Many parts of the global society is reacting to Russia's military invasion of Ukraine by denouncing Russian President Putin's decision of devastating attack and occupation of the Ukraine territory.

In his presidency, Putin used the military power to invade and control foreign territory including South Ossetia, Crimea of Ukraine, and now parts of the north, east and south of Ukraine, which all challenged the global security and stability.

On 28th, Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a South Korea-based international NGO affiliated with the UN ECOSOC and Seoul Metropolitan Government, made a statement to advocate a global cooperation for peace.

Titled “Statement by Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) Regarding Russia and Ukraine”, it demands that Russia withdraw all military to its own territory, international community protect and accommodate refugees, and global youth unite for an anti-war movement and peace.

“Military aggression against a sovereign state cannot be a solution to any problem, and the perils of such war and violent conflict hit innocent citizens the hardest, including women, the youth, and children. … Russia must withdraw its forces back to its country … (and we) request all nations to demonstrate their love for humanity by offering help to refugees.”

HWPL has been seeking to construct a global network for peace by building solidarity among leaders and representatives from the field of politics, religion, youth, women and media in the world. Written by 580,000 citizens worldwide, HWPL in 2018 sent out "peace letters" urging the heads of states of 192 countries to demand their participation in cooperation for peace.

On February 26th, the White House announced through a statement that the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States will cooperate to execute an economic sanction to exclude Russia from the international financial system by removing selected Russian banks from the SWIFT.

Ukrainian forces are currently resisting against the Russian military with effective defense, and anti-war protests and voices in support of Ukraine through social media become more widespread throughout the world.

Department of Public Relations (International) HWPL

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- For the world, the year ahead continues to be full of challenges. At such a critical moment, countries need solidarity, not division; dialogue, not confrontation, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Monday.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service

 

 

Twelve journalists from Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan visited the Republic of Moldova on 21-24 may to learn about the results of the Energy and Biomass Project, funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme. The visit took place in the framework of the EU4Energy Initiative.

The journalists visited a kindergarten in the town of Nisporeni, where 270 children have hot water thanks to solar panels installed with the help of the Energy and Biomass Project. During winter, the entire surface of the kindergarten is heated with green energy produced in the Republic of Moldova.

To heat its rooms, the kindergarten, together with the city hall, buys pellets produced in Moldova, meaning the money it spends on energy remains in the country.

Another stop on the tour was the briquette production line in the city of Balti. Ludmila Abramciuc and Ivan Damaschin are beneficiaries of the Energy and Biomass Project grant programme, thanks to which they were able to buy, and repay in instalments, the necessary equipment for biofuel production.

The journalists also attended a lesson on renewable energy at a school in Chiscareni village, Sangerei district. Together with the students of “Nicolae Casso” school, they answered questions on the green energy sector, as well as making a parabolic solar collector. Professor Nicolae Spanu guided the team through this.

The school in Chiscareni village is also the first public institution in the Republic of Moldova to have switched to biomass heating. In 2005, thanks to a project funded by the World Bank, a biomass power plant using straw bales was installed at the school. To this day, the institution continues to benefit from clean energy.

Meanwhile, the community has connected other public institutions to green energy. The kindergarten in the village has electricity produced by photovoltaic panels and hot water from solar collectors. Next winter, the city hall will replace its stoves with a biomass heating system, installed with the help of European funds through the Energy and Biomass Project.

The EU-funded and UNDP-implemented Energy and Biomass Project in Moldova is part of the EU4Energy Initiative and aims to contribute to the reliable, competitive and sustainable production of energy from biomass, which is the most viable and available source of renewable energy in the Republic of Moldova.

EU4Energy covers all EU support to improve energy supply, security and connectivity, as well as to promote energy efficiency and the use of renewables in the Eastern Partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine). It does this by financing projects and programmes that help to reform energy markets and to reduce national energy dependence and consumption. Over the long term, this makes energy supply more reliable, transparent and affordable, thus reducing energy poverty and energy bills for both citizens and the private sector.

HWPL and civil society groups in 117 cities advocate comprehensive cooperation for peace and denounce anti-peace activities

While the global society has been sending an interest and encouragement to the historic decision of the North Korea-US dialogue following the ‘Peace Olympics’ held in South Korea, a Korea-based international peace NGO held an event commemorating “The 2nd Annual Commemoration of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW)” on March 14. In Seoul, South Korea, on the theme of "A Call for Building a World of Peace and Realizing Justice" was attended by 1,000 participants including representatives of politics, religion, and civic groups at home and abroad.

The host organization, Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) affiliated with UN DPI and UN ECOSOC, announced the DPCW on March 14, 2016, to strengthen a solidarity of peace through a comprehensive cooperation of all sectors of society and to establish legally binding international law necessary for peacebuilding. The DPCW with 10 articles and 38 clauses, drafted by international law experts, includes provisions to avoid war-related actions and achieve peace, including respect on international law, ethnic/religious harmony, and a culture of peace.

