussels and CSW USA, to give us basic information why UN-Work is so important.

We printed new outreach material (leaflets) with information about WFWP, our concepts and goa ls, to inform our contacts in our regions and to find more members and guests.

During Pcntccoast some WFWP Sisters atttendcd Fam.Fed.Festival with 400 Participants in Cambcrg, with WFWP-Info-Pavillon: to do Advertisement for Africa-Projects in Bagandou/Centralafrica and Kamerun and to collect some money to support Schools and projects for women there. We finance on a regular base teachers and school material and from now on micro credits for Women in Bagandou, a big project from a native member living in Berlin.

From 03.-05.05.19 we came with l l Sisters from Germany for International, lnterreligious Bridge of Peace to Prag/Czech.Rep., EUME-Reg.Leader with his wife also attended . Germany could” reconcile” with 11 former enemy countries, Angels of Peace from Russia performed and there was more then 80 Participants from East- andWesteuropean Countries.

In Germany we have local community groups in bigger cities like Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Dtisseldorf, Gie8en, with different activities like Lectures on UN-Days, women brunches, excurses to special places in Stuttgart and in Munich-Region. In other cities there is cultural- and creative programes for friends and guests, also with our contacts to refugees and ladies from different religions and backgrounds some sisters arc working on a regular base.

Other important event on 13th of May 2019 was the meeting with Waris Dirie (SunhakPeacePriceWinner 2019) in Heidenheim, with GermanWFWP -Pres. during Benefiz-Konzert, where Waris D . gave speech, danced with youth choir and afterwards on booktable she explained about her experiences in Korea and signed some books and leaflets for WFWPGermany.

GlobalWomensPeaceNetwork held its WFWPMiddleEastConference from 30.09.-2.10.19 for the first time in Berlin, Germany, because of the peaceful end of 30 years Wall and iron curtain between East- and West. Around 40 special guests and speakers from MiddleEstCountries attended and German WFWP Pres. could make connections to many of them . Even from Japan 30 Ladies came and listened to lectures. WFWPI SeniorVicePres.Sun JinMoon with Husband attended and there was Special Meeting afterwards with Members from Northern Region and Berlin, where she shared many experiences about here early life, she answered questions from heart to heart, introduced yoga to us and gave advices concerning healing inner wounds.

We attended with 4 WFWP Sisters EastEuropeanSummit in Tirana/Albania, from 25.-28.10.19, joined sessions, and supported the Banquet. Here we could network with many Ladies and deepen our relationship with participants from Balkan-Region. We are sending out a regular german newsletter 2- 4 times a year to our around l 00 members and to friends ofWFWP, with reports from our activities all over Germany, incl. important European and WorldEvents.

We receive and send regularly reports from some city-reprasentatives and from German WFWPPres., to inform all members around the nation. We inform Gen .Affairs, Centralregion about our activities and take part in meetings with UPF on city and national level to work closer together and to support each other. One other main effort is to find more young ladies to take responsibility, since two years we have sec .gen . for VicePres. Position and for News letter and Website. We continue to work close together on European level , with UPF, with our young generation and we communicate on a regular base via Zoom and WhatsApp.

Great Britain WFWP Great Britain report p. 1/2

ANNUAL NATIONAL YOUNG WOMEN’S SPEECH CONTEST 5th OCTOBER 2019 UK

As one of the economical social and political developments, the Womens Federation launched an educational public speaking program - solely sponsored by the UK chapter of the Womens Federation for World Peace. Since 2015 this program has provided a remarkable platform for the young women of today to speak their minds, to deepen their thoughts, to speak a truth, to give us an insight into their beliefs and values they continue to fight for everyday. The gift of public speaking is not one to be undermined for it is powerful. For that is when people come together; when individuals express a truth, their truths. The theme this year 2019 was “Career, marriage, motherhood and I” On Saturday, 5 October, the Annual Young Women’s Speech Contest (YWSC) crescendoed with the National Finals in Central London, with seven finalists sharing their powerful, raw, and relevant stories in front of 80+ people, as well as many words of wisdom for all gathered.

Indeed it was a long-awaited culminating point for the finalists, as they had each undergone a rigorous process in qualifying for the National Finals. This is the first year that the contest began at the regional level, taking place in various cities around the UK, with the regional finalists moving on to the national level. All regional finalists submitted their original written compositions and were telephone interviewed, and from there seven finalists were selected to go on to the national finals. There, each finalist was evaluated in their speaking skills, content, presentation, and Q&A responses to judges.

Each speech was powerful and vastly different from each other - in personality, character and experience - and yet, there were many relatable common themes, including issues with social media and how it portrays an image of a “perfect life” that often pressures and confuses girls and young women to “have it all” without knowing how or what they themselves really want. Other strong themes that came up included battling contradictory expectations placed on women in the workplace, dealing with gender inequality face to face, and exploring our female/feminine identity. I I I I a I. I I Ms. Sharon Kabubi, the contest’s MC, then welcomed everyone and explained that this contest is to provide participants with the opportunity to express their truths, and for the audience to be inspired by today’s generation and tomorrow’s leaders.

