PH Consulate General in HK Observes UN Peace Day
European Union Ambassador to Hong Kong and Macao Carmen Cano and Peace International Foundation (PIF) Founder and Chair Maria Ying-Matthews (sixth and seventh from left) lead members of the Consular Corps of Hong Kong, including Philippine Deputy Consul General Roderico C. Atienza (eighth from left), Consuls General from Thailand Asi Mamanee (first from left), German Consul General Dieter Lamle (ninth from left), UK Deputy Head of Mission Esther Blythe (eleventh from left), Singapore Consul General Foo Teow-Lee (twelfth from left), as well as business, academic and civil society representatives in a moment of silence on the occasion of the UN International Day of Peace at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Deep Water Bay on 19 September 2018. (Hong Kong PCG photo)
HONG KONG 29 October 2018 – The Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong joined in the observance of the UN Peace Day on 19 September 2018 with other members of the consular corps of Hong Kong with “The Right to Peace – for Humanity”.
After ringing a ceremonial Peace Bell, EU Ambassador Carmen Cano said in her remarks that peace takes root when people are free from hunger, poverty, and oppression, echoing the sentiments of UN Secretary General António Guterres on the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this year.
The Consulate General was represented by Deputy Consul General Roderico C. Atienza, who joined the Consuls General and business and academic representatives from Hong Kong and Mainland China at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Deep Water Bay for Peace International Foundation’s (PIF) 10th anniversary of hosting the event.
PIF founder Maria Ying-Matthews also reiterated the year’s theme that peace can be achieved through the achievement of sustainable development goals and through community-wide actions to mitigate the effects of climate change, especially in the wake of Super Typhoon Mangkhut, which had even threatened the cancelation of the event.
Former Royal Commonwealth Society in Hong Kong Chair Joan Campbell offered a minute of silence to wish for not only peace but sustainable development through the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies, and greater access to justice.
Organized by the PIF, the event was supported by the EU’s Office to Hong Kong and Macao in accordance with the annual commemoration of the International Day of Peace declared by the UN General Assembly in 1981.
The PIF is a non-sectarian, non-political, and non-profit organization that advocates promoting peace, freeing the world from suffering and breaking through the barriers of race, religion, cultural difference, politics, and discrimination that so often prevent communities from living in peace and harmony. END
For more information, visit www.hongkongpcg.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinHK/.
Joan Campbell, MBE, President of the Peace International Foundation (PIF) Peace Club, offers a prayer with the assistance of PIF Youth Leader Tony Lee and PIF Youth Peace Ambassador Cheris Lee at observance of the UN International Day of Peace at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Deep Water Bay on 19 September 2018. (Hong Kong PCG photo)
Members of the Consular Corps, civil society, academia and the business community of Hong Kong gather together on the occasion of the UN International Day of Peace at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Deep Water Bay on 19 September 2018. (Hong Kong PCG photo)