International Year of Culture and Peace
Meeting in Paris in 1995 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its founding, the Member States of UNESCO looked to the future, declaring that the great challenge of the end of the 20th century is to begin the transition from a culture of war to a culture of peace. Thus, the mission devolved to UNESCO, through its constitutive act at the end of the Second World War, is reaffirmed, to use education, science, culture and communication to raise the defenses of peace in the minds of men.
The International Year for the Culture of Peace proclaimed for the year 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly is a historic milestone on the path leading to this objective. However, it is not enough for UNESCO and the UN to make decisions. As the constitutive act of UNESCO indicates, political and economic agreements between governments cannot guarantee lasting peace on their own: This peace must be established on the foundation of the intellectual and moral solidarity of humanity.
Developing a culture of peace requires the full participation of all. Peace has ceased to be exclusively the concern of governments and international organizations. It cannot be reduced to the absence of war and violence. It is made up of all the values โโand attitudes of our communities, our families, our schools. Peace is cultivated and learned and above all practiced.
To make peace, we must act in a way that transforms the conflicts of daily life into cooperation that creates a better world for all. This is why, on behalf of UNESCO and the United Nations, I invite you all, parents and children, teachers and students, journalists and editors, mayors and parliamentarians, all of you, whatever your functions, to participate in a planetary movement in favor of a culture of peace and non-violence. May everyone resolve to make the year 2000 the first step in our contribution to this task which responds to our highest vocation at this moment in history.
[Message from Federico Mayor, Director General of UNESCO].
The International Year for the Culture of Peace proclaimed for the year 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly is a historic milestone on the path leading to this objective. However, it is not enough for UNESCO and the UN to make decisions. As the constitutive act of UNESCO indicates, political and economic agreements between governments cannot guarantee lasting peace on their own: This peace must be established on the foundation of the intellectual and moral solidarity of humanity.
Developing a culture of peace requires the full participation of all. Peace has ceased to be exclusively the concern of governments and international organizations. It cannot be reduced to the absence of war and violence. It is made up of all the values โโand attitudes of our communities, our families, our schools. Peace is cultivated and learned and above all practiced.
To make peace, we must act in a way that transforms the conflicts of daily life into cooperation that creates a better world for all. This is why, on behalf of UNESCO and the United Nations, I invite you all, parents and children, teachers and students, journalists and editors, mayors and parliamentarians, all of you, whatever your functions, to participate in a planetary movement in favor of a culture of peace and non-violence. May everyone resolve to make the year 2000 the first step in our contribution to this task which responds to our highest vocation at this moment in history.
[Message from Federico Mayor, Director General of UNESCO].