Great Britain WFWP Great Britain report p. 2/2

The first place winner, Sanjana Poddar, spoke eloquently about her vision of how women are meant to experience and balance all four topics within the overall contest theme: “Career, Marriage, Motherhood and I.”She urged us all to think more open-mindedly about what gender equality really means for women, that on an individual level they must also think honestly and creatively about what works for them and decide to live the kind of diverse, full-of-different-terrain path, if they so desire.

The second place winner, Zaharan Sofi, started out with describing her passionate feelings towards the contest theme, as she felt there to be a lot of misunderstanding and mistreatment around each topic within the theme: “Career, Marriage, Motherhood & I.”

In Somalia, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) affects 98% of women - Zaharan shared that she is fortunately amongst the 2% that did not have it, thanks to her mother. She shared that her mother had strongly refused to her daughter having a female circumcision, going against the cultural trend. Her mother wanted her to be happy with herself because “there are no second chances” in life.

The third place winner, Tracy Musyoki, also works in a male-dominated company in global logistics where she regularly and directly experiences gender inequality. She described the “impostor syndrome” phenomenon in her workplace, where she and her other female colleagues and seniors feel like they do not belong in their positions.Tracy expressed that she tries not to be problematic - to keep calm and hold back her real thoughts. She described her intersectional identity, in that she is both black and a woman, and the challenges of that combined identity not being understood or respected.

After the winners and runner ups were announced, the heads of the YWSC committee and the judge panel all came up to offer words of wisdom and encouragement to the finalists and the audience.

Asmah Ahmed, Co-Chair of the YWSC Alumni Network, shared from the perspective as a previous YWSC finalist herself that what you take away with you from participating in this contest, regardless of the outcome, is the journey of reflection within yourself.

She shared that the purpose of the YWSC and the alumni network is for the participants to engage in a journey of self reflection and to express personal views on issues; to empower young women to continue this venture and support in their development; and to raise public speakers and community leaders. We plan to hold a series of young women’s empowerment /training summits. A very special thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who made this event and all regional events leading up to it a success! And a huge heartfelt thank you and recognition of the YWSC committee whose countless hours of sincere effort made all this possible: Mitty Tohma, Christa Rennie, Sharon Kabubi, Asmah Ahmed, Gloria Acuna Velasquez, and Keishin Hoshiko. Thank you (all full speeches available on request, plus reports from 2015 speech contests)

Hungary WFWP Hungary report

November, 28th 2019, By: Parisa Nagy, President of WFWP in Hungary

Global Women Peace Network

We started the GWPN in 2017 in Hungary. Through different programs we organize we always try to search and reach out to other NGOs and people to work together. We can learn from their experiences and we share our value system and view of how as women we can contribute to realize World Peace.

„Discover who we really are”

I am pasionate to talk with ladies about the value of being woman and discover who we really are. And guide the discusion to the point that we can’t know who we really are unless we connect to our origin … our Divinity. In a smaller groups women usually feel more open and share and our gatherings can be in an interactive way. The two programs mentioned below are in this regard:

Visiting cities: On Nov. 16th 2019 we started to visit the cities where there are members. We tought it is important to advocate WFWP and its goals not just to the society but also to our members. We mainly meet with sisters to remind ourselves who we really are and our role as women and our connection with True Mother. The Providence is calling us to be present in the society and share the precious guidance we recieved from True Parents.

Art Workshops:

I am Artist painter and also Life Coach. We thought it would be great to combine these two abilities together and have one day Art Workshops that are combined with sessions in the morning talking about what true femininity means, who we really are, etc. And in the afternoon I guide step by step how to paint a painting. At the end of the day guests will bring their own painting home with them.

We would like to focus on „What is Trauma?” And How to Overcome Trauma with alternative ways.

There are lots of women – much more than men - who pass through different life experiences that cause them trauma. Even sometimes we live our lives without realizing that we have a Trauma that does not let us live our lives to its full extent.

With an approach from Quantum physics everything can be seen in a completely different way. As we know we are not the victim, but the ones who take charge of our life by taking the first step by making a decision to change our life.

Iceland Greetings from WFWP-Iceland

Public event 2018: Last year we got support by Sister Claire Dougherty, USA. Together with her we could organise a public event. Such events give our members and friends an opportunity to meet each other, as well as we can introduce our WFWP aims and vision to open-minded people. Sister Claire held her Angels-workshop, combined with raising funds for her Haiti-Schooling-Project, the funds are used for buying “growing” shoes and school-materials. In spite our event met the Pentecost-weekend with brilliant sun-shine outside, - still roughly 40 people followed the presentation with much interest. Surely the angels helped us bringing the people to the lecture.

