Celebrating 17 Years: The Great Impact of UPF
“The Universal Peace Federation (UPF) is a truly providential and revolutionary project,” said True Father during its inaugural address on Sept. 12, 2005. Seventeen years later, UPF’s impact can be seen worldwide through its global network of peace ambassadors, heads of state, politicians, clergy, and leaders from every sector of society.
UPF’s debut convocation in New York City featured 376 delegates from 157 nations who gathered at the Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. Today, through several global peace-building initiatives — including the World Summit and Rally of Hope series — UPF has reached hundreds of millions of people from around the world using advanced hybrid technology.
Most recently, some 350 international leaders convened with FFWPU leaders in person and virtually for the Summit 2022 and Leadership Conference in Seoul, South Korea, to discuss and exchange strategies for developing a world culture of peace and reunifying the Korean Peninsula.
“Through the summit, it has been possible to promote the ideals of mutual prosperity, interdependence, and shared universal values that have been the slogan of UPF and its global network of Ambassadors for Peace,” said former Brazilian President, Michel Temer, in his recent summit remarks.
“I thank the honorable Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon and all the members of [UPF] for the time and considerable efforts that you continue to devote to the safeguarding of our common humanity,” said H.E. Macky Sall, Senegal president and chair of the African Union (AU), during his summit message.
UPF’s mission, True Father said, is to provide a new level of leadership in the global arena. As part of the launch, he also proposed what is now part of UPF’s Peace Road project — to build a bridge tunnel for transport across the Bering Strait. True Father described this as a crucial “link” creating an international highway system that connects the world as a single community.
Over the years, UPF’s eight primary associations have steadily grown to comprise a summit council, parliamentarians, first ladies, faith leaders, the media, scholars, as well as leaders in business, and the arts and culture. UPF has also led the movement’s Middle East Peace Initiative (MEPI), which sponsors interfaith “Pilgrimages for Peace,” and its Northeast Asia Peace Initiative (NEAPI), which supports Korean reunification.
“Human beings, who lost their freedom, have been plagued by war, conflict, and disease until today,” said True Mother, UPF’s co-founder, during Summit 2022. “They see no hope for the future, nor do they know how or when they can find that hope. God, however, is alive and working ... Please join me in carrying out the work needed to restore this world to its original pristine state at the time of Creation so that our descendants in the future won’t have to worry but will have hope. Let’s accomplish this with our own hands.”
You can learn more about the history and peace work of UPF here.