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Just as training of warriors to be courageous and strong is central to a culture of war, so, too, training in non violence is key to a culture of peace. It is not a passive but an active non violence, as described by Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela. As they learned and taught, active non violence requires great courage and strength, harnessing anger into the struggle against injustice. Unlike the culture of war, in which the warriors are restricted to young men, the culture of peace enlists all, men and women, young and old.
All of the five functions and alternatives listed above are essential and inter related. The resources freed by disarmament and conversion are needed to finance development programmes which can ensure economic and political security. The transformation to a culture of peace which can make possible these alternatives depends upon the democratic participation and mobilization of people on a vast scale, inspired with a sense of solidarity and adventure in a world wide campaign in which everyone has a role to play.
In summary, a culture of peace is a growing body of shared values, attitudes, behaviours and ways of life based on non violence and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms, on understanding, tolerance and solidarity, on the sharing and free flow of information and on the full participation and empowerment of women. While it does not deny the conflicts that arise from diversity, it demands non violent solutions and promotes the transformation of violent competition into co operation for shared goals. It is both a vision and a process, a vast project, multi dimensional and global, which is linked to the development of positive alternatives to the functions previously served by war and militarism.
Continuing development of the concept of peace must be made at least as great as that of war in order to take the comparative profit advantage out of the culture of war. This is important because from the time it became an institution war has proved useful as a generator of profits, whether in the form of slaves, of colonies, or, most recently, the
the lucrative profits of war manufacturing and trade, often guaranteed by state budgets. Therefore, initiatives for controls on the arms trade and for conversion from military to civilian production are of essential importance.
The continuing elaboration of the concept of a culture of peace is one of the basic functions of UNESCO's Culture of Peace Programme. This development evolves as a result of practice and consultation, including a continuous dialogue within UNESCO and with its various partners. Of particular importance are the experiences of national programmes, both those initiated by UNESCO (see Chapter 5) and those initiated by national governments themselves (see Chapter 8).
The concept of a culture of peace was first elaborated for UNESCO at the International Congress on Peace in the Minds of Men in Yamoussoukro, C�te d'Ivoire, July, 1989. UNESCO was urged by the Congress to 'construct a new vision of peace by developing a peace culture based on the universal values of respect for life, liberty, justice, solidarity, tolerance, human rights and equality between women and men'. The Yamoussoukro Declaration called on UNESCO to promote education and research on peace and to develop measures for the 'enhanced application of existing and potential international instruments relating to human rights, peace, the environment and development'.
Virtually every meeting of the UNESCO Executive Board as well as the 27th General Conference of the Organization have discussed the concept of a culture of peace since it was first proposed in 1992. From the beginning the Board recognized its basis in the respect for human rights and universal values enumerated in the Declaration of Yamoussoukro. The Board considered it as the expression of the fundamental mandate of UNESCO to 'contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and culture', and that UNESCO's role is an integral part of the overall responsibility of the United Nations family contributing to the construction of peace.
A culture of peace must be based on the universal values of respect for life, liberty, justice, solidarity, tolerance, human rights and equality between women and men.
UNESCO's role is an integral part of theoverall responsibility of the United Nations family contributing to the construction of peace.