A Culture of Peace is a paradigm shift in which individuals, organizations, neighborhoods and nations join together as a global community in a common goal: to work towards creating a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. Our current culture is driven by the global economy and it affects our everyday lives, and our outlook about the world and our future. The aim of the global movement that has arisen to promote a culture of peace, is to transform our focus from the global economy to the care and well-being of our interconnected global community.

The Global Movement For a Culture of Peace arose out of the UNESCO Culture of Peace Programme, designed for UNESCO by consultant David Adams, who has continued to chronicle the growth of the movement. The Programme was adopted by UNESCO in 1992, and sought to create national culture of peace programs that could be implemented in UN member countries.  In 1999, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution, entitled the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace that called for a global movement for the culture of peace, inviting member states, civil society organizations and individuals in all walks of life to join in partnership with the United Nations. To help spread the ideas in the plan of action for a culture of peace, the General Assembly declared the year 2000 as the International Year for a Culture of Peace, and the first decade of the new millennium as the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World.  The Programme of Action addressed eight areas crucial to creating a culture of peace:

1. Peace Education
2. Sustainable Development
3. Human Rights
4. Equality of Women and Men
5. Democratic Participation
6. Understanding, Tolerance and Solidarity
7. Free Flow of Information and Knowledge
8. International Peace and Security

The World Report on the Culture of Peace documented the participation of more than 1000 organizations worldwide during the Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World.

www.culture-of-peace.info