Global peace campaigner, Professor Samuel Ato Duncan, has warned that the world is on the verge of plunging into World War III, unless world leaders take urgent action to avert another global catastrophe.
He said that world leaders should not sit aloof while scores of innocent lives and infrastructure are being destroyed day in and day out in Ukraine.
He therefore, made a passionate appeal to President Vladimir Putin of Russia and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy to dialogue to end the war which has so far resulted into nearly four million Ukrainians becoming refugees and hundreds of thousands of others internally displaced.
Professor Duncan who is the President General of the Center of Awareness Global Peace Mission (COA-GPM) made the appeal in an exclusive interview with the Ghanaian Times at Wusorkrom in the Central Region over the weekend.
He was speaking against the backdrop of his global campaign to promote peace worldwide.
The war, he said had affected the world in such an unprecedented manner that major exports from the two countries had been affected, thereby leading to price hikes around the world including Ghana.
Consequently, he urged the leadership of the two countries to end the war to ensure global peace for humanity.
As part of his Global Peace Mission, Professor Duncan said he had instituted an annual Peace Lecture Series to propagate peace messages to world leaders about its importance to development of countries of the world.
Earlier, Professor Duncan on April 10, this year, delivered the Fourth Public Lecture which was held on the theme: “Targeting leadership across the globe to achieve global peace”.
The event held at the University of Cape Coast was also used to launch a five-year strategic plan for the sustenance of the global peace mission.
Speaking further on conflicts around the world, Professor Duncan regretted that huge sums of money spent on wars could be used to alleviate poverty and improve the lives of people.
Unfortunately, he said wars continued to rob the world of joy; the reason why man was created and said, it was time practical steps were taken by world leaders to end ethnic, political, and social injustices, religious intolerance, terrorism, dictatorship, poverty, greed, corruption, immorality and disease, which was the vision of the centre.
The economic impact of violence to global economy, he stated was $ 13.6 trillion in 2015, saying, ‘’this money can alleviate poverty in Africa, and it is unacceptable’’.
He said, The Centre of Awareness Global Peace Mission will form peace groups and associations in every country worldwide and link them up in an International Movement of Peace (IMFP).
Prof. Duncan was optimistic that engagements with world leaders and implementation of the centre’s strategic action plans would make the world peaceful and prevent a third world war.
According to him, it was necessary for all to appreciate and acknowledge the importance of man on earth and desist from acts that destroyed the creation of God.
The Founder of COA-GPM appealed to organisations, individuals, and philanthropists to commit resources to the COA-GPM Fund to help advance the global peace agenda.