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Education for Peace Program

 

Reports

 

PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE
ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES

COMMITTEE ON HEMISPHERIC SECURITY

OEA/Ser.G
CP/CSH-160/99 rev. 1
25 January 1999
Original: Spanish

GUIDELINES FOR DRAWING UP A PROGRAM OF EDUCATION FOR PEACE IN THE HEMISPHERE

(Document prepared by the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy and considered by the Committee at its meeting of January 21, 1999)

I. BACKGROUND

The decision to draw up a Program of Education for Peace in the Hemisphere sprang from the Regional Conference on Confidence and Security-Building Measures, held in Santiago, Chile, in 1995. In the Declaration of Santiago the member states of the OAS decided to draw up “programs of education for peace” as one of several measures to build confidence and security.

In June 1996 the General Assembly approved resolution AG/RES. 1409 (XXVI-O/96) asking the Permanent Council to draw up, through the Committee on Hemispheric Security, ”general guidelines for an education for peace program within the OAS.” In resolution AG/RES. 1494 (XXVII-O/97) on “Confidence- and Security-Building Measures in the Americas,” adopted in Lima, the General Assembly resolved “to request the Permanent Council to intensify, with the support of the General Secretariat, its efforts and its consultations with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other institutions with a view to considering the advisability of holding a meeting of experts on the issue so as to complete, before the 50th Anniversary of the OAS, a Program on Education for Peace in the Hemisphere within allocated resources approved in the program-budget and other resources.” The resolution also asked that UNESCO’s cooperation, begun in February 1997, be continued, in view of its experience in the area of education for peace both in general terms and in relation to the problems and needs of the Hemisphere.

In the Declaration of San Salvador, adopted by the member states on February 28, 1998, in the Conference of San Salvador on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures in Follow-up to the Santiago Conference, it was recommended that the Permanent Council’s Committee on Hemispheric Security “conclude the preparation of, and begin to implement, the education program for peace in the Hemisphere agreed on by the General Assembly of the OAS.”

In Caracas on June 3, 1998, the General Assembly reaffirmed its commitment to move forward with a program of Education for Peace [AG/RES. 1604 (XXVIII-O/98)] and decided “to convene a meeting of experts from member states to design a draft Program of Education for Peace in the Hemisphere, taking into account contributions from experts at UNESCO and other pertinent institutions, such as the Inter-American Defense College, which draft will be considered by the Permanent Council through its Committee on Hemispheric Security”

A Program of Education for Peace in the Hemisphere must be grounded in the same principles and purposes as those that gave rise to the OAS as the international organization built by its member countries “to achieve an order of peace and justice, to promote their solidarity, to strengthen their collaboration, and to defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity…” in the conviction that “representative democracy is an indispensable condition for the stability, peace and development of the region.”

Measures approved in the Organization to increase confidence and security have contributed to the practical validation of the values enshrined in the Organization’s Charter. The Santiago Declaration on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures (1995) and the Declaration of San Salvador (1998) establish between them the framework for the development of these confidence-building measures, one of which is the designing of a program of education for peace.

Those documents state that respect for international law, faithful compliance with treaties, peaceful settlement of disputes, respect for the sovereignty of states, nonintervention and prohibition of the use or threat of force in accordance with the terms of the Charters of the OAS and the UN constitute the foundation for peaceful coexistence and security in the Hemisphere and the framework for the development of confidence-building measures. They also say that the essential condition for achieving an effective international security system is that all states submit to universal, equal, and binding rules (Declaration of San Salvador).

The Declaration of Santiago specifies that these confidence- and security-building measures must be suited to the geographic, political, social, cultural, and economic conditions of each region and have their own sphere of application, as demonstrated by the extensive experience acquired in the Hemisphere.

The Charter of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) states that, “since wars began in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.” It is to this end that UNESCO has devoted its efforts since its inception. In fostering education for peace, human rights and democracy, tolerance and international understanding, UNESCO has recognized that education lies at the heart of every strategy for the consolidation of peace. It is education that most broadly introduces individuals to the values, aptitudes and knowledge underlying respect for human rights and democratic principles, rejection of violence and a spirit of tolerance, understanding and mutual appreciation between persons, groups and nations.

At the eighteenth session of its General Conference, held in Paris in November 1974, the organization approved a Recommendation concerning Education for International Understanding, Cooperation, and Peace and Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. This recommendation has provided the conceptual framework for many measures taken since. UNESCO’s Medium-Term Strategy for 1996-2001 / is a valuable point of reference for the development of a hemisphere-wide program on the subject of Education for Peace and should provide a basis for collaboration between UNESCO and the OAS in this field.

In the second half of the 20th century the development of the countries in the Hemisphere was conditioned by factors that frequently have endangered peace, democracy, justice, freedom, and even sovereignty. Such secular and as yet unsolved problems as poverty have been joined by the emergence or intensification of drug trafficking, corruption, terrorism, organized crime, deteriorating public safety, among others. The OAS and other international organizations have begun to address these issues with a view to creating awareness of the need to act against all that today threatens democracy and peace in the different regions of the world. To make the best use of existing resources and of the experiences and capabilities of each international organization, it is essential that they work in harmony and coordination in the areas they have in common. The programs and projects already carried out by the OAS in the field of peace and democracy have purposes similar to those of agencies like UNESCO, so that conditions are ripe for the framing of a Program of Education for Peace in the Hemisphere as an opportunity for more and better coordination among international organizations.

