The International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence...

[norml]

The International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World (2001 to 2010)

The United Nations (www.un.org), a respected world body and forum for global issues, including peace and security, is once again a leader in pressing societies for the establishment of initiatives promoting reconciliation. The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (www.unesco.org) acting as the lead UN agency, is promoting the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010) (www3.unesco.org/iycp) The Decade’s mandate stresses the principles of non-violence espoused so strongly during the International Year for the Culture of Peace’s (IYCP-2000) but focuses increasingly upon the plight of millions of children worldwide, and the need to create and implement non-violent strategies to alleviate to that plight.

Originally, the Culture of Peace Programme (CPP) was created in 1994 for the promotion of standards which would encourage and enhance peaceful co-existence. The successful programme blossomed into the Year for the Culture of Peace (2000). With the popularity of the principles of the Year, and the perseverance of peace and non-violence advocates, the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World was established by UN General Assembly resolution 53/25. (www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resfiles/a53r025.pdf)

An indispensable component of the smooth transition from the Year to the Decade is the Manifesto 2000 (www3.unesco.org/manifesto2000/default.asp). The Manifesto, written by a coalition of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, was astoundingly popular throughout IYCP. Although the Manifesto was presented to the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Harry Holkeri of Finland, in the fall of 2000, the document is still open for signature. At the time of presentation to the General Assembly, 60 million people had signed and committed themselves to the principles of peace and non-violence that the Manifesto espouses. The Manifesto ensures that the Year’s principles are both continued and rejuvenated in a coherent manner for the purposes of the Decade. For instance, the National Commission for UNESCO in India received 24.8 million signatures, while the National Commission for UNESCO in Brazil received 5.9 million signatures. These signatures are not simply a statistic. Through the action of signing, signatories commit themselves to a personal peaceful mentality and to progressive contributions towards the goals enunciated in the Manifesto.

The International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World is not just a continuation of the principles of IYCP. The mandate for the Decade specifically emphasizes the need for the international community to recognize and implement strategies to focus on and ensure assistance for children exposed to harmful and violent situations. In order to facilitate the Decade, children must be provided with the ability and opportunity to participate and to centre activities around their own needs. Clearly, decision makers who do not receive input and direction from those people affected by their plans and actions, in this case children, will not be able to provide an effective medium for the implementation of activities directed towards establishing a mentality conducive to non-violence. The participation of those affected by violence is necessary for the creation of effective policies and practices for the Decade.


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http://www.unac.org/peacecp/decade/background.html

[eaglenetsupport]

1. wrong decade

[norml]

2. What was hopeful, now seems ironic.

Better luck next decade.