2020 Sunhak Peace Prize Award Ceremony

 2020

Sunhak Peace Prize
Award Ceremony 

Date     : Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Location : KINTEX Exhibition Center 1, Republic of Korea

Sunhak Peace Prize Introductory Video

Award Ceremony Video

Welcoming Address

Dr. Il Sik Hong

 

Committee Chair

Your Excellencies and distinguished guests!

We are gathered today to congratulate and encourage the 2020 Sunhak Peace Prize Laureates. I sincerely thank you for joining us on this special occasion. Furthermore, I would like to welcome and thank the former and current heads of states and various representatives from around the world who are here with us. This year’s award ceremony is especially meaningful as it marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the founder, Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon.

Above all, I would like to extend my deepest respect and sincere congratulations to this year’s laureates: Founders’ Centenary Award Laureate, former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and the Sunhak Peace Prize Laureates President Macky Sall of the Republic of Senegal and International Honory President of Religion for Peace Bishop Munib Younan. Your dedication and achievements in realizing peace for the sake of humanity have made you the heroes of today’s ceremony.

The Sunhak Peace Prize was founded at the behest of Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, the wife of the late Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, to honor and preserve his ideals, legacy and achievements. In selecting this year’s laureates, the Sunhak Peace Prize Committee focused on the founders’ principles of interdependence, mutual prosperity and universally shared values to commemorate the centenary of Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon's birth.

Distinguished guests!

Peace for humanity can only be achieved when a peaceful global community in which all nations live together in prosperity and in respect of each other is realized. As a mere student of the humanities and not a religious or political leader, I have had endless respect and the highest esteem for Rev. Moon’s insight into history of human civilization that transcends any and all secular boundaries and discrimination and for his lifelong endeavor and consistency in word and action toward love and achieving peace. Rev. Moon pioneered the path toward humanity’s common prosperity through movements that dissolved barriers, promoted the standardization of technology, and advanced religious harmony worldwide. With the heart of a father, Rev. Moon desired to embrace all humanity. I believe that his leadership of love will serve as a great lesson to the leaders around the world today who, led by national interest, are unable to see the wider and greater world and future.

Distinguished guests!

The founders have consistently emphasized throughout their lives that “Peace can only be achieved when we dissolve the barriers that lie between us and help and love each other.” In a world that is becoming more and more divided, we must act swiftly to foster a culture of peace. We need to move beyond the interests of personal and narrower gain toward creating a new culture of peace for the sake of humanity’s future fate. The laureates receiving the awards today, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President Macky Sall of the Republic of Senegal and International Honorary President of Religion for Peace Bishop Munib Younan have led the way in creating such a world. I would like to express, once again, my deepest respects and heartfelt congratulations to the three great people receiving the 2020 Sunhak Peace Prize today.

Distinguished guests!

The Sunhak Peace Prize will continue to discover courageous and righteous people who are dedicating their lives for humanity’s peace. Let us all create a noble culture of peace full of grace.

Lastly, thank you again for joining us today and I wish you and your families peace and prosperity.

Thank you.

Acceptance Speech

Munib A. Younan

 

2020 Sunhak
Peace Prize Laureate

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the Communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Your Eminences, Your Excellencies, Your Graces, Ladies and Gentlemen, First of all, I humbly stand here as a servant of God to accept this Sunhak Peace Prize. I would like to thank Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, the founder of the Sunhak Peace Prize, and your late husband, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, for your vision of peace as “one family under God.”

I also thank those who suggested my name, as well as the work of the Sunhak Peace Prize Committee, chaired by Dr. Hong Il-sik. I also thank The Sunhak Peace Prize Foundation, and all of you who have gathered here today and have honored us by your presence.

And, most assuredly, I thank all those who believe in the mission of peace my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has put on my heart.

I stand here in appreciation of the Korean people for their resilience and industriousness. I also extend my appreciation to the Korean churches, who are preaching Christ’s Gospel of love and are advancing the Kingdom of God in this beautiful country. I want to ask you to continue the good work of unity of the one Church of Christ in Korea.