On-going projects: Further WFWP-Iceland supports a Schooling Foster-Parents Project in Cambodia. This project started already 2003. People in Iceland got encouraged to pay a yearly school-fee for a poor child in Cambodia and stay in connection with the student (letters, pictures).

Home-groups for discussion, sharing and care: The Icelandic women, as well as members, have to work much to finance their life. The living costs are high and the salaries are often low. This fact makes it often difficult to meet us, because our women are at work. Time for family- and social life is getting more and more restricted. In reality, at least in Iceland, we became as women more enslaved than liberated? Women must find a new understanding of their unique value, also the Government has to invest in protecting women as care-taker for her family, same time being a vital source of love and she is promoting unity and cooperation.

Further can we help our society to connect with God in a responsible way? Still, we know we have our limitation. But we wish we can improve our skills to educate, to listen and to care with Love and Wisdom for our families and society.

In future we must use modern communication for sharing and connecting as much as possible, within our country and internationally. It is the only way to bridge over immense distances to co-workers and friends world-wide. We hope it will become affordable for everybody. Our nature is also endangered to become a victim of industrialisation - efforts must be made in order to remain all nature’s originality and pureness.

WFWP Ireland Report Ireland 2018/2019

WFWP Ireland cooperated with the Sisters of Faith for Peace on numerous events geared to promote unity between Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths.

Participants at all our events are women and sometimes men of all faiths.

This is an overview over our main events since April 2018. Photos can be supplied on request.

We had four Interfaith events this year so far, taken place in a

- Synagogue (March 2019 - marking the Jewish ‘Purim’ Holiday), Women’s Friendship Evening -Jewish Feast of Purim, 12 March 2019

- a Catholic Church (June 2019) Women’s Friendship Evening, St. Brendan’s Parish, 11 June 2019

- a Mosque (Aug 2019 - marking the Islamic Eid-ul-Adha Holiday) Eid-ul-Adha in Tallaght Mosque, 29 Aug 2019

We were very honoured to have Ireland’s First Lady Sabina Higgins with us.

- and a Christian Spirituality Centre (22 Sept 2019), Interfaith Afternoon Gathering in St. Brigid’s Kildare

With these events, we also observed 4 UN Days:

- Int’l Women’s Day (8 March)

- Int’l Day of Peace, honoring this year’s motto ‘Climate Action for Peace’ (21 Sept)

- Int’l Day of living together in Peace (16 May) - World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (21 May)

2018 (from April 2018):

Women’s Friendship Picnic in Glencree Centre for Peace & Reconciliation, 24 June 2018, also including Refugee ladies from Direct Provision Centres around Ireland

With this event, we observed 2 UN Days plus commemorated the 70th Anniversary of the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’

Human Rights Day, the theme in 2018 was ‘Let’s stand up for Equality, Justice and Human Dignity’.

in addition, we observed ‘UN World Refugee Day’ which took place on 20 June 2018

*Presidential Garden Party at Áras an Uachtaráin, 27 June 2018:

We were honoured to have been invited by the President of Ireland Michael D.Higgins & his wife Sabina Higgins to attend the Garden Party celebrating the Suffragette Movement (100 years) at Áras an Uachtaráin, the official residence of the President of Ireland.

*Eid Celebration with the Muslim-Syrian Community in Portlaoise, 22 Aug 2018 on the occasion of Eid-Al-Adha *Women’s Friendship Evening, Lutheran Church, Pre-Christmas event, 13 Dec 2018

Italy WFWP Italy Report p. 1/2

Local WFWP Chapters in Italy

Padova: Flora Grassivaro Bergamo: Giannina Figus Ravaglioli Torino: Maria Gabriella Mieli (Vice President WFWP Italy) Roma: Elisabetta Nistri Calì (President WFWP Italy) Caserta: Hiroko della Corte Benevento: Hitomi Capone

WFWP PR network and GWPN. We are often invited to attend public conferences related to WFWP topics, in the Senate, in the parliament, from AoP and friends and we use that chance to make good new contacts and meet very good people strengthening same goals as (SDG). WFWP was invited to be in the advisory board of LIREC (freedom of religion and belief). Moreover, Elisabetta Nistri and Gabriella Mieli are often invited as speakers from other organizations and they are using this opportunity to transfer True Mother guidance and view point as the solution to social issues. True Mother’s view is very well appreciated, even when we talk on difficult and controversial topics. By reporting our activities on regularly base on our FB page, on the web, and through email, many people come to know WFWP and the spirit and heart that is behind our activities as well as the High- level AoP that are cooperating with us so that 2 press agencies invited Elisabetta Nistri to write articles to report about our activities to be published on their online newspaper. Already 2 times articles were published in this month. CHILD PROTECTION AND SOCIAL NETWORKS: WFWP is promoting a project to ask for a law that can prevent influencers to soliciting children for prostitution, pornography, exploitation of child labor, and is offering educational programs for children and parents to prevent increased hatred on the web, school dropout, delegitimization of authority. This problem is very serious and is becoming bigger and bigger. We found a senator that is willing to fight against it together with other associations, psicologists, AoP and parents. 5 CONFERENCES IN THE SENATE: 13 November supporting UPF we had the 5 conferences in the House of Government with the title: “Mediterraneum bridge of peace”, many WFWP guests attended including a pastor from Evangelical church, association leaders, a counselor from Congo Embassy and many others. Elisabetta Nistri gave welcoming remarks and introduction about the role of women for peace. ASKING FOR PERSONAL APPOINTMENT WITH SENATORS: We had already 4 personal appointments with senators, they hosted us in their office and we introduce WFWP and the next summit in Korea. 5 LOCAL CHAPTERS: WFWP is very active in 5 cities, with different activities: conferences, charity fair for WFWP Nepal, Giordania, teaching Character Education to children and parents in Catholic churches, or in Middle schools and several other activities.