II. COMPONENTS OF A PROGRAM OF EDUCATION FOR PEACE

In the Education for Peace Program education must be seen as a process of teaching and learning of values, knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors conducive to the preservation and promotion of peace. The Program must be geared to the teaching and learning of democratic values and practices both formally and informally, for it is understood that, in the last analysis, democracy is not just a system of government, but a life-style that encourages and gives preference to the treatment and handling of problems and conflicts by the peaceful means of institutions and of respect for the formal and informal rules of the game. The program must also contribute to a better understanding and proper treatment of the problems that disturb or threaten peace in the hemisphere, regionally, subregionally and locally.

In keeping with these premises, the program should concentrate on the following substantive areas:

a. Education and peaceful settlement of conflicts

The states in the hemisphere are opening up new areas for participation and dialogue in civil society for the proper, joint addressing of challenges to governance and for peaceful settlement of the conflicts they generate. In addition, recent Latin American experience shows that the transition to and consolidation of democracy requires a strengthening of the capacity of its institutions to consolidate the rule of law and overcome the conditions that generate problems in the critical issues and areas of each society. Several countries in the Hemisphere are promoting coordination and consensus in different sectors through the development of conflict-management mechanisms, including empirical conflict analysis, mediation, conciliation, negotiation, and more openness to dialogue . Thus a program of education for peace must include regional training courses in techniques of conflict analysis, prevention and resolution and arrange regional and international meetings on the best practices and arrangements for the institutionalization of conflict-resolution systems.

b. Education and the promotion of democratic values and practices

The rearing of citizens from a tender age with a greater knowledge and understanding of democratic institutions, values and practices and with a greater commitment to them is fundamental for the development of a democratic political culture and for full participation by the population in the business of politics and civic life, and must include values of indigenous cultures and minority groups. This culture is an indispensable foundation for the viability of democracy and fosters and facilitates cooperation and peaceful relations among states. Hence those values and practices must be taught in formal and informal learning processes. In the formal education system, the teaching and learning of democratic values and practices must involve the education ministries, institutions of higher learning, teacher-training institutions, the family and nongovernmental organizations as active participants. The primary beneficiary of an education for peace program must be the young, especially children in primary school, who constitute the future of their countries. In the informal sphere these values and practices must be promoted by the political parties, the media, the academic community, and nongovernmental organizations. In addition, closer rapprochement must be encouraged between civilian and military institutions to facilitate interaction and trust between them.

c. Education and the promotion of peace between states

With increasing globalization, peace between countries, cooperation, the settlement of conflicts and disputes by the peaceful route of negotiation, and respect for international law have become largely dependent on the degree of interdependence and of shared socioeconomic, geographic and political interests between states. The global resurgence of democracy lent new weight to the thesis that relations between states with democratic governments tend to be peaceful. If this thesis is valid, a program of education for peace in the Americas must assign priority to promoting, at the different levels of the education system in each of the countries, study of the history, culture, traditions, politics, society, rights and standards of the neighboring countries, and of international relations with them. This would make for greater knowledge and mutual understanding of the different national situations and of the growing interdependence and shared interests of the countries in the Hemisphere. The program must also address the subject of interdependence and the strengthening of relations between neighboring countries.

III. THE MEETING OF EXPERTS

The principles, general framework and activities set forth in this paper have been distilled from the discussions being held in the Committee on Hemispheric Security and include both the views of the member states and the suggestions made by UNESCO at the request of the OAS in compliance with resolution AG/RES. 1494 (XXVII-O/97) on “Confidence- and Security-Building Measures in the Americas,” approved by the General Assembly in Lima.

On this basis the OAS Committee on Hemispheric Security will invite the member states of the OAS to send representatives and specialists in the subject of education for peace to a meeting of experts, to which papers on the aforementioned subjects will be presented for discussion, with special emphasis on the relationship between democratic values and practices and peaceful coexistence. The experts will analyze those matters in depth and identify more specifically the activities considered best suited to launch the Program of Education for Peace. In this work they will take account of the inputs of UNESCO and the OAS as well as of other institutions such as the Inter-American Defense Board. The experts will also consider the financial costs of the program, possible sources of financing, and government counterpart contributions.

On the basis of the principles and thematic areas identified above, the specific activities under the Education for Peace Program will have to be adapted to the interests, needs, possibilities and resources of each country. Activities may be suggested which, taking account of the situation in each country, would contribute in the medium and long term to the promotion and acceptance of the democratic values and practices that are intimately bound up with peaceful coexistence. In addition, links for cooperation must be established between the OAS and UNESCO and with other international agencies such as UNICEF to increase coordination between similar existing programs in order to prevent duplication of effort. Particular account will be taken of the work being done by UNICEF, which has declared education a priority theme for 1999.

The recommendations put forward by the experts will lay the foundations for the general framework of the program, which will later be adopted by the Committee on Hemispheric Security and approved by the Organization’s Permanent Council. This general framework will provide guidance to the participating countries in designing their own programs to suit their particular needs and interests.

 


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