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The liaison office of UNESCO at the United Nations in New York provides a constant source of dialogue between the Programme and the various institutions of the United Nations system. In addition, it represents the Culture of Peace Programme in various forums, for example, the First International Inter-American Conference on Society, Violence and Health held in Washington in November 1994. In other cities with United Nations centres, UNESCO offices serve a similar function.
In Beijing, China, the UNESCO office has organized meetings with diplomats posted in that city to address issues such as 'How the culture of peace programme can be implemented in a multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-language country'.
In Africa, the regional office for education (BREDA) has organized in conjunction with the National Commission for UNESCO of C�te d'Ivoire an inter-regional colloquium on 'Present day Conflicts and the Culture of Peace'. BREDA has found a great demand among its partners (non-governmental organizations, UNESCO Clubs, schools, teachers, etc.) for information on the culture of peace, and has given out hundreds of UNESCO's culture of peace brochures. The same is being done by the UNESCO office in Cairo, Egypt, which has found great interest among its partners, both individuals and institutions in that country and the region.
In Latin America, the regional centre for higher education (CRESALC) is instituting a UNESCO chair at the University of Venezuela 'La Catedra Planeta Libre - towards a Culture of Peace'. The Chair puts its emphasis on teaching the processes of apprenticeship and nurturing of the values, understandings and practices of a culture of peace. Also the UNESCO office in Brazil has been active in promoting the Culture of Peace Programme, including a presentation to 500 heads of public schools in the region of Brasilia and to the international meeting of the International Association of Students in Economic Sciences meeting in Sao Paulo.
In the Caribbean the UNESCO office in Kingston, Jamaica, has undertaken a series of symposia in the framework of a culture of peace to address the rising problems of alienation, crime and violence. Among the programmes arising from those symposia are a mediation project of the Bar Council of Jamaica and a project of conflict resolution in the schools. In Barbados, the Carneid Coordinating Centre of UNESCO is planning a regional consultation among trainers from the Eastern Caribbean to develop teaching and curriculum materials promoting a culture of peace. The UNESCO office in Haiti, in collaboration with the Minister of Education, has promoted reflection on the culture of peace and democracy in a series of seminars contributing to the democratic process in that country and to the introduction of the concepts of peace and democracy in the basic education curriculum. The office prepared and distributed a document, 'Ideas for the elaboration of a new approach to education and a culture of peace.'
UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations
In June 1995 the World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations, gathered in Romania for their Fourth World Congress, decided to plan their future activities around the theme 'Towards a World Charter of UNESCO Clubs, for a Culture of Peace'. Over 260 representatives from 50 countries participated in the Congress which was hosted by the Romanian Federation of UNESCO Clubs in co-operation with the National Commission of Romania for UNESCO.
Although the Clubs are formally independent of UNESCO, they are among the most effective multipliers of UNESCO's work through their 4800 Clubs in over 100 countries. While UNESCO does not subsidize them, it encourages and promotes the exchange of individuals and information between Clubs and makes available free of charge publications about the Organization. The Club movement is almost as old as the Organization itself,
Through the field offices of UNESCO the Culture of Peace Programme operates in every corner of the globe.
UNESCO Clubs, dedicating their work to a culture of peace in over one hundred countries, serve as a space where people encounter and listen to those with different perspectives, an atmosphere of dialogue, of tolerance, of self-criticism.