Italy WFWP Italy Report p. 2/2

Netherlands WFWP The Netherlands report

Dear In Sup Nim and Sun Jin Nim,

Thank you very much for coming to Europe together with True Parents.

In the past years we have been working together with UPF centred on UN days or centred on different themes. WFWP itself organized BOP’s, Christmas Charity Diners and more recent TeaTalk (Hight Tea), Origami Nights and WPA (since 2015).

Our latest event together with UPF was October 4 in the House of Europe in The Hague with the theme Europe and Africa. It was very successful. The Director of the Sub Saharan Department of the Ministry of Foreign affairs spoke plus 6 other very interesting speakers. There were 15 Embassies present of which 3 were Ambassadors (from Middle East, Europe and Africa. Furthermore different organizations/institutions send their representatives and NGO’s and religious leaders were present.

Since 2015 we started the WPA (Women’s Peace Academy). Every last Sunday of the month we come together and study together or someone gives a presentation. It is all small scale but we have managed to continue and having this month the 54th session. I was inspired by the term WPA which I heard of through the Korean WFWP in an international conference in 2012 in London. Our motto is: To Teach and Be Taught. We organize it in a practical way on Sunday afternoon after the Sunday service.

We have also made a new board structure in 2016 with different departments. 1) Global Women Peace Network 2) Department of the Culture of Heart 3) Department of Communication 4) Department of Finances. The WPA is centred on educating and development. The head of each department is automatically vice-president. We are still filling in some spots.

At the moment two regions are developing: one led by Elizabeth Baatenburg de Jong and the other by Elizabeth Janssen Giuliano (2nd gen and head of the dept. of the Culture of Heart).

We have donated yearly a minimum of $ 1000 to the Global 1% Love Sharing Project since the beginning in 2002. Furthermore we have supported Nepal at some point and also Ecuador through the WFWP in the United States. The membershipfee has different levels (72 or 36 Euro per year). We are getting also donations. From this money we could support 2 nd gen sisters to go to the UN CSW several times in New York and also to the UN DPI/NGO conference once held in Korea. Furthermore 2nd gen sisters visited the European WFWP yearly conferences supported by us.

Thank you very much for your time. May you be Healthy and Happy always!

Rita Salaris – Lichtenberg chair : Elizabeth Janssen – Guiliano (2nd gen) Department of Culture of Heart : Mihoko Koetsier – Ikeya Departmernt of Finances: Kaori Figueroa – Murikami Department of Finances: Sachiko Schermer – Ito Boardmember.

24/10/2019 by Rita Salaris

Norway WFWP Norway report

wfwp.norway@gmail.com www.kvinneforum.org Board:

Finances : Bente Krockow (64) …__.,_,…,.-…;…; • Secretary: Marea Toresen (31) Vice president : Crystala Wane (30) President: Johanna Toresen (27)

Strength: Our board is young, very united and inspired . FFWPU sponsors us annually with 2200USD. We work together with other organisations in Oslo who work with essential oils, culture and community building. We work together with BFD.

Challenge: The time we can offer for WFWP is limited. Bente lives far away and Johanna, Crystala and Marea are very busy with two children each, studies and work . We can’t afford paying any of our board members. We have difficulties finding staff or participants for our events. Even finding time to design material like brochures is a challenge. We have given up working together with UPF.

Example for events we have had: learning about and using essential oils - seminar on character building, marriage or parenting Mother-child group Peace starts with me in average ca. 7 events each year

Future: We aim for more teamwork with organisations outside our movement. We plan a seminar that will last for several days in the Swedish workshop place Kloten for Easter 2020. There is hope that Kloten will be a workshop place like Bad Cam berg in Germany, but Kloten is lacking funds for renovation.

Poland WFWP Poland report p. 1/2

Women’s Federation for World peace – Poland has been active in Poland since the beginning of the 90ies. In its present legal form (an association) it was registered in 2003.

For decades it has been involved in various educational and peace-building programs. One of its signature projects is Bridge of Peace. Mostly, Poland participated in bridges of peace with its neighboring countries, first of all Germany and Russia, with both of which it has many centuries of animosities.

