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s we prepare to enter the twenty first century, humanity faces unprecedented threats to its very existence. The nuclear confrontation of the Cold War first made us aware of the danger. Today, we realize that the threat is even broader. It also includes the degradation of the environment as well as poverty, overpopulation, massive migrations, intolerance and the maldistribution of resources in the world, all of which are linked to violence and war.
Peace, once defined as the lack of war, is coming to be seen as a much broader, dynamic process. It includes non violent relations not only between states, but also between individuals, between social groups, between states and their citizens and between humans and the planetary environment.
As humans we have the capacity to transform threat and difficulty into challenge, co operation and growth. New problems can be solved by individuals and institutions learning new attitudes and behaviours and acting in a spirit of solidarity and co operation. In addition to actions at the level of traditional local and national institutions, this requires actions on an international level through a revitalized and democratic United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations.
Already we see evidence of the global problem solving that is needed. With the end of the Cold War, the United Nations has become more active than ever before in its history. Regional organizations are taking on new life. The civil society is being mobilized into thousands of non governmental organizations giving an opportunity for action by millions of individuals linking their activity from the local to the global level. We are familiar with these mobilizations as the movements for disarmament, equitable and sustainable development, the environment, and the rights of women and indigenous peoples. They have been recognized by world conferences convened by the United Nations at Rio, Cairo, Vienna, Copenhagen and Beijing.
A common theme runs through these social movements that all people are interdependent and that the rights to a peaceful and fruitful existence must be respected, not only of all people, including future generations, but of all life on our planet. The old way of looking at the world seeing others as enemies or potential enemies, spending our resources, both human and economic, on armaments and military defense is an obstacle to the international co operation that is now required.
Increasingly, it is recognized that we can and must transform the values, attitudes and behaviours of society in the coming era from the dominant culture of war to a new, evolving culture of peace.
Since this transformation requires the acquisition of new values and attitudes and behaviours, it is a task for teachers and opinion makers as much as political leaders. Therefore, it is appropriate that UNESCO, the agency of the United Nations responsible for education and culture, is taking the lead in promoting a culture of peace. It may be said that this is today's expression of the original purpose of the Organization which was founded in 1945 with a Constitutional mandate to construct the defences of peace in the minds of men and women.
In the brief time year since UNESCO launched the Culture of Peace Programme in February, 1994, the theme has being taken up around the world as an emerging movement which links together with the various movements for a peaceful future.
The goal of a culture of peace, reflecting the movement which brings it about, is a world in which the rich diversity of cultures is cause for appreciation and co operation. Increasingly, one learns of initiatives reflecting such diversity at all levels, from the local to the international, reflecting an emerging belief that the culture of war, which has characterized the dominant civilizations of the past, can now be replaced by a culture of peace. There is a role for every person in this process. The question is how to find that role and join with others in its planning and implementation in an institutional framework linking the local to the national, regional and global.
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The old way of looking at the world, seeing others as enemies, spending our resources on armaments, is an obstacle to the global co-operation and solidarity needed to face new threats to security. Increasingly, it is recognized tht we can and must transform society from the dominant culture of war to a culture of peace.
The goal of a culture of peace, reflecting the movement which brings it about, is world in which the rich diversity of cultures is cause for appreciation and co-operation.