The General
Assembly,
Recalling the Charter of the United Nations, including the purposes
and principles embodied therein,
Recalling also the Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural
Organization, which states that “since wars begin in the minds
of men, it is in the minds of men that the
defences of peace must be constructed”,
Recalling further the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other
relevant international
instruments of the United Nations system,
Recognizing that peace not only is the absence of conflict, but also
requires a positive, dynamic
participatory process where dialogue is encouraged and conflicts are
solved in a spirit of mutual
understanding and cooperation,
Recognizing also that the end of the cold war has widened possibilities
for strengthening a culture
of peace,
Expressing deep concern about the persistence and proliferation of violence
and conflict in various
parts of the world,
Recognizing the need to eliminate all forms of discrimination and intolerance,
including those based
on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national, ethnic or social origin,
property, disability, birth or other status,
Recalling its resolution 52/15 of 20 November 1997, by which it proclaimed
the year 2000 as the
“International Year for the Culture of Peace”, and its resolution
53/25 of 10 November 1998, by which
it proclaimed the period 2001–2010 as the “International
Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence
for the Children of the World”,
Recognizing the important role that the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural
Organization continues to play in the promotion of a culture of peace,
Solemnly proclaims the present Declaration on a Culture of Peace to
the end that Governments,
international organizations and civil society may be guided in their
activity by its provisions to promote
and strengthen a culture of peace in the new millennium:
Article
1
A culture of peace is a set of values, attitudes, traditions and modes
of behaviour and ways of life
based on:
(a) Respect for life, ending of violence and promotion and practice
of non-violence through
education, dialogue and cooperation;
(b) Full respect for the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity
and political independence of
States and non-intervention in matters which are essentially within
the domestic jurisdiction of any State,
in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international
law;
(c) Full respect for and promotion of all human rights and fundamental
freedoms;
(d) Commitment to peaceful settlement of conflicts;
(e) Efforts to meet the developmental and environmental needs of present
and future generations;
(f) Respect for and promotion of the right to development;
(g) Respect for and promotion of equal rights and opportunities for
women and men;
(h) Respect for and promotion of the right of everyone to freedom of
expression, opinion and
information;
(i) Adherence to the principles of freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance,
solidarity, cooperation,
pluralism, cultural diversity, dialogue and understanding at all levels
of society and among nations;
and fostered by an enabling national and international environment conducive
to peace.
Article
2
Progress in the fuller development of a culture of peace comes about
through values, attitudes, modes
of behaviour and ways of life conducive to the promotion of peace among
individuals, groups and nations.
Article
3
The fuller development of a culture of peace is integrally linked to:
(a) Promoting peaceful settlement of conflicts, mutual respect and understanding
and international
cooperation;
(b) Complying with international obligations under the Charter of the
United Nations and
international law;
(c) Promoting democracy, development and universal respect for and observance
of all human rights
and fundamental freedoms;
(d) Enabling people at all levels to develop skills of dialogue, negotiation,
consensus-building and
peaceful resolution of differences;
(e) Strengthening democratic institutions and ensuring full participation
in the development process;
(f) Eradicating poverty and illiteracy and reducing inequalities within
and among nations;
(g) Promoting sustainable economic and social development;
(h) Eliminating all forms of discrimination against women through their
empowerment and equal
representation at all levels of decision-making;
(i) Ensuring respect for and promotion and protection of the rights
of children;
(j) Ensuring free flow of information at all levels and enhancing access
thereto;
(k) Increasing transparency and accountability in governance;
(l) Eliminating all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia
and related intolerance;
(m) Advancing understanding, tolerance and solidarity among all civilizations,
peoples and cultures,
including towards ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;
(n) Realizing fully the right of all peoples, including those living
under colonial or other forms of
alien domination or foreign occupation, to self-determination enshrined
in the Charter of the United
Nations and embodied in the International Covenants on Human Rights,
as well as in the Declaration
on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples contained
in General Assembly
resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960.
Article
4
Education at all levels is one of the principal means to build a culture
of peace. In this context,
human rights education is of particular importance.
Article
5
Governments have an essential role in promoting and strengthening a
culture of peace.
Article
6
Civil society needs to be fully engaged in fuller development of a culture
of peace.
Article
7
The educative and informative role of the media contributes to the promotion
of a culture of peace.
Article
8
A key role in the promotion of a culture of peace belongs to parents,
teachers, politicians, journalists,
religious bodies and groups, intellectuals, those engaged in scientific,
philosophical and creative and
artistic activities, health and humanitarian workers, social workers,
managers at various levels as well as
to non-governmental organizations.
Article
9
The United Nations should continue to play a critical role in the promotion
and strengthening of a
culture of peace worldwide.