For over 100 years in the 19th century Poland did not exist on the maps of Europe due to so called ‘partitions’, when its territory was divided between the three empires: Prussia (future Germany), Russia and Austria-Hungary. As for the modern history, the Germans invaded Poland in 1939, Polish Jews had suffered severe oppression by the Nazis. Soviet Union invaded Poland in 1939 as part of Ribenthropp-Molotoff agreement, and after the WWII the Polish nation suffered under the Soviet communist occupation which ended in 1990 with the fall of the Soviet Union.

Currently, Poland and Germany both are European Union members, financial reparations have been paid by Germany to Polish forced-labors and prisoners of war, many Poles currently reside and work in Germany, hence, the healing process has been ongoing. Unfortunately, in case of Poland and Russia the process has been hindered due to various facts. On one hand, an average person in Russia is most often not aware about the difficult historical relations between the two countries due to conscious policy of Soviet authorities aimed at misinforming or under-informing about partitions, Warsaw uprising during the WWII, the Katyn massacre and other events in Polish modern history. On the other hand, an average Polish person also does not know much about tragic years of Russian history under communist regime and their impact on the people and the country.

In order to heal the wounds several Bridges of Peace have been held, i.a. Poland-Germany in 1996, Poland-Russia in 1998, 2012, 2018, 2019 (as part of multinational bridge of peace program in Prague, Czech Republic), often accompanied by study tours dedicated to historical relations between participating countries.

Bridges of Peace in 2012, 2018 and 2019 took place with the participation of Russian and Polish youth, as Angels of Peace (2nd gen folk dance and singing group from Moscow, Russia) came to Poland and performed in front of captivated audience.

We strongly believe in educational and healing effects of such and similar programs.

One of the meetings during the Bridge of Peace program between After the concert during the Bridge of Peace Poland and Russia in 2012 Poland-Russia 2018

- Portugal p. 1/2

WFWP Portugal has been carrying out various WFWP Portugal report

activities on different themes. Normally events begin by introducing the organization and its goals and purpose, and ends in speaking about the Founders’ great work for World Peace. After the ascenscion of WFWP’s Co.Founder, WFWP opened a space in its events to pay homage to the Co- founder Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, for about 3 consecutive years, a tribute that was honored by the 1st National Leader - Liberto Silva, a very respected person of our movement in Portugal and who always gave his support to the WFWP.

Within its activities, WFWP Portugal has given character education sessions to Sobral’s School for 4 years supported by a Peace Ambassador who was teaching and coordinating the school groups there (Prof. Cristina Pêssego), as well as also conducting lectures and conferences on the dissemination of its goals, focusing on the empowerment of women and the value of women. As a guaranteed supporter of family and society, WFWP also awakens the feeling of modesty, direction and inner strength for self- esteem and guiding the family and careers. In events WFWP arouses a lot of interest from its target audience to the point of creating bonds of friendship and empathy that open doors to build relationships with each and everyone and easily create partnerships. Through this kind of work, WFWP has appointed Ambassadors for Peace, many of whom WFWP has invited to participate in their activities. Sometimes , WFWP gave invitations to its activities in Portugal and also abroad, and has on many occasions worked together with UPF. Among our Peace Ambassadors, we have rached high- level people such as MPs, City Councillors, City Deputies, University rectors, researchers, coaching experts, economists, jurists, teachers, writers, singers, entrepreneurs, media specialists and others. WFWP can rely on them to attend international events whenever they are needed. WFWP appointed the current UN Secretary, Eng. António Guterres as an Ambassador of Peace, when he was Commissioner for Migration, and at that time he sent a letter of praise and thanks to the President of WFWP Portugal, Dr. Marta de Carvalho.

WFWP Portugal has often sent participants to the summit conferences (in Korea, Vienna, Sao Tome and also recently in Tirana, Albania) where they participated as speakers.

For 3 consecutive years one very active Peace Ambassador who is a singer and mentor of the Lusophon Awards Gala Project (Dr. Isabel Leitão) invited WFWP to be part of this project as one of her supporters.

Portugal WFWP Portugal report p. 2/2

As a result the WFWP logo appears at these events and as the WFWP President has been called to the stage, the name of WFWP has been heard by hundreds of people each year. This year WFWP had the opportunity to meet, speak with and personally invite the former President and Nobel Peace Prize of Timor-Leste, José Ramos Horta to attend the Korean Summit in 2020, which he accepted. He also gave his business card , and had a photo taken with Dr Carvalho together with 3 more Ambassadors of Peace who went with her to this 2019 Gala. An invitation was also extended to UPF and FFWPU for this event.

Following the IDAI Cyclone Sequence in Mozambique, one other Ambassador for Peace who is a Municipal Deputy (Lizette do Carmo), who is very compassionate towards the flood victims in Mozambique, created an initiative that she called “1 Good for Mozambique”. She collected products to send to victims in Mozambique, and invited WFWP to join this cause, so the WFWP logo became part of this initiative and has already filled a container with various products. Now we are looking for partners to help us ship the container. The WFWP President was born in Mozambique and is living in Portugal, so she has been very involved in this initiative and has gathered more Peace Ambassadors who have collected many products to fill the container.

