International Association for Peace and Economic Development

Inaugural Resolution of the International Association for Peace and Economic Development (IAED)

We, the undersigned, as participants in the World Summit 2020 sponsored by the Universal Peace Federation and the HJ Magnolia Global Foundation convened in Seoul, Korea, on February 3-7, 2020, on the theme “Interdependence, Mutual Prosperity and Universal Values — the Role of Business Leadership,” affirm our belief that business leaders have the opportunity and responsibility to work in collaboration with other sectors of society to make the world a better place, addressing its most significant challenges, and promoting world peace, long-term mutual prosperity and truly sustainable development. 

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We applaud the leadership of Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, and her husband, the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, for their vision and work over many decades to create “one family under God.” This includes their founding of UPF, an NGO in general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

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Business leadership has contributed to making the world a safer, more secure, more affluent place to live, reducing poverty and creating opportunities for more people than have existed at any time in human history, driving innovations that have reduced famine, improved health care and built a travel and communications network knitting our world together in ways unimaginable even few decades ago. We believe the private sector has an increasingly vital role to play to support human flourishing and address transnational critical challenges.

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Therefore, we propose to inaugurate the International Association for Peace and Economic Development, a project of the Universal Peace Federation, to work in conjunction with International Summit Council for Peace, International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace, Interreligious Association for Peace and Development, and International Media Association for Peace.

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WHEREAS, businesses continue through risk-taking investments, public-private partnerships and corporate social-responsibility programs seek to improve the lives of all the people of the world, even the poorest among us;

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WHEREAS, continuing unspeakable and inarticulable human misery due to poverty, inequality, environmental degradation, terrorism and insecurity, among other challenges, threatens to undermine and even reverse the human progress to which business has contributed and continues to contribute;

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WHEREAS, recognizing that such problems cannot be attributed to any one country but in the globally interconnected world adversely affect us all, and that businesses possess resources and the capacity for innovation making the corporate sector uniquely able to address such problems, for their own sake as well as to ensure long-term mutual prosperity for the people of the world;

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FURTHER, believing that in an intertwined world economy, we are all truly connected and that a prosperous, peaceful world must be based upon a moral core of universal values, we affirm our intention to work together to create a family of nations, a better world of peace and human flourishing based on principles of “Interdependence, mutual prosperity and universal values;

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WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, endorse the proposal to establish a new association of businesses, business leaders, investors, thought leaders, government economic officials, business school academicians and other concerned citizens to be known as the International Association for Peace and Economic Development. 

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Signed this day, February 5, 2020, in Seoul, Korea.