The International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences (ICUS) is an interdisciplinary academic forum dedicated to examining the important issues confronting our contemporary world. ICUS is sponsored by the international Cultural Foundation (ICF), which is a non-profit organization set up to promote academic, scientific, religious and cultural exchange among the peoples of the world. ICF was founded in 1968 by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon.
Starting in 1972 with 20 participants, ICUS has continually expanded its scope, while also deepening its relationship with the worldwide academic community. During its tenure, the conference (and the publications program it sponsors) has come to be recognized as a forum for scholars and scientists committed to addressing issues of fundamental concern to humanity. ICUS now has a global network of cooperating scholars. In the words of Dr. Alexander King, President of the Club of Rome, "ICUS is the only world occasion where scholars from diverse disciplines can come together and discuss mutual interactions in their work as a multidisciplinary attack on global problems."
The specialization of knowledge requires that the world's problems be addressed through an interdisciplinary approach. Founded in Seoul, in 1973, at a gathering of 168 professors from Japan and Korea, PWPA was established to support the academic community in the quest for peace. Originally set up to help strengthen relations between Japan and Korea, PWPA soon expanded to a larger level, with meetings or annual conventions in Asia, Europe, America and Africa. PWPA International, formally founded in 1983 by Reverend Moon at a convention of professors from seventy nations seeks to contribute to the solutions of urgent problems facing our modern civilization and to help resolve the cultural divide between East and West, With chapters now in over one hundred countries, PWPA forms a broad network covering the globe and provides links between scholars on all continents.
Subsequent international congresses focused on the world's major social systems. The 1985 Congress considered the Soviet system and the transition to a post-Soviet world. In 1987, the Chinese system was examined by eighty invited participants, and in 1989, world experts on democracy gathered to discuss its strengths, weaknesses and prospects for the future. Based upon such research, and the resultant perspective of contemporary civilization, PWPA's outlook is futuristic, as expressed in the theme of the 5th International Congress.
The World Media Association was established to advance the cause of world peace by championing freedom and moral responsibility in the press.
The first World Media Conference was held in October 1978, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, under the theme, "The Future of the Free Press." Thirty-eight journalists from sixteen countries participated.
The 2nd Conference brought together thirty-six journalists from seventeen countries in October 1979. Held at the Plaza Hotel in New York, its theme was "The Responsibility of the Press in the New World Information Order."
The 3rd World Media Conference was held in October 1980, at the St. Regis Sheraton Hotel in New York. Sixty-five well-known representatives of the media from thirty-one countries took part, and addressed the theme, "The Character and Responsibility of the Press."
The 4th Conference discussed "The information Crisis: The Challenge of Freedom," at the Vista International Hotel in New York in October 1 to 4, 1981. Ninety-seven scholars and media analysts from thirty-seven countries participated.
The 5th World Media Conference, held from October 4 to 11, 1982, at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, addressed its theme, "Problems of Society and the Responsibility of the Media." 230 journalists and scholars from seventy-three countries attended.
The 6th Conference, held in Cartagena, Colombia, in September 1983, under the theme, "Developing Democracies and the Responsibility of the Media," brought together six hundred media representatives from ninety-two countries.
The 7th Conference was held at the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo. Nine hundred participants from eighty-seven nations discussed the theme, "The Credibility of the Media and their Social Responsibility.'
The 8th Conference convened from September 18 to 22, 1986. 250 journalists from thirteen nations took part.
The 9th Media Conference was again held at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, from September 20 to 25, 1987. 247 journalist scholars from thirty countries addressed the theme, "The Responsibility of the Media in a Divided World."
The 10th Conference with its theme, "Standards of the Media and Responsibility of Newspapers," was held from March 22 to 26, 1989, at the Washington Omnishoreham Hotel, and brought together 350 media people from twelve countries.
The 11th World Media Conference was held from April 9 to 13, 1990, in Moscow, with more than one thousand participants, including the Reverend and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon, forty former heads of state, more than three hundred important world media experts, and other related personalities. A group of prominent conference participants were invited to the Kremlin by Soviet President Michail Gorbachev, and Reverend and Mrs. Moon spent further time personally with the Soviet leader.
The Summit Council for World Peace is a forum for world leaders (present and former) to address issues related to the quest for world peace. Founded by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon on the notion that without achieving peace with God, the origin of the universe, it is unrealistic to hope for true peace on earth, the Summit Council first convened in 1987, in Seoul. The Council presupposes a three stage process for the achievement of world peace: peace between man and God, peace between men, leading to peace in the world.
