Early History of the Culture of Peace

The strategy of a global decentralized network was described in the programme of activities in preparation for the International Year that our team sent to the Director-General on 7 May 1998, with the help of the Task Force established for the Year.

By the time of the 30th General Conference in November 1999, the Member States were prepared to play a leading role in the International Year. More than 100 countries spoke to the culture of peace in the plenary debate on (see synopsis in Annex VIII), many speaking about the International Year. It was necessary to follow up on their commitments.

A manual for national focal points for the International Year was developed and sent on 21-27 October 1999 to National Commissions for UNESCO, UNESCO field offices and UN Resident Coordinators with the request to develop partnerships with the civil society in their countries. At the heart of the manual was a national partnership agreement form based on the one developed with the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee and sent to international NGOs.

One team member, Ms Jeanne Gruson, was engaged full time just to maintain relations with the national focal points (National Commissions and UNESCO field offices) during the Year and to help them use the manual and develop partnerships with the civil society. The effectiveness of this approach is indicated by newsletter entries on the IYCP Website during the Year 2000 from over 100 countries and the summary of activities during the first six months by UNESCO field offices prepared for the UNESCO Executive Board (Annex IX). Unfortunately, the Executive Board never knew the extent of the activities because much of the summary of field office activities was cut from the document that was forwarded to them by the UNESCO Central Services.

Presentation of one million Manifesto signatures from Japan. Left to right: Director-General Koichiro Matsura, UNESCO Club representatives Junichiro Iwama and Kaori Kabishima

The extensive involvement of UNESCO National Commissions was especially important for the success of the Year. A summary of their activity as of March 15, 2001 provided information about the activities of 155 National Commissions. An earlier report on June 21, 2000 included printed publications from the National Commissions of Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Germany, Haiti, Iran, Maurice, Namibia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republique Democratique du Congo, Swaziland and Vietnam. Our office in Paris developed close working relations with other National Commissions in Algeria, Benin, Canada, Cape Verde, France, Guinea Bissau, India, Italy, Jamaica, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Netherlands Antilles, Norway, Russian Federation, Saint Lucia, Spain, Tchad, Tonga, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe. Detailed projects for funding were presented to the UNESCO Programme of Participation from Antigua/Barbuda, Australia, Azerbaijan, Botswana, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Emerats Arabes Unis, Gambia, India, Indonesia, Lesotho, Liberia, Mauritania, Namibia, Nicaragua, Peru, Republique Democratique du Congo, Saint Lucia, Tchad and Trinidad and Tobago. Special dossiers were provided for Brazil where the National Commission was not active but there were major engagements by national and regional parliaments and from the United Kingdom where Tony Blair recognized the United Nations Association as playing the leading role.

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