COA-GPM allocates $2m towards global peace campaign
The Centre of Awareness-Global Peace Mission, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) committed to promoting world peace, has allocated more than $2 million towards a campaign for global peace.
The amount is to support a five-year strategic plan launched to promote world peace.
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Already, 24 vehicles to be used in the campaign have been purchased.
The Founder and President-General of COA-GPM, Professor Samuel Ato Duncan, said the campaign was a selfless movement committed to bringing peace to the world.
Public lecture
Prof. Duncan unveiled the campaign as part of a five-year strategic action plan towards global peace to hundreds of people from across the country at COA's Fourth Public Lecture in Cape Coast yesterday.
The lecture was on the theme: "Targeting Leadership Across the Globe to Achieve Global Peace".
He also launched a fund towards funding activities that would engender peace.
Prof. Duncan said the strategy was a non-political mission committed to bringing peace to the world and promoting a better place for all, as well as ensuring the realisation of the initial idea of God, the Creator, for man.
He indicated that the peace call was targeted at leaders, especially political leaders, because they were voted into power and were expected to protect the masses, who were most affected by war.
The founder and president-general of COA-GPM also used the occasion to call on world leaders to do more to bring peace to the world.
War anywhere
Prof. Duncan said war anywhere affected people everywhere and, therefore, made a passionate appeal, especially to the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, to ensure a successful peace process.
Citing global peace reports from 2015, he said $13.6 trillion was spent on wars and conflicts, and indicated that that amount wasted on wars could be used to alleviate extreme poverty and hunger, which continued to plague the world, especially in Africa.
The founder and president-general of COA-GPM intimated that peace was the most important thing the world needed now.
Under the strategic plan, he said, COA-GPM would start peace clubs and groups in institutions and establishments, beginning in Ghana and later across the world, over a five-year period, with a target of 40 establishments yearly.
He said the world would be divided into 12 sections and assigned leaders who would aim at promoting sustainable world peace.
The call
Prof. Duncan called his mission a call to bring peace to the world, saying it was to pursue world peace by galvanising all to work towards peace and preserve humanity, God's most precious creation.
At 22, Young Samuel Ato Duncan, who, from birth, had believed he had a divine agenda for the world, spent about two months seeking the will of God for his life.
Finally, a voice told him to seek peace, which was critical for humanity, he recounted.
According to him, his mission for life was clear from then — he was to preach and promote peace across the globe.
Prof. Duncan said he believed all men were created equal, but human classification into classes on the basis on education, colour and wealth had led to hatred, discrimination, killing and all kinds of social vices which had robbed the globe of its peace.
Pivot of justice
He said the pivot of justice was created to always be in equilibrium, but sin and evil acts caused it to shift.
He said the problems the world was facing were because of the sins in humans, and that if the world moved away from evil, “we will have inner peace and subsequently external peace that affects the world”.
Making reference to the death of Christ, the second person in the Trinity, Prof. Duncan said Jesus took the form of man to save the world from sin, adding that He was given as a propitiation of sins because it was not easy for even God to forgive sins and, therefore, He had to send His son to die.
He said all religions had peace as their basis and it was important for all to pursue peace to make the world a better place.
Prof. Duncan said conflicts and wars brought about more poverty, which bred terrorism, armed robbery, prostitution and other social vices, a situation that called for humanity to seek peace.
COA Products
He said the COA FS immune booster products had made a lot of impact in treating ailments globally, adding that the COA Centre for Research would continue to explore health products to attain the desired health across the world.
Regional Minister
The Central Regional Minister, Justina Marigold Assan, appealed for peace among all, especially politicians, to bring peace into the country and the world.
Mrs Assan said the theme for the 65th independence anniversary: “Working together and bouncing back together”, was still relevant and urged all to seek peace for families, communities, the country and the world.
Watchdogs
The Omanhen of the Oguaa Traditional Area, Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, in his remarks, urged all to live in peace and harmony and remove acrimony that slowed down development.
The President of the Ghana Journalists Association(GJA), Affail Monney, said the Russia-Ukraine war and other conflicts anywhere were negatively impacting the world.
He commended Prof. Duncan immensely for his interventions and called on the media to play their critical role in promoting peace.
Prayers were said for the peace of the world.