WFWP Portugal, through its President, has given interviews to magazines, on radio and television. The most recent one was given on November 21st 2019, invited by Professor Luís Sinate, who has a section on the Welcome Program of the television channel “RTP Africa”, on the recommendation of an Ambassador of Peace (Dr. Carla Marina Santos). The theme was “lifelong learning”. WFWP was also ivited to speak more about its goals, founders and activities in another interview on the same day.

2 years ago WFWP Portugal hosted the WFWP European Annual Event, held in Lisbon over 5 days, and the opening session took place in the Senate Room of Assembly of the Republic, and later also in 2 Municipal Chambers and one University. Also there was an opportunity in the program to bring the various foreign delegations of around 130 people to vist Fatima,which is considered worldwide as a sacred place. Dr. Michel Balcomb and his wife Fumiko also attended this landmark event where WFWP nominated several parliamentarian Peace Ambassadors as well as Scholars, Aldermen and Mayors among others. Last year WFWP was very involved in supporting UPF to held an IAPP event and was able to re-enter the Assembly of the Republic and get the participation of Parliament , including several MPs and other eminent personalities as speakers. Vice-President of the Assembly of the Republic came to the Opening Session of this Event, which was attended by a foreign delegation (France and Italy), Dr. Otsuka, Mr. Jacques Marion and Mr. Giuseppe Cali.

At the moment WFWP is committed to finding guests for the Korea 2020 Summit as well as preparing some national activities together with some Ambassadors for Peace as Christmas activities as well as to focus on the Character Education Program to promote good values, especially among the young people.

Russia WFWP Russia report p. 1/2

WFWP of Russia has three main directions of activities: intercultural and interreligious cooperation, moral and family education and charity programs.

We have held many Bridge of peace program in cooperation with WFWP chapters of Austria, Germany, Italy, Poland and Czech Republic. In Moscow we also held several Bridge of peace programs between different nationalities that are present in Russia – like “Russia-Georgia”, “Russia- Azerbaijan”. In November we held such an Intercultural and Interreligious Bridge of peace program in Kalmykia – Buddhist part of Russia. For the first time not only NGO leaders, leaders of the governmental institutions but also a Buddhist Lama and an Orthodox priest crossed the Bridge of peace. Russian singing and dancing ensemble “Angels of peace” took part and supported all of these programs.

One of the most important events that promotes family values is the Annual Intercultural and Interreligious Family Festival “Family World”. It has been held in Moscow for 7 years. On the one hand it shows a very beautiful example of strong and successful families, on the other hand we can see the beauty and value of different cultures and traditions. This festival draws more attention and more partners every year.

One more meaningful festival – is the Annual Children’s Festival “Children are angels of peace” where children and ensembles of different nationalities come together – to share their talents and to get to know each other. Some of those nationalities still belong to enemy nations and never hold any programs together. For example, Armenia and Azerbaijan. But during this festival children of those nationalities perform and even hold hands on the stage together. After the festival those children often take part in charity programs together.

As for moral education – WFWP of Russia has held many lectures for high school children and students. We have also held many master class programs on moral education for teachers and psychologists in different cities of Russia and Belarus in order to share our material with them so that more children can receive this knowledge and protection.

Here is one of the testimonies of one student of a medical college: “I agree with everything you have said. I consider your activity to be very important for young people. It is very difficult to teach completely new things to adults. And sometimes there is nobody who could talk to them about it. But surely because of such people like you, young people have a chance to improve their lives and to receive that knowledge that their parents were not able to give to them”. WFWP of Russia also initiated a charity project “Children of Russia for children of Africa”. This program has been held for 7 years and many African children are happy to receive presents from Russia and for Russian pupils and students it is a very good opportunity to develop their ability to care and to love. We have been also holding annual charity programs for elder people and for children in need.

Russia WFWP Russia report p. 2/2

Spain WFWP Spain report

It was registered as a legal association in July 1993. WFWP Spain has two main offices: Madrid and Barcelona.

The representative in Barcelona is the Vice-President of WFWP Spain.

Brothers and sisters, in general, lovingly collaborate when requested. UPF has always given its support to WFWP initiatives.

Since its establishment WFWP-Spain has had events of all types: conferences on specific topics; Young Women speech contests; Interreligious seminars; Charity concerts; Children’s Christmas food and toys campaigns; Co-sponsored events with women’s Abbildung 1Dulce Balil (Vice-president), a piano concertist, Marcia de Abreu(President) organizations and government offices on a specific topic, such as Wome’s role in the creation of peace; Prayer meetings; Breakfast meetings; Talks on current events, like Women in Afghanistan, the Arab Spring Movement, etc; Celebration of international days and others.

