The International Year for the Culture of Peace

Abstract

A major initiative of the United Nations system at the present time is the promotion of a culture of peace, and this found a specific expression in the millennial year (2000) being designated and commemorated by the UN as the International Year for the Culture of Peace. There were a range of activities to publicize the International Year. However, two specific initiatives associated with the UN were the Manifesto 2000 Project and the Culture of Peace News Network (CPNN), a UNESCO initiative to establish locally based websites on which individuals can post reports of local initiatives for peace or respond to media events supporting a culture of peace. The Manifesto 2000 Project involved the collection of signatures in support of a culture of peace, and in September 2000 some 50 million signatures were presented to the Millennial Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. This article examines the dimensions of the concept of a culture of peace and asks whether the International Year for the Culture of Peace was worthwhile.