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A/RES/52/13 



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General Assembly

Distr: General
20 November 1997
Original: English

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Fifty-second session
Agenda item 156

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly

[without reference to a Main Committee (A/52/L.4/Rev.1 and Add.1)]

52/13. Culture of peace

The General Assembly,

Recalling the preamble to the Charter of the United Nations and the purposes and principles of the United Nations, and recalling also that the creation of the United Nations system itself, based upon universally shared values and goals, has been a major act towards transformation from a culture of war and violence to a culture of peace and non-violence,

Aware that the task of the United Nations to save future generations from the scourge of war requires transformation towards a culture of peace, which consists of values, attitudes and behaviours that reflect and inspire social interaction and sharing based on the principles of freedom, justice and democracy, all human rights, tolerance and solidarity, that reject violence and endeavour to prevent conflicts by tackling their root causes to solve problems through dialogue and negotiation and that guarantee the full exercise of all rights and the means to participate fully in the development process of their society,

Recalling its resolutions 50/173 of 22 December 1995 and 51/101 of 12 December 1996 on a culture of peace and 51/104 of 12 December 1996 on the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education and public information activities in the field of human rights,

Noting that the report of the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on educational activities under the project entitled "Towards a culture of peace" with elements for a draft provisional declaration and programme of action on a culture of peace,/1 indicates that the transition from the culture of war to a culture of peace has been taken up as a priority by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and is also being promoted at many levels by the United Nations system as it enters the twenty-first century,

1. Takes note of the report of the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,/1 as transmitted by the Secretary-General and submitted in accordance with General Assembly resolution 51/101, which is set within the framework of United Nations actions for peace-building, including the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, 1995-2004, and the United Nations Year for Tolerance, as well as the programmes of action of recent United Nations world conferences;

2. Calls for the promotion of a culture of peace based on the principles established in the Charter of the United Nations and on respect for human rights, democracy and tolerance, the promotion of development, education for peace, the free flow of information and the wider participation of women as an integral approach to preventing violence and conflicts, and efforts aimed at the creation of conditions for peace and its consolidation;

3. Notes that the report includes:

    (a) Elements for a draft United Nations declaration on a culture of peace, including the historical basis, the meaning and significance of a culture of peace and the major fields and main actors for its promotion;

    (b) Elements for a programme of action, including the relevant aims as well as the strategies and actions needed to implement each of those aims;

    (c) A presentation of the progress of projects within the framework of the transdisciplinary project entitled "Towards a culture of peace";

4. Requests the Secretary-General, in coordination with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and taking into account the debate in the General Assembly, the specific suggestions of Member States and the comments, if any, of member States in the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at its twenty-ninth session, to submit a consolidated report containing a draft declaration and programme of action on a culture of peace to the General Assembly at its fifty-third session;

5. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-third session an item entitled "Culture of peace".

50th plenary meeting
20 November 1997




1/ A/52/292, annex.