In order to organize our programs and activities we contacted women from other organizations, leaders in all fields of activity, politicians, businesswomen, professors, government officials, artists, foreign representatives, either by attending external events or by establishing a direct contact.

This has allowed us to create a net of contacts that we can always access when we want to invite anyone to participate in a local activity, or attend an international conference, like WFWP European Annual Conferences, or UPF’s Summits. And this net is continuouslly growing.

Since 2018 until now we have had three special events that are dear to our hearts: 1. the Celebration of the 150th Anniversary of good relationships between Spain and Japan; 2. a concert to raise funds for an African NGO founded by an American 2nd gen; and 3. a conference to celebrate the International Women’s Day focusing on Women’s contribution to community development in India. This event was co-sponsored by Vicente Ferrer Foundation and WFWP. There was good attendance of people and it served to sensibilize us about Indian woman’s condition and needs, and learn about their own efforts to become autonomous.

As far as future events, we need to go on contacting people and approximating them to TP’s vision, through the many option of activities there are. Thank you

Switzerland WFWP Switzerland report

Our most recent event on 7th September was the inauguration of the Global Women’s Peace Network.in Zürich. Around 80 people attended and 40 were guests from various faiths – Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian - and social groups which support many projects including youth and immigrants.

Many of the guests have known WFWP for some time and are very positive and supportive.Some were new contacts. We have held joint events with many of the faith groups and they really respect our work.

An ongoing project of our Education Team in WFWP is the translation of character education material from English into German. The team meets every week and have produced 4 booklets which can be used as an introduction for youth and parents .As the teaching also covers the importance of relationships in the family and society, bringing peace to the world, it is a valuable tool in preparing individuals and couples for the Blessing.

WFWP has expanded to other cities apart from Zürich and Geneva. We now have 5 more chapters (Winterthur, Basel, Stans, Biel, Lausanne)

For the past 2 years we have been part of the planning committee of the International Women’s Day in a town near Zürich and our logo appears on the leaflets and posters. Previously we had attended the event every year since around 2007.

We network with other women’s groups in our area including the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community , who are very dear friends now.

Every month or 40 days we meet together with other sisters at each other’s home. This is mainly for friendship, sharing concerns about our families and generally deepening relationships with others, who perhaps we don’t see very often . This brings a feeling of hope and being uplifted, understood and loved.

Outreach to women Parliamentarians is also ongoing . Some have taken part in our panel discussions at conferences and even if they can’t attend an event they appreciate the information and support our work.

Over the years WF has also held seminars providing counselling for individuals and couples. This has been very important in bringing much-needed healing and through prayer and practising meditation techniqes we can empower ourselves to do more.

Ukraine WFWP Ukraine report - p.1/3

WFWP Ukraine was officially registered in 2007, although until that time Japanese missionaries conducted many humanitarian projects under the WFWP name. Mrs. Tetyana Kotseba has been the Head of the Board since the registration.

Woman of the Year Award From the day of its founding in Ukraine, WFWP established the Woman of the Year Award, which is presented during the annual WFWP conference dated to the International Mother’s Day. During the past 12 years, 103 outstanding Ukrainian women were awarded in nominations such as Woman-Volunteer, Woman-Pedagogue, Women-Olympic Champion, Woman-Doctor, Woman-Mother of a Large Family, Stateswoman, and others.

Collaboration with government institutions WFWP Ukraine regularly organizes round tables at the Parliament of Ukraine. International guests from South Korea , Japan, France, Great Britain , Portugal , Netherlands, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Syria took part in these events. The 2019 round table was held at the Parliament’s Health Committee on “The Role of Women in Society, Family, Business and Politics” .

WFWP closely cooperates with the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Children’s Rights Mr. Mykola Kuleba. One of the joint projects was conducted in September 2018 , when

Ukraine WFWP Ukraine report p.2/3

a group of volunteers from Japan , headed by the Chairman of the WFWP of Japan Moriko Hori visited a boarding school for 100 mentally retarded orphans and children deprived of parental care. Japanese volunteers held master classes on origami , calligraphy, played active developing Japanese games with children .

WFWP actively cooperates with municipal administrations of Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Romny, Kaniv cities. City mayors personally participate in WFWP projects. Also from 2007 WFWP has fruitful cooperation with the Kyiv Municipal Family Center and takes an active part in all projects organized by the Kyiv City Administration .

WFWP is a long-time partner of the All-Ukrainian Festival “Daddy, Mom and I are a sports family” , which is organized by the Kyiv Regional State Administration and the Kyiv Oblast Center for Physical Health “Sports for All” .

Our regular active cooperation with the state has been highly recognized by the government from the city to the national level , which resulted in more than 20 various governmental awards.

Working with women WFWP Ukraine unites women from Ukraine and other countries, creates strong and fruitful relationships between women , successfully overcoming political , linguistic, cultural and other barriers.