I have a special admiration for President Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea. I respect and admire his relentless efforts to unify this peninsula. I see that there is no other way forward for the people of this peninsula but to be finally unified under one flag, one leadership, and one unified Korea.

Sometimes people ask me: Why do you work for peace through interfaith dialogue? My answer is: To work for peace based on justice is not only political. It is the core of the biblical message. From my perspective, it is Christ who calls me to serve the suffering humanity and to return to them their God-given dignity. As a Christian, I believe Jesus calls us to be peacemakers, not peace-talkers. St. Paul has written: “For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall that is the hostility between us.” (Ephesians 2:14) In Christ, God was reconciling the world to God’s self, not counting the trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19). For this reason, I am called for this ministry or reconciliation, for there can be no peace without justice and no reconciliation without forgiveness. Therefore, I will continue to work for peace based on justice until the last breath of my life.

Peace is dependent upon respect for the dignity of the Other, regardless of gender, ethnicity, race, religious or political affiliation. All of us are made in the image of God. All of us are children of God. All of us are one family of God. And for this reason all of us deserve to have life and dignity and peace.

Mutual recognition of each other’s dignity is the foundation of our faith and of a new world order, one that is built and based upon truth, justice, love and freedom. This vision of a peaceful life together is the central message of every religion and is integral to the mission of every religious community. This is the reason I call on all religious leaders to raise their voices prophetically for peace based on justice, and to speak boldly against the waves of hatred and oppression making its way across the globe today. Religions must be the conscience of the world. Religious leaders must join their diverse voices into a symphony of peace to disrupt the others shouting ugly messages of injustice, hatred, racism and oppression. Religious leaders must always be witnesses to the protection of life and its dignity.

World leaders today talk about our shared security, but I challenge them instead to talk about our shared well-being. Not only in security, a commitment to a shared well-being calls us to work for a safer world, a world without weapons of destruction.

When we see the image of God in the other, we can do nothing else but work for a nuclear-free world and weapon-free cities and states. Certainly, we must at least insist that our children have violence-free schools, neighborhoods, and societies. When will we hold our world leaders to task, demanding a general disarmament of all weapons of destruction: nuclear, chemical, biological, and the newly emerging tools of death? Korea, and the whole Middle East, will be much safer without arms and weapons. We need justice, not weapons. It is my vision that all states use the funds allocated for weapons to kill life, and instead invest them in economic development, equality, gender justice, and freedom of religion. Pope John Paul II said: “We are a human family. ‘Love your neighbor’ has global dimensions in an interdependent world.”

Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life, and life abundantly.” (John 10:10) This is a promise to all humanity, not only for Christians, that all are intended to possess dignity, and the world is intended to know a shared well-being among all nations and ethnicities.

How do we achieve such abundant life?

In a polarized world, religious leaders can affect our future toward this end by promoting the common values of living together in dignity, working for peace, and combatting fanaticism, fundamentalism, and extremism. Religious extremists who use religion and manipulate God for their own selfish purposes are an existential threat to humanity nowadays.

Extremism is a blatant perversion of religion and is always the antithesis of love. For this reason, it is the role of religious leaders today to boldly and prophetically combat any kind of extremism within their own religion. It is imperative that we teach our own communities to see and value the image of God in those who are different from us. As it is written: “Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.” (1 John 4:20)

This is our mutual call: To teach love, never division or hatred. With God’s love guiding us, we can always be instruments of peace and promoters of robust moderation.

Fear of the other is the source of all conflict, violence, and war. Every day, we hear of another politician seeking to implant seeds of fear, seeking to grow a harvest of hatred among his or her people. It is no wonder that religious extremism, secular populism, and racism are spreading throughout our societies. We are not powerless in the face of this epidemic. We can, and we must, stand up and resist with all our might this disease of fear and xenophobia. We can inoculate our youth and societies against this disease by boldly proclaiming love, mercy, understanding, and trust of others—even the so-called enemies. We can protect our communities from this disease by rising up against such sick ideologies as white supremacy, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Christianophobia, xenophobia, patriarchy, and every other kind of evil. It is God’s call to us to transform a world filled with hatred into a culture of harmony and love as we celebrate this week the UN World Interfaith Harmony Week.

