By UPF Asia
The Universal Peace Federation (UPF) Asia Pacific Chapter conducted the opening session of the virtual Asia Pacific Leadership Conference 12th batch with the theme, “Providing Vision and Leadership for Nation-Building and Peace.” The opening session was held along with the celebration of the United Nations International Day of Families. The session dynamically garnered 60 Zoom participants and more than 700 views on Facebook and other social media platforms across the Asia Pacific region.
The Asia Pacific Leadership Conference is a monthly virtual conference organized by the Universal Peace Federation Asia Pacific to provide deeper peace education to VIPs, dignitaries and potential Ambassadors for Peace who has been supporting the works of UPF.
Hon. Ek Nath Dhakal, Chairman of UPF and International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP) Asia Pacific, warmly welcomed all the new APLC participants his opening remarks. He gave a brief background of the Universal Peace Federation and its works toward achieving peace and harmony around the world.
Following that were the congratulatory remarks given by Mrs. Annie Andanar, Special Assistant to Former President Gloria Arroyo of the Philippines.She expressed her profound gratitude and congratulations to the APLC Batch 12. She mentioned that the responsibility of UPF in healing broken families has been widely recognized and is always remarkable. After her beautiful and touching message, a congratulatory performance for strengthening family relationships entitled, “Alo I Ou Faiva,” was sung by Mr. Lani Alo from Samoa, which was succeeded by a commemorative group photo.
As the program continued, a video presentation introducing the Family Federation of World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) was presented. FFWPU is one of the pillar organizations founded by Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, which focuses on creating world peace through the family as the school of love.
Finally, Dr. Robert S. Kittel, Co-Chair of UPF Asia Pacific, gave the first lecture of the APLC course entitled, “The Need of Universal Principles.” In this lecture, he expounded the definition of universal principles and gave a brief overview of the APLC course. In conclusion, he mentioned that the celebration of the United Nations International Day of Families is very timely for us to take time to appreciate the role of the family in the society and not seclude into the urbanization which is one of the most important megatrends shaping our world today. However, we have to manage urbanization where families can be benefitted expanding to the society.
The program ended with a quick announcement about the UN International Day of Families Celebration with the participation of the Universal Peace Federation. Dr. Venus G. Agustin, Vice Chairman of UPF Asia Pacific, moderated the session.