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Since each of the six points listed above are essential to a culture of peace, none must be omitted or weakened. Point six, replacing exploitation by development for all, and point five, emphasizing power sharing between women and men, for example, are essential in mobilizing and unifying movements for social justice and equality for women. Similarly, point two, replacing divisiveness with solidarity, and point three, replacing top down management with democratic decision making, are essential to ensure that the tactical means are consistent with the final goal of the culture of peace.

As the agency of the United Nations responsible for education and culture, Unesco is establishing a network for the exchange of information among non governmental organizations working for peace, women's equality and social justice.

Particularly relevant and useful to IPRA researchers, teachers and activists are the culture of peace proposals outlined at the 1994 International Conference for Education. These guidelines for educational institutions recommend: (a) training in conflict resolution and mediation among teachers and students, extending to the wider community; (b) linking school and community activities that promote everyone's participation in culture and development; (c) incorporating information into curricula about movements for justice and peace; (d) extending a sense of community not only to all people but also to all forms of life, in order to preserve the earth's ecology; and (e) reviewing and renovating the teaching of history to give as much emphasis to the role of women as men and to nonviolent movement as to military campaigns.

Violence and war are not inevitable. Like peace and nonviolence, they are choices made by people to achieve specific goals. Peace exists only if it is "constructed," and only if it is "made", by individuals and governments and non governmental organizations that persist in their efforts to build it. Unesco's culture of peace programme offers a vision, a concrete language, and specific proposals for alternatives to violence. Furthering that process depends upon the cooperation and active involvement of non governmental organizations such as IPRA. Appropriately, at the 1996 IPRA Conference in Brisbane, on the theme, "Building Nonviolent Futures,"representatives of Unesco's Culture of Peace Programme and IPRA began to explore ways of extending this important new initiative to a wider audience by encouraging participation among IPRA members.

[David Adams is a senior Unesco official and Michael True is Professor of English, Assumption College, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA].

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