Fri Sep 9, 7:06 PM ET

To: National and International desks
Contact: Michael Balcomb, 914-373-9671 or mwb@iifwp.org

News Advisory:

Former presidents and prime ministers among those gathering on UN's 60th birthday for formal launch of new Universal Peace Federation

WHAT: Press Conference

WHEN: Monday, Sept. 12, 10 A.M.

WHERE: New Yorker Hotel, 481 8th Avenue (Manhattan), Sutton Place Room-3rd Floor, New York, NY 10001

DETAILS:

A diverse group of 350 leaders from 125 countries are gathering in New York to formalize the charter of a global body for the resolution of conflict, the Universal Peace Federation.

Conference participants will also network with the hundreds of heads of state and parliamentary speakers who will be in town for the opening of the 60th UN General Assembly. Planned events include a series of workshops highlighting key issues facing the UN including conflict in the Middle East, famine in Africa, NGOs and governments in response to disasters, as well as the social challenges of HIV <http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=HIV> prevention and family breakdown.

The Universal Peace Federation, being formed at the request of the Reverend Dr. Sun Myung Moon, grows out of the affiliation of other world organizations, including the Inter-religious and International Federation for World Peace and the 11,000-member Ambassadors for Peace. "We are hoping to be in every nation of the world," said Sir James Mancham, founding President of the Seychelles, "as a way of changing the global conversation about how nations can work together beyond the traditional channels."

Already the Ambassadors for Peace have made hopeful inroads in some of the world's most difficult flashpoints, such as

Israel <http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Israel> and Gaza. Rev. Walter Fauntroy, noted civil rights leader and long-term Congressman for the District of Columbia, shared with Palestinian leaders, the work of Martin Luther King, and in particular the successful strategy of non-violence. "There is genuine, deep interest in learning new strategies," said Fauntroy, "and a willingness to see religious and spiritual values as part of the solution rather than the problem."

Hamilton Greene, former prime minister of Guyana, currently mayor of Georgetown, said, "Now more than ever we need new ways to bring down the barriers of suspicion and mistrust that divide the world community."

The Peace Council was founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who is scheduled to speak to more than 1200 Ambassadors for Peace at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, September 12 at 7 p.m.. "It is time to set new coordinates for our lives," he says, "and to come out from behind the barriers of our own nation, our own religion, our own race and culture and make a decisive effort for peace. God has been longing to see the human family reunited, and this is His time." As well as calling for a new commitment from the world's religions for a united effort for peace, Moon will announce a substantial donation of relief money to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

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