Buenos Aires, Argentina – The monthly Peace Ambassadors meeting on November 8, 2023 in Buenos Aires featured the theme “Leadership and Teamwork: Values and Good Practices.” The event was held online through Zoom and broadcast on YouTube. Four new Peace Ambassadors shared their experiences, and Dr. Sung Jong Seo, president of UPF-Southern Cone, gave a special message.
Dr. Seo expressed the hope that the Peace Ambassadors would grasp in detail UPF’s vision, and contribute their talent and experience to advance UPF’s peace initiatives through various projects and activities. “We invite you to actively join this global fraternity of Peace Ambassadors, who look to create a great human family under God, to build a war-free world and a peaceful humanity, beyond nationality, race, religion, peoples and politics,” Dr. Seo said.
Four Peace Ambassadors, appointed on October 11, talked about values and good practices from their respective experience and areas of expertise. They included María Rosa Barabaschi, a member of independent writers’ groups in La Pampa and SADE-Chacabuco; Lucía Bottaro Blasco, general coordinator of the “Creating Peace Roads” project; Santiago Damele, agent of Buenos Aires Penitentiary Service; and Vicente Roccasalva, governor of Rotary International’s District 4895 from 2021 to 2022.
Prof. Julio Nardini, a member of UPF-Argentina’s Peace Council and of the International Association of Academics for Peace (IAAP) commented on their contributions and work.
Peace Ambassador Silvia Gabriela Vázquez, social responsibility chair director at University de la Marina Mercante, congratulated the new ambassadors. “Raising leaders of service, peacemakers, in accordance with SDG 16 (building peace, justice and strong institutions), is one of the main goals of our interdisciplinary undergraduate degree in social responsibility and resilience, since its creation in 2011,” she pointed out. “Thus, we celebrate the continuity of these meetings and we congratulate our ambassadors.”
The meeting was a continuation of the theme for 2023, Leadership and Teamwork. The focus this time was on sharing experiences, new resources, knowledge and examples to strengthen a leadership based on values and good practices, in order to fulfill the mission of service as Peace Ambassadors.
The program included the music video “Mundo de Paz,” and Peace Ambassador Irma Droz, writer and director of the América Madre international cultural organization, read her poem, “Son Niños.”
The moderators were journalist Luba Opeka, member of UPF-Argentina and director of Peace Road public relations, and Prof. Emanuel Sayavedra, UPF-Argentina secretary general and YSP-Argentina president. They invited all to join the 2023 Peace Road event, “Argentina Chooses Peace,” on November 26, from Luján de Cuyo HQ (Mendoza), with a “virtual walk” across the country, presenting actions held in each of the 23 provinces and a bike ride and solidary campaign in Buenos Aires City. They also showed a promotional video on the world peace campaign held in Argentina since 2015, which has created initiatives in the areas of ecology, education, art, sports, interreligious and intercultural activities, and tourist programs in each province since 2020.
