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• GLOBALink | China sees first export of 50-meter steel rails to Europe

  China saw its first export of 50-meter steel rails to Europe. A total of 22,000 tonnes of rails will be shipped to support the construction of the Hungary-Serbia Railway. #GLOBALink

  Produced by Xinhua Global Service

• Intercontinental Conference for Peace Education Held Online

  Strategies for the Practice and Development of Peace Education

  On January 27, HWPL held an online New Year's Conference for Peace Education with 37 participants from 6 countries. This New Year's Conference, with attendees from each continent, including Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, was promoted to share the activities of 2022, communicate with each other, and emphasize the need for active movement by peace teachers. There have been 43 peace educators in the MENA region, with 26 MOU and 2 MOAs contracted until now.

  HWPL is an international peace NGO seeking ways to help students become leaders who create global harmony and achieve peace by interacting with global educators and UNESCO ambassadors as promoting a culture of peace and non-violence through education is one of UNESCO’s core missions. HWPL has its own Peace Education Curriculum from which students learn about the meaning of peace and its value and how to be qualified as a citizen of peace.

  The peace activities of the countries cooperated with HWPL Global 2 branch, and the peace goals for this year were shared useful in overcoming to overcome difficulties in education that occurred in each country, such as the prolonged pandemic and educational inequality, and seek directions for development.

  Iraq's Dr. Muayad Tahseen Yousif Altawi, Lecturer of the University of Mosul also shared action plans and strategies, and said “What we want is to have further cooperation with constant talks about the Peace Education. Of course, with SNS promotion of HWPL and its work" expressing his desire to create tangible results in 2023.

  Mr. Elias Gudissa, a Consultant of Ethiopian Civil Service University, who had conducted peace education together, expressed her welcoming feelings about the peace initiatives continuing despite the pandemic crisis. “I can’t wait to affiliate with other universities through the Peace Education of HWPL. If there is a chance of taking part in activities of HWPL other than peace education, then I am willing to join as well” The attendees were online, but they were willing to open up about what they learned and felt and resolved to overcome the pandemic and share better examples next year.

  Since having established designated HWPL Peace Academies in Israel and India School in Israel for the first time in 2015, HWPL has signed MOUs with 314 institutions and schools and MOAs with 13 countries, to prepare peace education at the government level.

• 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.

• GLOBALink | Projects see deepened collaboration between China and Europe

  Many cooperation projects, big and small, have witnessed the deepened economic and trade exchanges between China and Europe.

  In the Lynk&Co Yuyao plant of Geely Auto Group in east China, brand-new vehicles are moving orderly on the production line.

  During Dec. 1-18, over 4,400 vehicles were delivered from Ningbo Port, Shanghai Nangang Port and other Chinese ports, arriving at Belgium's Port of Zeebrugge in a month.

  On Dec. 15, the X8026 "Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe" freight train (Geely special express) loaded with 100 TEUs of auto parts departed from Yiwu, heading to Belarusian capital Minsk.

  Till Tuesday, a total of 1,559 "Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe" trains have left the Yiwu platform this year, with a year-on-year growth of 24.5 percent.

  Since autumn, small heating facilities such as electric blankets and fan heaters have gained noticeable popularity in Europe, most of which are produced in China.

  Data from e-commerce giant Alibaba showed that at the peak of export, the demand for heating appliances increased by nearly 50 percent year-on-year, and most products would go to the Netherlands, France, Germany and Poland.

  According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, in the first 10 months of 2022, China-EU trade value hit 711.4 billion U.S. dollars, up 6.3 percent year-on-year.

  China remains the largest trading partner of the European Union (EU), and the EU remains China's second-largest trading partner.

   Produced by Xinhua Global Service

• Being a journalist in Europe today: EaP journalists to attend European Journalism Symposium

  From 23-25 November, EU NEIGHBOURS east is partnering with the  European Journalism Symposium to bring journalists from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Moldova to this major international event, taking place in Brussels around the theme “Being a journalist in Europe today”.

  This free event will bring together around 100 speakers from at least 25 different countries, offering a unique opportunity for networking and professional exchanges between visiting journalists from the Eastern Partnership region, the Southern Mediterranean and the EU, around discussions on the role of the media in their countries. 

  Organised for the first time, the European Journalism Symposium aims to become a major biannual meeting where professionals will be able to discuss the challenges of their professions with the public, researchers, political and economic experts, and civil society representatives. 

  “Today, as the war in Ukraine is bloodying the heart of Europe and smearing the right to have access to free and fair information, we need to create this space for dialogue and reaffirm the role of a free and pluralistic information system, at the service of peace and democracy,” the organisers say.

  The programme includes sessions on a wide range of topics, including propaganda and fake news, threats to journalism, media literacy, cyberattacks, and press freedom. On 24 November, there will be a special evening, organised with Reporters without Borders, on ‘Telling the war in Ukraine’, with the participation of journalists from Ukraine and Belgium.

  The event is co-organised by IHECS (the Institut des hautes études des communications sociales – École de journalisme de Bruxelles) and the French association Journalisme & Citoyenneté.

  Find out more

  Press release

  Programme