HWPL Holds Bilateral Peace Summit for the Dominican Republic-Haiti Border Region
The 10th Anniversary of the Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) World Peace Summit is being celebrated in South Korea and various locations worldwide reaching 122 countries this week. Under the theme ‘Creating World Peace Community Through Regional Collaboration’, the opening ceremony held in Goseong, South Korea commemorated global leaders’ and citizens’ commitment to peace that has already lasted for a decade.
The purpose of this anniversary celebration was to review the achievements for peace made since 2014 and to discuss upcoming plans. Led by HWPL Chairman Lee Man-Hee, the opening ceremony drew over 30,000 attendees alone, all united in heart to create a world of peace in the future. Various sessions with this same purpose are also being held in countries worldwide to implement these ideals at a national level by gathering regional talents, establishing networks essential for tailored peace strategies, strengthening regional networks to tackle local peace threats, and harnessing collective capacities.
One such regional event was the HWPL Bilateral Peace Summit for the Dominican Republic-Haiti Border Region. This event, held on September 21, 2024, was an opportunity for members of government, civil society, and media to come together for the purpose of developing confict analysis and peace-building skills within and between the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Esteemed attendees from Government and civil society from across the Caribbean and members of the U.S. Congress also joined, such as Licenciado Pelegrín Castillo, ex-diputado y del Instituto Duartiano Preguntas y Respuestas, Juan Pablo Acosta, UPP, Decano Carrera de Derecho, Universidad tecnológica De Santiago, Aurelio Enrique, Presidente del Colegio de Periodistas, Secretario General del SNTP, José Beato, Lic. Nelson Guzmán, Jefe de Gabinete del Senado de la República, and Edwin Paraison, ex-embajador de Haití a la República Dominicana.
Further, as part of the summit, HWPL partnered with Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Prensa to empower journalists for confict analysis and peace-building in the Dominican Republic-Haiti border region. This area has seen great confict in the past, which has now given rise to a strong commitment to peacebuilding. The role of journalists in analyzing conficts and promoting peacebuilding initiatives through their reporting is crucial. This regional event worked to equip journalists with the knowledge and skills necessary to efectively report on these issues and advocate for peaceful resolutions.
Jesús Joaquín Gomes Cruz, Director administrativo del Colegio Dominicano de Periodistas and an attendee at the HWPL Bilateral Peace Summit for the Dominican Republic-Haiti Border Region shared the importance of peacework in his country, stating; “I am grateful to HWPL for bringing an event like this to this country that needs support, and that needs to learn from others – it is very important.”
It requires deep conviction and efort to put the tenets of peacebuilding into practice in a practical and impactful way. HWPL is proud to work alongside its members and partners working to spread a culture of peace to the whole world. HWPL is an international NGO afliated with UN ECOSOC. Through 10 years of international cooperation for peace, HWPL has had 500,000 members in 170 countries join and is now carrying out peace projects through MOAs or MOUs with 1,014 organizations in 105 countries.
The Dominican Republic was selected as a host country for this year’s World Peace Summit commemoration in the Caribbean due to the unending resolve of its civil society leaders who share the heart of HWPL. HWPL looks forward to successfully working for peace with the Dominican Republic and Haiti more in the future.