In 2012 WFWP Ukraine became a member of the National Council of Women (NCW), which embraces 21 women ‘s NGOs, and which is a part of the ICW - the first women’s organization in the world. NCW bylaws does accepting member organizations if conduct any religious activities. After 7 years of active cooperation , the WFWP Ukraine head of the board has been nominated as one of the main candidates to be elected as the next president of the National Council of Women .

Ukraine WFWP Ukraine report p.3/3

In July 2018 Professor Moon Lan Yong visited Ukraine. During the visit she met acting city mayor Anastasia Popsuy and women-leaders of lrpin city, and shared her international experience.

In September 2018 young volunteers from Japan visited Ukraine. The group was headed by the Chairman of the WFWP of Japan Moriko Hori. At a round table in the city administration of lrpin with participation of acting Mayor Anastasia Popsuy they discussed the challenges of young women ‘s leadership. As a sign of friendship between the two countries, Japanese volunteers along with representatives of Ukrainian NGOs planted the alley of sakura and guelder rose.

Patriotic Education WFWP Ukraine promotes the vision of true patriots, who are raised in families where there is a father and a mother, grandparents, and brothers and sisters. In order to support and celebrate such families , and counter the multi-gender trends invading from western cultures, in 2018 the WFWP launched the “Family Festival”. A number of festivals were held in many regions of Ukraine. During the festivals , more than 1000 married couples living in fidelity and love, parents educating many children, and families with an active social position were celebrated .

Ukraine has been in a state of war for more than 4 years, and thus there are many victims, displaced persons who need help. WFWP is a member of civic councils at the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, provides personal humanitarian aid to such people and their families.

WFWPI UN office The Geneva Team p.1/2

2019 has been a remarkable year for our work at the United Nations globally, including in Geneva. Our key focus is advocacy toward governments through the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva and much intersessional work with International NGO’s in the framework of UN NGO Committees. We have been strengthening our alliances based on shared concerns on human rights issues such as; Human Rights and family, peace and reconciliation, global citizenship education, peace leadership, preventing violence and radicalization, migration concerns,

…We have become more and more “mainstream”, are invited to planning meetings and to participate with governments in debating the wording of statements or as speakers. Over the last 18 months, we have held 5 panel debates during Human Rights Council sessions with speakers and co-sponsors that included governments, UN experts, academia, human rights practitioners. Themes included, “Preventing Violence again Women”, “Women and Trade Policy”, “Migrant Women and Mental Health” and a series on women building peace on the Korean Peninsula, mentioned below. Statements on similar issues have been laboured-over and submitted to HRC, CEDAW, UNECE. The team of UN Representatives consists of:

• Carolyn Handschin, UN Office Director and Director of the Young Leadership Program, Vice President of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women at the United Nations • Dr. Amiira Neff, (35) Expert on Human Rights, Gender and Immigration, Lawyer • Je-ok Gravrand, (27), former UN Women program, Youth and Migration, 4 years w WFWPI UN team • Jimin Millet (25), Human Rights, Work, and Youth

One side event report excerpt: “In the spirit of UN Security Council Resolution1325 (SCR1325)on Women, Peace and Security, and with flickering hopes of new opportunities for peace and cooperation between North and South Korea, a fourth Human Rights Council (HRC) Side event was held on the theme “Korea Women, South & North: Peace, Family Strengths, Rights and Development”. WFWPI, WUNRN, GWI, UPF, GIIA hosted this panel discussion to provide a platform for governments, UN bodies and civil society actors engaged on the peninsula to assess and coordinate strategies for that future peace.

WFWPI UN office The Geneva Team p.2/2

Speakers included World Health Organization, UN Special Rapporteur on NK, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Inclusive Peace Transition Institute, and the Carnegie Foundation. An ongoing theme has been the proposal to the Korean governments and the UN of a Peace zone /Meeting place for women in the DMZ where North Korea and South Korea women could generate innovative peace initiatives. In the words of the UN Special Rapporteur on the DPRK, “Count on me to advocate for this “Peacebuilding /Partnership Meeting Place for Women”, an original and concrete initiative, which may help erase division and forge a vision of a sustainable peace and the respect for human rights”.”

A major focus of our work has been preparation of government recommendations for the 25 Year Review of Beijing Platform for Action. Due to my active engagement in Committees and various UN working groups, I took on several important tasks, including the CSO B+25 UNECE Review Chair of the Working Group on “Education, Training, Mentoring and Access to Knowledge through Technology”. Trying to manage a team of strong “feminist” women crossing several continents to prepare a factsheet and recommendations for governments of our region as they review progress for the important General Assembly 2020 wasn’t easy. Most important was to listen to so many strong opinions and still manage to defend and include some of our priorities. But with God’s help and some negotiation skills learned mostly as a mother of 7, we came out with a strong consensus document.

Our 10th session of the Model UN “Inter religious Youth Council” was held at the WCC/ UN.

A film project was produced by intern, Julia Handschin and shown to an audience of 400 at a major UN Meeting.