HWPL Peace Development Forum: Graduation Ceremony of Peace Educator Empowerment Training in Western Africa” was held with 232 peace education graduates from Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon.
The event, which was held online, was to congratulate those who completed the Peace Educator Empowerment Training. The graduates will conduct peace education in their respective countries.
The Peace Educator Empowerment Training lasted from May 8 to June 19 and its graduates from various classes, including civic groups, universities, and educational institutions, are those who completed to simulate peace education and passed online tests within the courses.
The event’s host, Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), founded in 2013, is an international peace NGO working globally to realize peace and cessation of war, a common goal of the global community. HWPL is associated with the UN Department of Global Communications (DGC) and in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
The event began with an opening address of Mr. Jeong Hoi Hyeon, Chief Branch Manager of the HWPL Southern Seoul & Gyeonggi Branch, followed by a congratulatory speech by Amb. (Dr.) Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibi, President and Founder of the Pan-African Institute for Global Affairs and Strategy(PAIGAS), presentations of excellent graduates’ impressions on education, and a history of Western Africa Peace Initiative.
During the opening address, “I am confident that the students who receive the peace education will acquire the mindset of peace, and in this way, Western Africa will emerge as a region of peace devoid of tears, sufferings, or discrimination.”, announced Jeong Hoi Hyeon, Chief Branch Manager of the HWPL Southern Seoul & Gyeonggi Branch.
Amb. (Dr.) Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibi, President and Founder of the Pan-African Institute for Global Affairs and Strategy (PAIGAS), said, “Peace Educator Empowerment Training Program has the potential, with you as its agents, of transforming the lives of the next generation of West Africans into ardent lovers and advocates of peace. This is our dream; this is our expectation in which we have great confidence.”
Executive Director of Int’l Centre for Peace Charities and Human Development (INTERCEP), Mr. Clement Iornongu stressed “cooperating with HWPL curriculum on Peace Education will go a long way to building the culture of Peace in the younger generations in Western Africa. We really wish to express our profound gratitude to the Chairman of HWPL, Man Hee Lee for the global initiative to push for the Adoption of Declaration of Peace Cessation of War (DPCW) into the United Nations.”.
“The purpose of HWPL peace education is to educate young people exposed to various environments, such as conflict, discrimination, poverty, and violence about value of peace and importance of co-existence without discrimination and train leaders to help them grow into peaceful citizens. So we hope that the peace education will be available to elementary, middle, high schools and universities in West African countries as a formal curriculum in the future.” said an staff member of the HWPL Peace Education Department in Western Africa.
Meanwhile, HWPL started HWPL peace education in 2017 and is currently conducting peace education from 49 countries around the world in 2021. HWPL has signed MOAs with 13 organizations from 10 countries and MOUs with 214 organizations from 37 countries. HWPL Peace education first began in Western Africa this year along with “Peace Educator Empowerment Training”, and more than 150 program proposals were submitted by graduates which will be further expanded and implemented in the second half of the year.
