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OEA/Ser.G
CP/RES. 769 (1234/00) corr. 1
13 June 2000
Original: Spanish |
CP/RES. 769 (1234/00)
PROGRAM OF EDUCATION FOR PEACE IN THE HEMISPHERE
THE PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN
STATES,
HAVING SEEN the Report of the Chair of the Committee on
Hemispheric Security (the Committee) on the Program of Education for Peace in
the Hemisphere (CP/CSH-306/00);
RECALLING General Assembly resolution AG/RES. 1620
(XXIX-O/99), by which it convened the Meeting of Experts to Design a Draft
Program of Education for Peace in the Hemisphere and instructed the Permanent
Council to consider the said Draft Program and to take action aimed at
implementing it;
BEARING IN MIND:
That the Meeting of Experts was duly held in Cartagena
de Indias, Colombia, on October 14-15, 1999, with the participation of
government experts and representatives from organizations active in the field;
and
That, accordingly, the Draft Program was designed by the
government experts at that meeting and considered by the Committee in November
1999, and that the Committee recommended that the Draft Program be approved as
a model that member states could follow in the development of programs of
education for peace, in accordance with their respective national priorities
and requirements;
RECOGNIZING the invaluable contribution to the success
of the Meeting of Experts by the Government of Colombia and by organizations
active in the field, especially the financial and substantive contribution by
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; and
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the United Nations Programme of
Action on a Culture of Peace as well as its celebration of the International
Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence,
RESOLVES:
1. To take note of the Report of the Committee on
Hemispheric Security on the Program of Education for Peace in the Hemisphere.
2. To approve the Program of Education for Peace in the
Hemisphere, attached to this resolution.
3. To urge member states to develop and implement
programs of education for peace as they deem appropriate taking into account
the aforementioned Program, and to provide the General Secretariat with
information on the adoption of such programs.
4. To request the member states to provide the General
Secretariat with the information on institutions and experts mentioned in the
said Program.
5. To request the General Secretariat, within the
resources allocated in the program-budget and other resources, to carry out the
activities identified in the Program with respect to technical support and
facilitation of the exchange of information and lend its support to the member
states, at their request, in the development and implementation of their
respective programs of education for peace.
APPENDIX
PROGRAM OF EDUCATION FOR PEACE IN THE HEMISPHERE
I. The Program's general objective
The Program of Education for Peace in the Hemisphere,
based on the recognition that education is one of the pillars on which to build
peace, prevent conflict, and reduce violence, proposes:
1. To foster a process for the purpose of developing
among the population values, knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and behavior
conducive to a stronger democratic political culture and a culture of peace.
2. To emphasize the relationship between democratic
values and practices and peaceful coexistence.
3. To contribute to a better understanding of respect
and tolerance and to an appropriate treatment of problems which, at the
hemispheric, regional, subregional, or local level, disrupt the peace, whether
domestically or between states.
4. To draw on existing mechanisms and programs in the
OAS, UNESCO, the University for Peace, FLACSO, and other organizations in the
area of education for peace and to promote increased cooperation and
interaction between them.
5. To urge the Committee on Hemispheric Security of the
Permanent Council to promote the necessary measures, within the context of the
Organization of American States, for the regional organization to comply
actively with the UN Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace and the UN
celebration of the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence
for the Children of the World.
II. Beneficiaries
The ultimate beneficiary of the Program of Education for
Peace in the Hemisphere is the population, in particular, the young, women, and
other vulnerable groups. In this connection, the Program will take special
account of those institutions and organizations of state and of civil society
deemed strategic due to their role as shapers of public opinion and to the
multiplier effect of their activities.
III. Program areas
The Program comprises three areas: (1) education for the
promotion of peace between states; (2) education for the peaceful settlement of
conflicts; and (3) education for the promotion of democratic values and
practices.
1. Education for the promotion of peace between states
a. Objectives:
- To foster the establishment of closer relations
between states in order to build mutual confidence;
- To promote mutual confidence-building measures to
enhance security and peace among states;
- To promote among the countries of a subregion greater
knowledge and understanding of the history, culture, politics, society, law,
international relations, and traditions of these countries;
- To disseminate information on efforts in the
Hemisphere to promote disarmament and the fight against illegal arms traffic;
- To promote proactive policies for dialogue and at the
same time to further knowledge of mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of
conflicts, by developing an appropriate political will and preventive
diplomatic practices;
- To encourage dialogue between states so as to create
opportunities for fostering heightened security and the use of mechanisms for
peaceful settlement as ways to promote peace;
- To study and promote integration mechanisms and
processes in the Hemisphere as instruments for the promotion of security and
peace among states;
- To involve the military and their academic
institutions in education for peace processes and to promote further exchange
among the military on this topic; and
- To study and develop mechanisms for the prevention of
military conflicts in the region.
