The Universal Peace Federation (UPF) Austria celebrated its 20th anniversary on 24 September 2025 with a review of 20 years of exciting UPF activities and five years of IIFWP activities prior to the founding of UPF. Ninety guests were in attendance.
Mr. Jacques Marion, the European President of UPF, presented the fundamental principles of the founders' peace philosophy, elaborating on the spiritual roots. UPF was established on 12 September 2005 in New York, as the UN celebrated its 60th anniversary. In his founding address to 376 delegates from 157 nations at Lincoln Center in New York City under the motto "God's Ideal Family - Model for World Peace," Dr. Sun Myung Moon stated that the past century had been "a time of successive colonial conflicts and wars." He proposed that nations now invest more resources in projects that draw countries and cultures closer together. Mr. Marion then highlighted key UPF European and international activities inspired by Dr Moon’s vision. He also referred to the most recent youth project in Mitrovica, a divided Kosovan city, which he had participated in prior to visiting Vienna.
Mr. Peter Haider, President of UPF, Austria, gave a brief overview of the 400 events organized in Austria, including conferences on interfaith dialogue, cultural performances, discussions on international peace and security issues, "Peace Road" events, and conferences held at the United Nations in Vienna since 2009. UN events included annual conferences commemorating World Interfaith Harmony Week, the opening of the IAPP (Parliamentarians for Peace), and topics such as "Europe and Russia," "Europe and Brazil," "Peace in the Horn of Africa," and "Korean Reunification." UPF Austria also held several conferences at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna on the topics of "Integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union," "Europe and Ukraine: Shared Perspectives and Values," and "Dialogue between Europe and Eurasia: Building Trust and Securing Cooperation for Sustainable Development."
The program was supported by our Artist Ambassadors for Peace, with music performed by the renowned Brazilian flutist James Strauss, in addition to peace songs by Ira Lauren and her team, which they had sung on the occasion of International Peace Day in St. Stephen's Square in Vienna. The program concluded with a hymn honouring 20 years of UPF peace work, written by Mexican soprano Neivi Martinez with a little help from AI. The event, which was followed by a buffet and a time of sharing in valuable discussions, continued late into the evening.