Since the Peace Treaty was signed in Jan. 2014, IWPG has also established IWPG Branches in 5 regions in the Philippines.
Key to know:
- IWPG chairwoman Hyun Sook Yoon participated as a speaker at the ‘1st Philippine National Peace Conference.
- She urged for the support of ‘DPCW’ and the designation of Jan 24 as National Peace Day in the Philippines
On January 25, the International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG) Chairwoman Hyun Sook Yoon participated in the ‘1st Philippines National Peace Conference’ at the Philippines International Convention Center (PICC).
During the conference, she gave a speech saying, “Designating January 24 as National Peace Day will play a very important role in spreading and establishing peace in the Philippines.”
This year’s ‘1st Philippine National Peace Conference’ was hosted by Volunteer Individuals for Peace (VIP, representative Dr Ronald Adamat). The first part was a plenary session filled with 1,500 people including lawmakers, university presidents, teachers, youth and women leaders; religious leaders, press officials, and more.
After that, the participants broke up into different sessions. The Women’s Session was a panel discussion on the theme of ‘The Important Role of Women as Partners for Sustainable Peace’, moderated by Maria Timbol, the President of Kapalong Council of Women.
Hyun Sook Yoon, Chairwoman of IWPG, Myrna Yao, President of the Philippine Federation of Local Council of Women, and Cecilia Gascon, President of Bulacan State University, participated as panellists.
The host of the event explained that the purpose of designating the ‘National Peace Day’ is to commemorate the end of the 40-year-war between the Philippine government and the people of Moro in Mindanao—which caused 120,000 deaths—through a ‘Civil Peace Treaty’ led by Man Hee Lee.
Lee, the Chairman of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) on Jan 24, 2014, facilitated the peace accord and continues with the spirit of peace.
Since the Peace Treaty was signed in Jan. 2014, IWPG has also established IWPG Branches in 5 regions in the Philippines (Manilla, Maguindanao, del Norte, Pasig, Quezon), and has been conducting various activities such as training women peace leaders and appointing IWPG Publicity Ambassadors.
Last September, the ‘1st IWPG Peace Activity Monument’ was erected in the Davao de Oro area.
In the Women’s Session, Chairwoman Yoon said, “Peace is not made by someone else, it must be made by the efforts of influential women leaders.”
She urged women leaders to raise their voices in support of National Peace Day and the Declaration of Peace and the Cessation of War(DPCW).
Myrna Yao, President of the Philippine Federation of Local Council of Women, said, “The first Philippine female president legislated a law for women, so women should also enjoy freedom through economic activity. Women have a job within the household, but they must also go out and act as members of society.”
Cecilia Gascon, President of Bulacan State University, gave a speech saying, “Peace Education is needed for sustainable peace, and women must first receive an education. Next, our children, the future, should receive an education. A peace that starts within the family spreads to the community and country.”
She added, “Peace and economy are connected, and the Philippines is not far behind when it comes to the peace index in Asia. In terms of GDP, countries that have peace also sustain their GDP. So economy and peace are connected.”
Through this event, the Philippines was able to draw out a nationally unified roadmap based on peace through debates with leaders of various fields and backgrounds.
IWPG believes that this will be the start of the Philippines going one step further to become the country that leads peace all around the world.
TND News is the Official Media and Events partner of the IWPG.