b. Activities:
- Organization and creation of academic curricula and
university posts and the conducting of research on the history, culture,
politics, society, law, international relations, and traditions of the
countries of the various subregions, emphasizing the principles of friendship
and cooperation among states;
- Organization and holding of courses and seminars on
the evolution and operation of integration systems as instruments for the
promotion of security and peace among states;
- Conducting of research and seminars to analyze and
evaluate policies designed to promote security and peace among states;
- Organization and holding of meetings to examine and
publicize successful experiences in the subregions in the promotion of security
and peace in the Hemisphere;
- Organization and preparation of studies on
disarmament and the fight against illegal arms traffic;
- Creation, within the framework of the OAS, of a
register of experts and institutions and of possible sources of funding in the
area of education for peace, at the national, subregional, and regional levels,
and its linkage to the Web page of the Global Conflict Prevention and
Reconstruction Network of Donors and Multilateral Organizations, in which the
OAS will participate;
- Organization and holding of exchanges and internships
between governmental and nongovernmental players to facilitate mutual
understanding among the countries of the Hemisphere;
- Development of educational strategies for the
region's military to allow for the inclusion of modules on education for peace
among states and the peaceful settlement of conflicts;
- Organization of workshops designed to understand and
examine possible causes of conflict in the Hemisphere; and
- Promotion, within the framework of the OAS, of
exchanges to allow for closer ties between centers engaged in or studying
international relations at the academic or diplomatic level.
2. Education for the peaceful settlement of conflicts
a. Objectives:
- To promote the development of coordination and
consensus processes among various sectors of society;
- To foster the comprehensive analysis of conflict
situations, as well as of mediation, conciliation, negotiation,
dialogue-facilitation, and consensus-building processes;
- To promote the exchange between states of successful
experiences in the peaceful management of conflicts;
- To contribute to the creation of mechanisms for the
peaceful handling and management of conflicts;
- To publicize the importance of eliminating poverty
and of economic development and social equity as critical elements of peace;
- To promote civil society participation in the
creation of a culture of peace;
- To foster the active involvement of the mass media in
building a culture of dialogue and concerted action; and
- To support the reform and modernization of national
systems for the administration of justice, with emphasis placed on fighting
corruption and impunity as well as on promoting mechanisms for mediation and
conciliation.
b. Activities:
- Organization and holding of regional training courses
on techniques of conflict analysis, prevention, and settlement;
- Organization and conducting of public information
campaigns on the peace-making capacity of dialogue, mediation, and consensus-
and cooperation-building processes;
- Conducting of research and preparation of manuals and
publications that may provide a systematic analysis of the types of violence
and conflict, their recurrent causes, and strategies for their prevention and
peaceful settlement;
- Conducting of seminars to evaluate the handling and
management of conflict, including the empirical analysis of conflicts,
enhancement of systems for the administration of justice, mediation,
conciliation, negotiation, and facilitation of dialogue;
- Organization of public awareness and civic education
campaigns through the media on the peaceful settlement of conflicts;
- Systematization and exchange of successful
experiences in the peaceful settlement of conflicts between governmental and/or
nongovernmental institutions, through seminars, internships, consultancies, and
actions focused on institution-building; and
- Promotion of the implementation of international
projects which include programs for the peaceful settlement of conflicts as a
means of evaluating impacts and systematizing experiences.
3. Education for the promotion of democratic values and
practices
a. Objectives:
- To reform educational systems in order to turn
schools into settings for the deterrence of violence and the promotion of
justice and peace;
- To promote and disseminate in formal and nonformal
education systems increased knowledge and understanding of democratic
institutions, values, and practices;
- To disseminate universal principles of human rights
and related protection mechanisms, international humanitarian law, and the
non-use of force;
- To promote and disseminate the concepts of diversity,
plurality, equity, and tolerance among the various sectors of civil society,
especially among the most vulnerable groups of our societies;
- To preserve the environment and encourage appropriate
sustainable development;
- To promote and disseminate the rights and duties of
citizens in order to promote a culture of peace; and
- To foster nonformal and adult education, including
contributions by NGOs in this area.
b. Activities:
- Development of model curricula at the primary,
secondary, and higher education levels for nonformal and adult education,
incorporating new methods for teaching and learning democratic values and
practices;
- Identification of the best practices for promoting
the teaching of democratic values and practices;
- Taking account of contributions from local
communities, development of theoretical and practical guides in the area of
education for peace for experts, officials, and educators, which may help to
support ministries of education and teacher training centers;
- Organization and holding of workshops and training
courses on the teaching and learning of democratic values and practices for
educators, educational and administrative specialists, teachers, and directors
of educational institutions;
- Development of programs utilizing art as a means of
teaching, disseminating, and promoting democratic values and practices;
- Organization and conducting of courses and public
information campaigns on democratic values and practices which would focus on
the contributions of all sectors of society and on dissemination of the rights
and duties of citizens. Such courses and campaigns should also promote
attitudes of tolerance and support for vulnerable groups, especially displaced
persons and refugees;
- Organization of courses on democratic values and
practices for political parties, universities, the media, NGOs, and members of
the armed and security forces; and
- Organization and holding of courses and workshops for
civilian and military institutions on matters of security, defense, relations
between civilians and the military, and democratic values and practices, with
the aim of promoting stronger ties, interaction, and trust between the two
sectors.
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