World Youth Peace Summit

4/13/2003

First Planning Session for the World Youth Peace Summit

Members of the World Council of Religious Leaders (WCRL) convened in Kyoto, Japan on April 8 for the first planning session of the World Youth Peace Summit. Attendees included leaders from Asia, Americas, Europe, and Africa, as well as youth leaders of various religious, business, government, professional and cultural sectors from all regions. The purpose of the conference was to discuss and plan for the first World Youth Peace Summit, which is to be held in Nairobi, Kenya in October 2004. 

The objective in convening the World Youth Peace Summit (WYPS) is to engage youth leaders from every sector and region of the world to commit in the work of peace promotion and sustenance. The concept of the WYPS was launched at the 2002 Global Peace Initiative of Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders. The World Council of Religious Leaders' main role to the Summit is to advise and offer their wisdom and guidance while engaging youth leaders to together realize the vision of a peaceful and prosperous future. On the mission of the Summit, the WCRL and the youth leaders agreed that the main goals are to educate and prepare future youth leaders to commit effortsto promote peace of mind, environment, and nature; and to equip future leaders with the skills and tools to sustain world peace, mutual understanding, and respect and harmony in our global community. 

The direction of the Summit's mission coincides with Dharma Drum Mountain's advocacy of Protecting the Spiritual Environment to build a pure land on earth. 

Chan Master Sheng Yen, founder of Dharma Drum Mountain, attended the planning session for the Summit as one of the members of the executive committee of the World Council of Religious Leaders. 

During side meetings at the planning session for the Summit, members of the WCRL discussed on its role in the provision of humanitarian aid to postwar Iraq. In addition to aid in material provisions such as food and medicine, the Council also laid emphasis on the importance of efforts to ease and calm the people's minds. Master Sheng Yen said that since many countries are already providing humanitarian aid of food and medicine to the Iraqi people, he will focus his efforts more on calming and easing the minds of the people, teaching the people the concepts and the practicality of protecting the spiritual environment in helping them to cope with the aftermath of the war. Just as DDM did in helping the victims of the major 921 earthquake incident, DDM hopes to create lasting positive effects on Iraqi society.