On February 22, an international peace organization, Heavenly Culture World Peace Restoration of Light (HWPL), held an online seminar titled “How to Achieve Peace: The Answer Lies in the DPCW.” The seminar was organized to share the value of the DPCW and discuss practical ways to implement it.
More than 70 peace activists, education experts, and journalists from 13 countries, including Timor-Leste, Cameroon, and South Sudan, attended the event, exchanging views and discussing strategies for achieving peace.
On March 14, 2016, HWPL, in collaboration with international law experts from 15 countries, drafted and published the “Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War” (DPCW). The purpose of the DPCW is to end war and establish sustainable peace.
Composed of 10 articles and 38 clauses, the DPCW is based on the core values of conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and maintaining a sustainable, peaceful world. HWPL is advancing efforts to establish a legally binding international framework for sustainable peace, rooted in the Charter of the United Nations principles. HWPL seeks to institutionalize lasting peace measures worldwide through global cooperation and advocacy.
The seminar began with an introduction to HWPL, followed by congratulatory speeches from the Permanent Representative of Timor-Leste to the United Nations and a member of Parliament in the Transitional National Assembly in the Republic of South Sudan.
The Permanent Representative of Timor-Leste to the United Nations, Dionísio da Costa Babo Soares, stated, “Timor-Leste has experienced the pains of conflict and has fought fiercely and desperately to secure peace. We have now overcome those conflicts, and we hope our history can serve as a beacon of hope for nations still suffering. Remarkably, we found the core values of the DPCW within our history. Timor-Leste held a referendum, imbued with the spirit of peaceful conflict resolution as embodied in the DPCW, to secure its independence, and immediately after, initiated a disarmament program in line with the prohibition of arms to stabilize the nation. Furthermore, the government and civil society actively promote a culture that cherishes peace.” His remarks underscored the potential of the DPCW as a practical solution for peace-building.
A member of Parliament in the Transitional National Assembly in the Republic of South Sudan, Peter Lomude Francis, added, “On May 15, 2024, President Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan made the historic decision to sign the national declaration for ending war and establishing peace (DPCW). This news was broadcast by the state media outlet SSBC, and the President’s commitment to building peace has influenced other political leaders. After that, 11 high-ranking government officials, including the Speaker of Parliament and the Chief Justice, also supported the declaration. And Chief Justice Chan Reec Madut has engaged in peace activities in collaboration with HWPL since 2015.”
HWPL provided a detailed explanation of each provision of the DPCW, emphasizing that the framework should serve as a guiding set of principles for achieving lasting peace. It also highlighted the similarities between the DPCW and Timor-Leste’s historical peacebuilding process, suggesting that these parallels demonstrate the practical feasibility of the framework. The Secretary of State for Arts and Culture, Jorge Soares Cristovao, further elaborated on the history of peace in Timor-Leste.
The event provided attendees with an opportunity to recognize the importance of international peace law through the historical example of Timor-Leste and concluded with participants sharing their reflections.
A lawyer from Myanmar remarked, “With conflicts and wars occurring frequently around the world, practical measures such as the DPCW must be implemented to address these challenges.”
HWPL promotes the DPCW to citizens worldwide through various peace activities and seminars, continuously striving to achieve global harmony.