Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the first decade of the 21st century and the third millennium, the years 2001 to 2010, as the International Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World.UN document |docid=A-RES-53-25 |type=Resolution |body=General Assembly |session=53 |accessdate=2007-08-10 |date=10 November 1998] This followed resolutions about the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the International Day of Peace.

The action plan for the Decade proposes eight spheres of activities in which to work for the promotion of the Culture of Peace:
*to reinforce a culture of peace through education
*to promote economically and socially sustainable development
*to promote the respect of all human rights
*to ensure the equality between women and men
*to support democratic participation
*to develop comprehension, tolerance and solidarity
*to support participative communication and the freedom of movement of information and knowledge
*to promote international peace and safety

On 29 November 2000, the General Assembly decided to entrust UNESCO with the coordination "of the activities of the organizations of the United Nations system to promote a culture of peace, as well as liaison with other organizations concerned in this matter."Fact|date=August 2007

NGOs

NGOs and other civil society organizations were urged to contribute to a global movement for a culture of peace according to the Declaration and Programme of Action for a Culture of Peace, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1999. In response, at the midpoint of the Decade in 2005, 700 civil society organizations reported to the General Assembly that the global movement is advancing despite lack of attention from the mass media. The full report is available on the website of the Decade for a Culture of Peace.

Since 2001, some national NGOs coalitions promoting the Decade have been established in several countries, including Austria, France, Italy and the Netherlands. These national coalitions along with international organizations decided to found the International Coalition for the Decade in June 2003.

Related to this UN Decade, in December 1998, the World Council of Churches adopted, at its 8th Assembly, in Harare (Zimbabwe), the Decade to Overcome Violence as one of its programmes for the decade 2001-2010.

References

Website

* [http://www.unesco.org/cp UNESCO Culture of Peace Coordination]
* [http://www.nvpdecade.org International Coalition for the Decade]
* [http://overcomingviolence.org WCC: Decade to Overcome Violence]
* [http://decade-culture-of-peace.org Website of Decade for a Culture of Peace]

External links

* [http://www.martinauer.net/KINDER/krieg/index.htm The Strange War - Stories for a Culture of Peace] by [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Auer Martin Auer]