Mr. Man Hee Lee, Chairman of HWPL, highlighted that every individual in the global society is responsible for constructing global peace. He appealed to the participants by saying, “Rather than waiting to take peace for granted, it is we who should put an end to war to protect humanity and our globe, and leave peace as a legacy for future generations.” “Law of today cannot compensate for the lives sacrificed from war. What we need is an instrument that protects human life, the very law that prevents war,” he added.

“No human being and no animal on planet Earth can survive from weapons (of mass destruction). Even an error or an accident can cause widespread damage to human life and property which cannot be replenished. We all have to work 365 days and 24 hours together for peace as a messenger of peace,” said, Mr. Pravin H. Parekh, President of Confederation of Indian Bar who participated in drafting the DPCW.

“If we want to put an end to war and build peace, let us work together for peace and overcome the boundary of state, ethnicity and religion. We have to think about how to resolve international conflicts through the adoption of the DPCW as a UN resolution. And the international society should provide assistance to facilitate peace education proposed by HWPL,” emphasized Mr. Deok Gyu Lim, former president of the International Law Association Korean Branch.

In the event, HWPL issued the official statement against anti-peace actions that hinder peace and justice with unsubstantiated information and distortion from socio-economic motives and human rights abuses by religious intolerance. In the statement it addressed that HWPL “will no longer tolerate attempts to obstruct the work for peace, putting personal gain over the common good of humanity. We urge all those yearning for peace and justice to take the right path, not the path marked with lies, and join the effort to build peace together.”

The multi-national events for the 2nd Annual Commemoration of the DPCW calling for building a world of peace and realizing justice were organized in 166 cities in 71 countries, including South Korea, the United States, Germany, Ukraine, Britain, and China. 150,000 citizens and leaders of all sectors in the world took part in this global event urging the establishment of international law for the realization of a peaceful, just society and the denunciation of anti-peace activity.

On 18 September, four of the EU’s Eastern Partner countries (Armenia, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) joined the international Alliance for Torture-Free Trade, which was launched during the United Nations General Assembly week in New York.

“The initiative – a joint effort by the European Union, Argentina and Mongolia, with a total of 58 participating countries – aims to stop the trade in goods used to carry out the death penalty and commit torture,” the EU said in a press release.

It also gave a reminder that international law bans torture in all circumstances. Despite this, tools of death and pain are still traded across the globe: “These include batons with metal spikes, electric shock belts, grabbers that seize people while electrocuting them, chemicals used to execute people and the forced injection systems that go with them,” the EU said.

“These products serve no other purpose than inflicting terrible pain and killing people. Now, we are taking concrete action to shut down this despicable trade. I am thrilled that so many countries around the globe have signed up to the joint Declaration and joined this Alliance. By standing together, we demonstrate that we will not tolerate this trade any longer,” said European Union Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström.

More information on the countries that have joined the Alliance and the content of the joint political declaration adopted in New York can be found here.

More than 350 media professionals and donors from the Eastern Partnership and the EU gather in Kyiv on 13 September for the 2nd Eastern Partnership Media Conference, which aims to shine a spotlight on the growing challenges facing journalists in the EU’s Eastern partner countries.

Bringing together participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine as well as EU Member States, the conference offers a unique platform to identify obstacles to a healthy media environment, discuss ways of addressing them, and examine how the EU and other donors can best support independent journalism in these countries.

In his message to the participants, European Neighbourhood Commissioner Johannes Hahn stressed that ''Freedom of expression is one of the very foundations on which our Union is built. We believe that a strong, independent press is fundamental to successful societies everywhere. Today's conference clearly shows the importance of closer engagement of the EU with partner countries on the issues of plurality and independence of media.''

Over the past decade, the European Union has spent and earmarked about €30 million in support of media initiatives in Eastern partner countries, €14 million of which on current projects.

The conference will look at the pressures experienced by media workers in the Eastern neighbourhood, discuss solutions to achieve economic sustainability in news and story production, as well as difficulties in reforming public broadcasting sectors.

Participants will also discuss methods to make media outlets more sustainable and to help journalists continue to grow professionally. The challenges posed by disinformation campaigns and efforts to spread biased or misleading information on social media will also be on the agenda, with a focus on how media can help increase critical thinking in society.

The 2nd Eastern Partnership Media Conference is held in preparation for the 5th Eastern Partnership Summit, to be held in Brussels in November 2017. The discussions and practical findings of the conference will provide a basis for further considerations at the Summit.

