Representatives attend the conference. — Photo baoquangtri.vn

QUẢNG TRỊ — Peace is a prerequisite for humanity to exist and pursue happiness.

That was the opening statement from former State Vice President and also Honorary Chairwoman of the Việt Nam Peace and Development Fund (VPDF) Nguyễn Thị Bình at an international conference held on Monday in Quảng Trị central province.

She told the assembled audience that in peace, people can dream of having everything, but in war, people only desire one thing: peace. 

The conference is a response to the Festival for Peace 2024. It aims to share lessons and messages about the Vietnamese people's values ​​and aspirations for peace and suggest initiatives to help build peace globally. 

“Preserving and protecting peace is the common responsibility of all humanity, all countries and each of us,” said Bình.

“Having gone through many resistant wars for national independence and unification, Việt Nam especially appreciates the value of peace, and always actively calls for people around the world to respect, protect and strive to create a peaceful world.” 

Deputy Chairman of the Quảng Trị People’s Committee Hoàng Nam said that Quảng Trị carried the nation's eternal desire for peace, once strongly and deeply shaking the conscience of peace-loving humanity.

“And for a long time, Quảng Trị has become a destination of gratitude, a common symbol of the nation's desire for peace. It is a destination for international friends to share and honour the value of peace,” he said.

Nam said he hoped that scholars and delegates attending the conference would advise the province on the next steps to continue writing the story of peace on this land so that Quảng Trị can truly become a space of peace, a destination for peace of domestic and international tourists. 

During the conference, speakers presented values ​​of peace as well as initiatives to build world peace.

Representatives agreed that preventing wars and protecting peace was the urgent task of all peace-loving forces around the world.

They suggested promoting inclusive collective security mechanisms to resolve disputes, prevent conflicts, and maintain peace in regions. They also wanted to enhance disarmament to replace the arms race and promote cooperation instead of confrontation and antagonism. In that mission, the voices of the people and social organisations play a very important role.

Regarding peacebuilding initiatives, delegates emphasised the importance of having as many partners as possible to create a united alliance to support Việt Nam in general and Quảng Trị Province in particular, heal war wounds, and create a safer future of development in peace.

From the experiences of Việt Nam and Quảng Trị, experts said that it was necessary to build trust and value dialogues so that messages of peace would become daily themes and inspire cooperation and mutual prosperity.

They desired to build a city for peace on the land of Quảng Trị, starting from creating trust, to write wishes for world peace. — VNS