When people know that I am an Arab Palestinian Christian coming from Jerusalem, they ask me if I am optimistic or pessimistic about the future. It is true that the political situation in the whole Middle East, especially regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is very tense. It seems that the end game is in the hands of the powerful. However, I continue to believe in and promote a two-state solution, with the State of Palestine living alongside the State of Israel, on 1967 borders, together enjoying justice, peace, equity, and reconciliation. I continue to promote and insist on a Jerusalem that is shared between the three religions— Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—with full respect for the historic status quo of the holy places, and with respect to the Hashemite King’s custodianship of Christian and Muslim holy places. Jerusalem must be a shared capital for the State of Israel and the State of Palestine for the sake of peace and justice for both nations.

As long as I live, I will teach my children and grandchildren to see the image of God in Israelis. I pray that my Israeli neighbors will see the image of God in me and in my fellow Palestinians. Once we truly recognize the image of God in the Other, then we can mutually recognize and protect each other’s human, civil, political, national, and religious rights. Only then will our Holy Land become truly holy, an equal home for Israelis and Palestinians. As long as there is a Living God of justice, I know there is hope for both groups to live in freedom, peace, justice, and dignity.

Before I end, I would like to thank my family, and especially my good wife Suad, along with my children and their families. They have always supported me in this mission of peace.

They know the risks and the challenges of walking this path toward peace for all people, and yet they remain committed to this vision, not only for themselves, but for all children of the world. I am so very grateful for them and humbled by their love and support.

Again as an Arab Palestinian Christian Evangelical Lutheran and a Palestinian refugee, I would like to express my gratitude for receiving this prestigious prize. Receiving this prize at this moment in history is just an encouragement for Arab Christianity in the whole Middle East and encouragement for growing more moderates in the Middle East. We don’t need any more extremism or weapons. We need only moderates and justice. Receiving this prize does not graduate me from continuing to do the holy work of interfaith dialogue and peacebuilding. On the contrary, I feel that this moment motivates me to continue to be a witness for peace, a broker of justice, a defender of human rights, a minister of reconciliation, and an apostle of love. Please, continue to pray for me, and for all those sisters and brothers of any religion, and those of good conscience who join us in the challenging call to bring peace based on justice to this one world we all inhabit.

“Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

May God bless you and keep you all the days of your life working for justice, peace and reconciliation. Thank you.

Acceptance Speech

Ban Ki-moon

 

Founders' Centenary Award Laureate

Honorable Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, Universal Peace Federation Founder,

Chairman Dr. Hong Il-sik and His Excellency President Macky Sall, President of Senegal represented by His Excellency Amadou Ba Foreign Minister of Senegal,

And also Rev. Munib Younan,

Distinguished guests, former heads of state and government, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great honor for me to receive this Sunhak Peace Prize.

I’m incredibly grateful for this esteemed honor. It is quite meaningful to follow in the footsteps of the previous luminary awardees you have bestowed this honor upon.

I receive this with a humble mind. This is a very honorable, special peace award of Sunhak on behalf of so many people around the world who are still yearning, hoping that the United Nations will do much better, much more for all the people who really need our support at this time. I am deeply humbled that I only receive this honor.

Thank you, again, for your recognition.

My special recognition goes to Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon for her visionary patronage of this award, as well as for her longtime advocacy efforts in support of world peace, global citizenship, and sustainable development issues. I also take this opportunity to commend the impressive work and forward-thinking vision of the Sunhak Peace Prize Foundation.

The critical efforts by the Sunhak Peace Prize Foundation are essential as we collectively strive to expand essential understanding, cooperation, and tolerance on the road to world peace and global sustainability.

In this connection, I simply couldn’t be more proud to receive this award intended to further the ideals of such a pioneering individual who so firmly believed in the importance of peace, human development, coexistence, and environmental protection.

