“The family is the first place where children learn love and respect. Children also learn the lessons of integrity, hard work and responsibility.” —Dr. Junsook Moon
Peace Begins in the Home in 2018
In countries around the world, from Tanzania to Nepal, Korea, and Uganda, tens of thousands are showing their support for a global campaign that has swept all family members into the peacebuilding process that “Peace Begins in the Home.”
Programs implemented by Global Peace Women, the women’s division of Global Peace Foundation, remind parents that one of the most important leadership positions they hold is in their families. This is where they start as change makers in their society. From the family, they can positively impact the emotional and spiritual foundations of each family member. They can cultivate essential virtues like perseverance, dedication to the community, and integrity, and to inspire future generations with the vision to be moral and innovative people who can contribute to their world.
Forums, conferences, campaigns and grassroots projects in 2018 brought the message that peacebuilding starts in the family, then expands to nations and communities around the world.
1. The women’s track, Peace Begins in the Home: Women-led Initiatives for Peace and Development, at the 2018 Global Peace Leadership Conference provided a wide range of approaches and models for comprehensive peacebuilding starting from the home and expanding to the world. Topics such as healthy relationship building, financial capacity building, and women’s participation in the decision-making process were an integral part of the discussion on how women-led initiatives could play a crucial role in bringing sustainable development and peace in societies around the world
2. Campaigns to bring peaceful reunification to the Korean peninsula inspired people from around the world to take part in the Korean Dream by first discovering how to fulfill it within their own families.
3. Global Peace Women’s ongoing campaign, Peace Begins in the Home, is spreading the message of empowerment for family-led peacebuilding in communities around the world.
A World of Peace through God-centered Families
The Family Peace Association celebrated its 1-year anniversary this year. At the December 2 inaugural ceremony last year, Dr. Moon issued a powerful call to strengthen God-centered families, as the cradle of civilizational advance and the cornerstone of God’s ideal of a peaceful world.
The role of God-centered families is central to all positive human development since it brings back the divinity in that sacred institution and aligns it to the original purpose of creation. Without such families, humanity will not have the moral clarity and conviction to take on the challenges of this age and build a brighter future for our children and grandchildren. The course of human society will turn on how well we understand this truth and the choices we make today to act upon it.
The Family Peace Association is working with partners across national, religious, and ethic differences, to support families in cultivating strong family traditions that connect them to God’s vision for humanity, and carrying on important universal principles and values from generation to generation.