DPCW 10th Anniversary – Where Is Humanity Headed in a World of Ongoing War?

– Reflecting on the 10th Anniversary of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW)

Sometimes, while watching the news, a thought crosses my mind.

Why is war still happening?

Even with international laws and agreements, why does humanity keep making the same choices?

That’s why I sometimes find myself asking this question.

Even if conflict is inevitable, does it always have to end in war?

There has been an effort to offer one possible answer to this question.

That effort is known as the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW).

🕊 “Can war end?” A story that began with a declaration

On March 14, 2016, HWPL officially proclaimed this declaration.

The DPCW is more than just an ideal vision of peace.

It was an effort to establish practical international standards to reduce war and resolve conflicts peacefully.

Behind this effort is one person’s experience.

It comes from the war experience of Chairman Man-hee Lee.

He experienced the horrors of war firsthand as a student soldier during the Korean War.

Witnessing young people being drawn into war, he began to question this situation.

Could this generation finally break the cycle of war?

Over time, this question led to international peace efforts.

🌍 A question raised by the world

In 2014, a significant international event took place in Seoul.

It was the HWPL 9·18 World Peace Summit.

A total of 1,933 participants from 152 countries attended.

Political leaders, religious leaders, legal experts, and members of civil society came together to discuss one key issue.

Reacting after war breaks out is not enough.

There was a shared understanding that we need systems to prevent conflict and build lasting peace.

To turn these discussions into a formal document, an international law expert group—the HWPL International Law Peace Committee—was formed in 2015.

Eventually, the DPCW was completed, consisting of 10 articles and 38 clauses.

📜 The principles of peace in the DPCW

At its core, the DPCW is built on a simple idea.

“Even in conflict, we should seek solutions other than war”

That’s why the document includes key principles such as the following:

*Standards for limiting the use of force

*Procedures for peaceful dispute resolution

*Measures to strengthen international cooperation and collective security

*The role of religion and civil society in promoting peace

Interestingly, the DPCW does not reject existing international law.

Instead, it aims to clarify existing peace principles and structure them so they can function effectively in practice.

In other words, peace must move beyond words and become a system.

🤝 Growing global support

Since its proclamation, the DPCW has gained support from various international parliaments.

For example:

*The Pan-African Parliament

*The Central American Parliament

*The Latin American and Caribbean Parliament

These regional bodies have adopted resolutions supporting the DPCW.

Another notable point is that

Around 900,000 signatures of support have been collected from 178 countries.

This shows that peacebuilding is not only led by governments, but also by civil society.

🌫 But reality is not so simple

But reality is still complex.

Conflicts continue around the world, and power politics has not disappeared.

This means the changes proposed by the DPCW are stilla work in progress.

Perhaps this is a time to test what is possible.

🌱 A future beyond war

Conflict has always been part of human history.

And more often than not, those conflicts have ended in war.

History has often been shaped by the stronger side imposing order.

But now, we can begin to ask a different question.

When conflicts arise, can they be resolved through systems, cooperation, and established procedures instead of war?

This is the very question the DPCW raises.

Over the past decade, this question has been discussed around the world.

Now, one question remains.

Will these principles become part of the global order, or remain just another declaration?

🌏 Ultimately, the choice is ours

Whether we continue to rely on war, or choose to build peace through systems and institutions, is ultimately up to us.

That is why this question still matters.

“Where should humanity go from here?”

Perhaps the time we are living in now is part of the process of finding that answer.🌏✨

And perhaps, we have already begun to make that choice.