My deepest gratitude goes to the Sunhak Peace Prize Foundation members for this very special honor and recognition of my modest contribution for world peace and development. Thank you very much again.

Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our world is changing and this is bringing many new challenges and uncertainties to the geopolitical and economic order.

Multilateral cooperation is viewed with increasing skepticism. Multilateralism represented and symbolized by the United Nations is under great threat. Multilateralism has been the basic guiding framework of this world, particularly, after the Second World War. Those countries who are leading this world have benefitted the most from multilateralism. They are now speaking about protectionism, unilateralism, individualism, isolationism. I am deeply concerned as a former Secretary-General of the United Nations who has to continue to uphold the guiding principle of the United Nations and multilateralism.

At the same time, our climate crisis is deepening as wildfires burn, sea levels rise higher, and temperatures continue to surge.

Under this backdrop of instability and waning internationalism, I firmly believe that we must work together. There is no country, no individual, however resourceful, however powerful one may be, who can do it alone. We have to put all our hands on the deck together. This has been my consistent, continuing message, even after my retirement from the United Nations. And I am deeply honored and deeply encouraged by so many people who are here, who are peace-lovers, who are loving, respecting human dignity.

Ladies and gentlemen,

During my ten-year tenure as United Nations Secretary-General, I strived to execute my global leadership by leveraging the power of partnerships and promoting the spirit of global citizenship.

I have met so many world leaders, so many business leaders, so many civil society leaders. I have seen very few leaders who are possessed with global citizenship with a global vision. We have to foster our youth, young generation, women and young so that they can become global leaders with a global vision. That is my earnest hope.

As you have seen in the video, I am proud that during my time as Secretary-General, I have prioritized the two most existential threats. One is climate crisis. Another one is the Sustainable Development Goals. Global partnerships, including the active participation of nonprofit organizations, civil society groups, religious organizations, philanthropists, and other key stakeholders like you, are necessary if we are to deliver what the United Nations has promised to the world.

The United Nations, by adopting Sustainable Development Goals on September 25, 2015, where all the leaders of the world were gathered in the General Assembly, promised that by the end of 2030, there will be nobody who should suffer from poverty, there should be nobody who should die needlessly from preventable diseases, there should be nobody whose human dignity should be not respected.

These are the promises of the world leaders. These are the promises of the United Nations.

Sustainable Development Goals also include young people as they are absolutely essential to solving so many of the world’s challenges such as achieving the SDGs, tackling climate change, building peace and resolving conflicts.

As such, I’ve been trying my best efforts, even after my retirement from the United Nations, for almost the same things that I used to do at the United Nations – promoting human rights, promoting civil society’s participation, climate change and Sustainable Development Goals.

In this regard, two years ago I launched the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens based in Vienna, Austria, and in Seoul, I established the Ban Ki-moon Foundation For a Better Future. We must work together that all the people in this world should be able to enjoy a better future.

Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The actions we take in the next ten years until 2030 will be critical to ensure the future viability of both humanity and our planet. So, we must work hard. We must work together to illuminate the true peace, harmony and reconciliation among people.

What type of peace? I am reminded of the words of President John F. Kennedy who said, “I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and hope and build a better life for their children …not merely peace in our time, but peace for all time.”

In 2020, the Year of the Rat, the white rat, and beyond, we all share a common destiny grounded in sustainability, peace, and prosperity. It is our moral duty and it is the political leaders’ political duty to realize this shared destiny for all global citizens in the years to come. With this, I am committed to work even harder to make this world better for all of you.

Lastly, this is quite coincidence I have found today sitting at this podium. Please look at that picture of me. I am wearing the same necktie. This is quite a coincidence. This is what my wife has chosen for me today, knowing that I am receiving a peace prize. This is the United Nations symbol. On every September 21, the United Nations International Day of Peace, I have been wearing this one. So, let us work together, ladies and gentlemen, to realize peace in this world.

Thank you very much.

Acceptance Speech

Macky Sall

 

2020 Laureates

Honorable Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, co-founder of the Universal Peace Federation Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, distinguished guests.

