KUALA LUMPUR: The 39th annual peace proposal by Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) Buddhist association, titled ‘Value Creation in a Time of Crisis’ has been released, marking the SGI founding anniversary.
He calls for further global cooperation to address key issues including the Covid-19 pandemic, climate crisis, and the need to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
“Our shared efforts to respond to the pandemic can serve as a foundation for generating global awareness of the essential role of human solidarity in transforming crises,” he said in a statement.
Regarding the pandemic, Ikeda welcomes the COVAX facility that aims to ensure the global procurement and availability of Covid-19 vaccines.
He proposes holding a high-level meeting at the UN to address Covid-19 and the convening of an online ‘beyond Covid-19’ youth summit to discuss the kind of world young people want to see in the aftermath of this crisis.
Consistent with his decades of action toward the abolition of nuclear weapons, Ikeda welcomes the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which entered into force on Jan 22, as a ‘pivotal event ushering in a new era’ that will spur a paradigm shift in approaches to security.
He proposes that a forum for discussing the relationship between nuclear weapons and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) be held during the first meeting of States Parties to the TPNW.
At the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference scheduled for August 2021, Ikeda also urges discussion on the true meaning of security in the light of crises such as climate emergency and the pandemic.
He calls for the final document of the Review Conference to include a pledge of non-use of nuclear weapons and the freezing of all nuclear weapon development until 2025.
The Soka Gakkai is a global community-based Buddhist organisation promoting peace, culture and education based on respect for the dignity of life. — Bernama
