Last week, HWPL held its 7th annual commemoration of the DPCW (Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War). If you missed it, you can always watch the event here!

Since the declaration of 10 articles and 38 clauses of the DPCW, HWPL had been pouring efforts to realize world peace by urging the national leaders to support this as the new international peace law. Wait a minute, new national peace law? What’s the DPCW about? If you’re confused, you can visit here to find out more about the DPCW and its necessity.

The DPCW is a draft of the new international peace law to stop and prevent all wars and bring world peace through practical ways. The current peace law doesn’t restrict wars to break out, therefore, this was suggested as an alternative law to be enacted. In plain language, this declaration says “No one should wage wars no matter what” and 10 articles and 38 clauses specify this notion’s various aspects of practice. It was announced on Mar 14th, 2016; last week was the 7th anniversary of the historic day.

Celebrating the day, many congratulatory messages from special figures were given. Among many figures, Seok Yeonhwa, the Sangharaja of the World Buddhist Sangha Council, explained the significance of the DPCW, describing it that is for ceasing, mediating, and resolving conflicts and establishing peace. He said, “I hope that today’s commemoration will serve as the foundation of the DPCW to be institutionalized, submitted to the UN, and proclaim a lot of support of the leaders in the nations worldwide. I honestly propose to representatives of each country and social community that we transcend political ideologies and religious rections and united with one heart and will. I strongly urge you to actively join the peace movement headed by Chairman Lee and HWPL for the cessation of war and world peace.”

Then, it’s been seven years since the announcement of the DPCW, how much its legislation process was done? What did HWPL do to achieve the goal?

Praveen Parekh, the president of the Confederation of Indian Bar and the Indian Society of International Law (ISIL) and HWPL International Law Peace Committee chairperson, reported the progress. Here is the report:

On 25th May 2013, Chairman Lee Man Hee proclaimed the Declaration of World Peace. Later, on 18th Sep 2014, 29 former presidents, supreme court judges, and national leaders signed an agreement to propose enacting international law for the cessation of wars and world peace. After promising the implementation of international law at the HWPL’s Peace Summit, international law experts from 17 countries were appointed and formed HWPL International Law Peace Committee and founded the base of the draft of the peace law. After several meetings, the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) was created and announced at COEX in South Korea on 14th Mar 2016.

HWPL included clauses in the DPCW to prevent wars and intended to implement the DPCW as legally binding international law to leave a world of peace to people in the present and the future generation. HWPL had been working to legislate the DPCW as new international law since the day of its announcement. The efforts include running LP Project (Legislate Peace project – it’s about realizing the DPCW), operating WARP offices (World Alliance of Religious Peace – it’s about seeking peace among different religions in harmony), and spreading the spirit of peace through teaching peace education (it’s about teaching harmonious spirit and how to build, apply, and keep peace among people) with the support of youth, women, and civilized societies around the world.

As a result, HWPL signed peace MOUs with organizations, cities, and even with parliaments, which want peace. This includes the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and Baltic-Black Sea Studies (Centre BBS, whose members are former heads of the eastern European countries). CCLP (Coalition Caribbean Leaders of Peace, whose members are former heads of Caribbean nations) signed an MOA with HWPL. Many cities officially support the DPCW as the resolution to pass. Central American Parliament, Cotabato city, Davao city, Davao Del Norte city. The support of the DPCW at the national level was officially expressed by Eswatini, Seychelles, Comoro, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

To realize the eighth and ninth articles of the DPCW, which were suggested to resolve the fundamental causes of the religious conflicts that lead to the major cause of wars, HWPL runs 278 WARP offices in 130 countries. Last year, the offices held 5,597 meetings and discussions.

For the tenth article of the DPCW, keeping a peaceful world, HWPL teaches the spirit of peace to adolescents and children through HWPL’s Peace Education. Currently, 313 schools in 47 countries are designated as peace schools, and 1,090 peace education sessions were conducted in 56 countries last year.

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, HWPL kept on building peace through these practical and realistic efforts to realize world peace! Since South Korea, which is the country that headquarters of HWPL, lifted most of the restrictions to prevent COVID-19, I expect more active peacebuilding movement of HWPL this year.