2nd HWPL Peace Concert held in Madagascar
On December 22, 2024, the ‘2nd HWPL Peace Concert’ was held in Madagascar. Co-hosted with Radisson Blu Hotel, the event had the presence of more than 100 people from various fields of expertise, including the U.S. Embassy in Madagascar, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Orange Telecom, UNESCO, civil organizations, and youth groups.
Madagascar is a country where 70% of the population suffers from extreme poverty. On top of this, typhoons and floods that occur every year cause serious damage to residential and educational infrastructure. As a result, 45% of the approximately 1.3 million elementary school students (ages 6 to 11) are unable to complete their elementary school education in order to support their families.
In this regard, HWPL has been opening libraries for elementary and middle school students from January 2022 and continued to conduct various education as well as volunteer activities. Until now, HWPL Peace Libraries have been inaugurated in 5 schools, donated over 1,000 books and provided basic education, including French, English and peace education.
Hon. Richard Jean Bosco Rivotiana, Minister of Labour, Employment, Public Service and Social Laws, who attended the event, expressed his support upon HWPL and said, “HWPL has been making tremendous accomplishments for peace throughout the years and I believe if we all work together as one for peace, we will surely be able to change our community into a peaceful community”.
Through this event, HWPL not only promoted its peace activities, but also requested for cooperation and support to the high-ranking government officials, businessmen, international organizations, and embassy officials in Madagascar. As a result, eight organizations expressed their intention to cooperate in peace activities with HWPL, and 80% of attendees voluntarily participated in donations, raising approximately 1 million Korean won. The donations raised will be used to open HWPL Peace Libraries and donate books to various areas in need of educational facilities.
