Former Member of Congress Dick Schulze (R-PA) addresses the ILC about conservation. Mr. Schulze was the co-founder of the Conservation Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. (PHOTO CREDIT: HSA-UWC)
 

In an era of tectonic shifts in opinion about trade, migration, policing borders and moral issues, the Universal Peace Federation promoted balanced discussions on these concerns during 2016-2018 under the umbrella of the International Leadership Conferences (ILC).

In hundreds of locations around the world, experts from government service and civil society met at conferences to explore the themes of “Interdependence, Mutual Prosperity and Universal Values.”

The ILC conference in Seoul on Feb. 12, 2016 — convened under the theme “Addressing the Critical Challenges of Our Time: The Role of Governments, Civil Society and Faith-Based Organizations”— captured the attention of scholars and lawmakers on five continents.

Subsequent conclaves in more than two dozen locations, including the United Kingdom, Nepal, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Zambia and Japan, emphasized the idea that a religious consensus built across lines of faith and ethnicity can, indeed, nurture a moral consensus. Later that year, on Nov. 30, parliamentarians, opinion leaders and policy experts from 50 countries gathered at the U.S. Capitol.

UPF was established in 2005. According to the UPF website, the first ILC was held in 2007.