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The celebration of the launching of the International Year on 14 September was specifically mentioned by Kazakhstan, by Lebanon which held a ceremony at the International Center for Human Sciences at Byblos, by Namibia (which held a peace march involving school children and young people, led by the Head of State), by Qatar which through its National Council for Culture organized a meeting of intellectuals, by Togo, by Uzbekistan where events were held in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara, and by Vietnam which held special ceremonies in Hanoi addressed by the Prime Minister, Mr Phan Van Khai.

Within the context of the International Year, specific references were made to the Manifesto 2000 by Azerbaijan which expects millions of signatures, Republic of Korea and Ukraine* where the Presidents of the Republic have initiated the signature campaign, Uganda where the Manifesto has been translated into local languages for dissemination and signatures, Mongolia and Togo that are encouraging signature campaigns, Swaziland which calls upon everyone to live by its principles, and Vietnam* which has translated the Manifesto 2000 into Vietnamese.

The International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World, which will follow the International Year, was mentioned also by Mali*, Monaco, Mozambique, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Suriname and Togo.

The link between the International Year for the Culture of Peace in the Year 2000 and the International Year for the Dialogue of Civilizations in 2000 was stressed by Eritrea, India and Iran.

The priority given by UNESCO to a culture of peace was supported by the following countries: Afghanistan, Algeria*, Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzogovina, Cambodia, Canada*, Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Iraq, Fiji, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan*, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Moldova, Nepal, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Spain*, Sudan, Swaziland, Ukraine, Uruguay* and Uzbekistan. In this regard the Transdisciplinary Project for a Culture of Peace was supported in particular by Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bulgaria, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Laos, Madagascar, Malawi, Monaco, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Senegal, Tanzania*, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam. Many specifically mentioned the role that education must play in promoting a culture of peace (Chile, Congo, Republic of Korea, Seychelles, Spain, Vietnam), in particular education with regard to human rights (France*), while Uganda mentioned the important roles of the Associated Schools and UNESCO Clubs for a culture of peace.

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