Peace Summit Reflections | LIFE

In early February I was invited to attend Humanitarian Affairs' 2020 Emerging Leaders Peace Summit in Bangkok, Thailand that was held at the United Nations Conference Centre.

After all the traveling I'd done since December, I needed to take a little while to process everything. Now that some time has passed I think I've had enough time to reflect on my experiences and my time at the Summit.

I was one of 500 delegates from around the world chosen to attend the Peace Summit. The Peace Summit took place on 5 - 7 February 2020, I arrived in Bangkok on the the day before the Summit when delegates were asked to check in and register. Due to the timing of the Summit I didn't have time to go back to Australia before it started. The day I need to check in for the conference was the day I had intended to return home, so instead of going home via Singapore, I took a connecting flight to Bangkok.

I didn't expect to know anyone at the Peace Summit, I'd intended to make some new friends while soaking up as much information as possible. I found out later that a fellow Committee Member from United Nations Young Professional Queensland was also attending the conference. This is Kumi! She's the UNYP Qld Operations Manager.

I also discovered at the Summit that one of the Humanitarian Affairs interns helping run to run the Summit, was one of my volunteering friends from university, which was a wonderful surprise. This is Hawa!

I found the Summit deeply moving, not just in sharing of the speakers' personal stories and adversity they had faced, but also in the level of vulnerability offered by other delegates and the struggles they face and are overcoming. We heard about the work that many delegates are already doing in their own communities to give back and create positive change, and was moved by the way those that shared at the conference articulated their perspectives on peace, governance and reform. I appreciated how everyone navigated and engaged with complex and sensitive subject matter that we were presented over the course of Peace Summit with respect, compassion, and understanding. We spoke of a range of topics from surviving violence/oppression/trauma, courage and fear, the importance of education, purpose, meditation, eradicating extreme poverty, diversity, acceptance, the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and current global issues, leadership as a choice, fostering change and using peaceful activism to list some of what we covered.

Day 1: Peace Summit Opening Performance

Master of Ceremonies: Hunny Narula, News Anchor 

Opening Remarks by Janice Leong, Regional Director, Humanitarian Affairs Asia

Keynote Address - Youth and Peace-Building by Felipe Queipo, Communications Office - Civil Society & Advocacy Section, Department of Global Communications, UN Headquarters (USA)

Session 1: A Story of Choice by Zak Ebrahim (USA)- such an articulate and eloquent speech on dealing with the aftermath of a parent's decision to upend the lives of an entire family because of their radical political beliefs. Zak is probably one of the best speakers I've ever had the opportunity to listen to. The subject matter was so heavy, but he was so open and honest in sharing his story and answering questions. I'm still in awe of him, his growth and what I learned.

Session 2: Peace, Compassion and Forgiveness by Marina Cantacuzino, Founder of the 'Forgiveness Project.' (United Kingdom). A fascinating session on the creation of the Forgiveness Project and the work it does with people in the community to help them heal and allow them to find closure. It explores the transformative nature of storytelling and how by rewriting our own personal stories we can be in control of our own personal narrative. This discussion also highlighted that forgiveness can be a personal process that doesn't require engaging with other people. It can be an internal action, particularly in situations where the other party cannot be contacted. 

Day 2, Session 1: An Unforgettable War by Derek Schwartz, Former US Marine who fought in both the Iraq and Afghanistan War (USA). Derek was a delegate at last year's Peace Summit. Derek shared personal stories of being in active combat zones, the realities of  his path and its impact on himself, but also those around him, family and friends and what life was like after serving his country. Another heavy session, but it covered some really important topics regarding ethics, the importance of communication, understanding cultural differences, finding common ground, trust and maintaining peace/ peaceful relations between countries and the consequences when diplomacy is not successful.

Session 2: Escape from Afghanistan by Rahila Haidary,(Australia). Rahila shared her experience as a refugee escaping from Taliban Rule. Rahila spoke of her passion for education, eagerness to learn and have access to education just like all the boys in her village; and the dangerous ramifications it had on her family by her trying attend class and how it changed the rest of her life. 

