Gyeonggi Provincial Government conducted the 2021 DMZ Forum under the theme of “Opening the New Horizon of Peace”. This forum discussed the Role and Implication of local governments in the Asia Pacific Region to build the ‘Peace ODA’ Platform. Gyeonggi Province in cooperation with UCLG ASPAC is committed to achieve the Humanitarian Development Peace (HDP) Nexus which was recommended by the United Nations in 2015.
The president of UCLG ASPAC, Ashok Kumar Byanju Shrestha stated that HDP Nexus is aimed to strengthen humanitarian assistance development and peace program. UCLG ASPAC agrees that local government in Asia Pacific should be integrated and start to exchange idea on way to incorporate HDP nexus into their next Official Development Assistance (ODA) Project.
The widespread of conflicts around the world causes various problems which lead to significant impact in some vulnerable countries. Mr. Sung Gyu Kim, President Korea Association of International Development and Cooperation said that triple nexus will be channeling the humanitarian aid into development and peace program implementation, in which is in line with the commitment of actions resulted at the Humanitarian Summit in 2016 as the turning point.
Talking about the ‘Peace ODA’ platform, Mr. Sung Gyu Kim stated that we should ensure that the platform bring advantages for the citizen. Reaching consensus among people and figuring out crucial steps are needed to achieve the long-term goal of the peace platform.
Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, Secretary General of UCLG ASPAC stated that UCLG ASPAC stands with Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Provincial government to set up the idea and will collaborate to incorporate the HDP Nexus into the ODA project for local governments.
Local governments have a crucial role to play in this. The HDP Nexus initiative motivates governments and cities to exchange knowledge and information as well as provide a platform which will support cities and local governments in achieving sustainable development agenda.
Kyunggyon Moon, the Associate professor of Jeonbuk National University addressed that there are some challenges faced by local governments in localising the HDP, such as coordination between local and central governments, the need to identify the special areas, and how to secure the ODA funding. Meanwhile, Emil Elestianto Dardak, the Vice Governor of East Java Province stated that HDP Nexus is the area where there is no conversation about affiliation and political differences, but it focuses on people who need to be taken care of.
Minja Yang, the former president of Raymond Lamaire International Center for Conservation stressed that SDGs is a vehicle towards peace, because without the idea of SDGs, peace would not be sustainable.
This peace movement session ended by the Peace declaration red by Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi as the Secretary General of UCLG ASPAC. The declaration stated the commitment to promote greater cooperation among UCLG ASPAC members to exchange knowledge of HDP Nexus approach, enhance the capacity building and develop peace building areas, attract humanitarian investment to implement peace building in emergency areas, and create favorable conditions to facilitate the development of HDP Nexus approach.
By KM Team
Source: www.uclg-aspac.org
