Early History of the Culture of Peace

The project in Mozambique did not develop to the same extent as the project in El Salvador. An elaborate project proposal was prepared for funding (original full version dated October 1994, later revised in February 1995). Although funding was never obtained for the project, Noel Chicuecue, who was hired as the culture of peace officer in Mozambique, went on to accomplish many important initiatives. He organized a parliamentary visit to neighboring parliaments in Southern Africa (initiated by Director-General and me in Paris) which broke the deadlock following the initial national elections when the rival FRELIMO and RENAMO legislatures initially refused to work together. Also, Noel helped organize several regional meetings on a culture of peace hosted by Mozambique, including one in September 1997 for which I had the responsibility at headquarters. Another conference planned for Mozambique in 1996 on demobilized soldiers had also been under my responsibility but was canceled at the last minute by the government.

National programmes were formally recognized in the Director-General's Green Note 94/50 of 9 August 1994, and an internal consultation of those responsible for these programmes was held in Paris on 28-29 September 1995. The state of national programmes as of 1995 is described in the culture of peace monograph.

Many other national projects were initiated or considered in 1994-1995, for which documentation is available as indicated:

* Burundi: 22 August 1994, Memo from Adams to Leslie Atherley for Burundi training seminar; 14-17 December 1994, Colloque national pour une culture de paix au Burundi: Actes du colloque (see also report of activities 1994-1998 dated July 1998) and section on Burundi in the culture of peace monograph.

* Kenya: 23 August - Note from Adams to Leslie Atherley and Mohamed Sahnoun for culture of peace project in Kenya

* South Africa: 12 September 1994, Note from Adams to Leslie Atherley for South Africa programme

* Congo-Brazzaville: 19-23 December 1994, Forum National pour la Culture de la Paix au Congo: document de synthese.

* Sudan: 11 April 1995 - The Khartoum Declaration; 23 September 1995 - Barcelona Symposium on the fundamental problems of the Sudan

* Somalia: 17-20 April 1995 - Mission report (Adams) from Symposium on the Culture of Peace in Somalia held in Sana'a, Yemen (see section on Somalia in culture of peace monograph)

* Philippines: 26-30 November 1995, Second International Forum on the Culture of Peace (The Manila Forum): Final Report (See section on Philippines in culture of peace monograph)

* Bosnia: 18 July 1996, Bosnia CPP Project by Dr Manuel Carballo

By the end of 1996 it had become evident to me that, for the most part, the national programmes for a culture of peace could not succeed. There was neither the political will nor the financial backing of the Member States for most of the national programmes, and lacking these, the ineptness of the UNESCO secretariat became a determining factor. I analyzed the failures in a paper written in December 1996, but did not distribute it. As far as I could tell, there was no one who wanted to hear the bad news.

(Note : Mention should be made here of the National Program for the Culture of Peace in Russia in 1997-2001 which is described on page 13.