The health situation which has put the international community in a state of emergency led me to cancel the trip to Seoul I was preparing myself for.

It is with the deepest regret that I was not able to join you personally as I had planned.

I would like to thank my Korean counterpart President Moon Jae In for all the preparations he made for my visit.

It is with deep reverence that I salute the memory of Rev. Sun Myung Moon whose centenary we celebrate this year.

He was a visionary leader and the inspiration behind the Universal Peace Federation.

I would like to offer my highest esteem to the honorable Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon.

For several decades, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon has been the embodiment of incredible kindness.

Her life demonstrates a profound heart of superlative commitment to the cause of peace and the well-being of humanity.

Her unique ability and lifelong dedication to comfort those in need is leading to the realization of a harmonious global community filled with love.

Her dedication deserves our unending respect and admiration.

I would like to once again extend to her my respect and esteem.

I see the members of the Universal Peace Federation as my associates.

Ladies and gentlemen, in these times of turbulence and uncertainty, there is no task more urgent than fostering dialogue to allay tensions, promote mutual understanding and support the peaceful coexistence of people.

It is with this spirit that in January 2018, Senegal welcomed the inaugural Africa Summit of the Universal Peace Federation.

It is with this similar spirit that I humbly accept the Sunhak Peace Prize that you have awarded me.

It is with humility that I accept this prize because to me, this award is not an end in itself but an encouragement to persevere in the culture of peace and human kinship.

I accept this prize with humility because I recognize the essential blessing this prize brings to the people of Senegal.

Every member of the Senegalese people has always harbored a profound sense of togetherness in their diversity.

This prize is greater than my humble self. it is a prize that honors the people of Senegal and I would like to dedicate it to the people of Senegal.

As I accept this award, I think about all those whose peace is usurped by violence and the vicissitudes of life.

I think about the victims of war and terrorism, about refugees and displaced people, about those suffering from xenophobia and racial discrimination simply because of their origin or the color of their skin. Peace is fragile.

When society is characterized by indifference and the madness of self-centeredness, this society cannot take care of those most in need.

Peace is threatened when extremism of all types manipulates the conscience of people and turns faith into activism to feed ideologies of conflict.

Peace is threatened when some believe they are imbued with the mission of forcing unto others a unique ideology of action and existence.

This stands at odds with the diversity of cultures and civilizations.

It is for all these reasons that we must defend the ideal of a better world for all.

That is why, in agreement with the African Union Commission, I have decided to donate the entire amount of 500,000 USD of the Sunhak Peace Prize to the peace fund of the African Union. I hope for this to promote efforts to realize peace continentally.

This is why, as a laureate of the Sunhak Peace Prize, I will endeavor to stay faithful to the ideal that unites us.

I will endeavor to pursue together with you, our common efforts for the peaceful coexistence among people, cultures and civilizations.

I wish tremendous success at your gathering.

Congratulatory Speech

Anote Tong

 

Former President of Kiribati

Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon,

Dr. Hong, Chairman of the Sunhak Peace Prize Committee,

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

And of course, our recipient of the award this morning whose achievements we are celebrating, His Excellency, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,

Let me begin by expressing how deeply honored and grateful that I am to be given this opportunity to make a few remarks. I don’t want to go through the process of expounding all of the achievements of former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. They are already here in this book in front of you. But I can tell you there are many, many, many more which are not listed here. I can tell you that from my own experience in interacting with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over the years when he was Secretary-General and when I was in office.

I remember the times when I was talking about climate change and I was always trying to pester Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to hear me because I felt nobody else was listening to me. And I remember the time, Mr. Secretary-General, when you invited me to join 26 leaders mostly from the developed world at the dinner before the meeting in Copenhagen.

And I think Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon did that very deliberately because I had been saying a lot of things about climate change and he wanted to see what I would do in the midst of the President of the United States, President of China, and all of these big people from big countries. And I recall Mr. Ban Ki-moon looking at me while all of the discussion was going on and inviting me to comment. Eventually, I built up the courage to say a few words and I scribbled a note, “Can I make a few remarks?” And I did.

