<< Ugyen Sherab, a Nepalese Buddhist of Tibetan Mahayan tradition, receiving the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP)

Monk Krishna Man as he is popularly known, softly disclosed that the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP) and Interreligious and International Peace Council based in New York had bestowed on him the Ambassador for Peace Award. The Award was given to Krishna Man for his unwavering efforts to promote peace through the campaign of peace walk in Nepal and in the U.S.

Krishna Man who entered monkhood after retiring from his service as a librarian at the American Center received the award at the IIWFP secretariat in Bhatbhateni on June 18, 2005.

Krishna Man, 73, has been working tirelessly to promote peace. He has participated in many peace walks organised in Lumbini and other parts of the Kingdom.

His exemplary dedication for the cause of peace needs to be emulated by both the young and the old in Nepal, which is sinking deeper into the morass of conflict and violence each passing day. While people of his age are resting at their homes, discouraged by their sagging strength and growing age, Krishna Man is still going strong with his peace mission.

Prior to receiving the present award, he was honoured with ?The Distinguished Award? offered by the Friends of Nepal New Jersey, a Nepalese association in New Jersey. His next project is the Box County Peace Walk, which he is looking forward to hold in Pensylvaina, USA sometime in August this year. The easiest way to bring peace awareness in the world is to win the hearts of the followers all the major religions. And convince them to show religious tolerance and work together, Krishna Man says.

This very idea has appealed to him a lot and hence he has included the inscriptions and symbols of all the major religions in the Peace Flag that he is to carry during his upcoming peace walk in the U.S.

He says that the peace walk would last nearly for a month, with people from all faiths participating in it. ?We will walk for at least 5 Km in a day and rest at the place where we reach.? People in that locality arrange for our shelter and other necessities and the walk runs smoothly with the help of local Americans, says Krishna Man fondly recalling his past walks. Dr. Sun Myung Moon and Mrs. Moon established the IIFWP in 1994 in the hope of building a world in which peoples, cultures, races, religions, and nationalities could live together in harmony, mutual respect, cooperation and universal prosperity.

This vision of world peace underlies all the programs and activities of IIFWP. It recognises that the task of achieving genuine peace requires an integrated, cross- disciplinary and collaborative approach among all disciplines, various organisations, culture and peoples.

According to IIFWP, peace cannot be achieved merely through the efforts of academics, politicians or through the efforts of religious leaders alone. Peace will only prevail across the globe if the tendencies for peace efforts to be fragmented and disunited are overcome through collective endeavours.

The mission of IIFWP is to work in tandem with individuals and institutions from across the globe to create world peace. The IIFWP has volunteers world over who have joined to build what has been the hope of all ages-a worldwide culture of peace and prosperity.