Visa partners with industry to develop QR standard for safe and easy mobile payments MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS – Barcelona, Spain and San Francisco, CA – February 27, 2017 – Visa (NYSE:V), announced that mVisa, its QR-based payment service, now live in India, Kenya and Rwanda, will soon be available to merchants and consumers in Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Vietnam. mVisa, a mobile solution, brings the benefits of easy and secure digital commerce to financial institutions, merchants and consumers in emerging markets - helping accelerate the global migration from cash to electronic payments. mVisa aids in overcoming merchant infrastructure issues as it allows consumers to use their mobile phones to make cashless purchases at merchant outlets, pay bills remotely and even send money to friends and family members by securely linking their Visa debit, credit or prepaid account to the mVisa application. It digitizes the underlying account and allows consumers to transfer funds from their account to the retailer’s account reliably and securely by scanning a QR code. “Customers have told us they appreciate how fast and easy it is to use mVisa ,” said Uttam Nayak, senior vice president of digital for emerging markets, Visa Inc. “Small merchants using mVisa, for the first time, are most excited about how quickly and securely they receive electronic payments, without having to invest into expensive point of sale (POS) infrastructure. We are excited to continue to build momentum around mVisa to digitize payments with a scalable, interoperable and secure solution that benefits merchants, financial institutions and consumers.” mVisa Merchant Benefits mVisa is an agile solution that allows merchants around the world to immediately accept digital payments from their customers. The flexible nature of QR codes, and the fact that merchants do not need to invest in POS infrastructure, has allowed Visa and its partners to offer inventive solutions that eliminate friction for consumers who want and need to pay for goods and services around the world. For example: • Visa worked with Tata Sky, India’s leading direct-to-home service provider, to allow Tata Sky subscribers to recharge their account by scanning the QR code through their mobile phones directly from the TV screen or online on mytatasky.com. Tata Sky customers can now order and pay for any monthly or one-time payment services exactly when they require the services, without having to go to a Tata Sky outlet to complete their transaction. • Mahanagar Gas Limited, a utility provider in Mumbai, issues customer bills printed with the mVisa QR code. Customers simply scan the QR code on the bill, as they would at a merchant outlet, and complete their transaction in the comfort of their own home. The mVisa APIs and SDKs are available on the Visa Developer Platform to help simplify the integration process and allow both traditional and non-traditional players to launch new solutions more quickly. Industry Standards Interoperability is at the foundation of Visa and has been the driving force behind Visa’s global acceptance for more than 50 years. mVisa operates on the same foundation, as any bank’s mVisa customer – regardless of where they bank - can transact on any mVisa merchant. The benefits of this low cost acceptance solution was also the reason behind why Visa worked with industry partners to launch BharatQR in February this year. BharatQR is India’s – and the world’s – first standardized QR code payment solution. The solution builds on mVisa’s product standards, and consumers do not need to scan different QR codes at the same merchant provided by the different payment networks. Merchants only need to display one QR code at the storefront or through the acquiring bank’s mobile application. The underlying specification for BharatQR can be implemented in other countries to deliver a globally interoperable solution.   About Visa Inc.: Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world's most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead of time with prepaid or pay later with credit products . For more information, visit: www.corporate.visa.com, www.visa.com.ge , https://www.facebook.com/VisaGeorgiaGE, Visa CISSEE Newsroom.

The State of Israel has included Georgia in the list of safe countries which means that, according to Israel, no one in Georgia is under threat of persecution on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, political views. The inclusion of Georgia in the list of safe countries means that Georgian citizens’ applications for asylum (unless they are based on real reasons) will not be granted. The State of Israel is the fifth country after the Kingdom of Belgium, France, Bulgaria and Austria, to have placed Georgia on the list of safe countries.

The large-scale Creative Georgia Forum brought together leading European experts and official representatives from the Eastern Partnership countries on 8th and 9th December. During the Forum in Tbilisi, participants discussed, on the basis of cases of cultural initiatives and the EU’s experience, how cultural and creative industries can have a positive impact on innovation and development in Georgia and the region.
Three Steps Towards the Development of Creative Industries
So why are creative industries so important?
Because they make regions attractive for investments and professional staff, according to Walter Zampieri, Head of the Unit for Culture and Creativity in the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission. “And another point of importance is innovation. Because cultural and creative industries are at the forefront of innovation, as they have developed a prototype for every product, its innovative potential becomes the decisive factor of the sector” , stated Barbara Gessler, Head of Culture Unit, EACEA.
“The cultural and creative industries make up between 4.2% and 4.4% of the EU’s GDP and approximately 2.3% of the EU’s workforce. It is the fastest-growing sector. The sector has shown sustainability in the face of a crisis. Not only in Europe but also elsewhere in the world. Employment is continuing to grow despite the acute economic crisis”, explained Walter Zampieri, Head of the Unit for Culture and Creativity of the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission.

 

 

 

The developments and challenges facing the Georgian media and internet sector ahead of the parliamentary elections will be discussed during a two-day meeting that started in the country’s capital today. Gathering relevant national stakeholders, the event is organised in the framework of the joint EU/Council of Europe Programmatic Cooperation Framework (EU/CoE PCF) Programme aimed at protecting internet freedom through legislation and multi-stakeholder dialogue.
The joint EU/CoE PCF aims to provide extensive and substantial expertise on strengthening the capacity of institutions in the six Eastern Partnership countries to implement domestic reforms and bring them closer to Council of Europe and European Union standards in the fields of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, and improve the lives of citizens. The EU’s contribution to the PCF is EUR 30 million.. (EU Neighbourhood Info).