Early History of the Culture of Peace

Despite the fact that there was no historic precedent for the United Nations General Assembly to promote a "movement", we included the concept of a movement at several points in the draft Declaration and the Programme of Action submitted first on 19 September 1997 and then on 2 September 1998 to the General Assembly (A/52/292 and A/53/370. During the "informals" for A/53/370 (on 6 May 1999), the reference to "a global movement for a speedy transition from a culture of war and violence to a culture of peace and non-violence in the new millennium" was removed from the Declaration on the insistence of the European Union. However, the following reference was retained in the paragraph 6 of the Programme of Action adopted 13 September 1999 (A/53/243) thanks to the patience and tenacity of Ambassador Chowdhury: "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." The theme was repeated a year later in resolution A/55/47 of 29 November 2000 (also under the leadership of Ambassador Chowdhury) which "invites civil society at the local regional and national levels to widen the scope of their activities to promote a culture of peace and non-violence, engaging in partnerships and sharing information, thus contributing to a global movement for a culture of peace."

Ambassador Chowdhury expressed his commitment to the concept of a movement in speeches delivered to UNESCO on 12 January 1999 and 25 November 2000. On the second occasion, addressing the NGO Conference at UNESCO, he stated, "For the success of our movement, we need a 'grand alliance' for a culture of peace. During the on-going International Year for the Culture of Peace, we have seen such a grand alliance come together through the national committees and national focal points developed during the year, through projects implemented nationally and locally; through widespread involvement of civil society; through declaratory statements by regional organizations; through symposiums and workshops and seminars held all over the world; we are witnessing the movement gather a momentum that cannot be reversed."

The movement was expressed in terms of "partnerships" beginning with document A/51/395 of 23 September 1996. As described there in paragraph 54, this was based on the approach adopted in UNESCO's Medium-Term Strategy for 1996-2001 which devotes an entire section to "UNESCO's Partners." The theme of partnerships as a priority was later taken up for the United Nations as a whole in the Secretary-General's report on the role of the United Nations in the Twenty-First Century and used as the basis for the strategy for the global movement proposed for the International Decade for the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World A/55/377 paragraph 16, dated 12 September 2000.

For all practical purposes, it was the International Year for the Culture of Peace that allowed us to put the energies of UNESCO behind the development of the global movement for a culture of peace. This was accomplished in a number of ways: 1) through a massive publicity campaign using television and radio spots and letters from the UNESCO Director-General - as well as the Director-General's personal diplomacy; 2) through a global organization based on a decentralized network of national focal points and national partnerships, on the one hand, and on partnerships with international NGOs and their networks, on the other; 3) through the signature campaign of the Manifesto 2000; and 4) through extensive use of the Internet. This strategy was expressed in a number of internal documents, including that of 16 April 1999 submitted to the Director-General, a memo of 1 July 1999, and paragraph 05101 of the Biennial Programme and Budget adopted by the General Conference on 17 November 1999. Details are provided in the following four sections.