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• 1st National Peace Convention Held to Promote Unity

  PASAY CITY—The 1st National Peace Convention was held on January 25, 2023 with the theme, “Peace Builds One Nation, One Future: Peace is Here”, attended by over 1,500 peace advocates to build a holistic roadmap towards the attainment of national unity through peace in consonance with the Marcos Administration’s agenda.

  Dr. Ronald Adamat, Commissioner of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Founding Chairman of Volunteer Individuals for Peace (VIP), spearheaded the event.

  "We want peace to reign in our country. We want peace to be the language everyone of us will speak and every Filipino and every foreigner will understand. Today, let's declare peace as a pandemic. Infect people not to rest in peace but to live in peace," said Dr. Adamat.

  Dr. Adamat is the first Filipino recipient of the prestigious Mahatma MK Gandhi Prize for Non-Violent Peace awarded last year in recognition of his contributions to peace-building including the higher education

  In attendance also is Chairman Lee Man-hee of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a 92-year old Korean war veteran.

  “Peacebuilding in Mindanao after conflict is becoming known worldwide. This is the case of transforming death into life for peace. Starting with Mindanao and the Philippines, when we unite in love, peace will come to our world. For this reason, everyone in the Philippines has to become one and work together as messengers of peace,” said Chairman Lee.

  The two peace advocates first met in 2017 during HWPL World Peace Summit held in South Korea. As an expression of their shared commitment to promoting peace, CHED and HWPL signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in 2018 to integrate peace education in the higher education curricula.

  The convention commenced with the first Plenary Session followed by parallel sessions in the afternoon. The parallel sessions were conducted separately for five sector groups—lawmakers and non-government organizations, academe and youth, religious and ethnic groups, women, and media. Each session drafted a resolution which contained their solidarity with the organizers’ peace-building efforts.

  The five resolutions were consolidated during the second Plenary Session to call for President Bongbong Marcos to proclaim January 24 as ‘National Peace Day’ or “Truce Day”.

  The date January 24 was proposed in commemoration of a civilian-led peace agreement signed at General Santos City in 2014 to boost reconciliation among the local communities. It was proposed by Chairman Lee to mediate between the existing conflict in Mindanao at the time. The date was later declared as ‘HWPL Peace Day’ by then Maguindanao governor Toto Mangudadatu in 2015 and BARMM Chief Minister and MILF Chairman Ahod Ebrahim in 2016.

  The organizers believe that the declaration of a National Peace Day shall be the mechanism by which every year, peace-related activities are observed and celebrated across the country.

• PILOT PROJECT OF THE GLOBAL TRANSIT DOCUMENT LAUNCHED IN TURKMENISTAN

  The launch ceremony of the pilot project of the Global Transit Document took place on August 17, 2022 at the Berkarar Hotel of the Avaza National Tourist Zone.

  The Global Transit Document (GTrD), which is a universal digital solution for the development of multimodal transportation, is the result of fruitful cooperation between the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission of the International Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA) with the International Center for Transport Diplomacy, the Intergovernmental Council of Road Workers of the CIS, and the world's largest developers of IT technologies, as well as with countries that have shown interest in piloting the GTrD.

  The launch ceremony of the pilot project of the Global Transit Document was attended by the Executive Secretary of the International Center for Transport Diplomacy I.Runov, the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Council of Road Workers of the Commonwealth of Independent States B.Karimov, as well as representatives of the countries of the region - Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

  The speakers emphasized that at the turn of the third decade of the 21st century, economic realities and trends in the development of the world economy created an obvious need for the development and implementation of a unified Global Transit Document in order to optimize the management of the transport process along multimodal corridors connecting states of different regions and continents.

  The introduction of a digital platform of the global transit network based on the latest technologies using the Global Transit Document will make it possible to extend the customs guarantee and insurance regime, as well as ensure the traceability of goods and vehicles along the entire route from the starting point to the destination.

  At the end of the official launch ceremony of the pilot project of the Global Transit Document, its participants adopted a Joint Statement, in which they confirmed the readiness of the parties for further cooperation in promoting the proposal to create a global digital transit network at various levels, as well as within the United Nations.

   

• Ambassador Degnan Visits National Defense Academy of Georgia

  U.S.-Georgian security and defense cooperation is the cornerstone of our strategic partnership. Today, Ambassador Degnan visited Georgia’s Davit Aghmashenebeli National Defense Academy (NDA) and met with Rector Brigadier General Mamia Balakhadze.

  The NDA is the backbone of the Georgian Defense Forces’ officer corps. The United States Embassy is proud to offer support to its mission of educating and training future officers.

  US Embassy in Tbilisi

• EU supports consultations on water resource management in Georgia

  The current reform and remaining challenges in Georgia’s water sector were the focus of the 7th steering committee meeting of the National Policy Dialogue on Integrated Water Resource Management on 5 March.

  Delegates from national authorities, local stakeholders, non-governmental organisations and international experts from EU Member States shared practical experiences of the water reform journey and discussed the next steps in ensuring environmentally-sound management of water resources.

  The EU Water Directives provided a framework to set up policy objectives for Georgia’s water sector. The National Policy Dialogue supports water reform by strengthening water governance and enhancing stakeholder involvement in the decision-making process.

  The meeting discussed the progress made on legal and regulatory reforms, the development of pilot river basin management plans for the Alazani-Lori and Khrami-Debeda basins and emerging needs associated with implementing the EU Association Agreement.

  The meeting was facilitated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia with support from the European Union through the ‘European Union Water Initiative plus for the Eastern Partnership Countries’ (EUWI+) programme.

• Adoption of the National Strategy of Turkmenistan on Climate Change

  The National Strategy of Turkmenistan on Climate Change has been adopted and presently serves as the main national document on the implementation of activities in the area of climate change.    

  The National Strategy of Turkmenistan on Climate Change reflects the national viewpoint of the issues related to the climate change and acts as a basis for developing and implementing the state policy of Turkmenistan in the area of climate change and its impacts. The worsening of global climate change brought to the adoption of immediate measures. The Government of Turkmenistan designed an action plan based on the Sustainable Development Goals including the Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts, as well as the need for timely implementation of the obligations of the Paris Agreement. The need for revising and renewing the National Strategy of Turkmenistan on Climate Change came about.  In this context, in 2018 the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Protection of Turkmenistan initiated the preparation of the new version of the National Strategy of Turkmenistan on Climate Change, in assistance of the UNDP.          

  On the international arena, this Strategy serves as the main instrument of Turkmenistan reflecting the standpoint of the country during the negotiations and acts as the fundamental document for the preparation of reports on the implementation of its obligations in the framework of global climate agreements.  

  The adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of two Resolutions on “The Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Fund of Saving the Aral Sea” in 2018 and 2019 initiated by President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has a direct connection to the establishment of full format international mechanism of collaboration in the area of ecology and particularly to the joint work on the prevention of the Aral Sea crisis’ impacts.       

  In the framework of the chairmanship in the International Fund of Saving the Aral Sea for 2017-2019, Turkmenistan already implements a number of proposals on the intensification of cooperation between the countries of the region with the aim of developing the ecological and social-economic situation in the Aral Sea basin.   

  This strategy is the recognition of the merits of Turkmenistan in the process of strengthening efficient international collaboration on improving the ecological and social-economic situation in the world.