PEACE-MAKER

We sadly note the ongoing bloodshed in Israel and Palestine; long-drawn-out war in Ukraine; lingering tensions in the Korean Peninsula, West Philippine Sea, East China Sea, and Taiwan Straits; periodic killings in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan, among many other bloody hostilities and violent upheavals around the world. 
 

Amid the deep polarization in the global community, we need to create avenues for dialogue, cooperation, and solidarity. 

While there exist several mechanisms to promote peace and resolve conflicts, we believe there is a need to contribute and augment those ongoing efforts.

In the Asian region and in the world, we need to develop pragmatic and creative methods that will try to rebuild relations and advance the cause of peace, without allowing our differences to get in the way.

Our world is interconnected and rapidly evolving, thus the need for international organizations – which serve as platforms for nations to work together in addressing global issues and challenges. 

International organizations offer a neutral ground where countries, regardless of size or power, can engage in meaningful discussions to find common ground and pursue common objectives. Whether its promoting peace, resolving conflicts, and tackling poverty, climate change, pandemic, terrorism, or narcotics trade, these forums can facilitate mutual understanding and cooperation. 

We mentioned in this column much earlier that we have spent the last two decades bringing together Asia’s political groupings into the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP); and our national legislatures into the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA), both of which have grown rapidly into advanced organizations. 

ICAPP, which we founded in Manila in September 2000, is now composed of 352 ruling and opposition political parties from 52 countries in Asia. 

Meanwhile, APA now has 41 member-parliaments and was earlier called the Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP), until we proposed in Islamabad in December 2006 its conversion from AAPP to become the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA), in hopes that it could be a forerunner of an eventual Asian Parliament like the European Parliament. 
We also co-founded the Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council (APRC) in Bangkok in September 2012, which is composed of former heads of governments, leaders of parliament, foreign ministers, and policy-makers. APRC aims to assist governments and organizations in peace-building and conflict resolution in Asia and other areas.

We also co-founded CAPDI, the Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International, in Phnom Penh in December 2010, which is perhaps the only organization in the Asia Pacific that brings together political parties and the institutions of civil society. CAPDI’s forerunner was CDI Asia Pacific.

We also regard as eminently praiseworthy the establishment in Washington DC, in December 2016, of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP), composed of former and incumbent members of parliament as distinguished from the institutional parliaments themselves.

We mention these things not to lift our bench, but to underscore the importance of dialogue and cooperation, especially during these tumultuous times.

As our world continues to grapple with multifaceted challenges that require collective efforts, international organizations remind us of the power of unity in an increasingly interconnected and rapidly evolving world.