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of peace-building (see accompanying boxes). In addition to its importance for countries emerging from conflict, he indicated the importance of peace building for countries in transition who can use it to put themselves on the path of sustainable development and for countries high on the scale of wealth and power who must hasten the process of partial demobilization and defence conversion'. He went on to say that 'peace-building means fostering a culture of peace'. The Secretary-General singled out the National Culture of Peace Programme in El Salvador as a model for post-conflict peace-building.
Actions for a culture of peace correspond to the concept of peace-building rather than peace-keeping in the terms of An Agenda for Peace. Peace-keeping is designed to achieve a cessation of ongoing violence, hopefully through a short-term operations, and to create an atmosphere in which long-term peace-building becomes possible. Peace-building, on the other hand, is a sustained process which addresses the underlying causes of conflict and places peace on a durable foundation. Whereas peace-keeping involves the deployment of United Nations military and/or police personnel, peace-building puts a priority on non-military endogenous capacity building - the strengthening of democracy and local institutions and the training of local personnel.
In recent years the United Nations has mobilized the international community in a series of summit meetings which, taken together, have laid out the values and principles on which a new era of justice, peace and sustainable development can be based. Starting with the Children's Summit in 1990, these have also included the Earth Summit, the World Conference on Human Rights, and summits on population and development, social development and women. The summits have mobilized not only the member states of the United Nations but also non-governmental organizations as will be described in a later chapter.


An Agenda for Peace
(Definitions)

Preventive diplomacy is action to prevent disputes from arising between parties, to prevent existing disputes from escalating into conflicts and to limit the spread of the latter when they occur.

Peacemaking is action to bring hostile parties to agreement, essentially through such peaceful means as those foreseen in [Chapter VI of] the Charter of the United Nations.

Peace-keeping is the deployment of a United Nations presence in the field, hitherto with the consent of all the parties concerned, normally involving United Nations military and/or police personnel and frequently civilians as well. Peace keeping is a technique that expands the possibilities for both the prevention of conflict and the making of peace.

Peace-building is action to identify and support structures which will tend to strengthen and solidify peace in order to avoid a relapse into conflict. Only sustained, cooperative work to deal with underlying economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems can place an achieved peace on a durable foundation. (Note: Although the initial formulation in An Agenda for Peace was in terms of post conflict situations, the Secretary General has since then broadened the concept of peace building to be applied in pre conflict and conflict situations as well.)

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Peace-building means fostering a culture of peace through a sustained process which addresses the underlying causes of conflict and places peace on a durable foundation.

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