Ever since that time, I think Mr. Ban Ki-moon listened to the voice, the message coming from the small countries, the people who really attend the United Nations without really being seen, without being heard.

And I say this with a great deal of emotion because Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon really was the first one to listen to what I was saying, even to the point of being convinced to visit my country in 2011. And I remember that very, very distinctly.

I remember Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon going on a tour to visit all the places that are flooded very frequently, to visit the people who suffer every time there is flooding, a bit of a storm.

And I remember Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon coming back in the evening as we met before the reception, and I asked him, “So what have you seen?” And I can never forget what he said. He said, “Mr. President, I have been listening to you year after year at the United Nations General Assembly. And I must admit that I never truly understood. But now, not only do I understand, but I feel and I promise you, I will do everything in my power to do as much as I can.”

And ladies and gentlemen, he has done it. He has delivered on his promise. He has put emphasis on what I have always regarded as the greatest challenge to humanity. He has succeeded in putting climate change at the top of the UN agenda.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon did not elaborate on all of the good things that he did. He did not make reference to the establishment of the Green Climate Fund, which is also a product of his time as Secretary-General. Here in Korea, we have the Global Green Growth Institute. We in the Pacific region are small islands, dots in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. What do we have? Islands. Small islands. But huge ocean states. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recognized not only the relevance but the critical importance of oceans not only to the changing climate but to humanity with the result that now the ocean is an integral part, a key part and critical part of the international agenda.

In all of these interactions that I’ve had with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, there are two things that I observe. Unlike many people, he’s comfortable to interact with leaders from the biggest countries and also very sympathetic to interact with the leaders from small countries.

Not only that, but as we have seen from what he has done, the sustainable development agenda, the focus on women’s issues, and now climate change, my perception of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is that he is one of the greatest humanitarians that I know, perhaps in the world. He cared about the small people. He was willing to step forward and take the burden of the small people.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Many people have asked me, “Where is your prepared speech?” And I said, “No, I don’t want to read a prepared speech. I want to speak from my heart.”

As the Secretary-General also said, he is a man with courage to step forward and do things that many would shy away from doing. The engagement of civil society, the engagement of the private sector, the engagement of people outside of the government in the international discussion is something that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon brought in during his term in office. To tackle climate change, this was absolutely vital.

So, ladies and gentlemen,

I am very, very proud to take this opportunity to offer my congratulations, the congratulations of, I am sure, all of us here but also the congratulations of our people, the vulnerable people, the people that have benefitted and will benefit from the work of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

He unreservedly deserves the honor that he has been bestowed.

Congratulations, once again, and may you live forever.

Thank you.

Congratulatory Speech

H.E. Goodluck Jonathan

 

Former President of Nigeria

Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, host and founder,

Dr. Hong Il-sik, the Chair of the Sunhak Peace Prize Committee,

Your excellencies,

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

And guests from all around the world,

It is very nice to meet you all. More than anything, I am very honored and highly delighted to attend today’s Sunhak Peace Prize Ceremony in commemoration of Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s centennial.

Congratulations to our laureates, Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, President Macky Sall, and Bishop Munib A. Younan for receiving today’s award. The three laureates have all made outstanding achievements in promoting world peace. And that is why we are here. I would like to sincerely thank Secretary–General Ban Ki-moon for his interest in Africa during his time in office as Secretary-General of the United Nations. I recollect with nostalgia the various bilateral talks and visits we had when you were in office and I was also the President of Nigeria. I also thank President Macky Sall, my good friend, for his good governance in Africa. Lastly, thank you Bishop Munib Younan for your great contribution to religious harmony in the Middle East.

President Macky Sall has shown me a model of good governance through democratization and economic development in Senegal, from which I could also gain lots of inspiration. Soon Africa will become a land of opportunity, and it will grow into a major leading force in the 21st century.

The next award winner, Bishop Munib A. Younan, has practiced interreligious dialogue in Jerusalem, one of the most intense places afflicted by religious confrontation. The first condition for coexistence is listening to the opponent and having a conversation. For us to enjoy coexistence, the world must embrace dialogue among civilizations.