Session 3: The Killing Fields by Ponheary Ly (Cambodia). Ponheary shared with delegates her story as a survivor of the Pol Pot Regime. Ponheary spoke of  what surviving the Khmer Rouge meant for her and her family, but also the importance of education. Her father had been a teacher prior to the Khmer Rouge and Ponheary and her family continued this path during the rebuilding of the country. Ponheary reiterated that education is not just for young people and it's not just something that happens in schools, education exists everywhere. Ponheary continues her father's legacy today through the Ponheary Ly Foundation which has helped to educate approx. 2,800 students. You can read more about Ponnheary's story here.

Session 4: World Peace Starts with Me & Four Ways to Achieve It by Ruchi Singh, a Talk Show Host and Peace Activist (India). Ruchi shared her understanding of peace with us: that it takes immense strength, courage and resilience, that it must be first be achieved within before we practice it with the world, that walking a path of peace can be inconvenient and means facing adversity, that it demands a lot from us, and it asks for forgiveness without us giving up on what we believe in. Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King were case studies of the ripple effect of what the vision of just one person can have on a country, the world and future generations. Ruchi also shared her story as a survivor of domestic violence and her personal story of courage. One of the four examples Ruchi mentioned in her talk for delegates to achieve personal peace, was meditation and she led delegates through a guided meditation during the session.  I found Ruchi's talk so uplifting and positive, I learned so much and took so many notes!  

Day 3: Kimberley Bates, sharing her experiences as a Humanitarian Peace Ambassador and  the journey she had been on to bring her to where she is now.

Hearing the discourse on peace throughout the Summit solidified my own thoughts on peace: that it means many things to many different people; that peace must first be achieved internally, before we can hope to see it, speak of it/preach it and engage with it in the world around us; that peace is not the absence of disagreement, but is found in the meeting of minds and in the compromise negotiated between those who may stand at the opposite sides of the spectrum; and that at the heart of it, in order to achieve a peaceful world we must find the humanity which connects every single one of us regardless of where we are from, what we look like, how we identify, whom we pray to, which political party we subscribe to or who we chose to love. 

Day 3: Parallel Session 1: How to be an effective Peace Ambassador by Janice Leong, Regional Director, Humanitarian Affairs Asia

If you are thinking about applying to attend the next Emerging Leaders Peace Summit, I strongly encourage that you apply. By attending you have the opportunity to engage with Humanitarian Affairs and United Nations staff, hear from speakers with unique experiences and stories to share that may change the way you see the world, meet other like-minded young community leaders from all over the globe, and very likely make new friends and create friendships that last a lifetime. I'm so grateful to have met so many amazing individuals and that I now get to call them friends. This experience is what you make of it, whatever energy you put into the Summit you will receive back tenfold. I can quite honestly say that in just attending the conference my life has been positively changed for the better. Here's a quick video recap of the Summit if you're interested.

Session 3: Peace Building Challenge hosted by United Nations ReliefWeb - this is during our team's debrief during the negotiation simulation. My team was a stakeholder called Starbright.

I am incredibly grateful for this experience, the knowledge and wisdom that was freely shared; for everyone I met, delegates, the Humanitarian staff, speakers; for new friends and old friends, and for the very brief chance to see the beautiful country that is Thailand! I am so excited to see what the other delegates will be organising for their Peace Projects. I have no doubt that I was just one of many who was inspired by attending the Peace Summit, and that as we undertake our Peace Projects and our roles as Humanitarian Affairs Peace Ambassadors that the lessons we learned at the Peace Summit will be carried with us and shared with those we connect with as we continue our journeys.

I'm can't wait to share the Peace Project I have been developing (once it's ready to share!) and am thoroughly looking forward to documenting that process!

I also can't wait to go back to Thailand and properly visit, I didn't have a chance to explore or go sightseeing this time. If anyone has any recommendations on where to go or what to do please let me know, I'm making a list!

Until next time!

x E

P.S Unsurprisingly, I have a lot more photos of the Peace Summit but I'll leave them for another post!

Photo credit: Conference photographers! (Except for the lower quality photos that were taken on my phone!)