The first Summit Council was held from May 30 to June 4, 1987 at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, under the theme, "The Challenge and Possibility of World Peace." 82 leaders from around the world, former presidents and prime ministers of 24 nations (including the United States, France, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Japan, the Philippines, and several South American countries), as well as cabinet ministers and other prominent officials of government, participated in discussions geared to the promotion of peace.
The 2nd Summit Council, with the theme, "True Peace in This Age" opened on February 2, 1990, at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, with 500 leaders from around the globe participating, among them former presidents, prime ministers, cabinet ministers and ambassadors.
The 3rd Summit Council for World Peace was held at the Moscow International Hotel Sobin Center from April 9, 1990. President Michail Gorbachev, who took a personal interest in the Council's meeting, invited a group of former heads of state to the Kremlin for discussions.
The 4th Summit Council for World Peace with its theme, "The Twenty-first Century and the New World Order," convened from August 26 to 28, 1991 at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul with 120 representatives from 48 nations attending. The conference opened on the 26th and consisted of three plenary sessions. Council participants also attended the Inaugural Assemblies of the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace and Federation for World Peace. At the Opening Ceremony, speeches were offered by Pak Bo-hi, President of The Summit Council for World Peace, Douglas MacArthur II, former Ambassador of the United States of America, Diosdade Macapagal, former President of the Philippines, Gao E, former Ambassador of China, Carlos Lemos Simmonds, former Prime Minister of Colombia, Pierre European Parliament, and Abdel Azir Sidki, former Prime Minister of Egypt. Conference Chairman Jose Maria Chaves gave his Keynote Address on the subject of "Democracy in the Twenty-First Century." Presentations by Prof. Jung Yong-suk of Dankook University on "The World Order and the Relationship of South and North Korea," and by Dr. Richard Rubenstein on "The Demise of Capitalism and Socialism, and the Crisis of New Economic Models" followed.
Reverend Sun Myung Moon sponsored the first Assembly of the World's Religions in 1985, after being released from his ordeal in Danbury prison. Convened as a forum of interaction for representatives of the religions of the world, AWR has sought to foster initiatives in unity, and service to mankind, as a spiritual basis for lasting peace.
The first Assembly of the World's Religions was held from November 15 to 21, 1985 in MacAfee, New Jersey, USA. The gathering of six hundred religious leaders from eighty-five nations attracted much attention in the media and elsewhere.
In his Founder's Address, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon affirmed three basic aims of the Assembly: first, to contribute to the prevention of disputes and conflict between religions, though fostering mutual harmony and respect for each other's beliefs and traditions; second, through the deliberations of the Assembly, to establish a pan-religious system of mutual cooperation, and to define a system of values centered on God; third, through the active participation of representatives of the world's religions, achieve a development and solidarity of the Assembly of the World's Religions that is true to its name.
Dr. Richard Payne, Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the Assembly, in his opening remarks, said that never before had "such a large cross section of religious traditions, nationalities, cultures, and lifestyles been gathered in one place at one time to affirm our global spiritual unity and to share in a hope for the future of this earth." Indeed, representatives from a broad spectrum of spiritual traditions had been invited, including representatives of the Catholic Church, of various Protestant denominations, Buddhists, Moslems, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus, other native traditional religions, and new religions.
The second Assembly of the World's Religions was held from August 15 to 21, 1990, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in San Francisco, bringing together 550 participants from seventy nations. It was at this Assembly that Reverend Moon announced the launching of the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace.
Founder's speech: The Fundamental Principle of True Peace
The Women's Federation for World Peace held its Founding Rally on April 10, 1992 at the Chamshil Olympic Stadium in Seoul. Previously, the Women's Federation for Peace in Asia had been initiated in Tokyo, Japan, in 1987, and in Seoul in October, 1991, and had been active in organizing rallies and meetings.
The WFWP views love as a new value system, and promotes the unique mission and role of women. By demonstrating a love for peace characteristic of the female gender, WFWP will devote itself to surmounting racial and national barriers, and to realizing a truly peaceful world. Women's Federation President Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon said during her Convention address that women have the responsibility "to properly guide men who have led disorderly left and right wings, to overcome atheistic materialism and to guide the future in the 21st century."
The Women's Federation for World Peace holds that human society, up until the present, has been a "culture of power" centered on men, and that this must now give way to a culture of harmony between men and women. Thus, the WFWP is not only for the sake of women, but must bear fruit in good families through a movement of true love for their husbands and children.