In that sense, I strongly support the practical activities of Bishop Younan through interfaith dialogue.

Youth from around the world will respect and learn from the lives of today’s laureates as they pursue their dreams. Please allow me to extend my heartfelt respect to the winners today.

The founder of the Sunhak Peace Prize was a great leader who promoted world peace under the clear vision of “one global family.”

I would like to recall the deep objectives of the founder and hope that the Sunhak Peace Prize, which is celebrating its 4th anniversary, will continue to contribute to promote world peace, mutual prosperity and the happiness of all global citizens.

Let me commend the Chair and members of the Peace Prize Committee for an excellent work.

Respected laureates,

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

Please continue to take part in promoting world peace. Once again, congratulations to our distinguished award winners and all the best to the progress of Sunhak Peace Prize.

And to our host and founder, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, we appreciate your contributions to world peace and economic development.

I thank you all.

Press Release

Commemorating the Centenary of the Founders 2020 Sunhak Peace Prize Award Ceremony Held

Founders’ Centenary Award Laureate

Ban Ki-moon (former UN Secretary-General),

2020 Sunhak Peace Prize Co-Recipients

Macky Sall (Current Senegal Head of State)

Munib A. Younan (International Honorary President of Religions for Peace)

● The Award Ceremony was held at KINTEX, Ilsan, Gyeonggi-do on February 5 (Wed.) at 10:00

● More than 5000 former and current heads of states and VIP guests from over 100 countries attended the Ceremony

The Sunhak Peace Prize Committee (Chairman Hong Il-sik, former president of Korea University), held the 2020 Sunhak Peace Prize Award Ceremony commemorating the centenary of the founders at KINTEX on February 5th (Wed.) at 10:00 am.

President Macky Sall (age 57, President of the Republic of Senegal) and Munib A. Younan (age 69, International Honorary President of Religions for Peace) as the 2020 Sunhak Peace Prize Laureates. In addition, a special Founders’ Centenary Award was awarded to Ban Ki-moon (age 76, former UN Secretary-General). The Committee made an official announcement of the laureates at a press conference in Nagoya on October 5th, 2019.

President Macky Sall was recognized for successfully shortening the presidential term from seven to five years and reviving the economy through transparent policies, thereby spreading mature democracy to neighboring countries on the African continent.

Bishop Munib A. Younan, born as a Palestinian refugee in 1976, was recognized for his 40-years of work to promote harmony among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the Middle East and in particular to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In addition, Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon led the UN towards achieving a sustainable world with unyielding dedication in the face of unprecedented global challenges and crises, including global economic crisis, climate change, terrorism refugee issues.

In his acceptance speech, President Macky Sall emphasized that peace requires social components of inclusive economic growth that contributes to poverty eradication and reduction of inequality. He reaffirmed his determination to take lead in ending the conflicts on the African continent and achieving social and economic development.

Bishop Munib A. Younan called out to the religious leaders “to raise their voices for peace based on justice and to speak boldly against the waves of hatred and oppression” and said that he “will continue to work for peace based on justice until the last breath of my life.”

Former UN Secretary-General Ban stated that “there are still more than 700 million people going to bed with a hungry stomach” and that receiving this prize gave him “much more added commitment, added motivation that I should do much more because there are still many people who are yearning for peace, prosperity, and for their human rights to be respected and protected.”

Chairman Hong Il-sik stated that the founder “desired to embrace all humanity with the heart of a parent” and that “his leadership of love will serve as a great lesson to the leaders around the world today who, led by national interest, are unable to see the wider and greater world and future,” He firmly emphasized the need to “move beyond the interests of personal and narrower gain toward creating a new culture of peace for the sake of humanity’s future fate” in a world that is becoming more and more divided.

The ceremony was attended by more than 5,000 people, including former and current heads of states and representatives from various governmental, academic, industrial, media, and religious organizations worldwide.

The Sunhak Peace Prize is awarded to individuals and organizations that have greatly contributed to the peace of future generations and human development.