Background

UN statistics shows that more than 840 million people still live in starvation. However, the wasted food in a year amounted to 1.3 billion tons, enough to feed 2 billion people. In the past year, geopolitical risks were on the rise due to territorial disputes. Many civilian protests against government malfunctioning turned into bloody chaos. What is even worse is that the threat of nuclear weapon has never gone away. In the past one hundred years, the average temperature on earth has risen by 0.8 degree Celsius. If the average temperature rises by 2 degree Celsius, it will cause great instability to the climate pattern and put mankind’s continued existence at risk. We have seen calamities after calamities as a result. The trust among people is collapsing. What do we do in the face of the disorderly world?

In the 53rd UN Annual NGO Conference in 2000, Dr. Hong Tao-Tze, president of the Federation of World Peace and Love, has advocated “The dawn of the new century has come amid the turbulences of the 20th century. Global solidarity is imperative and urgently needed. Only with international cooperation will the path to peace be reached. NGOs and world citizens play a pivotal role as great facilitators.”

In the face of heightening international tension, risk can be triggered at any moment. It is difficult to tell true from false, good from bad and right from wrong. People’s hearts are surrounded with anxieties and uncertainties. On January 1 of 2014, the Federation of World Peace and Love (FOWPAL), Association of World Citizens (AWC), and Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy jointly promulgated the movement of “An Era of Conscience.” Everyone is the leader and guide of his/her own conscience. The key to unlocking the energy of peace is in everyone’s hand. We hope that everyone will speak kind words and do good deeds to spread the positive influences of goodness. Dr. Hong Tao-Tze said, “Kind intentions and good hearts are the positive energies necessary to safeguard the earth’s sustainable development.” We should start from ourselves and spread the message of goodness to others. When the energies of goodness are connected, spread and expanded, the ideal world of one world with love and peace will become a reality.

The movement has received widespread recognitions and feedbacks. A designated website at www.aneoc.org has been created to become the platform of communications and exchanges. The initial ceremony of An Era of Conscience will be held on February 16. Let’s consolidate our kind words and good deeds to create a world of love and peace for the earth’s sustainable future and mankind’s common welfare.