General Events

North May Reciprocate for delegations for Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il

SEOUL, SEPTEMBER 6, 2012: Interest is focused on whether the Kim Jong Un government in North Korea will send a representative to offer condolences for the death of Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon in South Korea despite icy relations between the two nations.

Rev. Moon’s interest in reconciliation between North and South and Korean unification derives from his conviction that world peace cannot come before the sharp confrontation between democracy and communism is resolved on the Korean peninsula.

Following the death of Kim Jong Il in December 2011, Rev. Sun Myung Moon dispatched Unification Church International Chairman Rev. Hyung Jin Moon, Washington Times Chairman Douglas D.M. Joo and Peace Motors Co. President Sang Kwon Park to North Korea to offer condolences and meet Kim Jong Un.

Rev Dr Sun Myung Moon The Founder of Universal Peace Federation and many other organisations has died (Unificationists use the term 'ascended') in South Korea. He led an inspirational life of huge accomplishments. Please see the Washington Times article below.

The Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, the leader of the Unification Church and founder of The Washington Times, died early Monday morning in South Korea. He was 92. He passed away just before 2 a.m. local time (12:54 p.m. EDT Sunday) from complications of pneumonia, surrounded by family, friends and followers, according to Unification Church leaders.

Baroness Verma IWD 2012 On March 12^th Baroness Sandip Verma hosted, in Committee Room 4 of the House of Lords, the 2012 celebration of UN International Women's Day organised by UPF UK and its partners, Women's Federation for World Peace (WFWP) and the Association for the Development of Mongolian Women in Europe (ADMWE). The spokesperson for the Cabinet Office on Education, Equalities and Women's Issues opened the event stating, that progress had been made in terms of the standing of women in society, but “we are still away from a world in which women can live free from fear”. She continued to highlight women's central role as agents of economic change and development. Baroness Verma ended on the note, that women's empowerment shouldn't be about hating men. “The greatest things I could achieve was due to the help of men. Men need to be part of the solution.”

House of Lords, UK

Respected Baroness Verma, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am honoured to have this opportunity here in the Houses of Parliament to offer a few words of greeting at this special programme in celebration of the International Women’s Day. Although the actual date is on 8th March, we are encouraged to dedicate the whole month of March giving special attention to promote and support women’s welfare.

The title for this year’s event is, Connecting Girls: Inspiring Futures. I think this is a very appropriate title as we need to look to the future and work together for the betterment of women. I am also pleased to see women of a younger generation participating here, both as speakers as well as attending the programme.

I also think this year’s celebration of International Women’s Day takes on special significance here in the United Kingdom. We will celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the ascension of Queen Elizabeth II to the throne. She has become one of the world’s most admired women and has been like a symbol of stability in a fast-changing world.

Get Together of Core Friends Ambassador for Peace and close friends get together in Lancaster Gate to review Universal Peace Federation (UPF) activities in 2011 and make a new start for 2012. Twenty five friends attended to discuss plans for the coming year as well as make comments on recent conferences. Their comments particualrly emphasised appreciation for youth acivities in UPF. There were some discussions of how to develop the family, youth and gangs area. The UPF Youth area has developed in recent months but we would like to establish it on a better basis. (For more photos please use this link.)