PROGRAMME OF ACTION ON A CULTURE OF PEACE
The General Assembly,
Bearing in mind the Declaration on a Culture of Peace adopted on 13
September 1999,
Recalling its resolution 52/15 of 20 November 1997, by which it proclaimed
the year 2000 as the
“International Year for the Culture of Peace”, and its resolution
53/25 of 10 November 1998, by which
it proclaimed the period 2001–2010 as the “International
Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence
for the Children of the World”;
Adopts
the following Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace:
A. Aims,
strategies and main actors
1. The
Programme of Action should serve as the basis for the International
Year for the Culture
of Peace and the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence
for the Children of the
World.
2. Member
States are encouraged to take actions for promoting a culture of peace
at the national
level as well as at the regional and international levels.
3. Civil
society should be involved at the local, regional and national levels
to widen the scope of
activities on a culture of peace.
4. The
United Nations system should strengthen its ongoing efforts to promote
a culture of peace.
5. The
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization should
continue to play
its important role in and make major contributions to the promotion
of a culture of peace.
6. Partnerships
between and among the various actors as set out in the Declaration should
be
encouraged and strengthened for a global movement for a culture of peace.
7. A culture
of peace could be promoted through sharing of information among actors
on their
initiatives in this regard.
8. Effective
implementation of the Programme of Action requires mobilization of resources,
including financial resources, by interested Governments, organizations
and individuals.
B. Strengthening
actions at the national, regional and international levels by all relevant
actors
9. Actions
to foster a culture of peace through education:
(a) Reinvigorate national efforts and international cooperation to promote
the goals of education for
all with a view to achieving human, social and economic development
and for promoting a culture of
peace;
(b) Ensure that children, from an early age, benefit from education
on the values, attitudes, modes
of behaviour and ways of life to enable them to resolve any dispute
peacefully and in a spirit of respect
for human dignity and of tolerance and non-discrimination;
(c) Involve children in activities designed to instill in them the values
and goals of a culture of
peace;
(d) Ensure equality of access to education for women, especially girls;
(e) Encourage revision of educational curricula, including textbooks,
bearing in mind the 1995
Declaration and Integrated Framework of Action on Education for Peace,
Human Rights and Democracy
for which technical cooperation should be provided by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization upon request;
(f) Encourage and strengthen efforts by actors as identified in the
Declaration, in particular the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, aimed
at developing values and skills
conducive to a culture of peace, including education and training in
promoting dialogue and consensusbuilding;
(g) Strengthen the ongoing efforts of the relevant entities of the United
Nations system aimed at
training and education, where appropriate, in the areas of conflict
prevention and crisis management,
peaceful settlement of disputes, as well as in post-conflict peace-building;
(h) Expand initiatives to promote a culture of peace undertaken by institutions
of higher education
in various parts of the world, including the United Nations University,
the University for Peace and the
project for twinning universities and the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
Chairs Programme.
10. Actions
to promote sustainable economic and social development:
(a) Undertake comprehensive actions on the basis of appropriate strategies
and agreed targets to
eradicate poverty through national and international efforts, including
through international cooperation;
(b) Strengthen the national capacity for implementation of policies
and programmes designed to
reduce economic and social inequalities within nations through, inter
alia, international cooperation;
(c) Promote effective and equitable development-oriented and durable
solutions to the external debt
and debt-servicing problems of developing countries through, inter alia,
debt relief;
(d) Reinforce actions at all levels to implement national strategies
for sustainable food security,
including the development of actions to mobilize and optimize the allocation
and utilization of resources
from all sources, including through international cooperation, such
as resources coming from debt relief;
(e) Undertake further efforts to ensure that the development process
is participatory and that
development projects involve the full participation of all;
(f) Include a gender perspective and empowerment of women and girls
as an integral part of the
development process;
(g) Include in development strategies special measures focusing on needs
of women and children
as well as groups with special needs;
(h) Strengthen, through development assistance in post-conflict situations,
rehabilitation, reintegration
and reconciliation processes involving all engaged in conflicts;
(i) Incorporate capacity-building in development strategies and projects
to ensure environmental
sustainability, including preservation and regeneration of the natural
resource base;
(j) Remove obstacles to the realization of the right of peoples to self-determination,
in particular
of peoples living under colonial or other forms of alien domination
or foreign occupation, which adversely
affect their social and economic development.
11. Actions
to promote respect for all human rights:
(a) Full implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action;
(b) Encouragement of development of national plans of action for the
promotion and protection of
all human rights;
(c) Strengthening of national institutions and capacities in the field
of human rights, including
through national human rights institutions;
(d) Realization and implementation of the right to development, as established
in the Declaration
on the Right to Development5 and the Vienna Declaration and Programme
of Action;
(e) Achievement of the goals of the United Nations Decade for Human
Rights Education
(1995–2004);
(f) Dissemination and promotion of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights at all levels;
(g) Further support to the activities of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights
in the fulfilment of her or his mandate as established in General Assembly
resolution 48/141 of 20
December 1993, as well as the responsibilities set by subsequent resolutions
and decisions.
