On 19th of January, the 1st Nepal media peace forum entitled “Voice of Press Media Forum in Nepal for Peace Journalism: Peace Initiative (PI)” was held with the participation of 18 Nepalese journalists in Katmandu, Nepal.
The forum was organized by the public relations department of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), an international peace NGO registered in UN ECOSOC and UN DPI, in cooperation with Nepalese journalists.
The forum included △ Introduction of HWPL with its 3 main peace initiatives: International law for Peace, Interfaith Dialogue, and Peace education △ Presentations on peace journalism by 5 Nepalese journalists △ Discussion on ways to participate in promoting Peace Initiative (PI) in Nepal.
Chief Executive Producer of Janata Television, Deependra Bikram Tamang, said “Peace is a fundamental requirement for every nation. HWPL has worked for legislating an international law for peace – DPCW (Declaration of Peace and Cessation of war) – for world peace and submitting it to UN to make it as a legally binding form. Now it is a responsibility of media to create an environment to implement the peace law by raising people’s awareness for peace.”
Initiated with the aim of sharing peace news without repression in order to foster a culture of peace and the value of human rights throughout the world, Peace Initiative (PI) officially launched last September. It provides a platform where global journalists who seek the value of peace can build stronger ties beyond borders, races, and religions.
Laxman D. Pant, Chairperson of the Media Action Nepal, said “Media persons have a great role to play spreading peace, denouncing war. They are the real messengers of peace. Negative news tends to be reported more prominently than positive ones in Nepal. But PI is spreading news of peace making a positive effect on societies.”
The HWPL media peace forums have been held in 22 countries worldwide up to date. There have been several HWPL Nepal media peace forums via Skype, but this is the first HWPL media peace forum held locally in Nepal. As the need of combined efforts to spread news of peace to enhance human rights and to promote peace increases in Nepal, the participants expect to have a regular press forum for peace journalism to discuss for further cooperation among media in Nepal.
Piya Ratna Maharjan, President of Track Nepal and the co-organizer of the 1st Nepal Media Forum, delivered “The participants of the forum agreed that such movement of peace journalism through the media forum is needed in Nepal. All Nepalese media persons should be given an opportunity to hear about PI and to take part in making a positive impact on society by spreading news of peace.”
The forum was also live streamed on the Nonstop Khabar Facebook page and broadcasted by various media including 3 national TV channels in Nepal.