Brief History of Culture of Peace Programme 1. UNESCO has engaged in activities to promote a culture of peace from its beginnings, when it was founded in the aftermath of the Second World War to construct the defences of peace in the minds of men and women. However, with the end of the Cold War and the new political and social world order which followed, it was evident that a new effort was needed that would give UNESCO as well as the international community the instruments to transform the still dominant culture of war into a culture of peace. 2. The concept of a culture of peace was formulated by the International Congress on Peace in the Minds of Men (Yamoussoukro, 1989). In its final declaration the Congress recommended UNESCO to "help 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 men and women". 3. An operational definition of the culture of peace was presented to the Executive Board of UNESCO at its 140th session in October 1992 in a proposal (140 EX/28) submitted by the President of its Programme Commission, Mr Ahmed Sayyad. Placed in the framework of the Agenda for Peace which had recently been issued by United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali, it proposed local activities of reconciliation and co-operation in countries where peace-keeping operations had been implemented or could be anticipated. It envisioned the culture of peace as a process in which the energies of peoples are channeled into a common struggle which benefits everyone. 4. Inspired by the proposal, the Board adopted a decision (140 EX/Decision 5.4.2) which invited the Director-General to consult leading experts in the field and submit to the Board at its 141st session an action programme setting out practical activities to be undertaken for promoting a culture of peace. 5. The 141st Executive Board in May 1993, not fully satisfied with the first proposal they received, requested its revision and invited the Director-General "to pursue expert consultations, on an equitable geographical basis, with a view to arriving at a clearer definition of all the activities contained in the Draft Programme and Budget for 1994-1995 (27 C/5) that specifically relate to the culture of peace." 6. The programme was revised, examined, and discussed by a round table of eminent persons convened by the Director-General on 7 and 8 July 1993 at UNESCO. Expert consultations on the programme were also conducted on an equitable geographical basis and the contributions received were incorporated into the programme. 7. In October 1993, the 142nd session of the Executive Board took note of The Action Programme to Promote a Culture of Peace (142 EX/13) and transmitted it to the General Conference along with a summary of the debate in the Programme and External Relations Commission of the Board. The 27th General Conference discussed the resulting document (27 C/126) and approved it in the Programme and Budget for 1994-1995. 8. On 1 February 1994 the Director-General established a Unit for the Culture of Peace Programme under his direct authority, allocating to it a number of functions, including: to develop national and subregional programmes of a culture of peace to provide an integrated approach to the activities in the various units and field offices which contribute to the promotion of a culture of peace 9. The first three National Programmes of Culture of Peace have been initiated in El Salvador, Mozambique and Burundi. These programmes are based on a process of participation, dialogue and cooperation of all parties to the conflicts in the countries concerned. In addition, support has been provided to the National Culture of Peace Programme that is being undertaken by the Philippines. 10. Colloquiums have been held to develop the process of cooperation and participation of all parties to the conflicts in Congo, Sudan, and Somalia, laying the base for culture of peace activities in those countries. Also, a national culture of peace programme is presently under development in Nicaragua and requests for culture of peace initiatives have been received from a number of other countries. 11. One of the key instruments for coordination and definition of UNESCO's policy for a culture of peace is an intersectoral committee chaired by the Director-General and composed of ADG's and other sectoral representatives. In addition, consultations concerning joint activities are held regularly between the staff of the Culture of Peace Programme Unit and other units at headquarters and in the field. The various sectors are all conducting activities relevant to the promotion of a culture of peace. These, together with the work of the Culture of Peace Programme Unit, represent UNESCO's activities for the development of a culture of peace. 12. The concept of a culture of peace continues to evolve as a result of practice and consultation. The First International Forum on the Culture of Peace, held 16-18 February 1994 in El Salvador, exchanged experiences of countries engaged in peace-building activities, and a second international forum will be held soon (December 1995) in the Philippines. 13. The First Consultative Meeting of the Culture of Peace Programme 27-29 September 1994 gathered the thinking of experts in this field and the report from the meeting greatly enriched the concept and operational approach of the Programme. There was a broad consensus among the experts that the culture of peace should be considered as a "process" in which UNESCO plays a catalytic role but in which much of the work is done by its governmental and non-governmental partners. 14. The 145th Session of the Executive Board, meeting in October 1994, received the report from the First Consultative Meeting as well as document 145 EX/15, "The Culture of Peace Programme: From National Programmes to a Project of Global Scope". The latter was prepared specifically to facilitate the Board's debate. 15. In their debate Board members underlined the urgent need in the world today for a culture of peace and the importance of UNESCO's initiative, but at the same time they sounded a note of caution that the Programme must be well integrated with existing UNESCO activities and should also take into account actions taken by the United Nations family particularly in the field of conflict prevention and resolution. 16. It is clear that the culture of peace, as a concept, has grown far beyond the scope of its origins as a programme of UNESCO. The concept has been adopted by other international agencies, both inter-governmental and non-governmental, and is being used to describe a wide variety of approaches and activities which relate well to UNESCO's programme. For example, the Government of El Salvador has institutionalized the concept of a culture of peace by adopting it officially in policy of foreign affairs. 17. The Culture of Peace may be seen as a social movement, according to a document prepared by those engaged in National Culture of Peace Programmes in Latin America: "The proposal of a Culture of Peace has the characteristics of a universal movement in the process of construction; of a utopia both possible and necessary which is born out of objective conditions and adequate objectives in the context of a new historical opportunity for humanity.... It has the characteristics of a political and cultural movement in which there are sources, correlations of forces, advances and retreats, social actors, in the context of a cultural conception which is broad and dynamic of society in the continual search of its perfectibility." 18. In view of the broad interest of delegations, non-governmental organizations and others working for a culture of peace, the Culture of Peace Programme is developing and information and networking system. One of the first products of this effort has been a brochure in English, French and Spanish. 19. The concept of a culture of peace draws together the fundamental values upon which UNESCO was founded: tolerance and knowledge of the other; democracy and justice; and freedom of expression. The promotion of these values are operationalized in activities which promote non-violent conflict management, endogenous capacity building, and the participation and cooperation of all parties to a conflict in the design and implementation of human development projects.