12. Actions
to ensure equality between women and men:
(a) Integration of a gender perspective into the implementation of all
relevant international
instruments;
(b) Further implementation of international instruments that promote
equality between women and
men;
(c) Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the
Fourth World Conference on
Women,7 with adequate resources and political will, and through, inter
alia, the elaboration,
implementation and follow-up of the national plans of action;
(d) Promotion of equality between women and men in economic, social
and political decisionmaking;
(e) Further strengthening of efforts by the relevant entities of the
United Nations system for the
elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against women;
(f) Provision of support and assistance to women who have become victims
of any forms of
violence, including in the home, workplace and during armed conflicts.
13. Actions
to foster democratic participation:
(a) Reinforcement of the full range of actions to promote democratic
principles and practices;
(b) Special emphasis on democratic principles and practices at all levels
of formal, informal and nonformal
education;
(c) Establishment and strengthening of national institutions and processes
that promote and sustain
democracy through, inter alia, training and capacity-building of public
officials;
(d) Strengthening of democratic participation through, inter alia, the
provision of electoral assistance
upon the request of States concerned and based on relevant United Nations
guidelines;
(e) Combating of terrorism, organized crime, corruption as well as production,
trafficking and
consumption of illicit drugs and money laundering, as they undermine
democracies and impede the fuller
development of a culture of peace.
14. Actions
to advance understanding, tolerance and solidarity:
(a) Implement the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance and the Follow-up
Plan of Action for the
United Nations Year for Tolerance8 (1995);
(b) Support activities in the context of the United Nations Year of
Dialogue among Civilizations in
the year 2001;
(c) Study further the local or indigenous practices and traditions of
dispute settlement and promotion
of tolerance with the objective of learning from them;
(d) Support actions that foster understanding, tolerance and solidarity
throughout society, in
particular with vulnerable groups;
(e) Further support the attainment of the goals of the International
Decade of the World's Indigenous
People;
(f) Support actions that foster tolerance and solidarity with refugees
and displaced persons, bearing
in mind the objective of facilitating their voluntary return and social
integration;
(g) Support actions that foster tolerance and solidarity with migrants;
(h) Promote increased understanding, tolerance and cooperation among
all peoples through, inter
alia, appropriate use of new technologies and dissemination of information;
(i) Support actions that foster understanding, tolerance, solidarity
and cooperation among peoples
and within and among nations.
15. Actions
to support participatory communication and the free flow of information
and knowledge:
(a) Support the important role of the media in the promotion of a culture
of peace;
(b) Ensure freedom of the press and freedom of information and communication;
(c) Make effective use of the media for advocacy and dissemination of
information on a culture of
peace involving, as appropriate, the United Nations and relevant regional,
national and local mechanisms;
(d) Promote mass communication that enables communities to express their
needs and participate
in decision-making;
(e) Take measures to address the issue of violence in the media, including
new communication
technologies, inter alia, the Internet;
(f) Increase efforts to promote the sharing of information on new information
technologies, including
the Internet.
16. Actions
to promote international peace and security:
(a) Promote general and complete disarmament under strict and effective
international control, taking
into account the priorities established by the United Nations in the
field of disarmament;
(b) Draw, where appropriate, on lessons conducive to a culture of peace
learned from “military
conversion” efforts as evidenced in some countries of the world;
(c) Emphasize the inadmissibility of acquisition of territory by war
and the need to work for a just
and lasting peace in all parts of the world;
(d) Encourage confidence-building measures and efforts for negotiating
peaceful settlements;
(e) Take measures to eliminate illicit production and traffic of small
arms and light weapons;
(f) Support initiatives, at the national, regional and international
levels, to address concrete
problems arising from post-conflict situations, such as demobilization,
reintegration of former combatants
into society, as well as refugees and displaced persons, weapon collection
programmes, exchange of
information and confidence-building;
(g) Discourage the adoption of and refrain from any unilateral measure,
not in accordance with
international law and the Charter of the United Nations, that impedes
the full achievement of economic
and social development by the population of the affected countries,
in particular women and children, that
hinders their well-being, that creates obstacles to the full enjoyment
of their human rights, including the
right of everyone to a standard of living adequate for their health
and well-being and their right to food,
medical care and the necessary social services, while reaffirming that
food and medicine must not be used
as a tool for political pressure;
(h) Refrain from military, political, economic or any other form of
coercion, not in accordance with
international law and the Charter, aimed against the political independence
or territorial integrity of any
State;
(i) Recommend proper consideration for the issue of the humanitarian
impact of sanctions, in
particular on women and children, with a view to minimizing the humanitarian
effects of sanctions;
(j) Promote greater involvement of women in prevention and resolution
of conflicts and, in
particular, in activities promoting a culture of peace in post-conflict
situations;
(k) Promote initiatives in conflict situations such as days of tranquillity
to carry out immunization
and medicine distribution campaigns, corridors of peace to ensure delivery
of humanitarian supplies and
sanctuaries of peace to respect the central role of health and medical
institutions such as hospitals and
clinics;
(l) Encourage training in techniques for the understanding, prevention
and resolution of conflict for
the concerned staff of the United Nations, relevant regional organizations
and Member States, upon
request, where appropriate.
107th plenary
meeting
13 September 1999