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2000 International Year for the Culture of Peace
Ever since its creation, UNESCO has always acted in accordance
with the principles found in the preamble of its constitutive
Act: "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in
the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed".
In 1997, the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed
the year 2000 the "International Year for the Culture
of Peace" (IYCP) - and the period from 2001-2010 "International
Decade for the Promotion of the Culture of Peace and Non-violence
for the Children of the World".
All over the world, many individuals, groups, organisations
and institutions are working towards the construction of peace,
by eliminating the very roots of these conflicts. Their actions
aim to eradicate poverty and inequality, to promote sustainable
development and the respect of human rights, to encourage
freedom of expression, the preservation of the environment,
to facilitate women's access to education and improve their
status in society, to quote only a few of their fields of
intervention. Hence, today peace cannot be understood as the
mere "absence of conflict".
It is this line of thought that the Global Movement for a
Culture of Peace and Non-violence was born, and it is thus
to be a "grand alliance of existing movements",
a process gathering all those who are already striving towards
this profound transformation of our societies.
The development of this Global Movement must be undertaken
in stages, and rests upon the creation of partnerships with
NGOs, schools, universities, private enterprises, the media,
parliamentary groups, towns, and the United Nations Agencies,
which center around four main axes:
- Manifesto 2000 for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence:
this document was drafted by a group of Nobel Prize Peace
Laureates in order to enable the most people to express
their personal contribution to a culture of peace on a daily
basis. The participation in its diffusion is fundamental,
the objective being to collect 100 million signatures to
be presented at the United Nations "Millennium Assembly"
in September of the year 2000.
- Events to celebrate the "International Year for the
Culture of Peace": each partner has the opportunity
to contribute to the public awareness campaign by proposing
an event which will carry the logo of the IYCP. Certain
highly symbolic sites such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris,
the Teotihuacán in Mexico, Byblos and Tyr in Lebanon, Hiroshima
in Japan or even the Peace Cruise in Thessaloniki will serve
as platforms for the global launch of the International
Year for the Culture of Peace on the 14 September 1999.
- Local Projects for a Culture of Peace: the signatories
of the Manifesto 2000 are encouraged to contribute concretely
by participating in local actions already underway in the
various domains of the culture of peace; in this perspective,
each partner is encouraged to submit such actions to the
Movement's International Database of local projects for
a Culture of Peace.
- The "International Decade for the Promotion of a
Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the
World": in order for the actions initiated for the
IYCP to be of a continuous nature, all the partners are
encouraged to think about their potential development in
the next decade.
At the dawn of the next millennium, the Global Movement for
a Culture of Peace and Non-violence provides us with the opportunity
to unite our efforts to ensure the transition of a culture
of war, of violence and of discrimination to a culture of
peace, of non-violence, of dialogue and of solidarity.
The "Peace Cruise" is an exemplary case of a partnership
between UNESCO and the World Organization of the Scout Movement
which contributes to the Global Movement for a Culture of
Peace and Non-violence. Its actors are young people, and therefore
by definition the promoters of the values which will define
the next millennium. As "Messengers of the Manifesto
2000" they will distribute this appeal for an individual
contribution at all stages of the cruise, which itself bears
the colours and messages of the IYCP (sails with the logo,
a flag, as well as the different communication support materials,
etc.)
For further information and in order to get to know more
about our partnership proposals, contact us:
UNESCO / YCP
7 Place Fontenoy
75352 Paris 07 SP France
Tel: + 33 (0) 1 45 68 05 80 / 05 68
Fax: + 33 (0) 1 45 68 56 38
e-mail: iycp@unesco.org
Web site: www.unesco.org/manifesto2000
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