UNITED NATIONS
General Assembly
DRAFT RESOLUTION
(rev. 4/26/10)

BUILDING “INFRASTRUCTURES OF PEACE” WITHIN GOVERNMENTS TO STRENGTHEN THE CULTURE OF PEACE

The General Assembly,

Guided by all the United Nations (UN) documents written on the Culture of Peace since June, 1945, in particular the Charter of the United Nations, dedicated to saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war, its call for nations to live together in peace as good neighbours, and taking to heart its emphasis on the vital role “We the Peoples of the United Nations” are to play in “realizing a peaceful, just and compassionate neighbourhood,”

Reaffirming the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that the foundation of freedom, justice and peace is recognition of the inherent rights of all members of the human family, and that all human beings should act towards one another peacefully,

Recalling its resolution 52/15 of 20 November 1997, proclaiming the year 2000 as the “International Year for the Culture of Peace, and A/RES/53/25 of 19 November 1998, proclaiming 2001-2010 the “International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World,”

Emphasizing its resolution 53/243 of 6 October 1999, in which the UN Declaration and Programme of Action for a Culture of Peace gives clear guidelines for governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society — people within all walks of life — to work together to strengthen the Culture of Peace as we enter the second decade of the 21st century,

Remembering the Constitution of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which states that “since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed” and the important role UNESCO is mandated to play promoting the Culture of Peace,

Recalling the many other key UN Culture of Peace documents including:

• A/RES/52/13, 15 January 1998 Culture of Peace;
• A/RES/55/282, 28 September 2001 International Day of Peace;
• 2005 Mid-Decade Status Report on the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for theChildren of the World,

Reaffirming Security Council resolutions 1325 of 31 October 2001 on Women, Peace and Security, which acknowledges for the first time the crucial importance of women’s participation in the peace processes, and follow-up Security Council Resolution 1820 of 19 June 2008 by same name,

Standing in solidarity with all efforts to overcome the persistence of conflict in various parts of the world and proliferation of nuclear weapons, which threaten the existence of our planet,

Distressed that men, women and children in their billions have suffered the atrocities of war, poverty and human-induced environmental disasters, now more than ever is committed to saving future generations from the scourge of war, determined to live in peace and to build the Culture of Peace at the individual, national and global levels,

Believing in the goodwill of all the Member States of the UN and in the increasing political will of each Member State to “promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,”

Acknowledging the urgent need to re-build trust of people in governments and establish effective working relationships between governments and their citizens – in the spirit of cooperation for the common good,

Aware of the increasingly significant role the Economic and Social Council will play,

Encouraged by the work of the UN Peacebuilding Commission with its mandate to bring together all relevant actors, including NGOs and civil society, in joint efforts to assist countries emerging from conflict to achieve sustainable peace,

Endorsing the view expressed in the Security Council’s Presidential Statement (document S/PRST/2005/42) of the potentially vital contribution that a vibrant and diverse civil society can make towards reconciliation and peace-building between conflicting communities,

Cognizant of the UN mandated Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict December, 2007 Issue Paper entitled “Joint Action for Prevention: Civil Society and Government Cooperation on Conflict Prevention and Peace-building,” in Chapter 5 on National Infrastructure for Responding to Conflict (page 59) — Why a Ministry or Department of Peace within national governments?:

• To create peace as a primary organizing principle in society, both domestically and globally;
• To direct government policy towards non-violent resolution of conflict prior to escalation to violence and to seek peace by peaceful means in all conflict areas;
• To promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights and the security of persons and their communities, consistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, other related UN treaties and conventions, and the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace (1999);
• To promote disarmament and develop and strengthen non-military options of peacemaking and peacebuilding;
• To develop new approaches to non-violent intervention, and utilize constructive dialogue, mediation, and the peaceful resolution of conflict at home and abroad;
• To encourage the involvement in local, national, and global peace-building of local communities, faith groups, NGOs, and other civil society and business organizations, including the formation of civilian non-violent peace forces;
• To facilitate the development of peace and reconciliation summits to promote non-violent communication and mutually beneficial solutions;
• To act as a resource for the creation and the gathering of best practices documents, lessons learned, and peace impact assessment;
• To provide for the training of all military and civilian personnel who administer post-war reconstruction and demobilization in war-torn societies; and
• To fund the development of peace education curriculum materials for use at all educational levels and to support university-level peace studies.

1. Urges the Secretary-General to actively encourage all UN Member States to build the Culture of Peace architecture nationally — and in collaboration with the community of nations — by creating structures across national governments to direct policies and programmes in peace-building; and that these structures be in the form of Ministries or Departments of Peace, to support fulfillment of the vision in the UN Declaration and Programme of Action for a Culture of Peace (1999);

2. Invites the Secretary-General to create a link within the UN system to facilitate coordination with the national Ministries or Departments of Peace, in collaborative efforts to promote the Culture of Peace. {Such link would evaluate how all adopted UN actions contribute to the Culture of Peace by having Culture of Peace “Impact Assessments.};

3. Requests that the Secretary General refer to the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions the idea of setting up a Voluntary Fund to allocate resources for addressing these essential peace-building activities that protect through prevention; to begin the “economic conversion” shift from military to civilian production, so as to “beat our swords into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks;”

4. Reaffirms its pledge, as representatives of the governments of the world, to join “We the Peoples” in building a peaceful world, in the spirit of the UN Charter; advancing the Culture of Peace within each nation, each culture, each religion, and each human being.