Vice President U Henry Van Thio delivered a speech at the Assembly and International Summit Council for Peace of the Peace, Security and Human Development World Summit 2020 in Seoul, Republic of Korea yesterday.
When he arrived at the summit venue, Kintex Center, he was welcomed by Dr. Young Ho Yun, General Secretary of the Peace, Security and Human Development World Summit 2020, and officials.
Vice President U Henry Van Thio then posed for a documentary photo with the Universal Peace Foundation (UPF) Founder, state leaders, heads of governments, and ex-leaders.
Next, Vice President U Henry Van Thio, Prime Minister of Cambodia Mr. Hun Sen, Vice President of the Philippines Mrs. Maria Leonor Robredo, Prime Minister of Niger Mr. Brigi Rayini, Deputy Speaker Mr. Lee Joo Young of the Republic of Korea Parliament, UPF Founder Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, former UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki Moon and world ex-leaders delivered speeches on the occasion.
In his address, Vice President U Henry Van Thio said: “This summit will provide us with a great opportunity to exchange views on how to contribute to promoting peace and security around the world as well as to foster a culture of peace for all mankind.
A culture of peace is a prerequisite for creation of a stable, progressive and prosperous world. We can work together to promote a culture of peace through dialogue and negotiation, enhance tolerance, trust and mutual understanding.
The world we are living in is being confronted with various challenges and uncertainties of both nature and man-made. These are posing threats not only to global peace and human development but also to our very existence. They also have negative consequences on peace building endeavours in this world. Global challenges including climate change and terrorism cannot be overcome by countries acting alone, but require global partnership.
Peace is of vital importance to maintain security and achieve human development. Promoting a culture of peace is crucial in preventing violence and conflicts in societies.
We all need to pursue the goals of peaceful coexistence and development in our society. In order to accomplish these goals, collaboration of both non-governmental and governmental organizations is essential.
Youth plays pivotal role as a huge source of potential for country development. Therefore, young people must have equal access to quality education at all levels. We need to have a concerted effort of governments, civil societies, scholars, international organizations, and parents to use education as a platform in improving the lives now and for future generations.
The main objective of human development approach is to upgrade people’s freedoms and lives. Taking this opportunity, I would like to briefly share Myanmar’s experience in promoting peace and national reconciliation. Myanmar is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country with a long history of prolonged infightings. Therefore, soon after assuming the responsibilities, our government has been striving for long-lasting peace as its topmost priority and pursuing through a complicated peace process involving 18 ethnic armed organizations.
As part of the peace agenda, we have successfully convened three sessions of the Union Peace Conference and agreed on a total of 51 basic principles for building a Democratic Federal Union. Despite many challenges ahead, it is encouraging to see that our people have started to embrace the culture of political dialogue as a means to solve internal conflicts. We firmly believe that achievement of lasting peace is an essential part of Myanmar’s journey towards sustainable and inclusive development.
As we truly believe that peace, security and human development are fundamental needs for mankind in this globalized world, we are of the view that the peoples, the governments, together with the civil societies, organizations can and should work together by sharing knowledge, experiences, and positively assisting each other in promoting peace and stability as well as sustaining universal values.
So, let us join hands and renew our joint endeavours in promoting peace, security and human development across the globe,” he urged.
Afterwards, Union Minister for Religious Affairs and Culture and General Secretary Dr. Young Ho Yun of the Peace, Security and Human Development World Summit 2020 signed the Letter of Intent for the Asia-Pacific Peace Summit 2020 to be held in Myanmar.
Similarly, the Prime Minister of Niger, the representative of the African Union and UPF Secretary signed the Letter of Intent for the African Peace Summit.
Also present on the occasions were Vice President U Henry Van Thio, Ambassador to the Republic of Korea U Thant Sin, Permanent Secretary U Soe Han of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and officials.
The Peace, Security and Human Development World Summit 2020: Assembly and International Summit Council for Peace will be held until 6 February and a total of 6,000 world delegates including state leaders of 171 countries, and 25 heads of governments and ex-leaders.
The Vice President then attended the luncheon of the World Summit 2020.
In the evening, Vice President U Henry Van Thio attended the biography debut of Dr. Hakja Han Moon, Founder of UPF and the dinner in honour of Mother Foundation. —MNA
(Translated by Aungthu Ya)
