“A message of peace and brotherhood in Nepal is very timely,” said Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal Saturday in offering his support for the regional Global Peace Festival to be held in Kathmandu this October. The event is expected to attract 70,000 mostly young people.

The prime minister explained to Dr. Hyun Jin Moon, Founder and Chairman of Global Peace Foundation (GPF) and a group of GPF leaders that there were 103 different ethnic groups and communities in Nepal with over 100 languages and dialects. Traditionally these communities had coexisted peacefully but in recent years political conflict had created and exacerbated divisions that now went down to the village level.

“We know that we need peace more than at any time in the past,” said former education minister Hon. Ram Hari Joshi, who also attended the meeting at the prime minister’s official residence, echoing the premier’s remarks.

Nepal will be one of four Regional GPF events held this year, the others being in Indonesia, Paraguay and Kenya. The prime minister agreed to invite the political leadership of his regional neighbors to the event. China, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia will all be represented at the festival.

There was discussion about a leadership program for top officials in government departments that would present the GPF peace-building curriculum. Mr. Joshi urged that current policy makers needed to hear this message.

The prime minister was also briefed on Dr. Moon’s scheduled speech to the leaders of the 25 Nepali political parties and to members of Parliament at the Constituent Assembly set for Sunday, April 4.

At the close of the meeting the prime minister presented Dr. Moon the Dynamic Leadership in Peace Building award prepared by the Ex-MPs Club for his work in promoting “one family under God, beyond race, religion, and culture” through GPF’s activities.