Rome, Italy—In observance of UN International Women’s Day, UPF-Italy supported an affiliated organization in holding a conference in the Italian Parliament.
The Italian chapter of Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP) held “Being the Change Today: Equality, Education, Labor, Minor Rights” on March 15, 2017, in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Parliament.
Hon. Eleonora Bechis, a member of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Parliamentary Committee for Childhood and Adolescence, sponsored the event.
A total of 90 people attended the conference, which was the third to be held in the Italian Parliament since Hon. Bechis attended the launch of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP), an initiative of UPF, in London in September 2016.
The program was moderated by Giuseppe Calì, the president of the Italian chapter of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), another affiliated organization.
Among the speakers were two members of Parliament, who testified favorably about attending the UPF World Summit in Korea in February; a representative of the office of the mayor of Rome and a key advisor to the Parliament on legal matters; and several other VIPs, including NGO leaders and the vice ambassador from Nigeria.
In addition to Hon. Bechis, the main speakers were:
- Maria Gabriella Mieli, the vice president of WFWP-Italy and a representative of WFWP International, on the topic “Message of the United Nations—a Panorama of the Activities of WFWP-Italy”
- Claudia Corinna Benedetti, the president of the National Permanent Observatory of Security (ONPS), on the topic “The Rights of Children: Education, Protection, Assistance and Participation in Society”
- Virginia Vandini, the president of the organization Value of Femininity and director of the Italian Center of Counseling, on the topic “From Prejudice to Listening in Order to Discover the Uniqueness in Ourselves and Others”
- Flora Grassivaro, the president of the Padua chapter of WFWP, on the topic “Focus 2030: Sensitize, Empower”
- Maria Grazia De Angelis, the president of the Italian Association of the Study of Work for Development in Organization (AISLO), on the topic “The Challenge of Work Today: Interculturalism, Innovation, Ethics”
- Marta Rodriguez, the director of the Institute of Higher Studies on Women (ISSD), on the topic “Gender Equality? Reference Models”
- Elisabetta Nistri, the president of WFWP-Italy, on the topic “Courage to Change: Is There Still a Possibility for Ethics Education?”
At the end, Mrs. Nistri expressed her deep appreciation to Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, the co-founder of WFWP and UPF, for her example and inspiration to all those who are working for peace. Four new Ambassadors for Peace were appointed. All the participants shared the experience of being part of one big family.